HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
.VOL. IV. . BIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, FA., THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1875. NoTI
' ' " ! 1 1 ; . . . . ; ,
V
Caldwell of Springfield.
NEW JEHMET. . . .(1780).
Hero's tbe spot. Look around you. Above on
tlio height
Lay the Hessians encamped. By that church
on tho right
Stood the gaunt Jersey farmers. And here ran
a wall
You may dig anywhere and you'll turn up a
ball.
Nothing more. Grasses spring, waters run,
(lowers blow
Pretty much as they did ninety-throe years ago.
Nothing more did I tay ? Ktay two moment ;
you've heard
Of Caldwell, the parson, who once preached
tho word
Down lit Rpringfleld? What, no? Come
that's bad, why he had
All tho JerneyH aflame ! And they gave him
Hm name
Of the " rebel high priest." Ho stuck iu their
gorge,
For ho loved tho Lord Ood and be hated
King (leorgo !
He had cause, you migtt say ! Wheu the Hes
sians tliHt day
Marched up with Knypliauscn they stopped on
their way
At tho " Farms." whero his wife, with a child
in her arms,
Hxt alone in the house. How it happened none
knew
But Ood and that one of tho hireling crow
Who fired tho shot ! Enough ! there she lay,
And Caldwell, tiio ehapluiu, her husband,
away !
Did ho preach did he pray? Think of him, as
you btaud
By tho old church to-day think of him and
that band
Of militant plowboys ! See the smoke and
the heat
Of that reckless advance of that straggling
retreat !
Keep the ghot-t of that wife, foully slain, in
your view
And wlirt could you what should you, what
would you do ?
Why, jui-t what ho did ! They wero left in the
lurch
For the want of more wadding. He ran to the
church,
Broke the door, stripped tho pews, and dashed
out in tho road
With his arms full of hymn-books, and threw
down his load
At their feet ! Then, abovo all the shouting
and shots.
Rang his voice " Put Watts into 'em Boys,
give 'em Watts !"
And they did. That is all. Grasses Bpring,
flowers blow
Tretty much as they did ninety-three years ago.
You may dig anywhere and you'll turn up a
ball
But not always a hero like this and that's all.
Bbet Haiitk.
THE YEAR 1874.
Notable Events find Incident of the Year.
JANUARY.
3. The Spanish Cortes forcibly dis
solved by General Pavia ; Serrano made
President.
4. First services of tho Reformed
Episcopal Church held in New York.
5. Meeting of Congress,
6. The New York State Legislature
organized.
9. Caleb Gushing nominated for Chief
Justice.
13. Commiinist riot in Tompkins
Square. Surrender of tho Cartagena In
transigentes. 15. Charles Astor liristed died.
17. Death of the Siamese Twins.
19. Tho new Texas government takes
possession of the State offices. Nomina
tion of Morrison It. Waito for Chief Jus
tice. 20. The nppointmeut of Mayors given
to the French government.
22. 1 )eath of Madame Parepa-Rosa.
23. Marriage of tho Duke of Edin
burgh. 24. English Parliament dissolved.
20. Announcement by cable of the
death of Dr. Livingstone.
29. The Ashantee city of Coomassie
surrendered.
FEBRUARY.
3. Imprisonment of Archbishop Le
dochskoski, of Posen, Prussia. Death
of King Lunulilo, of the Sandwich
Islands.
6. Baron Mayer de Rothschild died in
London.
11. The Massachusetts Senate rescind
ed the resolution censuring Senator
Sumner.
13. Burning of Taylor's Pantechnicon
in London ; loss, $15,000,000 ; two lire
men killed.
16. A straiige horse disease broke out
in New York.
19. Great lire in Panama.
24. Severe snow storm in New York.
27. Ex-President Cespedes shot in
Cuba.
28. The Tichborne claimant sentenced
to fourteen years' penal servitude.
MARCH.
8. Death of ex-President Fillmore.
Rev. John Stevens, American mission
ary, murdered by a mob at Ahualulco,
Mexico.
11. Death of Charles Sumner.
16. The Prince Imperial of France at
tains his " majority.
22. Death of Judge Dent.
26. Riot at Bergen tunnel.
27. Fighting at Bilbao, Spain.
28. University race on the Thames
won by Cambridge.
29. State troops sent to Susquehanna,
Fa., against strikers.
APRIL.
4. Steamer Europe foundered at sea ;
no Uvea lost.
6. Navigation on the lakes open.
11. Henri Rochefort'left Melbourne.
14. Steamer Amerique abandoned at
Bea ; picked up afterward ; no lives lost.
15. Disastrous tornado at Nashville.
The body of Dr. Livingstone arrived at
Southampton.
18. Funeral of Dr. Livingstone.
21. Disastrous fire'in Yokohama.
22. President's veto of the currency
bill.
23. Volcanio shock at Stone mountain.
N. C.
27. Over 20,000,000 acres of cotton
and sugar land on the Mississippi inun
dated. 29.. Senate declined to pass the cur
rency bill over tho President's veto.
MAY.
1. Famine in Asia Minor.
2. President Serrano entered Bilbao.
4. Trial of Rev. Dr. Swing for heresy.
6. Erie canal opened.
11. Port of Montreal opeuoil.
12. Tho Czar of Russia arrived in
England. Geneva Award bill passed
the United StateR Senate.
15. The President recognized Baxter
as legal Governor of Arkansas.
16. Bursting of a reservoir nt Wil
liamsburg, Mass. ; flooding of Williams
burg, Haydenville and Leeds ; great loss
of life.
21. Marriage of Miss Nellie Grant to
Mr. Sortoris.
23. United States Senate passed the
Civil Rights bill.
27. Colonel Ellsworth's monument
dedicated.
30. Henry Roehefort arrived in New
York.
7. Terriiie storm in Oneida and Onon
daga counties, N. Y. Tornado in Illi
nois. 13. Conference Currency bill defeated
in the United States House.
19. Sinking of the Turkish ship Kars
iu the sea of Marmora ; 320 lives lost.
20. The Currency bill passed the
United States House.
22. United States Currency bill signed.
23. At Syracuse, 14 persons killed and
100 injured, by tho giving way of the
floor of tho Central Baptist church.
30. Henry Grinnell died, aged 75
years.
JULY.
1. Charlie Ross is stolen from his home
in Philadelphia.
4. Terrible hailstorm hi New Jersey.
10. Abolition of passports for Ameri
cans iu France.
12. Flood caused by reservoir break
ing at Middlelield, Mass.
13. Attempt by Kullman on Bismarck's
life.
14. Great fire at Chicago ; damage be
tween 84,000,000 and $6,000,000.
18. Saratoga regatta ; Columbia wins,
16. 42 J.
19. All Spain placed under martitil
law.
23. Mr. Disraeli, ut the Lord Mayor's
banquet, declares iu favor of an active
participation of England iu European
nguirs.
25. Tho new United States Five Per
Cent. Loan bids partly accepted.
26. Tho German fleet ordered to cruise
oft' the Spanish coast.
27. Extraordinary rainstorm and freshet
at Pittsburgh and Alleghany City, Pa.
Opening of the Brussels International
Congress. Tho United States Five Per
Cent. Loan entirely taken by Roths
childs, Belmont, and Seligman.
28. The American yacht Enchantress
arrived first, iu the French Club race
from Havre to Southlea, but the Corinua
wius by time allowance.
I. Death of Charles Beke, tho African
traveler.
3. Public Worship Regulation bill
passed its third reading in the House of
Commons.
5. International base ball and cricket
match in England, between Americans
and Englishmen.
7. Election iu North Carolina ; Demo
cratic success. Prorogation of the Brit
ish Parliament.
8. The military called out to suppress
riots in Portsmouth, England.
9. Disastrous flood in the Seinde,
India.
10. Bazaine escaped from prison.
II. Negro riot at Austin, Miss.
13. Recognition of Spain by European
Powers.
15. Rochester races ; Goldsmith Maid
wins, 2 :14 J ; the fastest time on record.
16. Meeting of 50,000 British . miners
on the Durham Race Course.
20. (treat typhoon at Nagasaki, Japan.
21. Expedition of General Custer to
tho Black Hills.
22. Shore end of the United States
direct cable laid on the Irish coast.
29. End of the Brussels International
Congress.
30. Murder of six Rejuiblican officials
at Conshatta, La.
31. Eruption of Mount Etna.
V.
SEPTEMBER.
I. Republican victory in Vermont elec
tions, 3. Riel elected representative for Mani
toba. 4. Fred. Dockray leaves Havana for a
Spanish prison.
5. German war ships fired upon by
Carlists.
8. All cable wires broken between
Newfoundland and the United States.
II. Frightful collision on an English
railroad, near Norwich; twenty people
killed.
14. Election in Maine; Dingley, Re
publican, elected by 11,000 majority.
Bloody riot at New Orleans; six citizens
killed, and twenty of the metropolitan
police.
15. The President issues a proclama
tion to the Louisiana rioters.
17. McEuery's government surrenders
to tho United States troops at New Or
leans. 18. A second famine reported in Asia
Minor.
21. Protest of Denmark against the
expulsion of Danish subjects from
Suhleswig by the Prussians.
22. Typhoon at Hong Kong; eight
steamers lost, and 1,000 lives.
25. The Prince of Wales accepts the
Free Masons' Grand Mastership.
26. Rifle-mateh between Irishmen and
Americans at Creedmoor.
27. Another disastrous eruption of
Mount Etna.
30. Collision on the Allegheny Val
ley railroad; tliree men killed; many
wounded.
OCTOBER.
1. Tho headquarters of the United
States Army transferred to St. Louis.
Marriage of General Sherman's daugh-.
ter. Fire at Saratoga; the Grand Hotel
burnt. Revolution in the Argentine Re
public. 2. Explosion of a gunpowder barge in
Regent's canal, London.
5. Arrest of Count Von Arnim.
6. Overflow of the Nile; considerable
damage to crops.
9. The Archbishop of Cologne set
at liberty, after six months' imprison
ment. 11. Battles near Buenos Ayres be
tween tho Insurgents and government
troops.
12. Newmarket races in England;
Aveutiuiero the winner. Threatening
note of Serrano to the French govern
ment. 13. Elections; Democratic success in
Ohio, Indiana, etc. ; Republican success
in Iowa.
15. The President visits Chicago and
the West.
17. Fiji Islands annexed by England.
20. Marriage at Chicago of Colonel
Frederick D. Grant to Miss Honore.
21. Terrible storm on tho Northern
coast of England; houses blown down;
17 sailors drowned off Glasgow; many
other people killed.
22. Explosion nt Detroit of the pro
peller Brooklyn; 16 deaths. Fnlso re
port of the capture of Nana Sahib.
24. Difficulties between Turkey and
tho three Northern Powers, relative to
Roumanian treaties.
27. Count Von Arnim released on
bail.
29. Opening of the German Reichstag.
Trial of Kulhnunn, the assailant of -Bismarck.
Death of John P. Laird, M. P.,
the great shipbuilder.
30. Kullmanu sentenced to fourteen
years' imprisonment.
NOVEMBER. .
3. November election in New York
and other States ; largo Democratic
gains.
4. Bombardment of Inui by the
Carlists.
0. Laying of the direct Unitod States
cable.
8. Election in Italy ; the Ministerial
majority decreased.
10. News of a revolution in Venezuela.
11. Iruu relieved, after a great -battle
between Carlists and Republicans.
15. Railroad accident near Bologna,
Italy; 35 persons killed and wounded.
19. Burning at sea of the English
sliip Cospatrick, bound from London to
New Zealand; nearly live hundred lives
lost; three survivors.
20. Mr. Boker, United States Minister
at Constantinople, protests against an
outrage done by soldiers upon American
missionaries iu Syria. Terrible explo
sion in a colliery at Warren Vale, York
shire ; twenty-four miners killed.
21. Bismarck violently assailed iu the
Rrichstug on account of his religious
and foreign policy.
22. The thickest fog of the year iu
England; many casualties.
23. Tremendous hurricano in Ala
bama, Maryland, etc.; twelve persons
killed at Tuseumbia, Ala. Strike of the
New York longshoremen.
25. Eleven persons buried by an aval
anche on the Great St. Bernard moun
tain. 27. Religious riots in Para, Brazil.
29. King Kalakeua, of the Sandwich
Islands, arrives atS:in Francisco. Foun
dering off Ushaut, France, of the cable
steamship La Plata; CO persons drowned.
DECEMBER.
2. Fred. Dockray pardoned by the
Spanish government.
3. Meeting of the Quebec Legisla
ture. 4. An annuity voted ts Garibaldi by
the Italian Parliament.
6. Tho Lowell Boiler Works nearly
destroyed by fire.
7. Meeting of Congress. Presidential
Message. Strike of puddlers at Pitts
burg. Attack against Vicksburg be ne
groes, 70 of whom arc killed. Drawn
battle in Venezuela between the Insur
gents and tho Government forces ; 700
to 800 men killed.
8. Express car robbed of 830,000 on
the Kansas Pacific railroad, by robbers
who stop the train.
10. Tranquility re-established ut
Vicksburg.
12. King Kalakaua arrives at Wash
ington. End of tho Argentine insurrec
tion. .15. Two burglars shot at Bay Ridge,
near Fort Hamilton, New York, sup
posed to be the abductors of the missing
boy Charlie Ross.
17. Tho Pacific Mail steamer Japan
burned near Hong Kong. Adjournment
of the Mexican Congress.
19. Count Von Arnim sentenced to
three months' imprisonment. A flood,
occasioned by the breaking of the Mill
River dam, of Haydenville, Mass.
21. Explosion of a powder magazine
at Scutari, Turkey ; 200 persona killed
22. The U. S. Senate passed the
Specie Payment bill. First three de
cisions by the Alabama Claims' Commis
sion at Washington.
23. King Kalakaua in New York.
25. Ex-Governor Warmoth kills, at
New Orleans, Mr. Byerly, one of the
proprietors of the Bulletin,
27. Genend Concha orders lenient
treatment of ally insurgents, but the exe
cution of incendiaries and fillibusters.
28. Collision in the East river between
the ferry boat Alaska and the cattle boat
Golden. Death of Gerrit Smith.
Ills Distaste.
Sheridau had a great distaste for any
thing like metaphysical discussions,
whereas his son Tom had taken a liking
for them. One day Tom tried to dis
cuss with his father the doctrine of ne
cessity. " Pray, my good father," said
he, " did you ever do anything in a state
of perfect indifference without motive,
I mean, of some kind or other i " Sheri
dan, who saw what was coming and by
no means relished such subjects, even
from Tom, said " Yes, certainly." "In
deed ! " " Yes, indeed. " " What ! total
indifference total, entire, thorough in
difference?" "Yes total, entire, thor
ough indifference." "My dear father,
tell me what it is you can do with
mind I total, entire, thorough indiffer
ence?" "Why, listen to you, Tom,"
said Sheridan. Tom did not soon again
trouble his father with any of his meta
physics. Lunacy. A Canadian official report
on lunacy says about fifty per cent, of
the idiots of large towns in Canada are
the children of drunkards, while a long
catalogue of other diseases is given as
especially common with the same un
fortunate class. The marriage of first
cousins is strongly denounced as pro
ductive of idiocy and insanity.. The
taint from the mother is far more fre
quent and dangerous than from the
father.
X Colony of Communists.
In 1842 a society of German Commun
ists settled near Buffalo, N. Y., and after
remaining there awhile removed to a
point seventy-four miles west of Daven
port, Iowa. They call themselves the
"Congregations of True Inspiration,"
and from the name of their principal vil
logo they are known as the Amana Com
munity.' The society bos 1,450 mem
bers, all Germans. They own 25,000
ocres of laud, divided into seven small
towns. A correspondent who has visited
the colony tells some incidents of the
manner of living, etc., that are interest
ing. Their head is a woman, who is sup
posed to speak by direct inspiration of
God. Tho villages are about a milo and
a-half apart, each having a store at which
the neighboring farmers trade, and a
tavern for the public.
The houses are well built, of brick,
stone, or wood, but very plain, and not
painted. The school house, -church,
cook houses and prayer houses are larger
than the dwellings. Iu the principal
village there are fifteen cooking and eat
ing houses for 450 inhabitants. The
men, women and children ent separately.
" Why do you separate men from women
at table V asked the correspondent.
" To prevent silly conversation and tri
fling conduct," was the answer.
Each branch of business has its fore
man. The children go to school from
tho age of six till they are thirteen.
Their studies are alternated with knit
ting. Boys as well as girls are required
o kuit. The women work hard, and
dress soberly. All ornameuts are for
bidden. To wear the hair loose is pro
hibited. Great care is used to keep the
sexes apart. On Sunday afternoon the
boys are permitted to walk in the fields,
and so are the girls, but they must go in
different directions. No young man is
allowed to marry until he is twenty-four;
and matrimony is not regarded as meri
torious. Each adult male is allowed from $40
to 100 a year for clotluug, each woman
from 825 to 830, and each child from 85
to 810. They have no library, and most
of their reading is iu the Bible, and in
their own books. They take no interest
iu politics, and do not vote.
They employ about two hundred hired
hands, all Germans. They are excellent
farmers, and keep tho cattle. The mem
bers do not work hard. They say that
three hired men will do as much as live
or six of the members. They make
woolen cloth enough for their own wants,
and supply tho country about them.
They own about 3,000 sheep, 1,500 head
of cattle, 200 horses, and 2,500 hogs.
They have no debt, and have consider
able money at interest. In sickness they
practice homoeopathy.
Crime In High I'la-rs.
A New York correspondent of the
Boston Journal write3 : " In all these
dull seasons, when a largo number of
men are out of work, desperate men
come to tho front. The present style is
robbing iu the cars. These desperadoes
select the most fashionable parts of the
city. The Second and Third avenues
have ceased to be the dangerous avenues
on which to ride. The real aristocratic
car is the Fourth avenue, running up
through Madison, and on to the neigh
borhood of the park. Here nightly
scenes of violence and robbery occur.
The residents on tho line of tho road
have had a public meeting, and threaten,
if the city does not protect them, they
will protect themselves. Tho plan of
operation is this. Everything is safe
till the car sweeps by tho Grand Central
depot. Above this tho localities are very
elegant, but the population is scarce.
Tho time selected is night, when the
theaters break up, and ladies aro loaded
with jewels. Four burly fellows, two
back and tv front, throw off the con
ductor and any gentlemen who may bo
on tho platform, rush into the cars, seize
a lady round tho neck, strip her of
watch, jewels and money ; each des
perado selecting a victim. Tho work is
done in a flash, the parties disappear,
and tho police are no wiser for their
movements. This is an exact description
of what took place on o Madison avenue
car one night recently. Wealthy, but
timid gentlemen are afraid to go out
nights ; and instead of meeting their
friends at the Fifth Avenue Hotel as
usual, those who want to see them have
to call for them. Mnrray Hill is not as
safe at night as Five Points.
Hereditary Crime.
Some of the most remarkable statistics
regarding hereditary disposition to crime
that has ever been collected were lately
produced by Dr. Harris at a recent meet
ing of the New York State Charities Aid
Association. It appears that the atten
tion of Dr. Harris was attracted to a
county on the upper Hudson, in New
York, in which the proportion of crime
and poverty to the entire population was
extraordinarily great, there being about
one criminal or pauper to every ten in
habitants. The recurrence of certain
names among the list of unfortunates
also excited his interest, and led him to
genealogical investigations which have
resulted in the following astouislung
statement of facts;
Seventy years ago a child, having no
other name then Margaret, was a vagrant
about that locality, There was no alms
house, and it seems that the girl lived as
a waif, occasionally helped by the charita
ble, but never educated and never given
a home. She gave birth to children,
who became paupers like herself; they
increased and multiplied until, up to the
present time, nine hundred descendants
of the friendless woman can be traced.
Of this immense progeny, extending
through six generations, two hundred of
the more vigorous ore recorded as crimi
nals, and a large number as idiots, luna
tics, prostitutes, and drunkards. In
one single generation there were twenty
children, three of which died young, and
the balance survived to maturity; but
nine were Bent to State prisons for aggre
gate terms of fifty years, and the rest
were constant inmates of penitentiaries,
jails, and almshouses.
The Typographical Union of Harris
burg, Pa., has resolved to reduce the
price of composition from 40 to 35 cents
per 1000 ems. This proposition originated
in the Union, there having been no de
mand on the part of the employers.
A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE.
What Tlrior Huso until nt the irnve
ot
Madmne fllcnrlrr, in Furl.
The woman to whom we come to pay
tho supremo tribute has honored her sex;
she had all tho charms for love, and all
tho strength for suffering. She leaves
behind her the companion of her life,
Paul Mourico, a spirit luminous and
proud, one of the noblest men of our
time. Let us bow before this sacred
tomb.
I witnessed their marriage. So pass the
years. I saw them both young, phe bo
beautiful, he so radiant, unite their future
before the human law and before the law
divine, and give their hands to each other
in hope and morning. I saw. that entrance
of two souls into love, which is the true
entrance into life. To-day is it tho exit
that we see ? No ; for the heart that re
mains continues to love, and the soul
that has llown continues to live ! Death
is another entrance, not into mere love,
for the love below was complete, but
into more light.
From that radiant hour of the begin
ning, to tho stern hour where we are
now, these two beautiful souls sustained
each other. Life, whatever it may be, is
good, traveled thus. She, admirable
woman, painter, musician, artist, had re
ceived every gift, and was made for every
pride ; but she was abovo all, proud of
the reflection of his famo upon herself ;
she took part in his success ; sho felt
herself honored by the applause which
hailed him ; sho participated, smiling, in
those splendid ovations at tho theater
where the name of Memico was shouted
amidst acclamations and enthusiasm ;
sho had the sweet pride to see unfold for
tho future, and triumph before the mul
titude, that series of works, strong and
exquisite, which shall have in the litera
ture of our age a place of light and glory.
Then came tho times of trial : she ac
cepted them with stoicism. In our day
the writer should be at need a combat
ant : woe to the talent behind which is
not seen a conscience ! A poetry should
be a virtue. Paul Meuriee is one of
those clear souls in whose depths is seen
duty. He wanted liberty, progress,
truih and justice, and he bore the conse
quences. This is why, one day, he went
to prison. His wife comprehended this
new glory, and from that day she, who
till then had been only good, became
great.
And later, when disasters came, when
trial took tho proportions of public
calamity, she was ready for every abne
gation and every devotion.
The history of this ago has some never-to-be
forgotten dtiys.
At times, in humanity, a certain sub
limity of the woman appears ; in the
hours when history becomes terrible, one
would say that her soul seizes the occa
sion, ond seeks to give an example to the
soul of man. Antiquity had the Roman
women ; tho modern nptes will have tho
French woman. The siege of Paris has
shown all that woman cau be : dignity,
firmness, acceptance of privations and
miseries, gaiety iu anguish. The bottom
of the soul of the French woman is an
heroic mixture of family and country.
The generous woman in this tomb had
all these grandeurs. I have been her
guest in those tragic days ; I have seen
her. While her husband did his double
and rude task of writer and soldier, she
also rose before the dawn. She was,
while it was yet night, iu the rain, in the
frost, h"r feet in the snow, to wait long
hours, like the other noblo women of the
people, at the doors of the butchers and
bakers, and she brought us back food
and joy.
For 'the truest of all joys is duty per
formed. There is on ideal of womau in
Isaiah ; there is another in Juvenal ;
these two ideals the women of Paris have
realized. They have had the courage
which is more than bravery, and tho
patience which is more than courage.
They have shown, before peril, intrepidity
and sweetness. They gave to tho de
spairing combatants the encouragement
of the smile. Nothing could conquer
them. Like their husbands, like their
children, they wanted to struggle ti the
last hours ; and iu the face of a savage
enemy, under the grapeshot and the
shells, under the furious blast of a five
months' winter, they refused, even to the
Seine loaded with blocks of ice, even to
famine, even to death, tho surrender of
their town ! Ah ! let us reverence this
Paris which has produced such women
and such men. Let us go down upon
our knees before the holy city ! Paris,
by its tremendous resistance, saved
France, which the dishonor of Paris
would have slain, and Europe, which the
death of France would have dishonored.
Let the beautiful soul, flown away, but
present, who at this moment hears me,
be proud ; all venerations surround her
collin. From the height of the unknown
serenity she can see around her all these
hearts full of her, these friends who
glorify her, this husbaud who niourus
her. 'Her memory, at once sorrowful
and enchanting, shall not be effaced. It
will lighten our twilight. A memory is
a ray.
Let the Eternal Soul iu that lugh
dwelling-place receive this immortal
soul. Life is a problem ; death is the
solution. I repeat it, and it is thus I
wish to end this farewell, full of hope :
the tomb is neither dark nor void. There
is the great light. To that light let it be
permitted the man who now speaks, to
turn. He who, it may be said, no more
exists here below he whose ambitions
are all now in death has the right to
hail in the depths of the infinite in the
sinister and sublime dazzle of the sepul
cher, the immense star, God !
Dangers of Benzine Scouring.
M. Dumas, at a recent meeting of the
French Academy of Science, stated that,
in examining the process of scouring
fabrics as usually practiced by cleaners
of old clothes (vvashing in benzine), he
had discovered a novel and dangerous
cause of fire. Workmen engaged in this
industry had frequently complained of
the benzine becoming inflamed during
the scrubbing ; aud in order to test the
question, M. Dumas caused a piece of
cashmere to be dipped in for a length of
18 feet. Every time the stuff partially
emerged from the bath, while being
rubbed between the hands, a sharp
pricking sensation upon those members
and on the face was felt ; and finally
Bparks were emitted from the fabric,
sufficient, if the scouring had been
briskly continued, to have ignited, the
inflammable fluid.
"MOSTLY TOUXG MEN."
A Had Story of a Holidny nt the Capital.
It was a Washington dispatch, and it
told very briefly how Christinas was ob
served at the national capital. A mere
Iiassing note; statement of a simplo fact;
lordly worth more than a flying men
tion. It only said: "The 'police ro
port the arrest of an unusually largo
number of intoxicated persons, mostly
young men." That was all. A larger
number than usual deliberately extin
guished their sense of responsibility to
society and to themselves, aud having so
dethroned their reason, went reeling
through the streets, iu which condition
they wero arrested by tho police, and
safely held until kind naturo hod re
stored the faculties they had thrown
away, and they had ceased to be dan
gerous to society or themselves. And
they were '.'mostly young men." Not
much of on item that. To a great many
readers who skimmed over it, it sug
gested nothing, the New York Tribune
says. It had no special significance to
them. There was nothing in it touching
the financial question; no intimation of
tho policy of the administration toward
Louisiana; nothing to throw any light
upon tho Pacific Mail business; nothing
but a bald statement of a quite unim
portant fact, to wit, that a great many
people were intoxicated, and that most
of them were young men. Perhaps
some old fellow who knew Washington
smiled a grim, hard smile, and said :
" The boys have been having a good
time Christmas." And perhaps some
other sedate person who was never
young, or, if he was, it was so long ago
he has forgotten it, read tho two or
three lines and said it was " outrageous "
for young men to act so. But tho mass
of mankind slipped by it, as they but
ton up their coats and hasten on when
they meet in the streets any one who
staggers.
Not everybody, though. Iu a great
niany homes and to a great many hearts
it meant a great deal more than tho
classification of a holiday's police re
port. It came to them' like news of
shipwreck to one with friends at sea.
There was a reading between the lines
that made fathers anxious and mothers
distressed. "Mostly young men!"
Ami hero was the boy just ripening into
manhood upon whom his parents looked
with pride, and for whoso future they
were so deeply anxious ; could tho
father help tho involuntary reaching out
to catch him from falling, as lie read in
these three words the story of so many
young men down aud disgraced f Could
the mother fail to reflect that her boy
was very much like other boys, and that
other boys the young men in the Wash
ington station house had mothers, per
haps just as tenderly solicitous for their
sous' welfare as she'for hers ? " Mostly
young men 1" Ah, how many a mother,
when she read it, olmpo1 Hoser to her
bosom the curly head and dimpled
cheeks of her own darling, as if she
would keep him back from manhood,
and from all the storm and stress which
carry down so many. And then the
motners, whose darlings with their curls
and dimples, and all the sweet aud win
ning ways of childhood, have moved on
out of the radiance of tho morning into
the heat and dust of the noontide, whose
hoys look level now into mother s and
perhaps into some one's not a mother's
eyes how these sweet, thoughtful
women must have shuddered at the bare
dreadful possibility that some time their
boys might go reeling to tho station
house. " Mostly young men !" It is a sugges
tive, a painfully suggestive statement.
It's tho coming of a new crop, and a
crop of reckless, dissolute men. Young
men to-day ; and perhaps with enough
of conscience left to suffer remorse,
enough of self-respect to suffer shame,
but every day growing harder as habit
grows and the senses deaden. There is
no need to write a homily on temper
ance, or preach a sermon. Tho homily
writes itself, aud tho sermon preaches it
self. There's no such sickening sight
in ull tho world as the drunken young
man or boy; nothing so painful to the
sensibilities of man or woman; nothing
that seems so harsh, aud unnatural, und
shocking. It is a deliberate flying in the
face of nature and flinging away the
best gift of God. But the procession
moves along. Thins out rapidly to be
sure toward the end, but the young men
keep stepping in and the ranks are al
ways full. It is the thing that fathers
dread for their sons and mothers pray
God their boys may bo delivered from,
but it goes right on, and the recruits are
" mostly young men." The State can
not stop it, quackery caunot cure it.
Cheerful homes might save many and
in Washington good examples in high
stations might keep many more from
falling. How would it do to try it.
Spontaneous Combustion In Hay.
The question of spontaneous combus
tion is undoubtedly to be credited with
many of the burnings of barns, stacks,
etc. Many fires iu cities are clearly
traceable to this cause, for many sub
stances liable to decay, especially vege
table fiber iu a state of compression, and
in connection with moisture, will heat,and
sometimes break out into flame. Iu our
dry climate where hay may be thoroughly
cured before stacking, or mowing, this
combustion is rare, but iu England it is
not uncommon.
Abbe Moigno, iu Lcs Monde, gives
the following as the theory of the phe
nomenon ; Hay, when piled damp and in
too large mosses, ferments and turns
dark. Iu decomposing, sufficient heat is
developed to be insupportable when the
hand is thrust into the mass, and vapors
begin to be emitted. When the water is
almost entirely evaporated, the decom
position continues, and the hay becomes
carbonized, little by little ; and then the
charred portion, like peat, peat cinders
mixed with charcoal, sulphurous pyrites
and lignite, etc, becomes a kind of pyro
phorus, by virtue of its great porosity
and of the large quantity of matter ex
posed to high oxidation. Under the
influence of air in large amount, this
charcoal becomes concentrated on the
surface to such a degree that the mass
reaches a temperature which results in
its bursting into flames.
A philosopher has discovered that
" folks who have no mind to be of use
have always the luck to be out of the way
when anything is to be done,"
How to Buy ('lollies In Xaplrs.
I selected what seemed to mo tho
leost objectionable of the lot, and ap
proached tho delicate subject, tho price
thereof. Boppo beamed upon mo ; I
don't know what his name was, but
it might easily hove been Beppo.
Beppo said, "Only seventy-five francs
for that complete and lovely outfit." It
struck mo that tho price was reasonable,
and I was about to settle the bill, when
my friend plucked mo by the coat-sleeve,
with an expression of horror, and ex
claimed, " You mus't never pay the
price asked you ; make him an offer I"
I wondered if he would feel insulted
were I to suggest sixty-five francs as a
fair bargain. Again my friend saved
me from a disgraceful sacrifice.
"Offer the fellow thirty, "said he. I
offered thirty francs, and expected to be
stabbed on the spot. But no ; Beppo
thought it a cruel thing for so excellent
a gentleman as myself to thus rob him
of "tho finest suit of clothes iu Naples "
at that figure. He would take fifty
francs and nothing less ; ot which an
nouncement he did the clothes up iu a
porcel. " Make it thirty-two francs and
stick there." This was the last utter
ance of tho monitor at my elbow, and
when I obeyed orders with the calm de
liberation of one who proposes to fight
it out on that line, poor Beppo burst
into tears and pleaded his cause. This
was too much for a man with a largo
family and no mean stomach ; he might,
owing to the fact that he had secretly
admired me ever since my arrival in Na
ples, make it forty francs ; but friend
ship, selfish aud undying friendship,
alone prompted the generous act.
With that announcement my friend
took me by the shoidder and walked mo
out of the establishment. We didn't go
far ; we tarried about tho threshold for
a moment, and I was onco more seized
and walked back again, while Beppo
embraced mo tenderly, and cried with
much emotion, "Take them for thirty
five francs take them ; I am a ruined
man, but I would not have you go out
into tho world naked and forlorn for
the sake of a few sous!" Feeling, by
this time, that I was quite a brute, I re
solved to brass it out, and, therefore,
put down my thirty-two francs, which
Beppo received without a murmur.
A tragedy in five acts could not have
so worked up my feelings as did tho pic
ture of Beppo weejiing in the midst of a
numerous and starving family, and this
picture haunted mo as I left that unhap
py spot. A moment later Beppo was at
my side, begging that I would give him
a glass of wine only six sous ! It was
conscience money, and was freely given ;
but as I turned the corner close ot
hand, Beppo was still watching me, and
I saw then there was a twinkle in his
eye, that seemed to say, " After all this
shopping, I have the best of you, my
boy." Of course, the cloth is pasted
together, and the buttons are put on
witli eiavol f 6iuiB iq fleeting, flnd
perhaps I shall rise into cooler latitudes
in season to save myself.
A Pathological Liar.
Tho disease known among alienist
physicians as aphasia, and the symptom
of which is the patient's inability to ex
press his meaning by a proper use of
words, so that should he wish gruel he
will call for snuff or his boots, has re
cently caused some curious develop
ments iu the case of the Corotter, about
whose moral and social accountability
there has been much discussion. She is,
says a Paris correspondent writing to an
American journal, utterly unable to tell
the truth on any subject- -at least she
has not for years been known to tell it
and in hr defense ou tho charge of per
jury her advocate, M. Henri liornouilli,
has pleaded her eauso on grounds very
similar to those so often urged iu Amer
ica in behalf of criminals temporary in
sanity, moral insanity, and tho like
first used, I believe, by the late Mr.
Seward in his defense of the negro Free
man. In a trial that grew out of a case
of inheritance, Madame Corottier swore
so wildly that at its eloso she was imme
diately held for perjury, and her counsel
proved by physicians that, beyond all
manner of doubt, there was such a ner
vous disorder ai aphasia, and that those
afflicted with it are not always and iu
every instance subject to its influence.
They cau at times call things by their
right names ; the disease is an obscure
one, nor is it possible to detect its pres
ence by other external signs than this
misnaming of facts and objects. This
being proved, M. Bernourlli next called
numbers of witnesses who had known
the prisoner for years, and whose testi
mony was to the effect that it always
seemed impossible for her to tell the
truth. Iu questioning the prisoner dur
ing tho proves verbal she had been de
tected in numerous misstatements ; she
called one physician a cow ; said that a
slop-bowl examined her, and addressed
M. Bornouilli under the title of " hair
brush." M. Bernouilli is one of tho
most eloquent and subtle of Parisian ad
vocates, and, on the grounds shown
above, actually succeeded iu acquitting
his client of the crime with which sho
was charged. To many her caso will
seem to be simply that of an enormous
liar ; but, as her swearing was gratui
tous, and she was in no way benefited or
could have been benefited by it, her
position was peculiar. But how many
gratuitous liars are there in the world,
and if aphasia can be used as a plea for
them what is to become of morals and of
criminal justice ?
Tho Spanish Republic.
The Spanish republic has lusted a
little less than two years. On Saturday,
the 8th of February, 1873, King Amu
deus announced to his Ministers his in
tention to abdicate. They endeavored
to disauade him, but without effect, and
at nine in the evening of the following
Tuesday the Cortes, specially assembled
to deliberate on the emergency, adopted
a republican form of government, on
motion of Senator Ti y Morgull, by a
vote of 259 to 32. The Cailists were al
ready active in the North, and the abdi
cation of Amadeus greatly raised their
hopes of success. The king, in his mes
sage to the Cortes, had stated that his
short reign had been kept in perpetual
disquiet by the Spaniards themselves,
and that he resigned in despair of being
able to bring peace to the distracted
country. Since that day the troubles
and disorders which drove out Amadeus
have rather increased than diminished.