. , NIU DESPERA3STDXTM.
Two Dollars per Annirni.
VOL. IV.
RIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1874.
NO. 1).
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and - Publisher.
i
' Money.
Money goea, no one known (
Whore it gnotli, no one showeth i
Here and there, everywhere ',
Run, run ; dim, dun t upend, spend ; ;
Lend, lend ) send, Bend ;
Hush to-day, short to-morrow !
Notes to pay, borrow, borrow
How it goes, no one knows ;
Where it goeth, no one knowoth.
THE MAGIC WAND.
'' Nestled close among the green hills
of Vermont Mi ere stood an old farm
house, browned and discolored by the
winds and tempests which had beaten
against it for more than half a century.
'.Tho low roof ami email windows added
to its homely appearance, bnt the eye
need hot tarry there, for in the general
surroundings there was many a redeem
; ing featnre.
Hero I had found a home and eventu
ally my mission. For in three months
after my arrival Aunt Lucy "had a
" stroke," and I gave up my wanderings
among the hills and woods, and turned
my attention to the making of butter
and cheese, in fnct became housekeep
er, mirse, and maid of all work to my
undo and Aunt Howard.
Undo was a plain, shrewd man, thin
and round-shouldered, and terribly
methodical. In that first summer I
used to wish that he would only forget
jnst once, so that he would either be
obliged to step a little quicker or else
vary the dull routine for that one day.
But nothing of the kind ever occurrell.
"When I first used to go to church with
uncle, spruce young farmers used to
"help rco out," and sometimes the
storekeeper's son or the schoolmaster
would find -something to talk with uncle
about of a Sunday evening ; but they
were all married off long ago, and to
the next generation 1 was, of course,
" the old maid."
. What wonder that I grow prim and
precise. If it had not been for aunt's
sickness and suffering I should havernn
away, but that held me fast.
Tiio spring had come and gone with
its April rains and May flowers, and the
rare days of June had again appeared,
when ono morning Aunt Lucy told us,
. . that " sure as wo were alive, something
. was going to happen, for she had had a
, warning in the night, strange noises,
which foreboded ill to some of us."
Uncle found upon going to the bara
that the speckled cow had contrived to
step into an opening in the floor, and
in her vain, efforts to extricate herself
had become strangled.
That night, when my day's work was
over, the milk strained and the pails
washed, I walked out by the babbling
' brook; Time had been when I should
have heard unwritten niuGio in the cou
Btant ripple, ripple over the moss-grown
rocks, but I was too antiquated for any
thing liko seutimcnt then. I was
startled from ray reverie by a carriage
driving rapidly up to our gate, from
which alighted two young ladies, who,
to my. unsophisticated eyes, looked
amazingly stylish and citified.
Before I had recovered in the least, I
was embraced by the girls, and in the
midst of a shower of kisses, heard my
self called ' dear cousin Jennie, "old
darling," and other endearing epithets,
which sent my heart into my throat in
a strange way.
They enjoyed my surprise immensely
and hurried me into thehouse; theyflew
at iinele, upsetting the three-legged
stand, candlestick and Bible, and such
a hugging as the poor old man received!
Ho began to quote Scripture, but ended
with "Did you ever?"
. Aunt came in for her share, and by
that time we had a light, and found out
that our visitors were some down-country
cousins. It did not seem very clear
to which branch of the family they
belonged, and I suspect our welcome
must have been rather constrained ; but
it made no difference, the girls had
come for a good time, and were not to
be deterred from having it. Aunt asked
triumphantly, "Didn't I tell you that
something was going to happen ? The
noise wasn't for nothing, sure."
The girls were as uniike as possible.
Bella, tall and queenly, with hair which
would rival the raven's wings for blaok
ness,and eyes that should have belonged
to some Egyptian princess.
Kate was a regular hoyden, petite,
pretty and light-hearted as a child. She
upset everything which she came in
contact with ; in three days she had
broken through all our time honored
rules, had gone whistling after the cows
an hour earlier than usual, and upon
being told by uncle that she " must not
run them, because they wouldn't give so
much milk," declared she " knew what
she was about, it would not take so long
to milk them."
' ''Whatever blandishments she used
upon unde, to the surprise of us all, he
harnessed up tho old mare and took her
to the village and post-office, returning
after dusk, a thing unheard of with us.
She persuaded aunt to get off the bed
that she might see how tall she was, and
by dint of flattery and persuasion, had
her dressed and out to the dinner-table.
We should not have been half as muoli
astonished if a ghost had walked in up
on us.
She asserted that she had wonderful
" healing powers," and that she believed
ehe " was sent to restore aunt to health,
and that " she had wrought miracles all
her friends knew," and she called upon
Bella to corroborate her testimony.
Uncle and aunt believed every word
she uttered, and in two weeks' time she
had aunt out-doors feeding the chickens
and ducks, and unele had hired one of
the neighboring boys to assist in the farm
-Work, '
"The next stop was to declare that she
" must have some butter and cheese
made by aunt's own hands. Ever since
a child she had listened to the most
marvelous stories of what aunt could
do, ( but seeing was believing.' " 1 ;
Of course I was quickly deposed, and
between aunt and the girls I found con
siderable time upon my hands. " )
Kate told me, in great confidence,
that sbf i'J&nd bropght Bella pff td give
her tune to think ; she had been under
the influence of a girl who was not true
to her, and through her influence was
likely fcntbtw wythe best part of
her life. . . .. v . .,,)
Couldn't I say something Lto lead
Bella to decide on what was right and
just?"
I set me to thinking, and I watched
for an opportunity to draw Bella out.
She was more communicative than I
expected, . though all her confidences
were given in the way of asking ques
tions. "Would you do so?'r or
Would you advise such a step ?"
I crew strancrelv interested in it all.
What woman can keep her fingers out
of a love affair when the chance is otter
ed her?
Ono evening I went into our little
parlor, which had come into unwonted
use since the advent of our visitors.
The girls were sitting apart, as
though resolved to be unsociable in the
twilight hour that was fast closing
around us. Kate was busy with bright
worsteds, fashioning one of the pretty
nothings such as ladies delight to kill
time with.
She greeted me with "I'm glad you've
come, and, with a glance at tsella,
" Tis so horrid dull here, you know."
1 made no answer, but looked to the
end window, where Bella was leaning
her head partly out. I could see her
thoughts did not take us in, or any of
her present surroundings.
Kate exclaimed that she had "made
a mistake, and worked in the wrong
oolor for ever so far." Bella said, as
though brought back to the present
time by the words : " You are not the
first one who has done that."
I turned to her : "I have known lives
to be entirely changed by a false color ;
were you thinking of that ?"
She replied indifferently : " No, there
is no need, women do not die of broken
hearts nowadays, and a man's life is not
so easily wrecked, that is, if it is worth
anything. I'll risk them."
She stopped, held, perhaps, by my
look, though she could only have felt it
through the gatheriug darkness.
I asked : " Were you going to add,
that you will risk the consequence of
the wrong colors you have been weav
ing into your own and another's life?"
Her head dropped upon her arm.
Kate called to her " not to mope, but
to bring her chair close to us."
There was no answer ; so turning to
me, Kate said : " You are my last
refuge, the daylight has failed me,
Bella refuses to be comforted, so I am
left on your hands. Will you tell mo
what you have been dreaming about
since you came in.
She sat down on the carpet by my
feet and laid her head in my lap. How
it caruo about I could never tell, but I
opened my heart to that child, read her
page after page of my life, turning the
leaves backward for a while, then
breaking off abruptly, commenced at
the girlish years, and showed her the
joy, love, doubt and despair which had
left me tho silent, gray-haired old maid
of thirty-five, that was foolish enough
to review all this to a chit like her.
The short curls under my hands were
wet with tears which had somewhat
welled up with my recital, bat 'twas
Bella's arms which were around my
neck, ond her lips touched my fore
head iu mute sympathy.
,.I felt strongly comforted by their love
and -caresses, but begged them not to
worry about me, for there was a long
distance between those early dreams
and the prosaic now ; only I prayed
that they might never let pride or dis
trust come between them and the ono
they might sometime love as I had once
loved.
I assured them my life had not been
altogether bare ; none need be, I held,
unless they so willed it tliems.ilves. .
" But, Jonnie," andj the little head
nestled close to my neck, " you said
' once loved ;' don't you love hirn now ?
Wouldn't you ask him to forgive the
past if you could see him again ?"
Her words startled me. " Child," I
answered, "yon know not what you
say. He has forgotten me, and another
woman holds the place I wasnot worthy
to fill, it would be a sin for me to love
lain now."
' "But you do, Jennie," she whisper
ed, " just a little , you know you do."
" God help me, Kate, for I am weak
and sinful.
The daylight had retreated, and we
could not see each other, only I could
fuel how -clouded over were the bright
young faces. ' '
When they kissed me ". Good night,"
Kate had recovered her cheerfulness,
and bade me to be of good courage, for
all sorts of miraclea were in her line,
and her faith was equal to the moving
of mountains.
As I took down my hair that night, 1
felt again tho touch of those hands
which had loved to caress it in those
vanished years, and in my dreams there
came a face and voice which were won
derfully like Bella's, and yet sterner
and masculine.
With one excuse and another, the
girls drove me from the kitchen and
almost from the house for the week that
followed.
They took possession of everything ;
the windows and high post-bedsteads
were draped with the long unused white
curtains, with their netted and tasseled
fringe. I heard aunt tell them that
she had put them by in case of a fu
neral. :
' Howl Kate's merry laugh .rang out
upon thetiir. " You dear old fudge of
an aunt, da you know I have brought
with me the immortal bloom of youth ;
talk to me of weddings and births, but
not of the tomb."
Aunt began a lecture upon the uncer
tainty of everything here below, but
Kate threatened to loave her if she
didn't desist, and added, " You know
what you would be if 1 should withdraw
my magio; why, they would have to
tuck you up in that bed and give you
gallons of herb beer. Don't you know
what a bed-ridden, forlorn old woman
you were when I came, and jnst see
what I have done for you I" She caught
hold of the old lady and made her
dance across the room, humming to her,
" Where's my little dog, he will know
if this is I." w -f u - v
Unole laughed I yes, though I fancy
it must have been painful, such an un
wonted movement of the muscles. -
The house beeaite bright with ever
greens and flowers. All the quaint, old
dishes cane, into sight and were made
useful instead of vases, which we had
not. The big, broad fireplace looked
like the very, bower of beauty, and in
fact, over the whole place passed the
magician's wand. Sundry rides were
taken to the Tillage, quite as much to
the astonishment of tho horse ns any
one. Kate informed me that " the old
thing was tricky, for when out Of sight
of uncle and tho farm she could go like
sixty."
" Owing to your wand," laughed
Bella,
" Doubtless," said I, while Kate gave
me a pinch and a kiss.
How quiet that Saturday evening
came down upon us.
The doors were thrown wide open
and the house was filled with the sweet
clover-scented air. -
The girls had gone down to the brook,
and in the twilight stillness and hush,
I caught its faint gurgling, like the
sound of some half-forgotten melody.
I looked down upon myself ; the
girls had persuaded me to " try on my
new dress ;" it was their gift and fash
ioning, so of course I could not refuse,
though it seemed that tho coming Sab
bath would have done as well.
"Jennie," said uncle, "you look as
you did when you first came to us, only
the pain has gone out of your face. I
believe it has done you good living
here with us.
Kate came up with a hop and skip ;
she looked at mo keenly. " Of what
are you thiuking, Jennie, dear? How
becoming your blue ribbons are! If
you had only worn blue that day in
stead of pink! What a treacherous
friend that woman was! And to think
she took him away from you! Do you
forgive her, Jennie ?" '
" I have tried to, Kate, bnt how oan
I? 'Twas his wealth and position she
wanted, while I oh! I loved him so
much."
Kate had drawn me out into the
starry night. " Look out, dear, or
you'll be sinning again." Bella came
up upon the walk and together we saun
tered down to the gate.
Had I done well, to speak of these
things to the girls ?
Wouldn't they misunderstand me,
after all ? Had E done more harm than
good, and shouldn't I have all the old
battles to fight over again with myself
and my ideas of right ?
" I wonder," said Kate, " if the best
things in my life are the best in other
people's lives.
"Of course, it should be doing one's
duty, everybody understands that, after
which we may be eclectic, I suppose. I
was going to ask Jennie but here
comes some one up the hill do you
think we are to have a caller ? Has the
fame of our wonderful powers gone
forth to the world of Chesterham ?
Didn't I tell you, Bella, everything
wore an expectant look here to-night ?"
The girls stepped back, and it seemed
to me I was left alone in the universe
with that approaching figure.
" Can you tell me where I can find
Jennie Randall ?"
I know not if I answered. I don't
think there was time, before I was
close folded in those strong arms and
bearded lips took possession of mine.
When I found breath and thought
for speech, I tried to free myself as I
whispered : " But your wife : I have
no right to your caresses. She stole
them from me."
" Hush," Eaid ho; "she is resting
under the sod, and I bear from her to
you the confession she gave me. She
sinned, and she repented. Let us for
give her as wo hope to be forgiven."
How long we stayed there, I cannot
tell, but when we entered the house,
uncle and aunt had gone to their room.
The candles flickered on the mantel,
and as.the girls came forward to meet
me I came down from the seventh
heaven to the realities of life.
I stumbled over the introduction, but
was put still more aback by seeing them
acknowledge it by embraces which
seemed ardent for strangers.
When we were once more alone, I
said, by way of explanation : " The
girls have read some of the past chap
ters in my life, and must have guessed
who my visitor is, or they never would
have given you such a reception. I am
sure, however, they never heard your
name until this evening."
Ho brought the candles and looked
me over. I dreaded to have him see
how old and careworn I had become,
but he assured me the only sign I gave
of my added years was iu the failure of
my sight ; that must be growing dim,
or I wouldn't call him, with his gray
hairs, " handsomer than ever."
In the morning oh, that glorious
Sabbath morning 1 How the sunshine
filled my room when I awoke ! Did I
kneel to pray ? I'm not sure. We offer
prayer when we have something to ask
for. .
My heart was full, wanting nothing.
Every breath must have been praise,
for in that hour 1 forgot the past, and
had no thought of the future. The
present held all perfection to me.
I wondered at myself as I looked in
the glass. " Surely," said I, " it is the
glory from my soul, touching up all my
countenance, for this is not the face I
have looked at all these years.
I went into the parlor, but 1 doubted
mv own senses at the tableaux I beheld
There was George Vanhess, in uncle's
arm chair : beside him stood Bella,
with one arm round his neck and the
other hand perfectly at home among
those whiskers, which I should have
claimed as my especial property. Kate
was perched upon his lap, and was
talking in a very rapid and animated
manner. 1 -
They all enjoyed my surprise, and
George said, as he . shook them off :
"Queer training, Jennie, you must
have given these girls, to have them so
pronounced in their admiration cf
me."
I looked from one to another ; " What
does it mean ?"'. - i
" Just this," said Kate,-"that I have
stretched my wand over you all. W7ill
the audience be seated while I ex
plain ?
"In the first place, Jennie, behold
in your old-time lover and affianced
husband I hope I am not anticipating
matters Bella's half; brother and your
crazy cousin s unfortunate guardian, t
" You thought we were sisters,
Well, we are by adoption and affeo
tion." 1.1 . '.1.2 Hi .!
Her voice fell. " When Amy. who
used to be your friend, was sick, she
told Bella of her duplicity,, and begged
her to find yon; and act matters' right
between George and you, if it wasn't
too late.
" Well, your being my oousin simpli
fied matters a good deal.
" Geerge had gone away on business,
so we took matter ' in our own hands,
and he knew nothing of our plans until
he heard from us here. ' : . 1 ,
1 " How much we have been obliged to
urge him to make ' this visit you will
never kuow," but Af 'this much be as
sured, that tho day of wonders isu't
over." , . ..
After prayers that morning George
told uncle that he should " have to de
prive him of his housekeeper, but he
would leave Kate awhile.
Then he said, with a half glanoe at
me, "After service to-night we shall
have a quiet Wedding, and to-morrow I
shall carry off my bride, for whom I
have waited fifteen years."
The last words silenced me, though I
was glad of Bolla's bending caress to
hide my rising color. -
Only one month before I had called
my life a failure. We are all too swift
to- pronouuee upon ourselves and each
other. What do we know of failure
who see neither the end nor the plan ?
Let ns believe in htfTUJihess thoutrh
sorrow hath been learned well even by
heart. Believe in light, although the
night seems long. , . ' k
The Drunkard's Cure.
Some months ago a gentleman adver
tised that he had discovered a sure
specific for . tho cure of drunkenness.
He would not divulge the secret of what
compounds he used, but furnished the
medicine at so much per bottle. He
did not have so many applicants for his
cure as he expected, considering the
oxtent of the disease. In fact, the
more malignant cases did not seem anx
ious for relief ; they rather appeared to
enjoy the maladyi A few, however,
placed themselves under treatment, and
some were cured whether by taking the
medicine, or by not taking strong
drinks, is not stated. ' One of the cured
ones had faith in the medicine, rigidly
carried out the directions of the doctor,
and now has not the least taste for in
toxicating drinks ; whereas one year
ago he was an inebriate, and could not
get along with less than a pint to a
quart of whisky per day. He said that,
at some trouble and expense, he had
procured the recipe for the preparation
of tha medicine, which he had pub
lished for the benefit of suffering hu
manity. It is as follows:
buiphate of iron, live grains ; pepper
mint water, eleven drachms ; spirit of
nutmeg, one drachm. Twice a day.
This preparation acta as a tonic and
stimulant, and so partially supplies the
place of the accustomed liquor, and
prevents that absolute physical and
moral prostration that follows a sudden
breaking off from the use of stimulating
drinks. It is to- be taken in quantities
equal to an ordinary dram, and as
often as the desire for a dram roturnB.
It is estimated that there are in Eng
land alone not fewer than six hundred
thousand habitual drunkards ! Of
these, sixty thousand die annually, and
their places are supplied by sixty thou
sand others, drawn into the vortex of
ruin, from what many regard the safe
and happy streams of moderation. So
that every ten minutes some fresh vic
tim becomes a drunkard every ten
minutes some drunkard's soul is hur
ried to a drunkard's eternity 1
A Secret of the Sea.
The Portsmouth (N. H.) Chronicle
reports that Mr. Hiram Tobey, one of
the nr.vy yard watchmen, found on the
beach of an island in that harbor a
tightly corked bottle, which had ap
parently been in the water many years,
being completely overgrown with bar
nacles and sea-weed. When broken it
was fouud to contain a slip of paper,
about four inches long and two inches
wide, with marks upon it indicating
that it had been part of a ship's log
book, 'and bearing the following in
scription : " December 14, 1861. Ship
Jane, Arctic Ocean. I write this know
ing that I shall never see land again,
hoping that some one will pick it up.
Yesterday the Captain died, whicli
" I would write more if I
could, but I am starving to death."
Several words not legible ate expressed
by the asterisks. The ink is very pale,
and the paper somewhat discolored
The writing, though indistinct, was
easily read by the aid of a magnifying
elass. The document is now in the
hands of Commander McCook, at the
Portsmouth Navy yard.
An Iscidekt. A reader sends the
following pleasant incident About
eight years ago a young canary bird was
found in the garden of a family resi
ding in Baltimore. The little creature
was caught, and claimed as the special
charge of the mother in the family.
The bird, however, failed to develop
any gift for singing, and the family
thought it useless to keep it ; but the
mother had becomo too much attached
to it to think of parting with it, and so
it became her constant companion for
years. Last December the lady died,
and on the very day she passed away
her little bird, so long silent, burst
forth into charming song, as if to com
fort the bereaved ones. It has eon
tinued to sing ever since, particularly
toward evening. The coincidence is re
markable and pleasant. It should be
mentioned that the lady herself was
highly gifted with musical talents.
A REQTJISITE FOR SCHOOL-KEEPINO.
Mr. Weiss, in a lecture upon Theodore
Parker, delivered more than a year ago,
tells this anecdote, showing the quail
ftcations necessary for a village school
master less than half a century ago.
Mr." Parker went to Lincoln to apply
for the district school. . The old chair
man of the committee, to whom gram
mars were unknown, said gruffly,
"What's your name?" "Theodore
Parker." "Where do you belong?"
"Lexington." "Be you the son of
Captain Parker who fit the battle of
kejungton?" "jno.j, am his grand
boo." " What 1 be you Captain Park.
era's ; grandson, who fit that battle t
Well, then, I guess you'll do to keep
our sonooi. u--.
;." Sweeden contains ' eighteen 'cotton
mills, running one hundred and eighty
ai a -ii..
vuuusaua ipinuiea.
Stronger When Dead Than Alive,
, It is well known, says Dr. Brown
Sequard, that if a nerve has been di
vided, after four days it loses its power.
The muscles, however, remain perfectly
active, and we can produce contraction
in them. Unfortunately,' ' here, also,
there is an element of nerve tissue,
which is inside of the nerve sheath, ana
it is not known whether it has lost its
power or not. In the case of two de
capitated men, I made an experimontof
cutting off the arms. I found, after
thirteen and a half hours in one case
and fourteen hours in the other case.
that all signs of life in the limbs had
disappeared. Up to that time, either
galvanism or a shock produced by a
blow with my arm or a paper-cutter,
caused the muscles to respond to the
irritation. I then injected the blood of
a man into one of those arms, and the
blood of a dog into another. In both
cases local life , was restored iu those
arms. The muscles became irritable
again, and the strength of. contraction
was extremely powerful. Indeed, iu
the arm in which the blood of the man
had been injected, the power was im
mense. It was greater certainly than
during life. There was therefore a re
turn of muscular irritability after it had
disappeared, and nervous excitability
had not come. The nerves remained
quite dead. Therefore it seemed quite
clear that the muscular irritability de
pended upon nutrition by blood and
the oxygen in It. ' The blood injected
was richly charged with oxygen, and
that was the reason . why the muscular
irritation became bo great. There was
more oxygen than usual. As the nerves
had not regained any power at all, it
was not through nuy influence of the
nerves on the muscles that the part had
re-acquired life. There also we find,
however, that same objection, that we
do not know whether the elements of
the nervous tissue which are inside of
the sheath of muscles had lost their
power or not. '
Jiut there are other facts more deci
sive. Professor Simpson, of Edin
burgh, examined the power of contrac
tion in the umbilical cord the cord
which unites the footus to its mother.
In that cord the contraction by galvan
ism was made with great intensity.
Some physiologists have thought that
there are no nervous centers there. If
there are any, they are very small. Id
the iris of an eye I have found a sin
gular fact. Long ago I had discovered
that light can atlect the ins of the eye,
even when it has been removed from
the body for sixteen days and kept at a
temperature of about 30 to 40 degrees
i'ah. 13 ut 1 found that although the
eye was In almost complete putrefac
tion, the light still acted as au irritant
of muscular fibers. There it was im
possible to admit that there was ner
vous action. The muscular fibers them
selves were considerably altered, still
thev acted.
But there is a fact which is more de
cisive to show that muscular irritability
is independent of the nervous system
for its existence. It is that if we strike
a muscle that is dying away,-we pro
duce a ridge at the place we strike. All
the fibers in the musole contract at that
place. And as it is impossible to admit
that in those cases there has been a
nervous action in every elementary
fiber, because the parts I spoke of,
which are inside of the sheath, are gen
erally in the middle of the length of the
hber, and any part of tho muscle may
react in that way, it is, therefore, im
possible to admit that there is auy
nervous action in those cases. There
fore, they show that muscles are inde
pendent of nerves for their action.
Tragic Narrative of Facts.
The heirs of two brothers, named
Jacques and Francois Lefevre have,
through their attorney, presented a me
morial to the Indiana Senate, which
reads more like an epitome of a tragic
romance than a narrative of actual
facts. Jacques Lefevre came to this
country about the year 1830, and set
tled in Lawrence county, Indiana, near
St. Francisville, on the banks of the
Wabash. For fifteen years he toiled
iudustriously on his farm,' chopping
wood and selling it for fuel to passing
steamboats.
In 1845 he was murdered shot while
standing near his wood-pile waiting for
an -approaching steamer. An inquest
was hold, but the mystery of the as
sassination was not solved, aud the in
cident gradually dropped ut of the
recollection of the people in the neigh
borhood. Eight years later Franoois
Lefevre came over from France to coh
lectwhat might be due the estate of his
brother, and to live ou the farm ; but a
few months after his arrival he, too,
was shot on precisely the same spot
where his brother fell, ahd his murderer
was never apprehended, nor any clue
obtained concerning his identity.
The Lefevre estate consisted of, seventy-three
acres, and since Jacques was
shot, although the farm has produced
nothing, the taxes have been regularly
paid by the heirs. They have repeat
edly endeavored to Bell the land since
the murder of Francois, but notwith
standing the fact that it was offered as
low as 82.50 an aore, nobody could be
found willing to risk his life by taking
up his abode ou this ill-omened place.
For this reason tha heirs petitioned the
Legislature to accept the Lefevre estate
ou behalf of the Commonwealth, to be
devoted to any public use for the bene
fit of the county of Lawronce, on con
dition that the same will be known as
" the Bloody Field, or by any other ap
propriate denomination reminding the
actual generation ot the impunity some
what inexplicable of a double murder
under more inexplicable circumstances
at eight years', interval." . They also
ask that the sum of the taxes paid on
the estate from 1845 to the present time
may be reimbursed to them, and a bill
drawn in the interest of the petitioner
is-now before the Indiana Senate for its
action thereon. ! , .. 4
i; - 1 " " ,
i .Woman's Love. Bob Longley (with
modest fervorW O. Jack 1 O. for
woman's level O, for a true-hearted
woman once, onoe ' in . one's life, to
throw her arm round one's neck, and
tell one Bhe loves one r ";" '
' Little Jack Horner Ah I if yen'd
had as much of that kind of thing as
have had, old -man, you'd - be preoious
bred o: the whole concern 1
AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.
A Mnn Utc Seventy Honrs With a
llroken Neck.
' An inqnest held upon the body of
Patrick Fannon, who came to his death,
at Cincinnati, from injuries received by
falling from an embankment, developed
some very curious f aots in regard to the
possibility of conscious life under ex
traordinary circumstances. Patrick
Fannon lived for seventy hours after
sustaining injuries generally supposed
to be instantaneously fatal ; his neck
not only being broken in such fashion
that the spinal cord was completely
severed at the junction of the sixth and
seventh cervical vertebra;, but the ver
tebras also being fractured by the shock.
The physician who attended him said
he found deceased unconscious, breath
ing heavily, and in a comatose condition.
He was bleeding from the head aud the
mouth; was perfectly immovable, in
sensible to pricking or pinching of the
limbs ; the pupils of his eyes were very
much dilated, and he appeared to be
laboring from serious injuries to the
head. He had no power of motion ex
cept that of breathing, and the latter
was from the diaphragm, ana not irom
the intercostal muscles of the chest.
Although the symptoms pointed toward
the brain for the cause or the conditions
present, I did not feel satisfied, as there
was not sufficient external evidence to
account for the conditions of the symp
toms, and 'I directed my search to in
quire into the condition of the neck. I
found that the head was somewhat
thrown back, and that the neck appear
ed shortened aud thicker than natural ;
there was more fullness on the right
side than on the left ; on bending aud
moving the head I found more mobility
than was natural, and I had a cork in
troduced into his mouth, so that I could
examine the back part of the throat, and
I then found a dislocation ot the ver
tebras of the neck, the body of one ver
tebras presenting itself in front of tho
other to the extent of half an inch.
In trying to place the man in a com
fortable position aud condition in his
bed, his head was moved and his neck
was dislocated again. The dislocation
was reduced again by the same means
resorted to in the first instance. He
was then placed in a comfortablo posi
tion, with orders that he should not be
disturbed until I sa , him again ; saw
him again in about au hour, and found
that on account of bleeding about his
head, it had been moved to put a piece
of India rubber cloth beneath it to
keep the clothes clean. I found that
in doing so they had bent his head too
much on his breast, and this had inter
fered and caused difficulty in his breath
iug. I at once regulated the position
of his head ; his breathing immediately
became easy and regular, and the man
spoke so that he could be plainly un
derstood. I saw that his head was
properly supported, and left him for
the night, expecting to find him dead
in the morning. At my visit in tho
morning I found the man, to my as
tonishment, perfectly sensible, and in
frill possession of his mental faculties.
He was able to take food and drink ;
but upon any motion being made of the
arms or head, he complained of great
pain in the neck. He died at 2 a.m.,
living seventy hours after the accident.
The immediate cause of his death was
asphyxia, caused by an accumulation of
mucus in the lungs and air passages.
I desire to add that fracture was known
to be present at the time of the disloca
tion. Dr. Muscroft says this is the third
and worst case of broken neck he has
had to deal with during the last ten
years. In the first two cases the pa
tients recovered, notwithstanding that
one of them had sustained a fracture of
the cervical vertebrie, in addition to
dislocation. The latter patient had
been injured in a fight : the former, a
canal-boatman, by a fall from a barge
into a shallow place near the nvor
bank. In neither of these instances,
however, was the spinal cord actually
cut in two, as in the case of Patrick
Faunon ; nor did the patients lose con
sciousness, notwithstanding they suf
fered from temporary paralysis of al
most all the muscles, being unable to
speak until after tbo reduction had
been made. The injuries in Fannon's
case were peculiarly aggravated, yet ho
was perfectly sensible and able to con
verse intelligently for many hours be
fore his death, although the spinal cord
had been completely severed a fact of
considerable interest to professors of
physiology.
Royal Oddities.
The King of Bavaria is eccentric.
His engagement to marry, a princess is
said to have been suddenly broken off
because she persisted in refusing to ex
press admiration for Wagner's music
Among his freaks was the construction
of a lake on the top of his palace, in
which he Bailed about in a boat for rec
reation. A few yeais since he took a
notion that he wanted to see a repre
sentation of an eruption of Mount Ves
uvius, and immediately ordered a oourt
pvrotechnist to proceed, regardless of
cost, to produce such a spectacle on the
mountain near ins seoluded palace. He
complied with the order, but the repre
sentation Was not satisfactory. The
court pyrotechnist at Vienna was then
sent for, and he made extensive prepa
rations and gave entire satisfaction, and
had an order for its repetition, the
King expecting and thinking that he
was and would be the only spectator.
He, however, heard that the villagers
had assembled at the foot of the moun
tain and had .witnessed the spectacle
also. On hearing this he countermand
ed the order for its repetition, sent the
Eyrotechnist home, and, ordering the
urgomaster ef the village before him,
severely rated him for allowing the
people to approach the mountain.
The Office Bore. Some one has got
hold of the newspaper bore and Bot him
to musio as follows :-: 1 ;
, He drops into my easy ohair,
. , i And asks about the newB ;
. He peers into my mannsoript,'
- i And gives bis candid views
' ' He tells me where be likes the line,
And where he's forced to grieve,
- -v He takes the strangest liberties,
Sut never takes his leave 1
Items of Interest.
Church singers are said to live by
luck and chants.
Never mind where you Work care
more about how you work. ,
Au orange tree in vigorous growth
yields from 500 to 2,000 oranges every
year. ......
Duluth is said to have a city ordi
nance which prevents a man from keep
ing more than two tame bears.
In some of our western rivers having
lapid currents, a screw propeller has
been fixed in the water, and employed
in driving mills.
Mrs. Partington wants to know if it
were not intended that women should
drive their husbands, why are they put
through the bridal ceremony ?
As in a letter, if the paper is small
and we have much to write, we vrito
close ; so let us learn to economize and
improve the remaining moments of
life.
Tho Persians believe that all dia
monds fell from heaven during tho
earliest stages of the world, and are
therefore entitled to religious venera
tion. It is said that a careful computation
shows the steam power of the Great
Eastern steamship to be equal to the
water power that drives the mills at
Lowell.
And now the Icelanders are begin
ning to seek homes in the United
States. They are said to rescmble tho
Scotsh in appearauce, and are a bright,
healthy-looking class.
Prepay your postage. Bushels of
printed matter on which postage is in
sufficiently paid are every week deposit
ed in the general post-office, and thero
detained and ultimately destroyed.
A custom house officer in San Fran
cisco having casually mentioned that
there was a case of small -pox next
door to him, was promptly given a
six weeks' vacation, to his great satis
faction. Experienced Bheep men in different
portions of California are of the opiu
lon that the losses of sheep this winter
have been so great that all the increase
by way of lambs will be required to
keep the numbers good.
A boy in Greenfield, N. H., told his
father that he guessed he could make
that hen quit setting, nnd his father told
him to go ahead. The boy's plan was
to set fire to the nest, and in carrying it
out he burned the barn and all its con
tents. Tho question, What is a shyster? was
raised in a St. Louis libel suit. Ac
cording to one of the witnesses, the
word was first "used in the Chicago
Democrat, and was originally, as now,
intended to designate a pettilogging
lawyer.
The time is with us when the femi
nine dweller in the suburbs will say to
her little girl, " Susan, go in and ask
Mrs. Smith if she won t keep a few of
those hens at home. I've just planted
my seeds and can't have all those fowls
here at once."
The Richmond Journal has this :
Wanted. A few hundred young men
who part their hair in the middle of
their craniums, to stand in front of tho
First Baptist church, Broad street, to
stare the ladies out of couutenaucc as
they emerge therefrom.
In the Yuba County Hospital, Cal.,
interesting experiments have been made
with a magnet for the cure of rheuma
tism and paralysis. A large hovseshoo
magnet is used, and one case of paraly
sis has been almost cured, and several
cases of chronic rheumatism relieved.
An old proverb says :
Blessed ia ho
That planeth a tree.
To which we add :
Alas for tho town
That cuts healthy trees donu.
A Boston tailor having reminded a
debtor that he hadn't paid anything on
account for a long time, and that ho
(the tailor) mutt have some money, as
he was very short, received this re
freshingly cool reply: " Note received.
If you ae very short why dou't you sell
one of your horses 1
Would Not Believe.
A correspondent rolates the following
story of a coachman who had evidently
never puzzled his head with chronology
or any other kind of ology : "A friend
of mine was riding a few years ago on
the outside of a coach, when the driver
said to him, I've had a coin guv me
to-day two hundred years old. Did you
ever see a coin two hundred years
old ?'
" Oh yes I I have one myself two
thousand years old.'
" Ah," said the driver, nave ye
and spoke no more during the rest of
the journey. When the coach arrived
at its destination, the driver came up to
my friend with an intensely self-satis
fied air, and said, ' 1 told you, as we
druv along, I had a coin two hundred
years old.
"'ies.-
"And vou said to me as you had
one two thousand years old.'
" 1 Yes, so L have.
" Now it's a lie.'
" What do you mean by that ?'
What do I mean ? . Why, it's only
1867 now !"
Frightened.
A cat which stuck its head too far
into a tin can, iu a New Jersey town
one night lately, was the innocent
cause of a lively excitement. The
family supposed a burglar must be in
the kitchen, and while the ladies very
properly fainted, the gentlemen armed
themselves and began tiring wildly out
of the windows, to let the supposed
marauders know there were fire arms in
the house. 1 The police and members of
the fire department were anything but
complimentary in their remarks as they
journeyed homeward. . . .
As Relics. rhe relics of the last
saloon in Cadiz, Ohio, were sold at auc
tion by the ladies of the Temperance
League for the benefit of the cause.
The government license sold for $100,
an old funnel for 815, a pint flask $11,
a corkscrew $7, a broken glass $5, and
a large number offlasks and bottle at
from 50 cents to $3 each.