Nil DESPEIIANDTJM.
.Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. IV.
UIDGrWAY, ELK COUNlY, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1874.
NO. 7.
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
Bab-.
She is not a beauty, my 'jW00t nttlo pet,
Her mouth's not n rnd, i,cr CyPS ave Ilo(.,
like jet,
ner nose far f-om Grecian, her skin not like
SHOW,
She is not & beauty, dear mo! no, no, no!
Cut then she is winsome, this bird of my bower,
And tins grows on my heart every minute and
b our,
Pha '.a not a beauty, my sweet little pot,
Oa dimples more witching my eyes have been
set;
tier mouth, I must tell you, is large like
mamma's,
While her cliiu, to be sure, is just like her
papa's !
But when the tmilcs trustingly, what can
compare
)i ith this gem of my caekot, bright, sparkling
and fair ?
8he Is not a beauty, my sweet little pot,
Far handsomer babies each day can be met ;
Her brown are not arching indeed they're too
straight,
Yet time will work wonders, with patienco I'll
wait.
But if she's not handsome, it matters not no !
This bud of m; bosom is pwe as the snow.
She is not a beauty, my sweet little pet,
That her forehead is too low I cannot forgot ;
No, no, teho's not beautiful I must confess,
Bctwron yon and I, would her mouth had been
less)
But she loves mo bo dearly, oh, bow could
part
With this light of my pilgrimage, joy of my
heart ? .
THE JUNKET AT THE SQUIRE'S.
There was jnst three of us. Thank
ful, Keturah and Jerusha. I was Jeru-
slia, and mother often said if there had
been but two she couldn't have got
along, for Thankful 'wove, Keturah
spun and I helped her about the house
work and getting wool and flax ready
for their use ; and if there had been
four of us one must have been idle, and
mother abhorred idleness.
Maybe you think you know what
scinninor nnd weaving are. but von
would chango your mind if you had
Been Thnnkful's and Keturah's work,
Such webs of toweling and tablecloths,
all of tho handsomest patterns, flowers
and diamonds and stars, your snow
drops don't compare with them, and the
couuterpins (Grandma meant countsr
panes) and blankets, and cloth for the
family wear but dear me I I can't tell
vou half the things Thankful wove and
Keturah spun. I don't k.aow but there
is as much work done now as there used
to be, but it's of a different kind. Now
it is riding, walking, and fixing up for
callers, ana going to the opera, balls
and concerts with the beaux. But
beaux were as plenty in those days as
tow, yes and plentier, lor then wives
were a help instead of expense ; and
where now a man cannot anord to mar
ry, then he could not afford to remain
single.
We used to call young men sparks.
I can't tell why, unless because thev
made a flume in the girls' cheeks.
Jerusha was what would be called
now a flirt. She had lots of sparks and
a dreadful lite she led them, encourag-
ing one moment and frowning the next.
She was full of fun but dignified when
occasion required. She liked Ephraim
Williams best of all, but she was very
careful not w let mm Know it.
But Thankful was different. She
was calm and gentle, nnd never cared
for any one but Jabez Arden, nor ap
peared to.
They kept company for a long time
and never had but one falling out that I
know of, and that was just before Squire
JJoohttle b J linker.
I remember well the day and all
about it, for it was my first party, as
girls say now, and 1 was half crazy with
excitement, for Abel had promised to
take me nnd I was to wear a white dress
just like my sisters. They had been
out bleaching nnd were just as white as
the snow. They were woven of linen
end shone like satin when they were
ironed. I don't just remember what
there was to do besides, and as I can
remember everything else well enough
I think it must have been a deal as it is
now, more fuss than fixing and more
worry than work. At any rate mother
said we need not do our tusks that day,
and it was late for breakfast wheu
Jabez came in, but we were at the
table.
" How Jo you do ?" said father,
" stinging cold ain't it ? Won't you set
up and take a bite ?"
"No, but I'm much obliged," says
Jabez.
" Do Bet up," said mother, " I hain't
got anything fit to eat, but maybe you
can make out if you try."
After a good deal ot urging Jabez
drew up and father heaped his plate,
and mother said as she passed the
rye cakes and biscuit, " They ain't
nothing like so good as your mother's,
Jabez."
" But Jabez said they were the best
he ever eat. What are you smiling at,
child ?" It was considered good man
ners then to say you hadn't anything
fit to eat, and for the other company to
praise it, and Jabez was always very
polite to our house and mother thought
him "proper nice."
They talked about threshing and sled
ding and his mother's rheumatiz, so it
was some time before he got a chance
to ask if we were going at .the Junket
to Squire Doolittle's.
I don't know what possessed me to
do as I did, but I said right off, " Yes,
we are all going. I am going with
Abel, and Keturah is going with Eph
raim, if sho don't change her mind, and
Silas Deane has asked Thankful."
So he had, but Thankful refused be
cause she expected to go with Jabez,
and I knew it as well as any one, only
I liked mischief.
The girls looked mad and so did
Jabez when I mentioned Silas, because
Silas wanted Thankful and of course
Jabez was jealous ; and he took it mat
she had promised to go with Silas and
so never asked her himself.
Father scolded and Keturah said I
ought to be made to stay at home to
punish me, bnt Thankful never said
a word, only I knew she felt badrV.
When I got a chance so Keturah would
not see me, I told her I was sorry. She
said it wasn't nuy matter.
!-iIa3 heard somehow that she was
not going with Jabez, nnd so he nsked
her again, nnd Thankful said " yes "
this time. She didn't seem to care
about going, but she was very anxious
to look well. I didn t understand it,
but sho was beautiful when she was
dressed for the party. Her gown, as
told you before, shone like satin,
and the stars woven on it seemed to
twinkle. I suppose you think they
mupt have looked real dowdyish, or
would now, but the dresses are made
very much now as they were then.
They wore a kind of tunic, very much
like your overdresses, and tne sleeves
were made tight to the arm, with ueep
ruffles over the hands and around tho
neck. Thankful wore mother's silver
comb in her hair, that was rolled to the
top of her head, and a blue ribbon was
tied nround her neck. She had dark
brown hair and large, sad eyes, a little)
mouth, with white even teeth, and her
form was tall and slender, one would
be called beautiful now, but then Ke
turah was considered the handsomest,
for her hair was black and curling, lier
eyes bright and sparkling, and her
cheeks as red as roses. She wore gold
beads around her neck and her hair in
curls, but aside from that they were
dressed exactly alike.
I thought myseit grand in my wmte
gown, but when Thankiui lent me ner
red shoes 1 icit proud, i can reii you,
and there never was a happier girl than
the one mounted behind Abel on old
Dobbin, to go to the Junket at Squire
Doolittle s.
When we got there I was a'most be
wildered. There seemed nothing but
lights and girls and brass buttons ; but
after a little my mind got settled
enough to look about. The long kitch
en was cleared, and around on the raft
ers were nailed wooden candle-sticks,
two or three in a place. The strings of
dried apple and pumpkin had not been
taken down, but were festooned over
head, and the crooked necked squashes
hnng by the fireplace. Black Jack, the
fiddler, sat in a chair placed on the
table at one end of the kitchen, and
tho Squire nnd his wife sat just outside
the door, she with her knitting, and he
just watching the young folks, for he
liked dancing as well as ever, and was
amazing spry, too.
Pretty soon they led onto the floor
for "Four bond reel," and I saw that
Jabez had Sally Wilkins, a pretty girl
enough, but dreadful disagreeable and
pert. I never liked her, but when she
looked at Thankful in the way she did
I could have boxed her ears and enjoy
ed doing it.
But, la, how Silas danced I The
walls were low in those days, and he
was always as light as a top. When he
was " casting off right and left," or
aoing "ladies chain," I can t remem
ber which, his chin, someway, caught
on a string of dried apples, and
he pulled down two or three yards of it
right onto tho floor. They joked him,
of course, and some one said his heart
and heels were pretty light. Almira
Bean she was always saying some
thing disagreeable said she didn't
know about that, but his head must be.
danced with the old Squire and Abel,
besides Silas and one or two others.
Jabez asked me, and although I wanted
to refuse him, I didn t, because he was
so handsome and such a nice dancer.
Ho never asked Thankful the whole
evening, but was very attentive to Sally,
and you may believe, Silas was just as
much so to Thankful.
About ten o clock we had supper,
Mrs. Doolittle was a beautiful cook,
and the beans and roast beet were
"done to a turn.". The chicken pie
was delicious, and so were the apple
nies. rjumpkin pies and mince, dough
nuts, rve cakes, riz bread and biscuit,
sweet cake and ginger bread, and ever
so much besides. But Mrs. Doolittle
must be polite, so ske urged every one
to trv to " make out," and said sue
hadn't anything fit to eat.
" I hope you'll all set up," says she,
" and take off the edge or your appe
tltes, though my victuals is jest as poor
na thev always are. These beans are
dreadful bad baked. Take some
chicken, do, maybe 'tain't quite so bad
Thankful, do have some beef, you bain'
eat a mouthful, nor you neither, Silas
Jerusha, child, you can t find anything
you can eat, can you ? Well, I don't
wonder, wnen your uiumci a ouuu i
nice cook. Try some of this sweet-cako
It's dreadful heavy, though. I declare
vou don't any of you eat nothing."
Of course wo all did eat, and we
praised everything just as much as she
run it down, and then asked for re
ceipts, which she gave, but our minds
being so full of the beaux and dancing
we couldn't remember them and so
didn't try.
After supper we went back to dano
ing, and how light our feet and hearts
were ! At least mine were, and so I
know were Silas' and Sallie's. We
.li.ln't dance then as you do now fancy
dances, you call 'em but I don't see
wliv. for to mv mind ' Hull's Victory
and " Boy's Wifo " were a deal prettier
nnd more respectable, certainly. We
were not so lazy about our dancing,
noit.hnv. for Jack's arm flew like light
m n fy find SO did we. almost, and my I
hnw the floor shook ween "all chassied,
and Jack's face shone like a black bot-
tin. -with nride and perspiration.
At last came " Virginia Heel," where
the gentleman bows to any lady on the
floor. When it came Jabez' turn he
went un to Thankful and made her
low bow, and I saw him give a kind of
beseeching look as though he wanted to
make up, but Thankful didn't appear
to see it, but just danced her prettiest.
She looked so sweet and Jabez so manly
and handsome, I said then to myself, 1
would bring them together if I had to
sacrifice Sally and Silas and my pride
altogether.
This was the last "figure," and then
we got ready to go. The girls had on
their pelisses and the sparks were get
ting their horses, when I thought I
heard Abel's voice. I rushed to the
door, but saw when I got there that it
was Jabez waiting for Sallie. All in a
second it flashed into my mind what to
do. I went in and spoke to Thankful
and said "Come, your horse is ready,
and she went out. still and quiet, au
took Jabez' hand and mounted up be;
hind him. She never seemed to notice
but that it was Silas.
Their horse trotted off jnst as Silas
ame up. iiow nngry ne was i and so
was Sallie, and I just laughed but never
said a word. Of course they went to
gether, though neither liked the change
very much, and I mounted behind Abel,
but I shook so when I thought of it nil
that Abel thought 1 was shivering with
cold, and he hurried ou as fast aB he
could.
We overtook Jabez and Thankful just
wo reached home, and they were
talking so earnestly that they hardly
noticed us, so I saw that it was all
right.
Jerusha came home early and was al
ready abed, but Abel would make up a
hre, because, he said, L was almost
frozen shivered all tho way home. I
went off to bed, and so did Abel, and
left Jabez nnd Thankful in the " keep
ing-room." They made up matters, I
suppose, for the next Sunday they were
"cried" in the old Brick Meeting
House.
I always thought, nnd do still, that
Jabez knew all the time that it was
Thankful instead of Sally, but 'I never
dared to say much, for I thought I had
said euough.
Yes, and Ephraim and Jerusha were
married, and so were Silas and Sallie,
that same year of tho Junket at Squire
Doolittle s.
Formation of Coal Deposits,
From a lecture delivered by Professor
Williamson, before the British Associa
tion at Bradford, we extract the follow-
ing interesting account of the forma
tion of coal beds : It must be under-
st jod that, although the earth was pop
ularly regardeu as the type of every
thing that was staple and immovable,
this was a very erroneous idea, for old
Mother Earth was about one of the
most fickle and inconsistent of all the
jades with which men have to deal.
She was never still. It happens that
at the present day there are certain re
gions, such ns the volcanio districts,
which are always moving upwards,
while there were others, like the coral
regions, which were steadily going
downwards. So it had been iu the olden
time. The coal beds appeared to have
accumulated in the latter class of areas
the areas of depression, geographical
areas in which tho earth had a ten
dency to sink below tho level of the
ocean. Upon such areas mud and silt
had accumulated until the deposit thus
formed had reached the level of the wa
ter, and then came what appears to
have been highly necessary as a pre
liminary to the growth ot the coal ma
terial viz., a bed of blue mud. It was
not known why that .blue mud was
there, or whence it came ; but it was as
certain as that garden plants required
favorable soils lor their development,
that whatever its orir.in, the blue mud
was the soil which seemed to have been
preferred by the great majority of
plants constituting the forests of the
carboniferous era. In it the minute
spores, or seeds, of the vegetables
which afterwards became coal, gcrmi
nated and struck out.until eventually the
muddy soil was converted into a mag
nificent and almost tropical forest. As
the forest grew, the spores fell from
the trees, half-dead leaves and decayed
branches also dropped, and the stems
themselves gave way : and thus an im
mense amount of vegetable matter was
accumulated. This, in the progress of
timo, sank below the water level, and
more mud being deposited on the coal,
the new formation, in turn, underwent
the same processes as its predecessors,
until at length a new forest was formed,
to share tho same fate as that which
had gone before it. This process was
repeated again and again, until at length
the various materials spoken of formed
accumulations of rock and coal, varying
from three, four or five, to as much as
eight or ten thousand feet.
Can Paralysis be Cured J
Paralysis, according to an English
traveler, is rare, much that passes for
paralysis being curable, especially
through the imagination. The opinion
is supported by the statements of one of
the best medical men in Paris, who, in
1819, was a physician in the great hos
pital there, the Hotel Dieu. In that
year this hospital was particularly fa
mous foi the cures effected iu it, and
many were the hypochondriacs whose
imaginations sent them home well after
a stay in its wards. One odd caso was
that of a young girl in the department
of the Ain, whom a sudden fright had
rendered dumb and paralyzed. Local
physicians could do nothing lor her,
and at last asserted that only the doc
tors of tke Hotel Dieu could cure her.
Firmly believing this herself, the girl
was sent to Paris and admitted to the
hospital, where the hurried physician
merely examined her as a matter of
form, promising to return the following
day. When he came he heard to his
astonishment that the patient was in
clined to speak. He spoke to her and
she answered instantly that she thought
that she could walk with a little help,
and she did walk twice around the
ward very easily. The next week she
returned to her native village as well as
ever.
"I knew," she said, "that the Hotel
Dieu would cure me 1"
It would be hard to find a more strik
ing instance of the mysterious power of
the imagination, and of strong belief,
upon the physical structure.
Greenland Glaciers.
Some of the Greenland glaciers attain
a vast size. Dr. Kane reports the great
Humboldt glacier as sixty miles wide
at its termination. Its seaward face
rises abruptly from the level of the
crater to a height of 300 feet, but it is
not known how deep it may extend
under the sea. Another important ioe
stream is the Glacier of Eisblink, on
the Northwest part of the island. It
projects seaward so as to form a
promontory thirteen miles in length.
It comes from an unknown distance in
the interior,- aad plunges deeply into
the sea, ' ' ,
Corn Dhop Cakes. Mix corn-meal
with boiling new milk until you have a
thick batter put in the patent pans at
once, and bake -for twenty or thirty
minutes.
Popular Weather Signs.
Would it not serve a useful purpose
if Bomo soientifio meteorologist were to
gather into n maBS the various weather
signs whether valuable or not
treasured by the formers and other
common-sense people of the country,
and then sift them, so that those of real
value may have their proper influence,
and those which are merely fanciful may
cease to mislead ?
That there are weather signs in
abundance, everybody knows. That the
greater part of these signs are utterly
valueless, every person of intelligence
can testify. Yet that they do practically
influence the time and mode of the
planting of crops, and of their after
culture, will be acknowledged by
many who would not be suspected or
tho folly, and who can give no other
reason for it than the force of habit.
"We nre going to have a dry month.
said a farmer the other day.
" How do you know ? ' he was asked.
" By the Indian's Bign of the new
moon," he replied. " Its horns hung
so sloping that they could hold no
water."
His companion laughed. "Why that's
my Injin sign for a wet moon. The
horns slope so that they let loose all the
water."
Tho sign in the one case was no doubt
ns prophetio ns in the other.
" Always plant your potatoes in the
dark of the moon, if you wish to have a
full crop," I heard my neighbor say.
" But never kill your pork, nor boil
your Bonp at such a time, unless you
are willing to have them shrink to noth
ing." " What is your authority for this ?"
"I have always heard so," he an
swered with some hesitation, "and al
ways so practiced. Potatoes, you know,
being roots, naturally love darkness.
And soap and bacon I suppose they
take their cue from tho state of the
moon. The fact is, I only know that
this is the old-time rule."
" We are to have a frost on the 19th
of May," said a farmer to mo on the 5th
of April.
I was shocked, for he looked wise
and lugubrious, and a frost at that
time in our latitude would have cost
millions of dollars. I asked, "How do
you know ?"
" Because we had a fog on the 19th of
March.'"
He saw mo smiling, and added, " I
have heard this rule ever since I was a
bov. and it has never failed yet."
" The surest rule I know for foretell
ing the weather throughout the year,
said a planter, possessed of at least a
semi-collegiate education, "is to note
the twelve days between new Christmas
and old Christmas (from December 25
to January 6). The months of the en
suing year are apt to be wet or dry, cool
or warm, according to the days corre
sponding." He seriously declared that
for many years ho had "pitched his
crop" and ordered his plantation work
under the guidance of this rule, and
found that it served well. No doubt,
for that amount of time in advance, it
was quite as good as any other rule in
ordinary use. F. li. O., in Hearth and
Home.
Cheese for Cannon Shot,
The queerest ammunition heard of
lately was used by the celebrated Com
modore C09 of the Moutevidian navy,
who, in an engagement with Admiral
Brown of the Buenos Ayrean service,
fired every shot from his lockers..'
" What shall we do, sir?" asked his
first lieutenant. " We'vo not a single
shot aboard round, grape, canister
and double-headed are all gone."
"Powder gone, eh?" asked Coe.
" No, sir ; lots of that yet."
" We had a very hard cheese a
round Dutch one for dessert at din
ner to-day ; do you remember it?" said
Coe.
" I ought to ; I broke the carving
knife in trying to cut it, sir.
"Are there any more aboard ?"
"About two dozen ; we took them
from a droger."
" Will they go into tho eighteen
pounders ?
" By thunder ! Commodore, but
that's the idea ; I will try 'em 1" cries
the first lieutenant. And in a few
minutes the lite from old Santa Maria
(Coe's ship), which had ceased entirely,
was reopened, and Admiral Brown
found more shot fiying over his head.
Directly one of them struck his main
mast, and as it did so, shattered and
flew in every direction.
" What the deuce is that which the
enemy is firing ?" asked Brown.
But nobody could tell.
Directly another came through a port
and killed two men who were near him,
and then, striking the opposite bul
warks, burst into flinders.
" By Jove, this is too much ! This
is some new fangled paixhan or other.
I don't like 'em," cried Brown ; and
then, as four or five more came slap
through his sails, he gave the orders
to fill away, and actually backed out of
the fight, receiving a parting broadside
of Dutch cheeses.
How Kellogg Lives.
Speaking of Miss Kellogg, a gentle
man writing from New York to San
Francisco, says : " She sings as well
as, if not better than, ever, but she is
growing too stout for grace or beauty.
The innkeepers at the various provincial
towns where they stop lay it to the onion
soups her mother makes for her, and
while they do not deny that they may
be appetizing and conducive to embon
point, it is said, for some reason or
other, they object to them. Madame
Kellogg has the genius of a Soyer.
3he can broil a herring or the caudal
extermity of a Cincinnati poker over the
grate fire of a private parlor in such a
way as to render herself invisible for
the smoke, and to make one s eyes and
one's mouth water at the same time
at least such is her reported ability."
A wide-awake minister, who found his
congregation going to sleep before he
had fairly commenced, suddenly stopped
and exclaimed, "Brethren, this isn't
fair : it isn't giving a man half a chance.
Wait till I get along, and then if I ain't
worth listening to, go to sleep, but don't
before I commence ; give a man
chance."
The Mother In IIcaTcn.
In turning over some old papers in a
country attic some time since, I came
across the following sentiments, which,
from some hints by tho author accom
panying, I think he intended eventually
to put into verses. They struck me,
even in prose, as expressing the cry
from so many hearts, that I have ven
tured to copy them and send them to
you. hoping you might think them a
healthy relief from the absorbing politi
cal topics of the day, and give them a
corner in your valuable paper :
' When the heart is oppressed with
anxious cares, wnen the world looks
cold nnd drear, when black disappoint
ments hang heavy round our necks.and
we hunger after a love that seems ever
to recedo, whither do our souls turn for
succor ? To that mother in heaven who
never failed us while here.
" When our hearts ache to find our
selves no longer needed to partake in
the pleasures of our children scarcely
welcome even to share in their sorrows ;
when cold duty takes the place of the
heart's offerings in sickness or suffer
ing, to whom do we cast our eyes up
wards, thinking, oh, were she here,
whom should we find ever at our side ?
Our mother in heaven.
"When those we love have gone astray,
and language fails to express the bitter
shame ; when the little feet whose tot
tering steps we have upheld, or watched
through the firmer strides of youth and
manhood, have turned into devious
paths, heedless of entreaty or prayer,
.whither do we turn, longing to rest our
weary heads on the bosom that ever an
swered our cry for sympathy? The
mother in heaven.
" When years havje passed, and we are
left alone, children gone, some separa
ted by seas or mountains, others by the
greater distance of coldness or forget
fulness, whose voice then comes back
to us with the loving tones we vainly
lone to hear once more? The dear
mother in heaven.
"Is not the wish wrung from us, that
once again we were children to be
clasped in that warm embrace? Do not
the bitter tears come as we remember
how unmindful we were of the rich
motherly blessiigs while we had them?
"Oh, ye, who still have mothers to feel
for you in your joys or your sorrows,
remember, however your hearts may
change, their's never do : the mother's
heart is the one thing that never grows
old. Amid the traits that must be our
portion in this world, a good Being has
sent to all one blessing one love purer
than all others. Happy nre those who,
with anguish and remorse, do not have
to say, it is our mother in heaven."
Exchange.
The Size of Countries.
The Bed Sea would reach from Wash
ington to Colorado, and it is three
times ns wide ns Lake Ontario.
Madagascar is as large as New Hamp
shire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connec
ticut. New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Virginia and Worth Carolina all
put together.
Palestine is one-fourth the size of
New York.
HiudoRtan is more than one hundred
times as large as Palestine.
Great Britain is two-thirds the size of
Japan, one-twelfth the size of Hindo
stun, one-twentieth of China, and one
twenty-fifth of tne United States.
Greece is about the size of the State
of Vermont.
The English Channel is nearly as
large as Lake Superior.
Lake Huron is as large as the Sea of
Azof.
The Great Desert of Africa has nearly
the present dimensions of the United
States.
Tho Caspian Sea would stretch from
New York "to St. Augustine, and is as
wide as from New York to Rochester,
The following bodies of water are
nearly enuul in size: German Ocean,
Black Sea, Yellow Sea; Hudson's Bay
is rather larger; the Baltic, Adriatic
Persian Gulf and CDgean Sea about half
as large, and somewhat larger than
.Lake Superior.
The Mediterranean, if placed across
North America, would make sea naviga
tion lrorn San Diego to Baltimore.
The Gulf of Mexico is about ten times
the size of Lake Superior, and about as
large as the Sea of Kamtschatka, Bay
of Bengal, China Sea, Okhotsk Sea
or Japan Sea. Lake Ontario would
go into either of them more than fifty
times.
Great Britain and Ireland are about
as large as ew Mexico, but not as
large as Iowa and Nebraska. They are
less than New York, Pennsylvania, and
Ohio.
TIs Sweet for One's Country To, Etc
Happening one day in his travels to
be belated, Senator (Jollamer stopped
at a substantial and comfortable farm
house, and was entertained and hospit
ably invited to make himself comfortable
for the night, lie accepted the invita
tion, had a good supper and very
luxurious lodgings. The next m&rn-
lng Mr. Collamer made a survey of the
farm of his host, and was much sur
prised with the comfort and substantial
thrift and prosperity of everything
around, lie could not but congratu
late him on his apparently happy lot.
His fields were well-fenced, his barns
were filled, and his crops most prom
ising. Besides, too, the farmer had an
industrious and amiable wife, and
several bright and healthy children.
"A farmer's life," remarked Mr. Colla
mer. is certainly tne happiest oi an
human lots, and I must say, my friend.
that you are as happily fixed as any
farmer I ever knew."
"Wall," remarked his host, "that's
your notion, but 'tain't mine. I intend
to sell out aud move next week."
" Whither are you going ?"
"Down into Texas. "
" What, into that wild and disturbed
country, menanced by the whole Mexi
can army and by roving bands of
Comanches, and marauding Greasers ;
leave this peaceful and happy home tor
such a savage country, where you
would have to sleep every night on
your arms, and carry your rifle strapped
across your shoulder whilst ploughing
ing in the neids r -
"Yaas sir-ree," was the eager reply.
" wno would give a cuss to live in a
country where he couldn't fight for his
liberty r
THE ATLANTIC ICEBERGS,
A Clew to the Late Ocean Weather.
The reports from the Atlantio demon
strate an early and extraordinary de
scent of ice fields and icebergs from the
Arctic Ocean. Large fields of ice were
reported from St. John's, sailing off
towards the Grand Banks of Newfound
land. The Cunard steamship Calabria
"passed great quantities of ice, latitude
43 deg. north, longitude 50 deg. west?
and, on the same day, the Frisia, within
a hundred miles of that spot, encoun
tered a mass of these icy flotillas. But
the steamship Idaho, in latitude 45 deg.,
longitude 48 deg., became entangled in
them, and stopped her engines two
hours. It is not known to mnny seamen
that occasionally, as Sir Leopold Mc
Clintock found in 18G0, great quantities
of ice accumulate on the coasts of
Greenland, afterwards to be dislodged
and precipitated toward the mid-Atlantio.
In that year the accumulation of
ice exceeded anything like it ia the past
thirty-six winters. The unusual mild
ness of t ebruary, it would seem, nas
been potential, even in these high lati
tudes, in unloosing them ou the swift
Polar currents, which .sweeping through
Davis Strait and along the jjabrador
coasts, commingle with or underrun
the northern margin of the warm Gulf
Stream.
The early and apparently excessive
precipitation of these islands into the
vapor-iaden region oi tne warm Atlantic
current may probably afford a clew to
the mystery of the terrible gale oi tne
27th of February, in which so many
steamships were disabled. The Antarc
tic icebergs which penetrate the warm
water belt east of (Jape Jlorn are said to
cause the violent hurricanes of the high
southern latitudes. The infusion of
immense ice masses, with their wide
spreading boreal influence, to the south
east of Newfoundland, would undoubt
edly cause rapid and excessive conden
sation ot vapor, and hence a rapid iau
of the barometer and tho invariably
consequent tempest. The same chill
ing agency would also explain the
furious snow storms which were re
ported by several of the disabled ves
sels.
McClintock describes one of these
frozen monsters two hundred and fifty
feet high, which was aground in five
hundred feet of water in Baffin Bay.and
ships, we know, have passed hundreds
of smaller ones on the trans-Atlantic
voyage. To melt a single one of them
an inconceivable amouut of heat must
be drawn from the surrounding air and
ocean and their temperature be conse
quently reduced.
As the indications favor the move
ment of unusually large numbers of
these ice mountains into the North At
lantic double skill and vigilance are de
manded of the steamship captains. JNo
doubt the equinoctial gales that have
now set in, and the early approach of
spring, will ocoision great dislodge
mouts of the glaciers on the Arctic
coasts, and render unwearied caution
on the Atlantic necessary, not only by
reason of collision with ice, but also by
reason of the tempestuous weather the
ice serves to breed.
How to Check Coughs, Sneezing &c.
Dr. Brown Sequard, in his last Bos
ton lecture, says there are many facts
which show that morbid phenomena of
respiration can be also stopped by the
influence of arrest. Coughing, for in
stance, can be stopped by pressing on
the nerves on the lip in the neighbor
hood of the nose. A pressure there
may prevent a cough when it is begin
ning. Sneezing may be stopped by the
same mechanism. Pressing in the
neighborhood of the ear, right in front
of the ear, may stop coughing. It is
so also of hiccough, but much less so
than for sneezing and coughing. Press
ing very hard on the top of the mouth
inside is also a means ot stopping
coughing. And I may say that the will
has immense power there. There was a
French soldier who used to say, when
ever he entered the wards of the hos
pital, " The first patient who coughs
here will be deprived of his food to
day. It was exceedingly rare that a
patient coughed then. There are many
other affections associated with breath
ing which can be stopped by the same
mechanism that stops the heart s action,
In spasm of the glottis, which is a ter
rible thing in children, as you well
know, as it sometimes causes death, and
also iu whooping cough, it is possible
to afford relief bv throwing cold water
on the feet or by tickling the soles of
the feet, which produces laughter, and
at the same time goes to the gray mat
ter that is producing the spasm and
arrests it almost at one. I would not
say that wo can always prevent cough
by our will ; but in many instances
those things are possible, aud u you
remember that in bronchitis and pneu
monia, or any other acute affection of
tho lungs, hacking or coughing greatly
increases the trouble at times, you can
easily see how important it is for the
patient to try to avoid coughing as best
he can.
Obtained Entrance.
One of the new men on the Holjoke
police force proved himself master of
the situation in getting into John Sul
livan's saloon, one Sunday morning re
cently, wnero some men were piaying
cards, but the windows and doors of
which were locked. Suddenly a bril
liant idea struck him. He caught a cat
which was near, and carrying it up to
the steps just outside the door, gently
but firmly stepped on aforesaid cat s
tail, which caused such a mewing and
screeching as to speedily bring some
body to the door, when the omoer walk
ed in and found four men, whom he
walked off to the lock-up.
Hb Learned Ix. A firm dealing
largely in coal in one of our Western
cities had in their service an Irishman
named Barney. One day the head of
the firm, irritated beyond endurauce
one of Barney a blunders, told mm to
go to the office and get his pay, and
added, "You are so thick-headed I
can t teach you any thing." " Begor-
ra, said Barney, " l larnt wan tning
since I've been wid ve I" " What's
that?" a iked his employer.. "That
sivinteen hundred made a ton." Barney
was retained.
Facts and Fancies.
An obedient wife commands her hus
band.
The discontented man finds no easy
chair.
The man who pardons, disappoints
his foe.
None knows the weight of another's
burthen.
Wherever the speech is corrupted, so
is the mind.
Diligence is a fair fortune and indus
try a good estate.
Friendship is love, without either
flowers or vail.
When you have no observers, bo
afraid of yourself.
To those whose god is honor, dis
grace alone is sin.
To a gentleman every woman is a
lady, in right of her sex.
He who chatters much to no purpose
climbs a tree to catch fish.
He that finds a thing, steals it if he
endeavors not to restore it.
The ancients dreaded death ; the
Christian can only fear dying.
A lnuffh is worth a hundred groans
in any market. Charles Lamb.
Happiness can be made quite as well
of cheap materials as of dear ones.
Manv a man's vices have at first been
nothing worse than good qiialitiea ru
wild. The grangers of Perry county, Ala
bama, are about to start a large cotton
factory.
A hungry man does right well to eat
the egg, for he might starve before it
got to be a pullet.
Our prayers and God s mercy nre
like two buckets in a well while one
ascends, the other descends.
When you see a woman winding hor
watch in a horse car, you may mnke up
your mind that she has not had a watch
very long.
It is curious that in circulating u-
fiction almost always comprises
just about seventy-five per cent, of the
circulation.
Texan ionrnals are calling nttention
to the extensive live-oak forests in that
State, into which their railroads are
penetrating.
Thirteen men were drunk at Holyoke
the other day, and the Transcript says
that they " got higher than tho height
of an absurdity."
A western hen recently laid nn egg
measuring a circumiereuce oi veu uuu
three-quarter inches by seven and a
quarter inches.
Electric butter is the latest novelty iu
the dairy line. A pint of milk is snid
to be made into a pounu oi uuui-r iu
less than one minute.
The largest man in Tennessee has just
died. His weight was one thousand
and forty pounds. They will bury him
in the Mammoth Cave.
A man who has lived next door to a
school-house for ten years says he can
sea no sense in calling any one " a gen
tleman and a scholar."
Now then for the oldest overcoats 1
A Bridgeport man comes to the surface
with a coat on ms Bnouiuers m no
thirty-first year of active duty.
A "Rrnoklvn girl of six summers says
the reason the man on the new fractional
currency looks so mad is because ho is
only put on a ten-cent stamp instead of
a fifty-center.
At Virginia City a bystander, witnes-
sing an accident in wmcu u, mim icn
under the cars and had both legs cut
off, himself turned instantly gray,
fainted, aud died from the shock.
"Mr. Gardener, of Montgomery Co.,
Virginia, said at a recent farmers' meet
ing that he supported his family on
forty acres of laud, and cleared six
hundred dollars besides, last year.
A Vienna journal contains thefollow-
ing advertisement : -auuh xs.giin.i,
sick nurse, watches dead bodies, re
pairs straw chairs, applies leeches, and
makes pastry, desserts nnd delicacies.
When a Tennessee father wains
into a newspaper office with a shotgun
on his arm and says, " My darter has
writ some poetry which 1 want you to
publish," how's a feller going to plead
press of matter ?
Captain King, of Texas, formerly of
Vermont, has an inclosed pasture ot
70,000 acres, though he owns about
150,000 acres of land in Nueces nun
Duval counties. The entire stock held
lw liim fit the present time is 50,000
head of cattle, 20,000 head of sheep, and
10,000 head ct horses.
A Western paper says that the way
to kill off the poets who offer to write
pieces gratuitously is to accept their
efforts, hand them to the worbt com
positor, and let the proof-reader correct
them according to his own ideas of
prosody. This is warranted to destroy
the strongest poetical fever in three
weeks.
A wnry went to the station of one of
the railroads one evening, and, finding
the best car full, said in a low tone,
" Why, this car isn't going 1" Of
course this caused a general stampede,
and the wag took the best seat. Iu the
midst of the indignation the wag was
asked : "Why did you say .this car
wasn't going?" "Well, it wasn't then,"
replied the wag, "but it is now."
The Christian Union replies to a
query as to whether it is wicked to
danoe : " It is wicked when it is wicked,
and not wicked when it is not wicked.
In itself it has no more moral character
than walking, wrestling, or rowing.
Bad company, untimely hours, evil
danoes, may make the exeroise evil ;
good company, wholesome hours, and
home influences, make it a very great
benefit." '
A physician, writing to the Philadel-
phia Press, says that angina pectoris is
at a rare anecwon, and usuany sparea ium-
viduala under fifty years of age. The
most reliable remedy is one compara
tively well known among leading phy
sicians, but not yet admitted to phar
macopoeia nitrate of amyl, prepared
by heating fusil oil and nitrio aoid . in
the same crucible. It should be au-
ministered by inhalation, and its effects
I are immediate.