t
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
YOL. III.
1UDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA THURSDAY. AUGUST 28, 1873.
NO. 2G.
A Rational Song for Canaan,
The Toronto Globe thinks Canada
needs some simple potriotio lyrio to
identify -with her progress and aspira
tions, and that iu the new andiinproved
version of the song, "This Canada of
Ours," this want is supplied. It soys :
" The words are by Mr. J. D. Edgar,
M. P., and the music is adapted and ar
ranged by Miss E. II. Kidout, based
upon the air of the famous Netherlands
Students' song. The woids carried off
the prize offered in Montreal, in 18C8,
for the best Canadian national song, and
possesses both the vigor and simplicity
that are essential to permanent popu
larity. The air, too, is inspiriting and
simple, and in the chorus swells into a
strain of heart-stirring music." This
is the song :
Let other tongues, In older lands,
Loud vauut their claims to glory,
And chant in triumph of the past,
Content to live in story t
Tho' boasting no baronial halls,
Nor ivy-cvested towers,
What past can match thy glorious youth,
Fair Canada of Ours ?
Fair Canada, Doar Canada,.
This Canada of Ours !
We love those far oft Ocean Isles,
Where Britain's monarch reigns,
We'll ne'er forget the good old blood
That courses through our veins ;
Troud Scotia's fame, old Erin's name,
And haughty Albion's powers
Reflect their matchless luster on
This Canada of Ours.
Fair Canada, Dear Canada,
This Canada of Ours.
May our Dominion flourish then,
A goodly land and free,
Where Celt and Saxon, hand in hand,
Hold sway from Sea to Sea j
Strong arms shall guard our cheriscd homo
When darkest danger lowers,
And with our life-blood we'll defend
This Canada of Ours !
Fair Canada, Dear Canada,
This Canada of Ours!
THE FUCHSIA'S HISTORY.
Soft midsummer air cheery with sun
shine and perfumed with all the scents
that it had robbed out of his nursery
garden, crept in through the monthly
roses at the porch and the half-open cot
tage door, to make itself at homo in
George Swayne's room. It busied it
self there, sweeping and rustling about
as if it had as much right to the place,
and was as much the tenant of it, as the
gardener himself. It had also a sort of
feminine and wifely claim on George ;
who, having been spending half an hour
over a short letter written upon n large
sheet, was invited by the midsummer
air to look after his garden. The best
efforts were being made by his gentle
friend to tear the paper from his hand.
A bee had come into the room George
kept bees and had been hovering about
the letter ; so drunk, possibly, with
honey that he had mistaken it for a
great lily. Certainly he did at hist set
tle upon it. The lily was a legal docu
ment to this effect:
" Sir: We are instructed hereby to
give you notice of the death of Mr.
Thomas Qneeks, of Edmonton, the
last of the three lives for which your
lease was granted, and to inform you
that you may obtain a renewal of the
same on payment of one hundred
guineas to the undersigned. We are,
sir,
" Your (here tho bee sat on the obedi
ent servants),
Flint and Geidston. "
Mr. Swayne granted himself a rule to
consider in his own mind what tho law
yers meant by th-jiruncertam phraseolo
gy. It did not mean, he concluded, that
Messrs. F. and G. were willing, for one
hundred" guineas, to renew the life of
Mr. Queeks, of Edmonton ; but it did
mean that he must turn out of the house
and grounds (which had been Swayne's
Nursery Garden for three generations
past) unless he would pay a large fine
for the renewal of his lease. He. was
but a young fellow of five-and-twenty ;
who, until recently, had been at work
for the support of an old father and
mother. His mother had been dead a
twelvemonth last midsummer day ; and
his father, who had been well while his
dame was with him, sickened after she
was gone, and died before the apple
gathering was over. The cottage and
the garden were more precious to
George as a home than as a place of
business. There were theughts of part
ing like thoughts of ouother loss by
death, or of all past losses again to be
Buffered freshly and together which so
clouded the eyes of Mr. Swayne, that
at last he could hardly tell when he
looked at the letter, whether the bee
was or was not a portion of the writing.
An old woman came, with a midsum
mer cough, Bounding as hollow as an
empty coffin. She was a poor old crone
who came to do for George small ser
vices as a domestio for an hour or two
every day; for he lighted his own fires,
and served up to himself, in the first
style of cottage cookery, his own fat
bacon and potatoes.
"I shall be out for three hours Milly,"
said George, and he put on his best
clothes and went into the sunshine. "I
can do nothing better," he thought,
"than go and see the lawyers."
' They lived in the city; George lived
at the east end, in a part now covered
with very dirty streets; but then covered
with copse ana field, and by Swayne's
old-fashioned nusery-ground ; then
crowded with stocks and wallflowers,
lupins, sweet peas, pinks, lavender,
heartsease, boy's love, old-man, and oth
er old-fashioned plants; for it contained
nothing so tremendous as Sehizanthu
BU8, Escholzias, or Clarkia pulchellas,
which are weedy little atomies, though
they sound big enough to rival any tree
on lebanon. George was an out-lash'
ioned gardener in an old-fashioned time;
for we have here to do with events
which occurred in the middle of the
reign of George the third. George, then
I mean George Swayne, not Georgius
Hex marched on to see the lawyers,
who lived in a dark court in the city.
He found their clerk in the front office,
with a. marie-old in one of his button
holes; but there was nothing else that
looked like summer in the place. It
smelt like a moldv. shut-up tool-house;
ud tier was parchment enough in it
to make scarecrows for all the gardens
in Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.
George saw the junior partner, Mr.
Grinston, who told him, when he heard
his business, that it was in Mr. Flint's
department. When he was shown into
Mr. Flint's loom, Mr. Flint could only
repeat, he said, the instructions of ' the
landlord.
"You see, my lad," he said, "these
holdings that have been let hitherto for
thirty pounds per annum, and now worth
fifty. Yet my client, Mr. Crote, is ready
to renew the lease for three more lives
at tho very slight fine we have named
to you. What would you have more
reasonable ?"
" Sir, I make no complaint," George
answered; " only I want to abide by the
ground, and I have not so much money
as you require. I owe nobody a penny;
and to pay my way and lay by enough
money for next year's seeds and roots
has been the most that I can manage. I
have saved fifteen pounds. Here it is,
sir; take it, if it will help me in this
business."
" Well," Mr. Flint suggested, " what
de yon say to this ? I make no promise,
but 1 think 1 can persuade Air. Crote to
let you retain possession of your land,
lor snail we say 7 two years, at tne
rent of fifty pounds; and, at the expira
tion of that term, you may perhaps be
able to pay the fine and to renew your
lease." . -.-
"I will accept that offer, sir." A
homespun man clings to the walls of
home. Swavne's nursery would not
support so high a rental; but let the
future take thought for itself to post
pone for two years the doom to quit the
roof-tree under which his mother
suckled him was gain enough for
George.
So ho turned homeward nnd went
cheerfully upon his way, by a short cut
through narrow streets and lanes that
bordered on the Thames. His garden
er's eye discovered all the lonely little
pots of mignonnette in the upper win
dows of the tottering old houses; and, in
the trimmer streets, where there were
rows of little houses in all shades of
whitewash, some quite fresh looking,
inhabited by people who had kept their
windows clean, he sometimes saw as
many as four flower-pots upon a win
dow sill. Then, there were the squares
of turf, put in weekly installments of
six inches, to the credit of caged larkt,
for the slow liquidation of the debt of
green fields duo to them. There were
also parrots; for a large number of the
houses in those river streets were ten
anted by sailors who brought birds
from abroad. There were also all sorts
of grotesque shells; and one house that
receded from its neighbors had a smnll
garden iu front which was sown over
with shells instead of flowers. The
walks were bordered with shells instead
of box, and there were couchs upon the
wall instead of wall-flowers. Tho summer-house
was 11 grotto; but the great
center ornament was a large figure
head, at the foot of which there was a
bench erected, so that the owner sat
under its shadow. It represented a mnu
with a grei.t beard, holding over his
shoulder a large, three-pronged fork,
which George believed to be meant for
Neptune. That was a poor garden,
thought George, for it never waved nor
rustled, and dul not by one change of
figure except that it grew dirtier
show itself conscious of tho passage of
the hours and days and months and
seasons.
It interested George a good deal more
to notice here and there the dirty leaf
of new kinds of plants, which, brought
home by some among the sailors, strug
gled to grow from seed or root. Through
the window of one house that was very
poor, but very neat and clean, he saw
put upon a table to catch the rays of a
summer sun, a strange plant in blos
som. It had a reddish stalk, small,
pointed leaves ; and, from every cluster
of leaves hung elegant red flower-bells
with purple tongues. J. he plant ex
cited him greatly ; and when he stop
ped to look in at it, he felt some such
emotions as might stir an artist who
might see a work by Rubens hung up
in a pawn-broker's shop-window. He
knocked at the green door, and a pale
girl opened it, holding in one hand a
piece of unfinished needlework. Her
paleness left her for a minute when she
saw that it was a stranger who hail
knocked. Her blue eyes made George
glance away from them before he had
finished his respectful inquiry. "I
beg your pardon," he said, " but may I
ask the name of the flower in the win
dow, and where it came from !"
" Will you walk in if you please, sir,"
said the girl, " mother will tell you all
she knows about it."
With two steps, the young gardener
strode into the small front room where
a sick and feeble woman sat in an arm
chair. The room was clean and little
furnished. There was only sand upon
the floor ; and, on the table with some
more of the girl's work, was part of a
stale loaf flanked with two mugs that
contained some exceedingly blue and
limpid milk. George apologized for
his intrusion ; but said what his calling
was, and pleaded in excuse the great
beauty and novelty of the plant that
had attracted him.
" Ay, ay, but I prize it for more than
that," said Mrs. Ellis, " it was brought
to me by my son. ' He took it as a cut
ting, and he brought it a long way, the
dear fellow, all the way from the West
Indies, nursing it for me. Often he
let his own lips parch, sir, on the
voyage that he might give water enough
to the flower that he took home for his
mother. He is a tender-hearted boy,
my Harry."
" He is young, then?"
' Well, he is not exactly a boy, sir ;
but they are all bovs on board ship,
you understand. He could carry off
the house upon his back, Harry could,
he is bo wonderfully broad-chested.
He's just gone on a long voyage, sir,
and I am feared I shall be 'gone longer
before he comes back ; and he said, when
he went, Take care of th e plant, mother,
it'll have hundreds of bells to ring
when I come back to you next year.'
He is always full of his fun, sir, is my
narry.
" Then, ma'am," George stammered.
" it's a plant you wouldn't like to part
with." ' .
The poor woman looked angry for a
moment ; and then, after a pause, ans-
wered gently, " No, sir, not until my
time comes."
The young gardener who ought to
have gone away still bent over tho
flower. The plant was very beautiful,
and evidently stood the climate well,
and it was of ft kind to propagate by
slips. George did not well know what
to Bay or do. The girl who hod been
nimbly stitching, ceased from work and
looked up wonderingly at the stranger,
who had nothing more to say, and yet
remained with them. At last, tho
youag man, with the color of the flower
on his cheeks, said, I'm a poor man,
ma'am, and not much tought. If I am
going to say anything unbecoming, I
hope yoft will forgive it ; but, if you
could bring your heart to part with this
plant, I would give you ten guineas for
it, and the first good cutting I raise
shall be yours."
Tlio girl looked up in the greatest as
tonishment. "Ten guineas!" Bhe cried,
"why, mother, ten guineas would make
you comfortable for the whole winter,
ilow glad Harry will be I"
The poor old woman trembled nerv
ously. " Harry told me to keep it for his
sake," she whispered to her daughter,
who bent fondly over her.
" Does Harry love a flower better
than your health and comfort ?" pleaded
Harry's sister.
A long debate was carried on in low
tones, while George Swayne endeavored
to look as though he were a hundred
miles off, listening to nothing. But the
loving accents of the girl debating with
her mother tenderlycaused Mr. Swayne,
a stout and-true-hearted young fellow
of twenty-five, to feel that there were
certainly some new thoughts and sensa
tions working in him. He considered
it important to discover from her mother's
manner of addressing her that the name
of the young woman was Susan. When
the old lady at last consented with a
sigh to George's offer, he placed ten
guineas on the table beside the needle
work, and only stole one glance at Susan
as he bade good-by and took the flower
pot away, promising again earnestly
that he would bring back to them the
first good cutting that took root.
George Swayne, then, having the
lawyers almost put out of his head,
carried the plant home and duly busied
himself in his greenhouse over the mul
tiplication of his treasure. Months
went by, during which the young gar
dener worked hard and ate sparely. He
had left to himself but five pounds for
the general maintenance of his garden ;
more was needed, and that he had to
pinch, as far as he dared, out of his
humble food anil other necessaries ot
existence. He had, however, nothing
to regret. The cuttings of the flower
bells throve, and the thought of Susan
was better to him than roast beef. He
did not again visit the widow's house.
He had no right to go there, until he
went to redeem his promise.
A year wont by : and when the next
July came George Swayne's garden and
greenhouse were in the best condition.
Iho new plant had multiplied by slips,
and had thriven more readily than he
could have ventured to expect. The
best plant was to set by until it should
have reached the utmcst perfection of
blossom, to be carried in redemption of
the promise made to Widow Ellis. In
some vague way, too, Mr. Swayne now
and then pondered whether the bells
was to set ringing after Harry had re
turned might not be after all the bells
of Stepney parish church. And Susan
swayne did sound well, that was cer
tain. Not that he thought of marying
the pale girl, whose blue eyes he had
only seen, and whose soft voice ho had
only heard once ; but he was a young
fellow, and he thought about her, anil
young fellows have their fancies which
do now and then shoot out iu ui
countable directions.
A desired event happened one morn
ing. The best customer of Swayne's
misery ground, thewiteot a city knight,
Lady Salter, who had a fine seat in the
neighborhood, alighted irom her car
riage at the garden gate. She bail, come
to buy flowers for the decorations of her
annual grand summer party; and George
withjmuch perturbation ushered, her into
his greenhouse, which was glowing with
the crimson and purple blossoms of his
new plant. When Lady Salter had her
admiration duly hightened by the infor-
mation that tliero were no other plants
in all the country like them that, in
fact, Mr. Swayne's new flowers were
unique, she instantly bought two slips
at a guinea each and took them home in
triumph. Of course the flewer-bells at
tracted the attention of her guests; and
of course she was very proud to draw at
tention to them. The result was that
the carriages of the great people of the
neighborhood so clogged up the road at
Swayne's nursery, day after day, that
tnere was no getting by tor them,
George Bold, for a guinea each, all the
slips that he had potted, keeping only
enough lor tne continuance ot his trade,
and carefully reserving his hnest speci
men. That in due time he took to Har
ry s mother.
The ten guineas added to the produce
of Susan's labor she had not slackened
it a jot had maintained tho sickly wo
man through the winter; and when
there came to her a letter one morning
in J uly in Harry's dear scrawl posted
from Portsmouth, Bhe was half restored
to health. He would be with them in a
day or two, he said. The two women
listened in a feverish state for every
Knock at the green door. N ext day
knock came; but it was not Harry. Su
san again opened to George Swayne. He
had brought their flower-bells back
and, apparently, handsomer than ever,
He was very much abashed and stam
mered something; and, when he came
in, he could find nothing to say. The
handsome china vase, which he had Bub
stituted for the widow's flowerpot, said
something, however, for him. The
widow and her daughter greeted him
with hearty smiles and thanks; but he
had something else to do than to return
them something of which he seemed to
be exceedingly ashamed. At last he did
it. "I mean no offense," he said; "but
this is much more vours than mine.
He laid upon the tabfe twenty guineas,
They refused the money with surprise
Susan with eagerness. He told them
his storv: how the plant had saved him
from the chance of being turned out of
his home; how he was making money by
ths flower, and how fairly he considered
olf the profits to be due to its real own
er. Thereupon tne inree became fast
friends and began to quarrel. While
they were quarreling there was a bounc
ing knock at the door. Mother and
daughter hurried to tho door, but Susan
stood aside that Harry might go first
nto his mother s arms.
" Hero is a one chime of bells." said
Harry, looking at his plant after a few
minutes. "Why, it looks no handsomer
in the West Indies. But where ever did
you get that splendid pot ? "
George was immediately introduced.
The whole story was tuld, and Harry
was made a referee upon the twenty
guinea question.
Uod bless you, JUr. Swayne, said
Harry ; " keep that money if we are to
bo friends. Give us your hand, my boy;
and, mother, let us all have something
to eat." They made a little festival that
evening in the widow's .house, and
George thought more than ever of the
chiming of the bells, as Susan laid her
needlework aside to bustle to and fro.
Harry had tales to tell over his pipe ;
and I ted you what. Swayne. said
he, "I'm glad you are the better for
ray love of rooting. If I wasn't a sailor
myself, I d be a gardener. I ve a small
cargo ef roots and seeds in my box that
I brought home for mother to try what
she can do with. My opinion is that
you're the man to turn 'em to account ;
and so, mate, you shall have em. If
you get a lucky penny out of any one
among 'em, you re welcome, font s more
than we could do."
How these poor folks labored" to be
liberal toward each other ; how Harry
amused himself on holidays before his
next ship sailed, with rake and spade
about his friend's nursery ; how George
Swayne spent summer and autumn
evenings in tho little parlor ; how there
was really and truly a chime rung from
Stepney steeple to give joy to a little
needle woman's heart ; how Susan
Swayne become much rosier than Susan
Ellis had been; how luxuriously George's
bees were fed upon new dainties ; how
Flint and Grinston conveyed the nursery-ground
to Mr. Swayne in freehold
to him and his heirs forever, iu consid
eration of the whole purchase-money
which Swayne had accumulated : . how
the old house was enlarged ; how a year
or two later, little Harry Swayne dam'
aged tho borders, and was ' abetted by
grandmother Ellis in so doing ; how, a
year or two alter that, Susan Swayne,
the lesser, dug with a small wood spade
side by side with giant 1 Uncle Harry,
who was a man to find the center of the
earth under Swayne's garden when he
came home ever and anon from beyond
the seas, always with roots and seeds,
his home being Swayne's nursery ; and
finally, how happy and how populous
homo the house in Swayne's nursery
grew to bo these are results connect
ing pleasant thoughts with tho true
storv of the earliest cultivation in this
couutry of tho flower now known as the
Fuchsia.
He Had Had Luck.
That was a very unfortunate affair
that iiappened to young Millicent, of
the Danbury baud. He had engaged
some of his fellow-members to join him
in a serenade to an estimable young
lady on Essex street, with whom he is
keeping company, aud at midnight the
party repaired to her residence, with
their instruments and music, and a boy
to hold the torch. Everything started
oil well, and tho entertainment promis
ed to be as gratifying as the most sau
guine could have asked. During the
performance of the second piece, u gem
from Mozart's collection, the boy, who
was leaning against a tree, was bo lnllu
enoed by the harmony, and soothed by
the melody, that he unconsciously drop
ped off into a slumber, and a moment
later the torch suddenly swerved, and
descended with its blaze of camphene
against the back of young Millicent's
head, and in a Hash ignited the wavy
masses of his hair. The others dropped
their instruments, and smothered the
flame in nn instant, but it had done its
work. His Jiead wts entirely burned
over, ana he laid to be carried home
and the young lady was made so sick by
the fumes of burning hair, that Bhe was
obliged to keep her bed all the next day,
It will be a month or more before young
Millicent will ue able to appear ou tho
street, which will give'the torch-boy
plenty of time to arrange his earthly
anairs.
Swimming and Bathing.
Encourage the boys and girls in learn
ing to swim, as it may be the means of
saving their own lives and rendering
them instrumental in saving those ot
others in days te come. Also impress
upon their minds the great necessity of
caution ere they learn how to take care
of themselves in the water. The death
from drowning so prevalent during the
summer are among the saddest inoi-
dents of the season, coming as they do
so suddenly, and what renders them
particularly distressing is the fact that
tne great majority of them are caused
by heedlessness, JJathing and swim
ming are healthy and delightful sports,
and when participated in with modera-
tion, as all pleasures should be in order
to make them enjoyable, conduce great
ly to tne benent ot mind and body,
It
is tne excess in wis, as well as every
thiug else, which produces the harm,
and this should be strictly guarded
ogainst. Many a bright and promising
mu vllB iuhi uis uie ur unaerniineu ms
health and become a sufferer bv being
too venturesome in the water, or going
in too often. From such items may we
be spared the chronicling during the
present season.
A Double
Allowance. This is the
way au ingenious youth in this city ob
tained a double allowance of ice cream.
He saved up the requisite fifteen cents,
and sailed grandly into a saloon where
the cooling delicacy is served. Having
ordered a dish, he rapidly devoured
about two-thirds of it, and then dexter
ously caught a fly and mixed it with the
remainder. Then calling the proprie
tor, he pointed out the defunct insect,
and with indignation pictured in his
countenance and dignified severity in
his voice, remarked that he would take
his flies on a separate plate. The pro
prietor was overwhelmed with confusion
and sorrow, and with alacrity and apolo
gies brought another well-filled dish.
That young man may yet be au alder
man. Portsmouth Timet,
3IIiikHonsekeepIng.
One sunny morning in summer, down
the pathway,' still sparkling with the
dewy moisture, came stealthily moving
the long, lithe form of a mink. Her
fur looked worn and rusty when the
sunlight struck her, as she skulked be
tween the tussocks of grass. Occasion
ally she halted to look about her, alert
for anything eye could see or enr could
hear ; but hearing nothing but the
sweet notes of a song-sparrow and com
plaining cry of a cat-bird among the
olders, she ngain moved on. As she
reached the muddy edge of tho brook,
she trod more daintily ; then, winding
among the pickerel-weeds, swam down
stream, hardly disturbing the water,
only making a long, wedge-shape wake
as she stole into the shadowy edge of
the brook. Suddenly sho disappeared
under water, but soon came up, strug
gling with something that swayed and
pulled her about, disturbing the quiet
of the stream, nnd sending a muddiness
down with the current. But she bore
the almost unmanageable, wriggling eel
(for this it was) to the Btone wall, and
drawing herself and burden up out of
the water on tho large stone, readjusted
her hold, and seized tho creature by the
back of the head. Then bracing herself
to suck the blood, the thrashing, strug
gling eel grew gradually weaker and
weaker, until it looked perfectly limp
and lifeless. Then she jumped from the
wall, dragging this eel, longer than her
self, up through the grass, taking a dif
ferent and more concealed way than the
one by which she came, and soon dis
appeared altogether. In the thick-
banked wall of a barn on the lull- side,
she had her young ; and, after they
grew large enough to require something
more substantial than nature's first pro
vision, the mother used to bring them
fish of different kinds, eels, ducks, and
like prey. So sly and stealthily did she
keep herself that she was not seen until
the young were half grown, and looked
like little fawn-colored weasels, when she
betrayed herself by bringing this food,
which impedeiWier movements. By
traveling the same way so many times,
she grew bold.
These minks aro very destructive to
fish ; ond wh'. the brook is low, they
can often be tracked for a long distance
by the dead eels, pickerel, shiners, and
sometimes trout, left lying along the
bank ; tho mink only sucking tho blood
and leaving the fish unmutilated. One
autumn some small shiners, meant for
bait in pickerel fishing through the ice,
were kept in an old tub set in a spring
near the brook ; and in one night all
these fish were killed by a mink who
left them laid in a row on the ground.
They looked precisely as if some person
had bo arranged them. But through the
back of each fish, near the head, were
four tooth-marks that told who had
been there ; this being frequently the
only mark the mink makes on his vic
tim.
Solar Heat as a Tool.
During the recent building of a
bridge iu Holland, one of the traverses,
ibo leet long, was misplaced on the
supports. It was an inch out of line,
and the problem was how to use it.
Experiments proved that the iron work
expanded a small fraction of an ir:eh for
every degree of heat received. It was
noticed that the night and day tempera
ture differed by about 23 degrees, and
it was thought this might be made to
move the bridge. In the morning the
end of the plate wus bolted down se
curely, and the other end left free. Iu
the heat of the sun tho iron expanded,
aud towards night tho iree end was
bolted down, and the opposito end was
loosened. The contraction then dragged
the whole thing tho other way. For
two days this experiment was repeated,
and the desired place reached. We
find no record that tho lieat of tho sun
has ever been employed in this way be
fore ; the contraction and expansion of
iron bars by fire-heat has already been
used to move heavy weights over short
distauces. Broken walls and strained
roofs and arches have been brought
into place by simply heating iron rods
till they expanded, then taking up tho
slack by screws and nuts, and allowing
contraction by cold to pull the wall or
roof into place.
k Joke by Telegraph.
In Norfolk, Va., on Sunday morning,
while the fires on Market square and
Campbell's wharf were at their height.
aud it seemed doubtful if they could be
subdued, a well-known citizen sought
ont a telegraph operator and besought
him to go to his olhoe and telegraph to
Old l'oint lor aid.
The operator replied that it was use
less to do bo at that early hour (3
o'clock), as no office was open then. The
gentleman told him to go and try. He
would, at least, be doing his duty.
Thus entreated, the operator went to his
office and called Old Point. As he ex
pected, triere was no response. He then
called in succession all of the principal
stations in the country, finally receiv
ing an answer from Omaha to this ef
fect: " Fire a long way off, but if you can
keep her going a while longer, will come
to your aid, as I am an old fireman, with
my lantern and ax." It is needless to.
say the humor of the Omaha operator
provoked a hearty laugh, notwithstand
ing the greatness of the danger to which
the city was exposed.
Foolish Wager.
One of the many capital punishments
in use under the Chinese Criminal Code
is that of deprivation of sleep, which
generally proves fatal in about ten days.
Five foolish young Belgians lately tried
this experiment upon themselves with
more or less disagreeable results. They
laid a wager that they would remain
awake for seven days. They arranged
the employment of their time in the
following manner: the night was spent
in dancing and drinking quantities of
coffee; during the day theyrode.fenced.
or shot at a mark, taking coffee every
half-hour. One of these young men
won the wager, but lost 25 pounds in
weight; two fell asleep after remaining
awake IdU hours; one was seized with
inflammation of the lungs; the fifth was
overcome by slumber while on horse
back, fell, and broke his arm, and thus
ended this unnecessary ordeal.
Cash vs. Credit.
I go up to the village occasionally and
lounge away a holf-doy talking with the
storekeepers and the farmers who come
in to "do their trading." Times ore
different than when all trade wos barter,
as in my younger days when we had to
save eggs to get tea and sugar with ;
when a pound of butter would scarcely
pay for a yard of the cheapest calico ;
when a letter from out the State cost
two shillings, ond was often held by the
postmaster a month because the farmer
could convert none of his produce into
cash enough to pay the postage. These
days were not so long ago, either. . Wo
used to go to market then with ox
teams and in lumber wagons. There
were no spring wagons then ; no three
minute roadsters ; no top buggies for
farmers ; no ready-made clothing. We
used to wear butternut-colored suits,
home-made, in winter, or tow pants in
summer.
I say things aro different now. But
there must be a further change. It is
gradually but surely coming. Occa
sionally, you will find "a cash store."
I wish, for all concerned, there were no
others. How I shiver when I sit in the
back of a store and hear a farmer who
has purchased a bill of goods say to the
spruce clerk, with a seH'-coufident tone
and air, as he gathers up the parcels,
"Charge it!" Be sure the clerk dors
"charge it!" He charges it heavy. It
is rarely the case, I notice, that these
"charge it "customers take a bill of
their purchoses. They have faith in
the merchant who has such faith in
them until settling day comes, when
there are olten disputes and wrangles
over the accounts.
Another thing I notice: That whereas
the spruce clerk is permitted to wait
upon Former " Charge-it," while the
merchant gossips with a lounger, like
me ; the moment Farmer Pay-as-he-goes
enters the store, Mr. Merchant is
all affability and alertness. He leaves
the lounger unceremoniously. He
greets tho farmer with warm cordiality,
inquiring after his family and his crops.
The spruce clerk stands aside defer
entially. The merchant shows the cash
customer a different and better class of
goods than were shown to Farmer
" Charge-it." Tho price named on the
same class is ten per cent, lower than is
charged on the books to the other cus
tomers. Pains are taken to please and
satisfy. It ' does mo good to see that
more discretion is used in buying.
Nothing that is not needed is purchased.
When the purchases are completed, out
comes tho smooth, shiny leather wallet,
and tho greenbacks ore carefully and
caressingly handled. The farmer is sure
to see that he has the worth of his
money, and the merchant is equally
careful not to loso a cash customer.
What makes all this difference ? Tho
merchant resumes his seat by the
lounger who pumps tho fact from him
that he had rather have one such cus
tomer os Farmer Pay-aB-he-gocs thun
three liko " Charge-it." With cash in
ind he can buy his goods cheaper iu
the city. Ho saves there. He turns
his money and realizes his profits quick
er. He loses no debts, and does not
have to add a per cent, to his charges to
cover such losses nor tho interest he has
to pay ou his own thirty to sixty day
bills. Ho is content with small mar
gins. He has to take them because
eash-paving farmer buys where he can
buy the best cheapest. "And yet,'
said this merchant, " I have some cus
tomers who pay only once in three to
six months who are profitable to me
because I make them pay mo roundly
for waiting. I must do so if I trade
with them. They are good for their bills
but, if they only knew it, really loso
money every time they say Chargo it.'
That is, they have to pay more man
they need to for everything they buy.
Of course, I had rather Bell to them
cheaper for cash ; but I cannot afford
to on credit and tako the risks I have
to."
Talking with on old friend who is a
banker, he says his depositors among
farmers are, nine-tenths of them at least,
(aud he thinks a larger per cent.) are of
the Pay-as-you-go class. I cannot see
how it can be otherwise ; nor do I ever
expect to.
A Chapter in Cheese,
'The following story of a lost heir is
told by a Tasmnnian paper, tho Corn
wall Chronicle: " About seven years
ago, in the city of London, a cheese
monger died, leaving cash to tho tune
of 100,000 to be quarreled over, fought
and disputed for by the reputed heir-t-law.
Advertisements were inserted
at different times in the English news
papers, and many a claimant a la Tich
borue, was forthcoming. The lawyers,
however, were not satisfied that any of
tho numerous claimants were the right
men, and what has just transpired has
proven that they were correct in their
judgment, as tho right man has turned
up in the person ot the deceased cheese
monger's brother, George Hutley, who
arrived in this colony about lorty years
ago. He was discovered byF. Stevens,
a Victorian barrister, splitting up in
the ranges of that colony, taken to Mel
bourne, shipped on board a Bteamer
and brought to Lounceston, and then
taken to Hobart Town, where he was
identified as the veritable George Hut-
ley, who arrived at Tasmania some forty
years ago. After all the necessary docu
ments are procured to prove without a
shadow of doubt the man's identity, he
will proceed to England to claim his
uiiiciitauijc.
Attacked by a Rat.
A few nights since an infant daughter
of Martin S. Snyder, living in Lancaster
township, was attacked by a large rat
while lying in its cradle, fust asleep. A
nurse occupied a bed in the same room,
About midnight the latter was awakened
by hearing the cries of the child. She
arose, lit a lamp, and upon approaching
the cradle she was horrified to observe
a large rat leap from the cradle and
Bcamuer away. The little infant was
completely saturated with blood, and
upon seeing it the nurse fainted. The
nurse, however, awakened the father of
the child, and he ran into the room
when he discovered that the voracious
rat had bitten tho little thing at least iu
a dozen places in the arm, between the
elbow and shoulder. Medical assistance
was immediately procured, and the
wounds dressed.
Facts and Fancies.
The Ohio Constitutional Convention
adjourned at Columbus to meet at Cin
cinnati December 2. f
Professor Dan strongly asserts that
" it now seems demonstrated by astron
omical and physical arguments that the
interior of our globe is essentially
Bolid-" , , i.
At Ponghkeepsie, John Wenz, ft junk
lnnlnr ulirit. liia wife ond then shot
himself. Both ore dead. They hod
quarrel about money matters. Wenz
was intoxicated. They leave seven
children.
A little eirl who had groat kindness
of heart for tho onimol creation, saw a
ipii nrenarincr to gather her chickens
under her shelter, and shouted earnest
ly. "Oh I don t sit down on those oeau-
'... . . 1 T t ft
tiful b-ds, you great, ugiy oiu Ben.
In a Pennsylvania graveyard may ue
seen ft stone bearing mis iiiscri-i,iu .
Here lieth the body of Amy Major,
who departed this life March 20, 1792.
Suffice it to say she was on honest
woman the second noblest work oi
God."
The nrouosed building ot Philadel
phia for the Centennial will, it is said,
cover on area ol seventy-nve acres. m
will make it the largest of the kind ever
erected. That at Vienna, including
covered courts, the machinery, fine arts,
and agricultural departments, only cov
ers GGi acres.
The Governor of Illinois recently par
doned a penitentiary convict because
they said he was dying or consumption.
That pardon did more ior mai young
man than would havo been done by
twenty dozen bottles of cod liver oil.
In twenty-lour hours ins lungs -.ero as
sound as if they had been mado of
brass.
When in Paris the Shah visited the
establishment of one of the most ex
tensive jewelers of that city, and pur
chased for 8120,000 a cellar of pearls,
and for $17,000 a diamond bracelet, for
tho wife of Marshal M'Mahon. Every
thing he bought was first placed on the
person of tho Grand Vizier to enable
the monarch to see how it looked.
The Southern editor rarely ventures
into his compositors' room, and when
obliged to do so, orms himself to the
teeth, and leaves on his desk an obituary
notice of himself appropriate to mo
event of sudden death. Do you ask
why? His handwriting is such as to
invite violence from those by the sweat
of whose brows it is deciphered and set
up.
A terrible accident occurred on tho
farm of Mr. William Preston, at Butler,
Pa., by which three men were burned
to death. They were boring for oil,
and were in the well at the time the
oil was struck. The oil scarcely reached
the surface before it took fire, blazing
up a hundred feet or more. The bodies
of tho men who were burned were re
covered. Tho power of love is shown in tho
case of the Iowa girl who went three
miles from home to a pastuie lot be
longing to her father, and there cut tho
throat of a calf, so that when tho old
gentleman heard of the matter he might
hasten thither aud thus give his daugh
ter a courting spell with a lover, who
had been warned not to appear upon
tho premises.
The statistics of marine disasters re
ported by the Bureau Veritas for last
month, gives the following, being the
list of disasters Buffered by all flags :
Sailing vessels totally lost, 8'J. Of
these, 47 wero English, 12 French,
7 German, 7 American, 4 Italian, i
Norwegian. 2 Austrian, 1 Russian, 1
Turk, 1 Danish, 1 Swedish, 1 Greek,
and 1 of which the nag has not been re
ported. It will be remembered that aninquiry
into trades-union outrages in Sheffield
ipfore a committee of the House of
Commons some years ago elicited some
astounding revelations, a man -named
Broadhead ailmitting.alter au indemnity
nd been secured him against his Btate-
ments bringing him into trouble with
tho law. that ho had been mainly in
strumental in compassing the death of
many men.
A good deal of sickness has been
caused in many places by eating fish.
It is held that trout is unfit for food two
days after it has been killed, and that
there is no process by which it can be
kept good. Not long since a family in
Cincinnati were made seriously ill by
eating smoked trout. And several per
sons in Pittsburgh, Pa., were taken
violently sick, recently, after partaking .
of smoked white fish.
Several wealthy Boston lodies have
been raising a fund to be devoted to
giving rides into the suburbs of the
city to invalids whose limited means do
not allow them to procure any such in
dulgence. Various methods of ar
ranging excursions for poor children,
mothers with infants, and invalids are
being carried out in many of our cities.
The chanty is worthy the consideration
of every one during this warm and
sultry weather.
Colonel Dunham, in Floyd county.
Indiana, recently instructed the grand
jury to investigate a lynching, for doing
which he received several threatening
letters, warning him that his life was in
danger. To these he replied in a letter
addressed to a local paper, iu which he
says : " Tho Vigilants, so called, tell me
1 had better keep quiet. Jjet me tell
them I never failed to speak my opin
ions. I denounce them as murderers,
as they are, and as all decent citizens
know them to be. I have stood before
the cannon's mouth, where not one of
the masked cowards ever dared to
stand."
A young man in Detroit having, by
careful economy, saved $200, with a
natural dread of banks, deposited it, ir
bills, in an old pair ot boots in one cor
ner of his room. In the course of a
few days his mother was struck with
the untidy appearance of his chamber,
and iu the era of reform which she in
stituted threw the boots into a back
alley. There his father bow them and
forthwith put them into a manure box
behind the barn til he could get time
to cut the tops off. That same evening
some one stole the box and its contents,
and when the boy visited his room and
rapidly pursued an investigation he
only satisfied himself, that he was again
penniless,