Y (A C...
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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPEItANDTJM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
EIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 18U.
NO. 41.
I
YOL. IV.
A Persian Lovo Son?.
Ah! sad are thuy who know no Hove,
But, far from passion's tears and smiles
Drift down a moonless sea, beyond
The silvery coasts of fairy iBles.
And naildor they whose longing lips
Kiss empty air, and never touch
The dear warm mouth of those they lovo
Waiting, wasting, suffering much.
But cloar as amber, fine as musk,
Is life to those who, pilgrim wise,
Move hand in hand from dawn to dusk,
Each morning nearer Taradise.
Oh, not for thorn shall angola pray ;
They stand in everlasting light
They walk in Allah's, smile by day,
And nestle in ,is heart by night.
THE MUTINEERS.
" Man the mast-heads there I" was
the order from the mate of the States
man, on a bright, clear morning in the
tropical latitutes of the Paoifio.
The order was obeyed by those whose
turn it was to take the first look-onts
of the morning. But the youngster
' who e station was in the fore to'gallant
' cross -trees paused in the foretop, and
threw a rapid glance round the horizon.
"Sail on the weather bow I" he re
ported. " A boat with sail set, coming
right at us."
The announcement cansed a stir at
once on deok, and brought not only the
captain, bnt all the watch below up.
The all-important morning duty of
washing off decks wan suspended for
the time being, to gnze upon the un
wonted spectacle of a whale-boat alone
upon the ocean, coming to board ns
in the morning, like the veritable
barber Neptune, of equatorial noto
riety. The boat was not move than a couple
of miles from us when first discovered,
approaching swiftly nuderthe combined
power of sail and oars. The captain's
telescope was brought to bear, and it
was soon ascertained that she had at
least a lull crew. We backed the main
topsail, and hove to, waiting impa
tiently to know more, and making vari
ous shrewd guesses and speculations as
to her history and chnrncter.
"They've lowered for whales and
Rot lost from their ship," suggested
one.
"Likely enough," roturned an
other. The captain makes out eight men
in her," said a coxswain, coming from
aft.
Hero was a new phase of the matter,
and our theory was blown to the four
winds. Nobody would lower in pur
suit of whales with any more than six
in a boat.
" Castaways, of course," was now the
unanimous opinion, "Ship foundered
or burnt at sea and some of her boats
. lost with her."
But we were not kept long in sus
pense, for the strangers bronght their
frail craft alongside as rapidly as oars
and canvas could do it and leaped on
deck. In a few minutes wo were in
possession of the whole story a parody
on the old one of Bligh and Fletcher
Christian.
The boat contained Captain Watson,
his mate and six others, from the
bark Newcastle, of Sydney, who had
been set adrift the day before by inn
tineeis. The second mate, named Mo
Gregor, was at the head of the con
spiracy, which had been most artfully
plauned and carried into execution,
while ho hud charge of the deck.
It was supposed that McGregor, the
new commauder, intended to carry the
bark down nmong the Marshall
Islands and there destroy her, taking
tip his residence among the savages.
There were still twenty men on bourd ;
bnt how many of them were actively
eugaged in the plot, or how many
were merely cowed into submission to
the new authority, was more than the
captain could tell.
" And how far do you suppose your
ship to be from us now ?'' asked Captain
Bent.
" I have steered west-northwest, by
compass, as near as I could," said Cap
tain Watson ; " and have run, I should
judge, about eighty miles. The New
castle, when I lost sight of her, was by
the wind on the northwest tack, under
easy sail. She ought to bear nearly
due east from us."
Come below, and let's lay off your
course on the chart. I don't know as 1
can do anything for yon, even if I should
fall in with your ship, but it might be
some satisfaction to see her."
The two captains went into the cabin,
and soon the order was passed along to
make all. sail on a wind. Nothing was
seen during tho day, and at night we
tucked back again. And the first gray
light of morning showed np the bark
recognized at once by Captain Wat
son and his mate as their own vessel
running down across our course.
" Of course he won't pass near us if
Lo can help it."
" No, I suppose he will avoid us; but
I am going to signalize, at any rate.
Hani the mainsail up," said Captain
Lent, to the officer of the deck, " and
set the ensigu at the gaif."
The orders were obeyed ; and much
ta our surprise, the mutineers altered
their course a little, with the evident
intent of sneaking to us.
" What can it mean, that ho is so
ready to speak to a stranger ?" was the
Question that passed from one to
another of the croup.
" Now I think of it," said the mate
of the Newcastle, " I think I know his
obicct. If he really means to wind up
his cruise at one of the Marshall
Islands, he will want to make a trade
for tobacco and fire-arms."
" You've hit it," returned the cap
tain. " That must be McGregor's ob
ject. There s isn t much tobacco on
board and but little powder. He wants
to buy more. Captain Bent, let's you
and I have another talk by ourselves,"
he added, seeming to have conceived
some new idea.
Their conference was short; but,
judging from the expression on their
faces, when tnev came on aecK ana
took tho mates into their conference.
it seemed to have been productive of
something of importance. The bark's
boat, in which the wanderers had been
picked up, was placed overhead on the
skids, as if she had been one of our
own, and a sail , thrown over her that
she might not be recognized. The orew
were instructed to keep themselves out
of sight while the two vensela were
communioating.
" What bark is that ?" asked Cap
tain Ben, innocently, after he had given
his own name,
" The Newcastle, of Sidney."
" Who commands her I"
" Watson," wan the reply.
" One of our men had his leg broken
yesterday," hailed our captain, " and I
would like to get the service of your
surgeon."
" Certainly. I'll coma aboard, and
bring the doctor with me. I wish to see
you to trade with yon." And with a
farewell wave of a trumpet, as the
vessel passed out of hearing, he
luffed to under our lee, and then low
ered his boat.
Now the doctor of tho Newcastle was
at that moment in our own cabin, he
having been sent adrift in the boat with
the captain ; but McGregor would, of
course, bring some one to personate
the character. This would take seven
men from her crew ; and it was also
certain that he would man his boat
with his choice spirits, for if he brought
any doubtful or lukewarm ones, they
might prattle. We had our instructions,
and within five minutes after the seven
men stepped on our deck, they had all
been decoyed below and quietly se
cured. The boat was veered astern by the
warp, and the maintopsail filled on a
wind, just as if we had made arrange
ments for a day's " gam," according to
tho frequont usages of whale-ships on
cruising ground. Of course our part
ner followed our lead, keeping company
with us all day, without the least sus
picion. The remainder of our plan to
regain possession of tbe ship could only
be carried out under cover of darkness.
McGregor and his associates in
crime were ironed and placed in the
ran for safe-keeping. After dark we
hove to and set a light in the rigging,
which was at once answered by another
from the Newoastle, as she closed with
us and lay under our lee.
Away went a boat from us in charge
. f our mate, with a pioked crew ; while
r. short distance astern of her followed
.-mother, with Captain Watson and his
" hole party. The ruffian who was in
c'aarge of the bark, calling himself
r.iate of her, was amused by the first
comers with a story that his captain had
made a bargain for a quantity of gun
powder and tobacco, and that our mate
liad been sent for the money in pay
ment. Suspecting nothing, he invited
his visitor below, to drink and enjoy
himself awhile. Our men managed
adroitly to engage the attention of those
on deck, and the second boat was
silently alongside in the darkness, be
fore her approach had been observed
by them.
The alarm was given by tho cry
' Boat ahoy I" but too late. As she
touched tho side, her crew sprang up to
assist ours, forming a superior force,
with all the advantages of surprise.
McGregor's lieutenant was knocked
down by onr mate in the cabin ; the
few men who really had any heart in
the mutiny were quickly disposed of ;
and in less than two minutes from the
time the boat was hailed, the quarter
deck of the Newcastle was in posses
sion of her former officers.
McGregor and the other principals in
the revolt, still ironed, were carried to
Sydney for trial. As our season was
up, wo kept company with Captain
Watson, and made our port theio,
where we were liberally rewarded by
the owners of the recaptured vessel for
our share in the business.
A Clean Apron.
A lady wanted a trusty little maid to
come and help her to take charge of a
baby. Nobody could reoommend one,
nnd she hardly knew where to look for
the right kind of a girl. One day she
wus passing through a by-lane and saw
a little girl with a clean apron holding a
baby in the doorway of a small house.
" That is the maid for me, said tho
lady. She stopped and asked for her
mother. "Mother has gone out to
work," answered the girl. "Father is
dead, and now mother has to do every
thing. ' Should you not like to come
and live with me ?" asked the lady.
" I should like to help mother some
how," said the little maid. The lady,
more pleased than ever with tne tidy
looks of the little girl, went to see her
mother after she came home, and the
end of it was that the lady took the
maid to live with her, and she found
what, indeed, she expected to find
that the neat appearance of her person
showed the neat and orderly bent of
her mind. She had no careless habits,
she was no friend to dirt ; but every
thing she had to do with was folded up
and put away, and kept carefully. The
lady finds great comfort in her, and
helps her mother, whose lot is not now
so hard as it was. She smiles when
she says, "Sally's recommendation
was her clean apron ;" and who will
say that it was not a good one ?
A Curious Character.
A siugular trial has just been con
cluded in New Haven, Conn. Tho suit
was brought by a farmer against his
hired man, who claimed an offset to
more than the amount of the plaintiff's
claim. The plaintiff, some time ago,
having lost his record books, made
notes of his business transactions on
separate 6he,ots of paper, which he de
posited as fancy inclined him. Some
times they would be plaoed beneath the
carpet, sometimes behind desks and
doors, and wherever their seorecy was
supposed to be unquestioned. Nearly
all these papers the plaintiff brought
into court to sustain his claim. There
were suoh queer items as this : The
hired man did something in opposition
to the wish of his employer, the plaintiff,
or pushed him hard against a door, in
juring his feelings thereby. For some
of these episodes the hired man was
charged forty cents. For being
" liquory " another charge was entered,
and for falling down stairs, and thereby
shocking the plaintiff, another amount
was asked. As the hired man did not
pay these charges, and thought he
ought to be paid a certain amount for
labor he performed, the suit was
brought.
Tho President and tho Itorse Dealer
Ar.ong llie enterprising citizens who
contributed to the St. Louis Stn'n fair
was Mr. Dillon, who is a denier in
Norman horses. Mr. Dillon has re
cently imported a number of these ani
mals from Europe, and had A " six-in-
han ettacued to a ponderous vehicle
on tho fair grounds. Driving around
tho course, the horse fancier met old
Sam Bnckmaster, of Illinois, and in
duced him to accept a seat in tho cara
van. They drove several times around
the track, and were the observed of all
observers, but finally Mr. Bnckmaster,
seeing two gentlemen approaching,
said t " There comes the President; I
must get out and meet him."
"The President I" exclaimed Dillon ;
"why, that is just the man I want to
see. I wanted to get hold of a raan
that is a good judge of horseflesh.
Which is the President ?"
"Tho gentleman in dark clothes
carrying the umbrella," replied Sam.
" Hallo 1" cried Dillon to the
stranger; "come here; I want to seo
yon."
Tho gentleman with tho umbrella ap
proached smilingly and shook Dillon
by the hand, supposing that he was
some acauaintance of other times.
" What do you think of my team ?"
said Dillon.
"They do very well," said the man
in dark clothes.
" Jump in and let mo show you their
pace. Bring your friends along,"
shouted Dillon, heartily.
" You must excuse mo. I don't want
to be conspicuous," said tho stranger.
"Conspicuous?" remarked Dillon.
" Get in here and let me give you a
ride behind these horses."
" No no," cried he of the umbrella ;
"I must be going."
" Why don't you get in ? I won't
eat you I" said the horse fancier.
At this the stranger and the friend
turned abruptly away, and were lost in
the crowd.
" Well," exclaimed Dillon to Buck
master, who stood by dumbfounded,
" Just to think that the president of a
one-horse Missouri fair refused to ride
behind my team. What a sop he must
be."
"President of the fair I" Bnckmaster
shouted in amaze ; " don't you know
who that was?"
" No," replied Dillon ; " you told me
ho was the President."
"So ho is the President," rejoined
Buckmaster, "but not of the fair.
Why, surely you knew him ?"
" I'll be hanged if I did," Dillon
said. "I was sure he was president of
this fair."
"Oh, this is too much 1" cried Sam.
"Why, that was the President of the
United States 1"
Dillon grew very red in the face, and
slowly gasped forth : " Was that
Grant ?"
" Certainly, it was Gen. Grant."
Dillon caught up his reins, dropped
his whip and exclaimed, "Oh?"
The Exact Truth,
Two young masons were building a
brick wall the front wall of a high
house. One of them, in plaoing a
brick, discovered that it was a little
thicker on one side than the other.
" His companion advised him to
throw it out. " It will make your wall
untrue, Bon," said he.
"Pooh 1" answered Ben, "what dif
ference will such a trifle as that make ?
You're too particular. "
"My mother," replied his compan
ion, "taught me that ' truth is truth,'
ever so little an untruth is a lie, and a
iie is no trifle."
"O," said Ben, " that's all very well;
but I am not lying, and I have no in
tention of doing so."
"Very true, but you make your wall
tell a lie ; and I have somewhere read
that a lie in one's work, like a lie in his
character, will show itself sooner or
later, and bring harm, if not ruin."
" I'll risk it in this case," answered
Ben ; and he worked away, laying more
bricks and carrying the wall up higher,
till tho close of the day, when they
quit work and went home.
The next morning they went to re
sume their work, when behold the lie
had wrought out the result of all lies I
The wall getting a little slant from the
untrue brick, had got more and more
untrue as it got higher, and at last, in
the night, had toppled over, obliging
the masons to do their work over
again.
Just as with ever so little an untruth
in your character ; it grows more and
more, if you permit it to remain, till
it brings sorrow and ruin.
Tell, act and live the exact truth al
ways. A Kith Church.
Tho salaries of twenty-eight prelates
of the Established Church of England
amount to 152,900 a year, or nearly
eight hundred thousand dollars ; but to
this you must add &J8.U00 for as manv
deans. The annual patronage attached
to these twenty-eight dioceses is valued
at 901,165. This patronage includes
canons resident, archdeacons, and
other clerical snuggeries. The value
of the real estate of the Established
Church of England may be estimated
from its revenue, which at its lowest
rate is 7,000,000, or thirty-five million
of dollars annually. The Established
Church of Scotland (Presbyterian')
owns 1,250 churches, educates 140,000
scholars, and raises 140,000 annually
lor nome ana missionary purposes,
witnin twenty years iou parisn chap
eis, costing jtouu.uuj, nave ueen en
dowed and erected.
The Falling Leaf,
The separation from the stem, which
E recedes the fall of the leaf, is said to
e a gradual process, beginning early
la summer and produced by the con
tinned growth of the stem after the leaf
has attained its full growth, which it
usually does in a few weeks, the ontiole
of the stem healing over the wound
thus formed. The growth of the bud
of the base of the leaf still further sepa
rates it. and a gust of wind, or the con'
traction of the leaf stalk by frost causes
itlto fall. The leaves of white oak and
some other trees are not thus separated
but pushed off by the young growth of
tne next year.
Clothing fof fold Yfeathen
Tho usual dress is sufficient quantity,
nnd often good in quality, but it is very
bmlly distribute!!. There is too much
ah nt th9 trunk, and too little about
thu lower extremities. If ono tjuartet
of tho heavy woolen overcoat or shawl
vern taken from the trunk, and wrap
ped about the legs, it would prove a
great gain. When we men ride in the
cars, or in the sleighs, where do we suf
fer ? About the legs and feet I When
women suffer from the cold, where is
it ? About the legs and feet I
The legs and feet are down near the
floor, where the Cold currents of air
move. Tho air is so cold near the floor
that all prudent mothers say, " Don't
lie there. Peter ; get up, Jerusha Ann ;
play ; play on the sofa ; you will take
your death cold lying there on the
floor." And they are quite right.
During tho damp and cold season,
the legs should be encased in very thick
knit woolen drawers, the feet in thiok
woolen stockings (which must be
changed every day,) and the shoe soles
must be as broad as the feet when fully
spread, so that the blood shall have
free passage. If the feet are squeezed
in the least, the circulation is checked.
and coldness is inevitable. This free
circulation cannot be secured by a loose
upper with a narrow sole. If when the
foot stands naked on a sheet of paper
it measures three and a half inches,
the sole must measure three and a half.
I will suppose, says Dio Lewis, you
have done all this faithfully, and yet
your feet and legs are cold. Now add
more woolen, or if yon are to travel
much inthe cars, or in a sleigh, pro
cure a pair of chamois-skin or wash-
leather drawers, which I have found to
be most satisfactory.
1 nave known a number of ladies af
flicted with hot and aching head, and
other evidence of congestion about the
upper parts, who were completely re
lieved by a pair of chamois-skin drawers
and broad-soled shoes. Three ladies
in every four suffer from some conges
tion in tho upper part of the body. It
is felt in a fullness of the head, in sore
throat, in palpitation of the heart, tor
pid liver, and in many other ways. It
is well known that a hot foot-bath will
relievo for the time being any and all
of these difficulties. This bath draws
tho blood into the legs and feet, re
lioving the congestion above. What
the hot foot-bath does for an hour, the
broad sotea shoes with thick woolen
stockings, and a pair of flannel drawers,
with a pair of wash-leather drawers
added, will do permanently ; of course
am speaking of cold weather. No
one hesitates to multiply the clothing
about the trunk. Why hesitate to in
crease the clothing about tho legs ? As
preventive of many common affec
tions about the chest, throat and head,
including nasal catarrh, I know nothing
so effective as the dress of the lower
extremities which I am advocating.
Tne batn is a good thing, exerciso is
good thing, friction is a good thing.
but, after all, our main dependence in
this climate must ever be, during the
cold reason, warm clothing. Already
we overdo this about our trunks, but
not one person in ten wears clothing
enough about the legs and feet.
Lady's Chances of Being Married,
The statistician, and likewise the
average woman all the way from fifteen
years of age to the point when birth
day anniversaries cease to be a time of
cheer and gratulation, may take at
least a passing interest in a table re
cently printed in England, to show the
relations between matrimony and age.
Every woman has some chance of being
married ; it may be one chance to fifty
against it,.or it may be ten to one that
she will marry, liut whatever that is,
representing her entire chance at ono
hundred, her particular chance at cer
tain defined points of her progress in
time is found to be in the following
ratios : When between fifteen and
twenty years she has fourteen and a
half per cent, of her whole probability ;
when between twenty and twenty-five
she has fifty-two per cent. ; between
twenty-five and thirty, eighteen per
cent. After thirty years she has lost
eighty-four and a half per cent, of her
chance, but until thirty-fivo she has
still six and a half per cent. Between
thirty-five and forty it is three and
three-fourths per cent., and for each
succeeding five years is respectively
two, one-half, one-eighth, and one-
fourth per cent. Any time after sixty
it is one-tenth of one per cent., or one
thonsandth of her chance of a chance
a pretty slender figure, but figures often
are slender at that age.
Plants,
It is well known that plauts sleep at
night : but their hours of sleeping are
a matter of habit, and may be disturbed
artificially, just as a eock may be woke
up and crow at untimely hours by the
light of a lantern. Do Candolle sub
jected a sensitive plant to an exceed
ingly trying course of discipline, by
completely changing its nours : ex
posing it to a bright light all night, so
as to prevent sleep, and putting it in a
dark room during the day. The plant
appeared to be mucu puzzled and dis
turbed at first ; it opened and closed its
leaves irregularly, sometimes noddini
in spite oi ue artiuoiiu sun mat sue
its beams at midnight, and sometimes
waking up from force of habit, to find
the chamber dark in spite of the time
of day. Such are the trammels of uso
and wont. But. after an obvious strng
gle. the plant submitted to the chance.
and turned day into night without any
apparent ill enacts.
Fish Breeding.
Both Green, of Rochester, N. Y,
publishes the following notice : Any
parties in the United States or Canada
wishing to experiment in hatohing the
spawn of the salmon trout and white
fish will be sent a few hundred, on re
ceipt of fifty oents (to pay for the pack'
age), by addressing a letter. Also,
parties desiring to experiment in rare
ing the young of the California salmon
will be given a few hundred by going
to the New xork btate natcning-house
for them, all applications to be made
during the month of December. All
kinds of fish will be distributed to the
publio waters of New York State the
same as in years before.
Tllf! CAUSE OP SUICIDES.
A Pew
S .ntlaltc What Shoultl i4
Done.
Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton, of Belle-
vue Hospital, flew xork, ana leotnrer
on nervous diseases in the Long Island
College Hospital, read before tho
American Health Conncil a paper upon
"Suicide in Large Cities, with Kefer-
ence to uertam sanitary uonainons
whioh Tend to Prevent its Moral and
Physical Causes." Tho doctor said that
his observations upon tho subject had
been made for tho most part in New
York city. Comparisons have been
made between that City and London
and Paris. In all larger cities tho
number of cases is governed, to a great
extent, by the habits, taBtes ana moral
culture of tbe people, and back of this
the national characteristics. 'ine
French people, noted for their indiffer
ence to life and exaggerated morbid
sentimentality, are celebrated for the
Eropensity to end life with their own
ands. Paris has boen, and always
will be, celebrated for the prevalence of
this crime. Tho Parisians pursue it as
an agreeable mode of securing relief
from their troubles. It has been as
serted that foggy weather induces sui
cides, although statistics go to disprove
this, especially in New York. The
months of April, May, June, July and
August, the most pleasant months of
tho year, are those in which more per
sons take their lives than at any other
in the year. The gravity and stolidity
of the English peoplo rather shows iu
their favor, as regards this crime. In
the city of New York, between 1866
and 1872, there were 678 suicides, the
males predominating. For tho three
years, 1870, '71 and '72, there were 359
suicides, 132 being Germans. As re
gards conditions, 171 wero married, 118
single, 43 widows and widowers, and
27 whose condition was not stated. The
ago of the oldest was 84, and that of
the youngest, 10. The cause for the
suicide of the latter was remarkable.
She was detected in the theft of fifty
oents from her mother, and seeking to
escape from her shame Bhe resorted to
Paris green. Poison is the most pop
ular modo of suicide, the preference
being by arsenio, Paris green, opium,
carbolic acid and other irritants. In
sanity causes tho largest number of
suicides, both men and women ;
drunkenness comes next, and disease
third. The ages at which suioido seems
to be most often resorted to are be
tween forty and fifty among men and
fortv-five and fiftv-fivo among women.
Since the greatest number of deaths in
JNew York is bv poisoning it is im
portant to inquire into the causes why
should bo so. When we take into
consideration tho looseness of tho
present laws regarding the sale of
poisons, there appears to be no trouble
for persons who wish theBO drugs to
obtain them. It is needless to say that
the opium habit, like alcoholism, leads
to self-destruotion in a number of
instances. A form of suicide, which
figures largely in American statistics, is
jumping from an elevation. This is
oftentimes the result of a momentary
impulse, produced by tho surround
ings. In New York city there were
twenty-one victims of this mode be
tween the years 1866 and 187U. a most
mpoitant duty in connect! n witn tnis
subject is tho influence of the mode of
life of the poorer classes. He alluded
more particularly to the tenement-houso
system. The vices attending the
colonization of the working classes are
spread by tho contact of the vicious
with the pure, and tho depression oi
ho tone, are powerful inducers of sui
cide. Tho prevalence of strikes and
trades' unions, with their dangerous
restrictions and foolish oaths of allegi
ance, are fruitful causes of suicides.
Men are afraid to work in opposition to
tho threats of their fellow tradesmen,
and when poverly stares them in the
face they become desperate and commit
suicide. A great percentage of the sui
cides in large cities are attribatable to
unnatural vices, caused by a state of
hypochondriasis or monomania by the
carefully written advertisements of the
many quacks. The prevalence of se
duction in large cities is perhaps
erreatr among the lower classes, the
large factories being tho places where
the crime is mostly committed and
where suioido often follows. To di
minish the number of suicides the
doctor favored regular meals and
habits, the abolition of immoral enter
taiuments. advertising quacks, so
called anatomical museums, of obscene
and sensational literature, legislation
shonld strictlv regulate tho sale of
poisonous drugs.
Went to Her Death.
The other day there was picked up
out of the Seine a young woman of such
surpassing beauty that crowds nockea
to see her bodv at the Morgue, ana
photographs of her wero scattered
broadcast over Paris. The lovely un
known proved to have been an Italian,
bv name Lucretia Balbi. who earned
tier living as a model. Among the
painters for whom she had sat was
Henry Regnanlt, and for him the poor
girl conceived the most ardent passion.
"She never told her love." and he
never suspected it ; but from the day
of his death, two years ago, she began
to cine awav in the deepest melancholy,
Her character was stainless, and her
deep sense of religion caused her long
to hesitate at suicide; but at length
her mind seems to have given wav,
She left a letter addressed to her broth
er, who also is a model. It is a very
sad storv. but there are no dark fea
tures in tho case. What a wonderful
thing love is, even in these prosai
days
An Argument. John Henry's father-
in-law, aged eighty-five, took it into his
head to get his life insured. "But,
sir, you are too old for us to take the
risk," said the agent. "Why so?"
tViA olil man. " Because speed v
death is too sure a thing." " Well, I've
been looking at your tables'" said the
f ither-in-law. " and I find there ain'
one man dies at my age to a hundred
that dio younger." The insurance agent
oouldn't see it, but John Henry says
it's good logio, and he'll " back the old
man for fifty years yet."
MASKED BURGLARS' WORK.
12. - .J i. . o . 1 I
An Old Dl.n'l tiimriini. - "-. i
-Th Victim l.eii uonnn ana
For many years thefo has lived in
Monroetown, Pa., an eoeentrio eld man
named Isaao Castor. Ho is a shoe
maker afid lives alone in a little house
in an out of the wav tot. no is over
sixty years old, and for years has board
ed his earnings, using only enough
money to procure tho bare necessities
of life. His income has never been
largo, but its accumulation for over a
quarter of century amounted to a
snug little competency. He always
carried sevoral hundred dollars in his
pantaloon pockets, which fact was gen
erally knowU, end it has been the stand
ing wonder here for years that he had
never been robbed.
On a Monday morning it was noticed
that the old shoemaker's shop was not
opened as usual, and that there was no
stir about the house. This was so re
markable an occurence that two or three
citizens went to his house and broke
open the door. They found Castor
bound tightly in a chair, so that he
could not use his hands or feet, and a
handkerchief tied tightly over his
mouth. Ho was hastily released, and
as soon as he could recover sufficiently
from his excitement and alarm he told
Bubstantiallv the following story :
About an hour before daylight ho
was awakened by a man who stood by
H.a aiila nf Ilia liP.V f!nnt.- T HIirATlCr UP.
but was stopped by the man, who put
o T;f.ni tr hi henA nnrl told him to ba
still or ho would blow his brains out.
Another man, with a lantern, was go-
ing about the room searching every
hole andjeorner. Tho old shoemaker at
first thought the men were negroes, but
afterward discovered that they were
white men with blaokened faces. The
ohe man rifled tho pockets of his pan-
taloons, wnicn containea neariy uuu,
but not being able to find money that
they evidently believed was ceoreted
about tho room, the robbers told the
old man that ho must tell them where
he hid his monev or they would kill
him. Castor assured them that he had
no more money ; that his pantaloons
pockets contained all he had in the
world, and he begged them to leave
him some of that, as ho was keeping it
to pay his funeral expenses when he
died. Tho burglars, failing to force the
old man into revealing the whereabouts
of the reBt of his probable treasure,
and daylight being near, made their
victim get out of bed. They then
bound him to the chair and gagged
him, and took their departure. They
had effected an entrance into the house
through a back window. Castor said
that he could not be able to recognize
the robbers. He could not distinguish
their features, and their voioes were
trange to him. Tho general impres
sion is that they are parties living in
tho neighborhood, as no strangers have
been seen about the place. There1 is
not the slightest suspicion, however, as
to who they may be. Castor says that
the robbers took every dollar ho had in
the world.
Mushroom Poisoning.
An interesting case was recently
brought before one of the criminal
courts ot iiondon, tuo grana jury
throwing out a bill of indictment against
gardener who was charged witn mur
dering a fellow-servant by giving her
poisoned mushrooms to eat. Although
there was no reason to suppose that the
mushrooms were given with any feloni
ous intention, yet three persons were
actually poisoned by them, and one
died; the fungi being so much like
mushrooms that even a skilled witness
saw nothing in them to distinguish
them from the genuine article of food,
appearing in evidence that mush'
rooms growing under trees are danger
ous, tho presiding judge gave great
emphasis to the importance of such a
faot being wicieiy Known, ana cauo
attention to the following description
given bv Professor Bently though not
an unerring one showing the general
characters by which the edible and
poisonous species of fungi may best be
distinguished : The edible mushrooms
grow solitary, in dry, airy places, and
are geueraiiv white or orownisu : tney
have a compaot. brittle flesh ; do not
change color, when cut, by tho action
of the air : mice watery, ana oaor
agreeable ; taste not bitter, acrid, salt,
or astringent. The poisonons mush
rooms, on the contrary, grow in clus
ters, in woods and dark, damp places,
and are usually of a bright color ; their
flesh is tough, soft, and watery, and
they acquire a brown, green, or blue
tint when cut and exposed to the air ;
the juice is often milky, tho odor com-
inonly powerful and disagreeable, and
the taste either acrid, astringent, acid,
salt, or bitter. These characteristics
are almost invariable.
Tne Slave Trade.
It is not alone piety which prompts
thousands of Mohammedan merchants
annually to join the pilgrims marching
to Mecca. The charm of a prontabie
otit t riffhtAoim wanriArai-H. aiirt thflv ftr
by no means overscrupulous as to tho
manner in which they gain their money.
While the more devout shed their tears
.i iv.: - v,; f
the Prophet, tLse who have an eye to
business capture slaves wherever thev
can. in the regions of Africa through
which they pass, and sell them within
the Dominions of the uuitan oi juoroo-
oo, who takes one slave in twenty as
his tribute. This trade, which is car
ried on within a few leagues of the
French settlements in Algeria, is said
to be by far the most lucrative indulged
in by the caravans. Three thousand
slaves are annually bronght down from
the Soudan, and not even the powdered
gold, the inoense, the precious stones,
the indigo, or the rhinoceros herns,
which the caravans sometimes get in
Central Africa, are sought for with half ftray by drink, or aesertea nom ais
the eagerness displayed in slave-hunt- like to the army ; eighty-tone wereper
jn suaded by comrades or bad company ;
in Springfield, Mass, to be thence sent better themselves ; thirty went on
to various schools in that State and sprees and did not return ; forty
Connecticut for education. They three were tired of the army ; eighteen
brought their wardrobes and trinkets
in great bamboo ohe6ts,
Items of Interest.
Thfl nonresl income OH which ft mar-
' - 1 1. i: .'-I i.irtn.nfiKilltV
ril.'U cuupiu uau iiyo 10 iuuuuhj-h-" v
At Salisbury. N. H.. Master Cnshon,
aged fifteen, killed Master Couch, aged
fifteen, with a club.
A societv for the Introduction of tem
perance literature in the publio schools
has been formed in Chicago.
Tho sale of onions has largely in
creased in Maine, those who would
like alcohol if they could got it being,
according to one theory, the purchasers.
In October the affectionate husband
. . ' , 1 L A 1.
weeps to see nis wite saip auuiw mo
house flourishing a duster, and to hear
her shriek in accents wild, " nan mm i
There's another moth miller 1"
A good meal, it Is said, is served in a
restaurant in the Rue do Trinite, Paris,
for nine cents. Tho menu comprises a
plato of meat, a plate of vegotables,
dessert, and half a bottle of wine.
A couple of fellows who were pretty
thoroughly soaked with bad whisky got
into the gutter. After flonndoring for
some time one of them said, "Let's go
to another house ; thu? hotel leaks."
An inquiring man thrust his fingers'
into a horse's mouth to see how many
teeth he had. Tho horse closed his
mouth to see how many fingers the
man had. Tho curiosity of each was
fully satisfied.
The lifting power of plants is well
illustrated bv an oak tree in South Had-
ley, Mass. A rock had a seam in it,
and a fibrous root from the oak crept
into the seam, grew and lifted tho rook,
weighing over a ton, to a height of ono
foot.
A Western man set fire to the prairie
for fun, bnt after ho ran seven miles
and climbed a treo, with his pants
about all burned off, ho concluded tho
sport was a little too violent exercise
to be indulged in oftener than once in
a lifetime,
Good advice. When you uso a postal
card, always write the address the first
thing. Tons of postal cards without
any address are destroyed in tho Dead
Letter Office, because peoplo writo
their message first and then forget to
address the card.
In Hartford, not long since, where
the estate of a bankrupt, upon settle
ment, only allowed a dividend of one
half of one per cent., tho highest divi
dend was $55 on a debt of $11,000 to
tho wifo of the bankrupt, and tho low- .
est was four cents.
A bashful young man mortally offend
ed tho bride of his most intimate
friend by stammering, when taken
aback by a request for a toast at the
wedding supper: " Tom, my f-fr-frieud,
may you have a wedding onco a year
as long as you live."
A pistol to be used by Marietta Ravel
in a play at a Troy theatre was loaded
with a deoidedlv realistio bullet. A
boy had been rat hunting with the fire
arm, aud had loit in a ueaaiy cuarge.
The discovery was made just iu time,
probably, to save the life of an actor.
Nineteen years ago a Tennessee
father refused to let his young daugh
ter go to a candy-pull, and she disap
peared. The other day she returned,
lifted eleven children out of the wagon,
and entered tho house and took off her
things as coolly as if she hadn t been
gone over a day.
Excellent paper pillows may bo made
of old letters the stiffer the paper
the better. Newspapers will not do.
The paper should be cut into strips
and rolled round an ivory knitting
needle ; it is then almost like a spring,
and makes a much better cushion
than the torn paper, being more elas
tic.
How He Started Out.
Henry J. Raymond, member of Con
gress, ljieutenant-uovernor oi iuu
State of New iork, but better Known
as the founder ana editor oi uie iiuw
York Times, was the son of a poor
farmer. At the age of twenty he gradu
ated at the University of Vermont.
His father wanted him to go to work
on the farm. But young Raymond had
no inclination for farming. He felt if
ho could get a start m New lcrk city,
that he had the habits of industry and
the brains which would enable him to
do well.
Moved by his son s earnestness, tue
father raised three hundred dollars by
mortgaging the farm, and witn mat
sum the future journalist went to the
Via stnrlinr) law. taught
Bohooi wrote for the newspapers, and
wa8 the perBoni xt is said, to write
reRuiar letters from New York to tho
comtry journals,
jjorace Greeley, about that time,
startea tne New York Tribune, and
bein acquainted with Raymond, in-
vited him to do his writing in the office.
For some months he wrote at his bor
rowed desk, when, receiving a liberal
offer to teach school in the South, ho
determined to accept it.
Thanking Mr. Greeley lor nis many
courtesies, he informed him of his in
tended departure.
"I don't think," said the kind-ueanea
editor, who, like Raymond, was then
oliukkuuk " f" '
" thtnreVi any particular use of your
b"b """ V JA tcZZ
oght to do as well here, and New
York's a better place for you. How
much yi"10! ,
'
"Ten dollars a week, and I can t earn
as much here."
O, well, you d better stay. Write
for the Tribune; I'll give you eight
dollars a week."
English Abmt. Last year 743
soldiers were sentenoed for desertion
from the British army. Some of the
reasons given for desertion by the men
are curious. Forty-seven were annoyed
by comrades or harshly treated by
non-commissioned offioers and others ;
forty-four married without leave, or
had love anaira ; eighty-seven were iea
the cause ; twenty-nine deserted to
deserted on account of whims and
folly ; and thirty-two gave no cause.