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wife
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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM, Two Dollars per Annum.
vol. hi. 'ridgway, elk county, pa., ..Thursday, October 9, 1873. no. 32.
The Kivor rath.
No bird-sons floated down the hill J
The tangled bonk below was si III ;
No rustle from the birchen rtem
No ripple from the water's hem :
The dink of twll'itht round u grew,
We ielt the falling' of the dew J
For, from us, ei-c the day was douo,
The wooded hills shut out the uu.
But on the river's farther eido
Wc saw the hill-tops glorified
A tender glow, exceeding fair,
A dream of day without its glare.
Withm the damp, the chill, the gloom;
With them the sunset's rosy bloom,
While dark, through willowy vistas seen,
The river rolled in shade between.
Trom out the darkness where we tro'd
Wc gazed uj-on those hills of Ood,
Whoso light seemod not of moon or buu :
Wc spake not, but our thought was one.
We paused, as if from that bright shore
Beckoned our dior ones gone before ;
And stilled our beating hearts to hear
The voices lost to mortal ear.
Sudden our pathway turned from night ;
The hills swung open to the light ;
Through their preen gates the sunshine showed,
A long, slant splendor downward flowed :
Down glade and glen and bank it rolled ;
It bridged the shaded stream with gold,
And, borne on piers of mist, allied
The shadowy with the Buulit side !
" So," prayed we, " when our feet draw near
The rivr dark with mortal fear,
" And the night cometh, chiU with dew
O Father 1 let thy light break through !
" So let tho hills of doubt divide ;
So bridge with faith the sunless tide ;
" 80 let the eyes tlmt fail on earth;
On thy eternal hills look forth,
" And, lu thy beckoning angola, know
The dear ouub whom we loved bolow !"
TO LET.
I should like to describe my hero as
a young p. ml gallant cavalier of this
nineteenth century, with the beauty of
an Apollo and the wisdom of a sage,
but truth compels me to acknowledge
that Rupert Smithson, in spite of his
fine Christian appellation, was neither
one or the other. His nephew and
namesake, who was called by the bosom
of his family Rupert the Second, said
that his Uncle Rupert was a crusty old
bachelor, and I hammer lny brains in
vain lor a more httinsr description.
A crusty old bachelor he undoubtedly
mis, more man mty years ot age, with
grizzled hair, heavy gray beard, and a
. luuBii iuii;u unit manner, it is very
i .... 1. . 1 ....
hub unit ue was always carelul to Keej:
iiiu vriiBiitME sine 01 nature on tho snr
lace, ana had been discovered in the
act ot committing several deeds of
charity and kindness, that belied utterly
his habitual surly tone and abrupt
manner.
Twenty years before, when tho gray
liair was nut-brown and clustered in
rich curls over the broad white fore
head, wheu the brown eye shown with
the firo of ambition, the clear voice was
true ami tender, Rupert Smithson had
given his whole loyal heart to Katie
Carrol, neighbor and friend, little sweet-
nearc irom cluluuood.
Urged by love as well as by ambition,
lie had left his home, in a small Western
town, ami gone to AewYork to win t
name and fortune to lay at Katie's feet,
.1110 fortune and fame as a successful
merchant came to him, but when he re
'irned to Katie he found she had left
jDer Home also, to become the wife of
wealthy pork dealer in Cincinnati.
Nobody told Rupert of treachery to
iiib jjiuuy ivuue, 01 letters suppressed,
of slanders circulated, and parental
authority stretched to the utmost in
favor of the wealthy suitor. He had
no record of the slow despair that crept
over the loving heart, when the plead
ing letters were answered, of the dull
apathy that yielded at last, and gave
a way the hand of the young girl, when
lcr heart seemed broken.
All that the young, ardent lover knew
was the one bitter fact that the girl he
loved faithfully and fondly was false to
her promise, the wife of another. He
- spoke no word of bitterness, but re
turned to the home ho hoped was his
stepping-stone, and a life of loneli
ness.
Ten years later, when his sister, with
her son and daughter, came to live in
JNew lork for educational advanrnrroH
Rupert the First was certainly what his
Biiucy licpucw called luni, a crusty old
oaciieior. let into that sore, disap
j'ujuieu neari natie s desertion Had bo
wounded, the bachelor uncle took with
warm love and great indulgence his
nephew and niece, bright, handsome
children ot .ten and twelve, who, child
like, imposed upon his good nature,
rioted over his quiet, orderly house,
his staid housekeeper declared they
were worse than a pair of monkeys,
caressed h'iin stormilyone moment, and
pouted over some refusal for a monstrous
indulgence the next, and treated him
generally as bachelor uncles must ex
pect to be treated by their sister's chil
dren. " Rupert was so set in his fidgety
old bachelor ways," she said, "that
it would be positive cruelty to disturb
him."
Probably young Rupert -and Fannie
, did not consider their blight young
faces disturbers of their uncle's tran
. quility, but it is quite certain that out
1 of school hours, No. 49, their uncle's
house, saw them as frequently as No.
. 43, where their mother resided.
With the intuitive perception of chil
dren they understood that the abrupt,
often harsh voice, the surly words, and
the demonstrative manner, covered a
heart that woild have made any sacri
' flee for their sakes, that loved them
with as true a love as their own dead
father could have given them.
As they outgrew childhood, evidences
of affection eeased to take the form of
dolls and drums, and cropped out in
Christmas checks, in ball dresses and
boquets, a saddle horse, and various
other delightful shapes, till Rupert
came of age, when he was taken from
. college into his uncle's counting house
and a closer intimacy than ever was
cemented between the young life and
the one treading the downward path to
oia age.
There had been a family gathering at
Mrs. Kimberly's one eveninar in the
month of March, and a conversation
had arisen upon the traditional customs
and tricks of the 1st of April.
" Senseless, absurd tricks," Rupert
atmthson had called them in his
abrupt, rough way, fit only to amuse
children or idiots.
"O, pshaw, Uncle Rupert!" said
Fannie, saucily, " you played April fool
tricks too when you were young.
".Never I Jsever could see any wit
or sense in them. Aud what's more,
Miss Faunie, I was never once caught
uy nny of the shallow deceits.
" Never made an April fool?"
" .Never, and never will be," was the
reply. " There child, go play me that
last nocturn you learned. It suits me.
I hate sky-rocket music, but that is the
dreamy, lazy air, and I like it."
" The idea of your liking anything
ureamy and lazy," said JUrs. itimberly.
" I thought you were all energy and
activity."
"When I-work, I work," was the
reply ; " but when I rest, I want rest."
"Uncle Rupert, broke in Rupert,
suddenly, " what will you bet I can't
fool you next week?"
" Rah 1 The idea of getting to my
age to oe looiea Dy a ooy line you.
" Theu you defy me ?"
"Of course I do."
" I'll do it."
"Fore-warned is fore-nnned. But
come, stop chatting, I want my
music.
Pretty, snuey, mirth-loving Fannie.
with her dancing black eyes and bril
liant smile, did not look like a very
promising interpreter of dreamy, lazy
music, out once ner nanus touched the
keys of the grand pianoforte, the whole
nature seemed to merge into the sounds
sue created. Merry music made dan
cing elves of her fingers as they flew
over the notes ; dreamy musio drew a
mask ot hushed beauty over her face.
and her great black eyes would dilate
aid seem to Bee far away beauties as
the room filled with the sweet, low
cadences
She would look like an inspired Joan
of Arc when grand chords rolled out
under her hands in majestic measures,
and sacred music transformed her
beauty into something saintly. When
once the rosewood case closed, Saint
Cecilia became pretty, winsome Fannie
Kimberly again.
There were few influences that could
soften the outer crust of manner in Ru
pert Suiithson, but lie would hide his
face away wheu Fannie played, ashamed
of the tears that started, or smiles that
hovered on his lips as the music pierced
down into that warm, loving heart he
had tried to conceal with cynical words
and looks.
So, when the first chords of the noc
turn melted softly into silence, the old
bachelor stole away and left the house,
bidding no one farewell.
They were accustomed to his singular
ways, and no one followed him, but
Mrs. Kimberly sighed as she said :
"Rupert gets more odd and crusty
every year."
"But he is so good," Fannie said,
leaving her piano stool with a twirl that
kept it spiuning around giddily.
" Why don't he get married ?" asked
Rupert. " It is a downright shame to
have that splendid house shut up year
after year, excepting just the few rooms
Uncle Rupert aud Mrs. Jones occupy."
" I mean to ask him," said Fannie,
impulsively.
"No, no!" said Mrs. Kimberly, hasti
ly, " never speak of that to your uncle,
Fannie, Never !"
" But why not ?"
" I never told you before, but your
uncle was engaged years ago, and there
was some trouble. I never understood
about it exactly, for I was married and
left Wilton the same year that Rupert
came to New York. But this I do
know; the lady after waiting three or
four years, married, and Rupert has
never been the same man since. I am
quite sure he was very much attached
to her, and that you would wound him,
Fannie, if yon jested about marriage."
" But I don't mean to jest at all. I
think he would be ever so much happier
if he had some one to love, and some
one to love him in return. It must be
dreadfully lonesome in that large house
with no companion but Mrs. Jones,
who is 100 years old, I am certain.
" He ought to marry her," said Ru
pert, " she always calls him 'dearie.' "
" Don't, children, jest about it any
more, said their mother, " and be sure
you never mention the subject to your
uncie.
The first of April was a clear, rather
cold day, the air bright and snapping,
and the sky all treacherous sm'les as
became the coquettish month of sun
shine and showers.
Uncle Rupert, finishing his lonely
breakfast, thought to himself :
"1 must be ou the lookout to-day for
Rupert's promised trick! He won't find
it so easy as he imagines to fool his old
uncle. Who's there ?" The lust two
words in answer to a somewhat timid
knock upon the door.
J t was certainly not easy to astonish
Rupert Smithson, but his eyes opened
with an unmistakable expression of
amazement as the door opened to admit
a tall, slender figure in deep mourning,
and a low, very sweet voice asked:
"Is this the landlord? '
"The the what?"
"I called about the house, sir."
"What house? Take a seat" sud
denly recalling his politeness.
"Is not this No. 49 W place?"
"Certainly it is."
"I have been looking out for some
time for a furnished house suitable for
boarders, sir, and if I find this one suits
me, and the rent is not too high "
But interrupted the astonished
bachelor.
O. I hope it is not taken. The ad
vertisement said to call between 8 and
9, and it struck 8 as I stood on the door
step."
"O, the advertisement. Oh. no. Mas
ter Rupert. This is your doings, -is it?
will you let me see the advertisement,
madam?"
"Yov have the paper in your hand,
sir, she said, timidly. "1 did not cut
it out."
'O. you saw it in the paper." and be
turned to the ljst of bouses to let,
Sure enough there it was.
"lo let, furnished three story,
brown-stone front, basement." and rath
er a full description of the advantages
of the premises, with the emphatic ad
dition, "call only between 8 and 9 A. M."
" So as to be sure I am at home, the
rascal," said Rupert Smithson, laying
aside the paper. " I am sorry, madam,"
ha said, " that you hare had the trouble
oi calling upon a useless errand.
" Then it is taken ?" said a very dis
appointed voice, nnd the heavy crape
veil was lifted to show a sweet, matronly
face, framed in that most saddest of all
badges, a widow s can.
" Well, no," said the perplexed bach
elor, " it is not exactly taken.
" Perhaps you object to boarders ?"
"You want to take boarders?" he
answered, thinking Low ladylike and
gentle she looked, and wondered if she
had long been a widow.
" Yes, sir; but I would be very care-
tui about the reference.
"Have you ever kept boarders be-
tore i
"No, sir. Since my husband died,
six years ago ho failed in business.
aud brought on a severe illness by men
tal anxiety my daughter and myself
have been sewing, but we have both
been iu ill health all winter, and I want
to try some way of getting a living that
is less conhniug. i have kept house
several years, but I havo no capital to
furnish, so we want to secure a house
furnished like this one, if possible."
Quite unconscious of the reason, Ru
pert Smithson was finding it verypleas
ant to talk to this gentle little widow
about her plans, and as she spoke, was
wondering if it would not make nn
agreeable variety in his lonely life to
let her make her experiment of keeping
a boarding house upon the premises
Seeing his hesitatiou, she said, earn
estly
" I think you will be satisfied with
my references, sir. I have lived in one
house and have worked for one firm for
six years, and if you require it, I can
obtain letters from my husband's
friends m Cincinnati.
"Cincinnati?"
" He was pretty well known there,
Perhaps yoa have heard of him, John
Murray, street i
" John Murray !"
Rupert Smithson looked searchinelv
into the pale face that was so pleadingly
raised to his gazo. Where was the rosy
cheeks, the dancing eyes, the laughing
lips that he pictured" as belonging to
John Murray's wife? Knowing now
the truth, he recognized the face before
him, the youth all gone, and the ex
pression sanctified by sorrow and long
sunering.
"You have children?" he said, after
a long silence.
" Only one living, a daughter, seven
teen years old. I have buried all the
others."
" I will let you have the house on one
condition," he said, his lip trembling a
nine as lie spoke.
he did not answer. In the softened
eyes looking into her own, in the voice
suddenly modulated to a tender sweet
ness, some memory was awakened, and
she only listened with bated breath and
dilating eyes.
"Uuouo condition, Katie, he said,
that you come to it as my wife, and
its mistress. I have waited for you
over twenty years, ivatie.
it was hard to believe, even then.
though the little widow let him cares s
her, and sobbed upon his breast.
J.U1S. gray-naired, middle-aged man
was so unlike the Rupert she had be.
lieved false. Even after the whole past
was discussed, and Rupert knew how
he had been wronged, but not by Katie.
it was hard to belUve there might be
years of happiness still iu store for
them.
Rupert Smithson didn't put in an ap
pearance at his counting house that day,
aud Rupert the Second went home to
his dinner in rather an uneasy state of
mind regarding that April fool trick of
his.
" I must run over and see if I have
offended beyond all hope of pardon,"
ho said, as he rose from the table.
But a gruff voice behind him arrested
his steps.
oo, so; you nave advertised mv
house to let," said his uncle, but spite
of his efforts he failed to look very
angry.
" How many old mauls and widows
applied for it ? " inquired the daring
young scapegrace.
" 1 don t know. After the hrst appli
cation my housekeeper told the others
the house was taken.
" Taken ! "
" Yes, I have let it upon a life lease.
too."
Here ho opened the door.
" My wife I "
Very shy, blushing and timid " mv
wife " looked in her slate-colored dress
and bonnet, as her three-hours' hus
band led her in.
After a moment's scrutiny Mrs. Kim
berly cried :
"It is Katie Carroll I"
"Katie Smithson!" said the bride
groom, with immense dignity, and my
daughter, Wiunifred."
There was a new sensation, as a pret
ty blonde answered this call, but a
warmer welcome was never given than
was accorded to these by their new rel
atives, and to this day Uncle Rupert
will not acknowledge that he got the
worst of the joke -when his nephew
played him an April fool's trick by ad
vertising his house to let.
A Mocking Bird Risen front the Ashes.
A mocking bird in its cage was saved
from the ruins of the rear buildings of
the Holliday Street Theatre, Baltimore,
on Saturday last, by Mr. Thomas Mox
ley. ne had left the bird in charge of
Mrs. Linton, who so barely escaped
with her children on the night of the
fire. Attention was called to the bird
by his tinging amidst the desolation of
a half-consumed room in the second
story of the building at the Fayette
street entrance. Mr. Moxley was both
surprised and delighted to find his bird
alive, though terribly altered from
Tuesday last, when he had been fed.
No water or food was found in the cage,
and the bird was nearly famished. A
part of the cage was slightly soorched,
and it seems wonderful . that the bird
was not smothered to death, .- . .
, How Counterfeiters Work.
When the rebellion broke out, a noted
counterfeiter, says a reporter for the
U. S. Senate Secret Service Bureau,
saw an -excellent chance to "make
money," by imitating the postal and
legal-tender notes which then appeared.
Ho went into it on a wholesale scale,
and his efforts at this time were im
mensely profitable. He got out fair
counterfeit plates of the Si's, the two's,
the &10's, and the $20's, which all suc
ceeded finely ; but his specially success
ful effort was on imitation fifty-dollar
legal-tender, which proved the most
dangerous counterfeit, as well as the
most accurate imitation, of all that
ever were got out' of that denomina
tion. After fully half a million dollars of
this dangerous note had been put upon
the market, Bill, the counterfeiter, was
arrested on suspicion ; but, so well had
he covered up his tracks, that nothing
could be proved against him, and he
was again released. His success with
this operation led him to undertake a
still greater venture ; and he deter
mined to go to work and introduce a
bogns one-hundred-dollar compound-interest-bearing
note, which were then
greatly in demand and for which he
thought he would find a ready market.
Bill, consequently, by a liberal outlay
of money, induced an attache of the
Treasury Department, through the
agency of a handsome woman who
figured somewhat prominently in the
affair to break his trust, and take a
wax impression of the back of the plate,
from which the genuine note was being
printed, from which an electrotype
was subsequently procured. The young
man who had been led into this crime
died suddenly, a short time afterward,
in Washington, before he had been sus
pected of tho crime of which he had
been guilty.
Pity the Poor Printer.
A writer in Our Monthly has evident
ly been inside a composing room, if he
has not " dug a living out of a case."
Ho thus sums up tho result of his ex
perience :
" Working for forty editors and scores
of authors, every one of whom is as
sensitive as a sore thumb, aud as lively
and interesting as a hornet, no wonder
that printers die young, and only
paehydermatous grizzly, mulish spe
cimens get their share of life.
" Happy infants, early blent !
Host iu peaceful slumber; rest ;
Rescued from the thumps and jeers
Which increase with growing years."
"The writer wishes ha could offer
himself as an awful example of the
perils which erviron the man who
meddles with cold type. A thorough
ly trained printer s'houd have had a
stepmother and then stepfather, and
theu have been bound out to a tanner
and then have married a scolding wife
and lived in a smoTting house, and have
had a family of babies who were afflicted
with the colic. He should have added
to all this discipline a thorough knowl
edge of science, art, law, languages,
theology, history and biography. If,
in addition, he has a vicious-looking
countenanco and an amiable disposition,
he may stand some chance with those
authors and editors ; but tho probabili
ties are, after all, that they will worry
him to death."
How He Deat an Editor.
An October mntrnzino rplntea flm fnl.
lowing incident of Cagliostro, the
noted swindler of his day. It says :
Expelled from FrnnAP CnnM
turned to London and Masonry. A
newspaper quarrel, in mat nay of small
things in Newspapers, made him tem
porarily famous throughout England.
One De Morandi, editor of the Cuurricr
do VKuropz, accused him of being a
rogue. This editor was happily witty
over a statement of Cagliostro's that, in
his princely travels in Arabia, he saw
pigs fed and fattened on arsenic
sprinkled food. When thoroughly
saturated with the poison, nn tlmt. tboir
sides stood out with fatness, the pigs
were marcued into the woods to be de
voured by lions, ti ETerS. lnnni-ila niifl
other camiverouB animnls trhn ni
died immediately after their poisonous
repast, it is ratner a tough story, and
De Morandi made great fun of it, offer
ing to eat any amount of the pork.
But the Count turned the tables on his
editorial persecutor by offering to put
up twenty-five thousand dollars that he
would fatten a pig on nrsenic, and thai
De Morandi and himself rIi
hearty breakfast of it, tho survivor to
have the fifty thousand dollars. The
pork, he told Eugland, would kill De
Morandi, but ho was immortal. The
editor declined the test, not caring to
risk hia life even in hopes of winning
twenty-five thousand dollars.
Improvements In Iron Production.
A London inventor, named
has devised a furnace which is claimed
to resolve the three problems of the utili
zation of coal dust, the perfect combus
tion of fuel without
chanical puddling, The furnace is now
i. Anwni..n .. t- I. TIT 1 1 1
.ii u;ciuuuii mo y ooiwicu arsenal.
It Consists of a cylinder rnvnlvi
a horizontal axis, and divided into two
chambers, unon four benvinrr wl.oola lot
into a bed plate on the ground. Around
the furnace at one end is a toothed
wheel, which gears into a pinion con
nection with a small
it is said to revolve. There is a circu
lar opening in the bridge or partition
between the two chambers. Into one of
the latter, the combustion rh
comminuted coal dust mixed with air is
blown, and there consumed. The inte
rior is lined with fire-brick, to which the
slasr from the iron melted in tb tnr.
nace forms a protective covering, being
equany uisiriuiueu over the surface as
the cylinder revolves. At the end of
the work i no- chamber is a fluo laJinnli
the chimney, and which is arranged
with a counterbalance weight, so that it
can be removed when , the charge is to
bo intrnrinnerl. or witlirl re,., A ,'n
1 --.wnu, AB IU
the common reverberatory furnace, the
products of combustion pass from the
first into the second chamber, where the
heat is applied for the purification ot
the charge, .
Tricks of a Smuggler.
The especial attention of the Senret
Service of the United States having
been called to the fact that large
amounts of valuable lacea and jewelry
found their way into this country in
some mysterious manner, without pay
ing duty, during tho years 18CC and
1807, it was at last ascertained that
these smuggled goods came through
Boston. A "special" (Captain S )
was sent to the Custom House at that
port to " work up " the case, and for
several months this gentleman was on
the qui vive watching tho European
steamers carefully, but without avail.
One fine morning, however, this officer,
while on board of a steamer which had
just come in from Havre, observed a
large deal box, which was being trans
ferred to the shore. His suspicions
being aroused, he inquired what it con
tained, and was answered that it was a
corpse an American who had died
abroad, and whose body was being sent
homo for interment in his native soil, at
the request of his mourning relatives.
Not quite satisfied with this explana
tion, the officer ordered the box to be
opened. Inside was a handsome black
walnut coffin. Still suspicious, he or
dered the lid of tho casket to bo un
screwed, and thora lay the dead man
sure enough, the body slightly decom
posed. The casket was quickly closed,
and the box nailed up and taken away
without further investigation.
A short time subsequently a similar
occurrence took place. Another steamer
arrived from France with another corpse
aboard, it was said, addressed to other
waiting, mourning friends in America.
Somewhat confounded at the apparent
mortality going on among American
citizens in France, Captain S or
dered also this box to bo opened before
leaving the ship. This was done, and
there was another elegant casket with
silver mountings, handles, etc. This
unscrewed as before, and there lay the
corpses the cold blue face and head
and neck there could be no question
about tho fact. The coffin lid, which
opened a third of its length upon silver
hinges, was just being thrown back to
its place when the officer insisted, to the
surprise of the sailors, that the entire
lid of the casket should be removed.
This was done at once, and, horrible
to relate the fact, the trunk and bowels
of the corpse were found to have been
removed, and, in place of the contents
for which intended, tho cavity in the
casket, for two-thirds of its length, was
tilled with shallow tin boxes, hermeti
cally sealed, containing some eight
thousand dollars' worth of choice
Mechlin and other valuable laces I
These, of course, were seized and con
fiscated, while tho mutilated corpse
went on its way, according to address.
How Young Men Fall.
" There is Alfred Sutton homo with
his family to live on the old folks,"
said one neighbor to another. " It
seems hard, after all his father has
done to fit him for business, and the
capital he invested to Btart him so fair
ly. It is surprising he has turned out
so poorly. He is a steady young man,
no bad habits, as far as I know ; he has
a good education, and was always con
sidered smart ; but he doesu't succeed
in anything. I am told he has tried a
number of different kinds of business,
and sunk money every time. What
can be the trouble with Alfred ? I
should like to know, for I don't want
my boy to take his turn."
" Alfred is smart enough," said the
other, "and has education, enough, but
he lacks the one clement of success.
He never wants to give a dollar's worth
of work for a dollar of money, and
there is no other way for a young man
to make his fortune, ne must dig if
he would get gold. All the men that
have succeeded, honestly or dishonest
ly, in making money, have had to work
for it, tho sharpers sometimes the hard
est of all. Alfred wishes to get his
train in motion, and let it take care of
itself. No wonder it soon ran off the
track, aud a smash-up was the result.
Teach your boy, friend Archer, to work
with a will when he does work. Give
him play enough to make him healthy
and happy, but let him learu that work
is the businefM of life. Patient, self
denying work is tho prico of success.
Ease and indolence eat away not capital
only, but worse still, all of man's nerve
power. Present gratification tends to
put off duty until to-morrow or next
week. It is getting to bo a rare thing
for the sons of rich men to die rich.
Too often they squander in a half-score
of years what their fathers were a life
time in accumulating. I wish I could
ring it in the ears of every aspiring
young man that work, hard work, of
head and hands, is the price of success."
'ot Remarkable.
A Massachusetts farmer says; "My
cattle will follow me until I leave the
lot, and on their way up to the barn
yard in the evening stop and call for a
lock of hay."
Smithson says there is nothing at all
remarkable in that. He went into a
barnyard in the country one day last
week where he had not the slightest ac
quaintance with the cattle, aud an old
bull not only followed him till he left
the lot, but took the gate off the hinges
and raced with him up to the house in
the most familiar maimer possible.
Smithson says he has no doubt that
the old fellow would have called for
something if he had waited a little
while, but he didn't want to keep the
folks waiticg dinner, so he hung one
tail of his coat and a piece of his pants
on the bull's horns and went into the
house.
The Lookino Glass. To repair the
silveiing on a mirror, the following
method has been recommended by good
authorities: Clean the bare portion on
the glass by rubbing it gently with fine
cotton, taking care to remove all dust
and grease. With the point of a knife
cut upon the bock of another glass a
portion of the silvering of the required
form, but a little larger. Place a drop
of mercury upon it.. This spreads, and
presently the piece of amalgam may be
lifted up with the blade of a knife, and
transferred to the place to be repaired.
Press it with a piece of cotton wool. It
hardens speedily, and the patch is as
good as any other part of the mirror.
A Singular Case.
Senator Foote, of Mississippi, in his
reminiscences of early times, tells a
horrible story of a Governor of that
State as follows:
Alexander McNutt was a coarse", bru
tal man, with a certain sort of ability
and fluency in speech, calculated to en
tertain the masses, but an arrant cow
ard. He formed a valuable partnership
with one Joel Cameron, a very success
ful cotton planter at Natchez, and grew
rapidly wealthy ; but suddenly tho peo-
fdo of Mississippi were shocked by
earning that Cameron had been mur
dered, and that four of his own negroes
had been arrested for the deed. These
negroes were tried and ung, McNutt
being particularly officious iu bringing
them to justice. One of them, named
Daniel, a very intelligent, though des
perate man, began, before his execu
tion, to throw out dark hints of McNutt
being an accessory to the murder, and
was only silenced by a threat that a
dentist should be sent for and his teeth
drawn a very strange proceeding,
truly. Daniel remained silent after that
until the day of his execution. The
negro supposed ho would have the op
portunity of saying a last word on the
gallows, as is usual in such cases ; but
anticiptting this, McNutt had arranged
to defeat the intention, and when the
negro began speaking the drums of the
guard commenced to beat, drowning
his voice, and in the midst of the tu
mult he was swung off. Immediately
thereafter McNutt secured the arrest of
a free negro named Byrd, whom he
charged with complicity in the crime.
Byrd was familiar with the affairs of the
purtners, and McNutt doubtless feared
he would betray some secret. Byrd
was tried twice, each time convicted,
and each time the Supreme Court an
nulled the sentence and sent the case
back for rehearing. But McNutt pur
sued him like a bloodhound. He waa
tri3d a third time, and again convicted.
He made a statement the day before his
death, which he submitted to Governor
Foote, who was his counsel, in which
he charged the murder directly upon
McNutt, and adduced facts strongly
corroborative. He also gave a state
ment made to him by the negro Daniel,
above referred to, aud in support of the
charge referred to the fact that within
a few months after the death of Came
ron, McNutt had married the latter's
widow, aud had come into the whole
of his property. This statement was
suppressed at the request of Gov
ernor Foote, und McNutt permitted to
go unmolested. Byrd was hung, though
there seemed to be, outside of the jury,
who had doubtless been tampered with,
a universal belief in his innocence.
McNutt afterward became Governor of
Mississippi, and was a prominent can
didate for United States Senator, but
was beaten by Mr. Foote. In the course
of his recital the latter relates that
McNutt and Cameron were guilty of
the most horrible treatment of their
negroes. They beat them in the most
inhuman manner, and murdered them
without fear or restraint. The case of
one is related who was held upon burn
ing coals until the fire consumed his
vitals.
The Dog and Prairie Wolf.
The resemblauce between the dog
and coyote, or prairie wolf, is the sub
ject of an interesting paper by Dr.
Elliot Coues iu a recent number of the
American Naturalist. A table of
measurements of the two species shows
a very close argument between them,
even though one of tho terms of com
parison be so highly specialized a va
riety of dog as the pointer. Crosses of
the coyote and the dog are frequent,
with the resulting mongrels fertile ;
"and in every Indian commuuity on
theplains," says Dr. Coues, "there are
mongrel dogs shading into coyotes in
every degree, all having the clear wolf
strain, and some being scarcely dis
tinguishable from a prairie wolf. The
most striking difference between the
coyote and the dog is their physiogno
my." That of the coyote is character
ized by Dr. Coues as being intermedi
ate between tho wolf's and the fox's,
but more "doggy" than either. Audu
bon's figure of the coyote is said to be
faithful enough, though the front view
of the upper figure is too "foxy." The
coyote face occurs in many cur-dogs,
especially the slender-nosed kinds, but
the true coyote lacks almost entirely
the frontal prominence of tho latter
animal, its face from occiput to mouth
deviating but very little from a straight
line. Its lips are thin and scant, com
monly showing the teeth, and always
parting when the animal is dead. The
differences between the skull of the
pointer and that of the coyote are
trilling compared with tho discrepancies
existing in different breeds of dogs.
Fifty Miles iu Two Hours aud Five
Minutes.
Chan. Reticker, the celebrated rider,
performed his extraordinary feat of
riding fifty miles in two hours and a
half, at the (Greenland Race Course.
Louisville, Ky. At twenty-eight minutes
past 3 the word was given, and off he
started for his first mile. Each of the
horses was brought out in turn as he
arrived at the end of a mile, but, after
the hrst ten miles had been accom
plished, three of the horses were taken
away, not being in good condition, leav
ing only seven to run the remaining
lorty miles.
Total time of running, 1 hour, 52
minutes, and 311 seconds. Time lost
in changing horses, 12 minutes and 4
seconds.
Total time of race, including chang.
ing, 2 hours, 5 minutes, and twenty
seconds.
Reticker thus accomplished the race
24 minutes and 40 seconds quicker than
he proposed to do it. .
Mr. Reticker states that the time ac
complished is the fastest on record in
the United States. This is greatly due
to the horses, all of which are Kentucky
morougnpreas.
Mr. Reticker used the old fashioned
California Spanish saddle iniiding, and
also has a peculiar bridle, - The track
was somewhat heavy and was very
dusty, the dust flying into the rider's
throat, compelling him to drink water
at times to moisten his lips ; otherwise
be was in good condition, and felt as
well after the race was over as when it
. ', Items of Interest.
Carlist bonds are quoted in Frank-
fort.
Marine blue is one of the fashionable
colors for the winter.
England must import 12,000,000 quar
ters of wheat this year.
On a tombstone nt Stenday, Prussia, -is
inscribed "she died of a ootset."
There wasn't even one friend to fol
low poor Beau Hickman at his last rest
ing place.
' There are from eight hundred to nine
hundred beer and whiskey saloons in
Milwaukee. .
Redingotes are as popular and fash
ionable as ever, and will be worn
throughout the winter.
Two Texas eattlo men in Wichita
recently played a game of marbles for
one hundred steers a side.
Fifteen persons have been killed in
Ohio during the last year by weapons
supposed to be unloaded.
Chloroform will remove paint from a
garment or elsewhere, when benzole or
bisulphide of carbon fails.
Gen. Sheridan presided at theseventh"
annual reunion of the Army of the
Cumberland, in Pittsburgh.
A Vermont buzz saw jumped out of a
saw mill and ran a straight half mile on
the highway before stopping.
"Terrible Outrage Au Orphan Boy
Murders his Mother," is the heading
of an item in a Kansas paper.
Arvanitakt, the chief of the band
which massacred the English travelers
at Marathon, has been killed.
They say the largest English settle
ment made in this country is in Kansas.
We thought it waa the Alabama.
It is becoming quite a common cus
tom to sell potatoes by the weight. The
standard is sixty pounds to the bushel.
The injurious effect of artificial light
upon the eye is Baid to be due to the
presence of an excessive number of non
luminous heat-rays.
Mrs. Fannie Oakes has sued a
Georgia railroad for $20,000 damages
for the killing of her' husband, who was
an engineer on the road.
The Warden of Sing Sing Prison
says that during his service of 20 years,
he has never known of the attempt of a
" life prisoner " to escape.
The Vizier who accompanied the
Shah of Persia on hia recent visit to
Europe has been sent to prison on the .
return of the party to Teheran.
The Chinese of Nava Creek (Cal.)
dam up the shallow places, and when
the tide has run out they find their fish
by the basketful in the holes above.
The London Times keeps a "libel
suit lawyer," and he has carried the
paper through thirteen suits without
judgment being rendered against it.
Wcolei.ii popowi urn mriviirinfjr tlin
reasons why the uermans do not
share in tho grange or farmers' move
ment. No very plausible explanation
is afforded.
A strange and fatal disease, producing
great consternation, is very prevalent at
Ivelton, Oregon. Persons die m a lew
hours after they are attacked. The
disease resembles fever.
Gath epitomizes Long Branc'i as "a
stretch of frame houses on a green bluff,
with good air, fair roads, a bud, duty
and dangerous surf and great monot
ony, relieved only by dissipation."
They didn't invite Jim Cummings to
a wedding ball iu Nebrasko, and Jim
took position at a window and shot with
his shot gun until ho had effectually
marred the harmony of the evening.
The bodies of four men and ono
woman have been washed ashore at Big
Bras D'Or, C. B., supposed from the
wreck of the schooner Eureka, of New
York, lost at that place during the great
gale.
Many hop-growers have been called
upon to respond in various amounts for
infringing on a patent for stringing hop
vines, that of using short poles aud
running strings between them for tho
vines to cling to.
A Maryland woman is shortly to bo
tried under the old English law as a
common scold. tier counsel is con
fident of an acqnittul, however, as he
can produce her husband to testify that
she's a most uncommon Bcold.
A call has been irsued for a National
Convention of Colored Men, to meet in
Washington, December 9, to impress
upon Congress the necessity of passing
a Civil Rights Bill. Each State and
Territory is entitled to twenty delegates.
Over the shop door of a pork butcher
in a village in one of tho Eastern conn-
ties of England, may be seen a sign
board representing a man in a black
coat brandishing a hatchet, with the
inscription, "John Smith kills pigs like
his father."
In one of his letters to the London
Times, Mr. Alfred Smee mentions the
curious instances of a cat that would
not drink the milk of cows fed on sew
age grass, or that otherwise adulterated,
while it lapped up eagerly a fresh can
from the country. .
Anew version of "Old Uncle Ned" has
become - popular in the suburbs.' It
runs somethingas follows: "Then pull
up the wicket and the stake, and put
by the mallet and ball ; for no more
croquet'll be played this year, it's get
ting too late iu tho fall."
A novel cure for whooping-cough is
reported in Collinsville, Conn. A little
four-year-old boy -was severely attacked
with the above complaint, when a little
kitten was given him which he was very
fond of holding most of the time. The .
kitten Boon began to cough and whoop,
with symptoms of being quite ill, The
boy rapidly recovered, and be and the
kitten are now both well.
A little girl, probably six years of
age, appeared at cne of the juvenile
balls held recently at Long Branch, in
an entire dress of lace of the most valu
able description. It was made in the
style of the day, and worn over pink
silk. The lace being white in color the
effect was beautiful. The dress was'
valued at $900. 'The little child also
wore diamond earrings, necklace, and
rings. .Five years ago, says Grundy,
the same child's father waB a barkeeper
in California, " ' '