C 1' HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. vol. y. 1UDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, FA., THUHSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, NO. 1. 1U I Sonnet. Joy cannot claim a purer Mine, Nor grief a dew from stain more cloar, Tlinu female frieudHhlp'i molting kiss, Than fenialo friendship's parting tear. How sweet the heart's full bliss to prove, To hor whoso smile must crown the Btore How nwoeter still to tell of woes, To her wlm-so faithful brast would chare Iu every grief, in every care, Yhoxe High can lull thorn to repose 1 Oh, bloss'd bight, there is no sorrow, Hut from thy broath can sweetness borrow ; E'en to the palo and drooping flower, That fades iu love's neglected Lour ; Ecu with her woes cau friendship's power Ono happier feeling blend. 'Tis from her restless bed to cro?p, And sink like wearied babe to sleep, Ou the soft couch her sorrows weop, The boHoin of a friend. 1W0 GIRLS WHO TRIED FARMING. A magazine tells ns in a rather pic turesque, gossipy way of the successful experience of "Two Girls that Tried running." The ease, as it is put by the fiivt -plaintiff who is the chonicler is "Dorothea Alice Shepherd ami Louiso Barney agt. Fute." The first was a school teacher, nud the other a hired girl. They had long been fast friends, mid tiring of their lonely life, and of merely serving others, they resolved, after much dreaming and planning, to help themselves to independence. To two their own words: "We wanted a home, wo wanted to be our own mis tresses, we wanted a living that should bo independent of the likes, dislikcs.and caprices of others." And the opportune moment came. A maiden sister of Louise, who had saved $800 as a house keeper, died and left hor this money. So one day, soon ai'ter.she said, " Let us go West!" "It was a startling thought tome," says Dorothea " a girl who never had planted a hill of corn, or hoed a row of potatoes in her life, and who had a hacking cough and a pain iu her side." Still, she wanted the out door air and freedom; and having first examined nearly all the implements to be used on a farm, and thinking them "as manage able by feminine muscles as the heavy kettles, washing machines, mattresses and carpeti that belong to woman's in door work, " she resolved to go. The two went to Michigan, and, with the school teacher's three hundred, their capital on arriving was about a thousand dollars not a very large sum with which to buy and equip a farm. A cousin, resident there, took them arouud view ing, and they found, and at onco pur chased thirty-live acres, without quite using thou- whole means. "A3 a whole it was a narrow, hilly stretchy outlined by a weak skeleton of a fence; a forbid ding surface of old tubble-ground and wild turf, the distant hill-tops crowned with tall mulleins. There was not a Hprig of clover 011 the place; and, though thero was an old brown house and barn, there was not an orchard tree, nor a reminis cence of garden." Widespread consternation on the part of the neighbors occurred over this choice; and Cousin John, who stood on the tower of expeiience, looked down therefrom with rather malicious purport, and discoursed at wearisome length of , the poor soil. "Ho warned us," says Dorothea, -"that we could never expect to raise wheat. " But Dorothea had seen nothing but wheat in the State, and didn't believe in it, on account of a few principles of chemistry, and let the ex pert laugh at her "schoolma'am farm ing." Before taking possession of their farm tho two girls prepare themselves to do so by earning a little moro money, and by accumulating some practical ex perience. Dorothea, therefore, hires out to John for out-door work at $12 a month, and Louise to a farmer near by for housework ut S3 week. The former equips herself in short dresses, and finds everything hard at first, but nothing im possible. With a small boy she cuts up half a dozen acres of com, husks tho same, and binds tho bundles. It tore her hands, and then when she carried the bundles to set them up they would often fall in piocas. Espying two Ger man women working in comHear by she accosts them, and gets a hint: " Go puy youself sumo palls of lectio ropo, and not tear you shmall hands wit twist ing stalks and marsh hay. It do take more time to twist him than it do to earn do leetle ropo." Outdoor work aud oatmeal give the schoolmistress an appetite, cure her cough, and strengthen her muscles. She learus tho man'a way of holding a plow and turning a furrow, aud she aud tho young boy plow out the potatoes, in the potato harvest. She learns how to make a corn-stack, and how to lay a load. She picks apples, drives tho mower to cut the seed clover, harnesses, milks, feeds aud cares for stock, swings an ax, and files a saw. She questions, and compares her answers with whut she reads iu the agri cultural papers. At length she gets Cousin John to go over with his team to her farm. Ha plows every inch of it ex cept the door-yard aud wood-lot; but protests against the nouesense of "fall plowing." He protests still more be cause Dorothea bargains for every load of barnyard compost which the fanners for t.m miles around would sell and de liver. A friendly neighbor laughs at Miss Shepherd, who's "agoin' to work her farm with idecs. " After a winter of school-teaching on Dorothea's part, and further sewing work by Louise, the two begin with their farm in the spring, having earned enough to put on a llorse and a cow, liens, pigs, implements, grass and clover seed, eto. Furniture is improvised for the house; scalloped newspapors made the window-curtuins; a little stand, with a leaf added, made a table," and so on. Yet there were a few books and unbound magazines, and a picture or two. John cojpes over and gong-plows fields do voted to clover, and the girls harrow them. They sow their clover, timothy, and orchard grass so thickly that John almost 'swears at their wastefulness ; but Dorothea doesn't liko tha spotted meadows she has seen" the clover growing in dis tinct patches and tufts, the grasses -oarse, sparse and wiry." She wanted BoVa flue, sweet grasses, and the plenti f'll wmter dressing and thick seeding a womphshed her wish. But iueo ex tensive clovering compelled them to hire pastiuago for their horse "Pampas," and to "soil" the cow "Gentle Maggie;" but even this they found profit in. While the spring tillage is not yet in order they shoulder their axes aud dinner-pails and proceed to cut the year's wood, which they obtain by thinning out the young trees. They have no rails for fences, and bo buy logs aud havo them sawed, a board fence in their locality being the cheapest. Louise drove a boxless wagon to tho saw-mill, ruling on the reach. Of course Rhe strove, to look very pretty, and her partner, who writes of it, says "it was thought rather cun ning ' than otherwise." They both de cide it is no harder to unload the boards than to dance several hours. Except digging tho post-holes they built their fence; took down nnd rclaiil other fences; practiced driving their now horso over the rough lots, while standing in the wagon, where it was sometimes neces sary to get out and remove logs to se cure a roadway, aud came back loaded with chips and summer wood. There were three neres not tillable, covered by a growth of white oak grubs, which served them two years for " knit ting work." These they cut down, trim ming the tallest for fences,, aud burning the stumps and refuse together. Night after night iu tho summer they had bon fires for this purpose, and twice tho whole neighborhood 'was rallied to save the fence and put out the flames. It was a bit of gipsy life; a delightful outlawry that they enjoyed. In early April they bring lettuce and peas up under tho snow, by aid of a thin cover of straw aud somo loose, protecting cornstalks and so the garden thrives. Dorothea de scribes with great spirit a runaway drive which Louise took with Fnmpns, merely to break him in after a fractious spell, and succeeded. The neighbors for some time had plainly been of tho opinion that " them two girls havo no business with a horse;" but they probably changed it after this adventure. One lesson in their experience proved that to raiso chickens, eggs, butter, aud small fruits for a market, you nrnr.t have a market. " Therefore, enterprising little women, if you can secure laud there, remain East with your dainty Jer sey cows, your Leghorns and Dorkings. Stay by the good markets. Your labors will be no more arduous, while tho re turns will bo double." Ono day when Cousin John sends over a team and plow, with driver, in return for sewing favors, Dorothea persuades the man to let her manage the plow. It was a very stony, hilly piece, ami she soon puts Donald back in her place. " AVe can plow, as I said, but do not think it advisable." But tho two girls dragged and marked the four acres without help; and find they can easier sew and make dresses, and hire plowing and mowing done vitli the results, than to Jo those last thomuolvoa. And why not? "Dozens of farmers do not scorn to do something outside, and by a job of carpentering, mason-work, threshing-machine, or the like, furnish themselves with many comforts other wise unattainable. " There is ono other exploit that is worth telling. The girls had been so often as sured that their land "wouldn't grow corn" they began to think in might bo so. But they wish to know. So ihey com post the guano of their hennery with plasteruntil it is fine, dry, and inodorous. "Such a task as that was! Lou would stop and lean her forehead, wet and red, upon her hoe-handle, and utter a bit of the current but kindly neighborhood sar casm. ' Two girls !' Don' you thiuk so Dolly?" And Dorothea says: 'I did think so sometimes." This home made fertilizer was dropped by them with a pail and spoon iu each hill and if the opinions concering the soil, with which they had been favored, were cor rect, it had some effect; for their yield upon the average " was ninety bushels to the acre." "Aud let mo say, " says Dorothea, "that iu most instances, as in this, it has paid us to work our farm with idees.' " Their superior melons, turnips, savoys, and strawberries were all the result of special work on (special plans. The upshot of this sketch, so cleverly told, is that two wide awake, energetic girls have made themselves an indepen dent home, and make farming pay. They found hard work, and still find it; but their indoor coziucss and comfort re ward them for it all. And Louise says on behalf of disconsolate and aimless wemen: "Now that men are coming more and moro to sharo their occupation with us, I do wish the thousands who are tired and restless ami discouraged, and haven't head enough to become doctors and lawyers, and yet need money just as badly, could see what a pleasant way of living this is. I wish you could tell them, Dolly." And so Dolly writes the story. A Tender Epistlo from a Boy. A heart-broken youth named Frank, iu Wilmington, N. C. , nine years old, has lately found relief by inditing the following letter to u playmate of the other sex : Mr Darmxo Lrcv : I must leave you tomorrow, you used to lovo me but your love for me is gone but my lovo for you is just the same just thiuk Lucy how your words cut my heart i would give you things too as well as ltobert but if you waut to sell your love for two or three apples go a head i dont care a straw lucy i love the ground you walk 011 i would die for you i love you lucy please receive my vow. P. S. if you here of me being dead you drove me to it It says he dont care a fig for you nore the rest. Dressing Sheep. A correspondent of the Indiana Farmer says: If you waut good, sweet mutton, kill your sheep without worrying aud fatigue; the less exercise tho better. Hang him up by the hind legs and clean hini at onco; now change ends; hang him by the head, and skin down tho tail; the job is done in half the time, aud done neatly. It is not the wool that gives mutton the sheejiy taste aud smell; it is the food during exercise aud after being killed; hence the necessity of speedy work until cleaned. The Pittsburgh Commercial says it is stated that Mr. Evarts is retained by Yale College for Boecher, in his Til ton trial, aa a testimonial to him, and that Yale is to pay him $10,000. Accommodations for Visitors to the Cen tennial. Director General Gashorn, in his let ter to the Ceuteunial Committee, says: It is estimated that from 0,000 to 10,000 non-resident commissioners, exhibitors and employees will require lodging for a period of seven months in Philadelphia during the exhibition, and that there will be an average of 20,000 visitors in the city daily, for whom comfortable, cheap and convenient quarters must be provided. What ability tho existing hotels hi this city have for accommo dating so great a number I am not ad vised, but as so much of the success of the exhibition will depend on tho in ducements that may bo offered to the public in this behalf I cannot too urgent ly call tho attention of the committees nnd citizens of Philadelphia to tho im portance of considering this subject without delay, with the view of organ izing a system of hotel accommodations that will bo sufficient for all reasonable demands. The oflicial announcement that amplo provision under proper regu lations has been made will greatly in crease interest in tho exhibition at homo and abroad. Transportation will be re quired for from -10,000 to 00,000 persons daily to and from the park, and on ex traordinary occasions double these num bers may have to be provided. At the Paris exhibition in 1807 there was an average of 70,000 daily admissions, and on one occasion the number reached 173,923. It is reasonable toestimate that the daily attendance at Fuirniount Park will be at least 50,0(10. It should be re membered also that this multitude must bo transported by private and public conveyances, between tho hours of eight a. sr. and twelve si., and return between five and eight P. si. Tho question of transportation for such great numbers therefore becomes as difficult as it is es sential. The attendance will largely de pend on facilities that will be oflere'd for the comfort and convenience of visitors. Hence tho importance of a satisfactory solution of the question. Iu the con sideration of this question should be in cluded the condition of the approaches to tho park from different sections of the city, aud also the tariff of rates for car riages, hacks, cabs, omnibuses, and other puMic conveyances, which should be registered by law to preveut imposi tion. It is apparent that these ques tions, although local in their character, are of greet interest to the genaral pub lie, and are really tho most essential ele ments to tho success of the exhibition. In tho proper provision for their regula tiou is involved the reputation of the city and the good will of the public toward the enterprise. The accommo dation of visitors without tho exhibition ground does not properly come within the duties ot the national commission. The commission vll, linwflvor, hooo, as far as possible, favorable transporta tion facilities for exhibitors and visitors to the city, but tho special arrangements for their entertainment while in the city should be made by the citizens of Phila delphia. The Handkerchief. A young man called on a gentleman ac quaintance, whom ho expected to find alone, but was ushered into tho pres ence of five or six ladies. Under or dinary circumstances, this unexpected array of beauty would not havo awed or perplexed him, but just at tho time he chanced to be laboring under a huge chew of tobacco. As tho juice of the vile plant filled his mouth, ho glanced around in search of spittoon. No such article was visible. He grew warm, and questions addressed to himself he could only answer with a nod or a shako of his head. Just as tho tobacco began to steid out of tho corners of his overbur dened mouth, ho bethought him of his handkerchief. Hastily drawing it from Ids pocket, ho raised the other hand and pointed toward the window. While the ladies wero looking iu that direction, trying to ascertain what had attracted his attention, he quickly squirted the load of tobacco iu his handkerchief, folded it up, and placed it in his pocket. Thus relieved from the cause of his em barasBineiit, and feeling that his strange conduct had excited the surprise of the party, he exerted all his powers cf mind and manner to remove whatever un favorable impression he had created. Ho chatted and laughed, told stories, perpetrated puns, and was so agreeable that the ladies wished ho could bo with them always. His previous singular de meanor was forgotten, and as jibo and jest leaped from his lips each fair lis tener inwardly wished that "Heaven had made her such a man." He told a joke on himself, and it was a good one. They all laughed loud and long, and he as loud aud long as any of them. Ho laughed until the tears came into his eyes, and he pulled forth tho handker chief and wiped them away. That handkerchief ! That tobacco-laden handkerchief. In a moment of forgetfulness he wiped away the tears of joy with that reeking handkerchief ! " He has broken a blood-vessel !" the startled women cried, as swift-winged with fear, they flow for assistance. When they returned, their entertainer was gone. He is still gone, and anxious friends are dragging the river for his body, as he was last seen flying in that direction. . . For the Doctor. In a little village of southern France the physician quarreled with one of his friends, a merchant, because the latter had said that physiciaus were all asses. The merchant soon after this fell ill, but the doctor refused to see hini unless he would take back his opinion of the medi cal profession. Ten years passed on and one day as the semi-paralyzed merchant was sunning himself before his door, he saw tho doctor pass. "Hullo, Dr. Bus saraguo," he cried, "you can come to see me now; I have changed my opinion." "So much the better," replied the doctor, "for unless you had I should never recognize you." "Yes, I've changed my opinion, entirely changed it," continued the merchant; " formerly I said physicians were asses.". "You were wrong." "I know it; it is the patients who ore the asses. " ' ' Why bo ?" "Because if they were not asses they would not send for the doctors." EjHaphon a fop " AU' well that ends The Great Farmer of the World. A Sacramento paper publishes tho following respecting the farming opera tions of n man whom it denominates "tl '110 wi 1. jiiuil u nviiijiii,ui.n lie largest farmer in the world," which, nsidering that he runs " his farm of considering 50,000 acres himself, personally superin tending it all, tho appellation is cor rect: Tho great farmer of tho world, Dr. Hugh J. Glenn, of Jacinto, Colusa Co., California, has raised and harvested the past season, on his own farm, 600,000 bushels of wheat. This would load eighteen 1,0(10 ton ships, or 300 canal boats. All this wheat ho has now in his own warehouses, ready for shipment when the water in the Sacramento river rises sufficiently. The doctor pays $90, 000 freight to put his wheat in tho San Francisco market. The doctor is a won der to tho argricnltnral world and to himself. Ho runs ninety gang plows and a whole county's population in the harvest field, with a dozen thrashers. His farming is not confined to wheat alone. Ho markets $100,000 worth of stock each year. Dr. Glenn is a practical fanner and manages all his immense business himself. Ho can mend a trace and make a key to an ox-bow with his jaekjuiife, just as easy as drawing his check for $100,000, which he can do every day in the week. Dr. Glenn has only experienced one surprise during the year, and that was when a friend inform ed him that a panic had entered the land. Glenn was born in Augusta Co., Virginia. This is a remarkable cane of farming enterprise, aud is enough to make the ordinary granger open his eyes in amazement. Dr. Glenn, though born hi Virginia, came to Missouri, when quite young, with his father, Mr. Oeorge Glenn, who is still a resident of Monroe Co. Ho received a good collegiate edu cation aud when near the age of maturity studied medicine. Just about tho time he received his diploma the Mexican war broke out and ho enlisted in the Monroe company which accompanied Doniphan's expedition through New Mexico, Chihuanua, etc., returning when tho war was done. When the California excitement came on in the winter of 1848-0 he immediately set about organizing an expedition across the plains to tho land of gold. This was successfully lauded, and after mining for some time with great success (every time he struck his pick ho brought out color), the doctor went into speculation in live stock, bought a ranch and ran it with great profit. He added immense tracts of land to his original ranch, and becamej'what he now is, tho greatest farmer 1 tho world. 'Dr. Glenn is about iiuiun xt nuiuu x-x. ijrieiiji im auoil forjry-ejftht years oh, of small ntuturf b, ing about five feet seven inches i e, 111 height, with a tough and wiry body, (" "y.bluo avec. pos sessed of an energy that no obstaclo can surmount. Ho knows no such word as fail. If the doctor, however, has a weak ness it is for draw poker. Ho bets with the same voluminous impetuosity that he does everything else. Ho has been known to stand " pat " without a pair and " raise" $10,000. On several occa sions ho has lost immensely. Habits of Childhood. It is as important that correct habits with respect to sleep and air bo formed in children as that their diet shall be properly regulated. For tho first tliree or four weeks of its life tho infant sleeps nearly all tho time, waking only to sat isfy the demands of hunger. Even so early as this in the child s life, its pe riods of waking may be so arranged that they shall come in the day-time and the whole of tho night bo given to sleep. The health of tho mother no less than that of tho child requires this. There are intelligent aud judicious mothers who so train their infautsthat during the first year of their lives they are invaria bly asleep between six at night aud nix in tho morning. This gives tho mother twelve hours of unbroken rest from the cure of her child. 'No mother or other person who is nervous, irritablo and worn cau soothe and quiet a worrying baby. Ten chances iu eleven a good natured baby will be made cross by the unpleasant personal magnetism of a r.ick or nervous attendant. So that tho high est health of tho child requires that she who takes care of it shall be cheerful, buoyant, exuberant, and unless she has abundant sleep and recreation this is im possible. In youth a third part of the twenty-four hours is spent in sleep, and in many instances more than this. It re quires longer to " knit up tho raveled web of caro " in some children thau in others (the same is true of grown peo-' pie), and tlioso whoso habits in respect to diet and exercise are normal should be permitted to sleep as long as they will. Tho habit of early rising is very valuable and important, and should bo formed by requiring tho child to go to bed so early that ho will awake early without being called. This is of importance in another respect not often mentioned tho eyes of those who go to bed early are not in jured by exposure to artificial light, which is most baneful to both children and grown people when they are very sleepy. Long and sound sleepers, as a rule, at tain the greatest longevity, and the rea son is obvious. In sleep the braiiMtind nerve centers recover what they have lost during the activities of tho day, and accumulate force to be again expended. If tho drafts of each day are honored at night at the bank of sleep, bankruptcy will be long in coming. Xewspaper By-Laws. 1. Be brief. This is the age of tele graphs and stenography. 2. Be pointed. Don't write all around a subject without hitting it. 3. State fucts, but don't stop to moral ize. It's a drowwy subject. Let the reader do his own dreaming. 4. Eschew preface Plunge at once into your subject, like a swimmer into cold water. 5. If you have written a sentence that you think particularly fine, draw your pen through it. A pet child is always the worst in the family. 6. Condense. Make sure that you really have an idea, and thon record it in the shortest possible terms. We want thoughts in their quintessence, 7. When your article is completed, strike out nine-tenths of the adjectives. Who Arc the Vulgar ? Mr. James -Parton lectured beforo tho Liberal Club, taking for his subject tho question "Who Are tho Vulgar?" Ho gave the following illustrations: On a recent tour through Kansas, the lecturer had the pleasure of meeting a young English colonist, who was scattering a fortune in his efforts to plow up a few thousand acres of hard prairie, aud tho chief delight of whose life was to put on a dress-coat when the day's work was done, and dine at 7 :30. Woe be to him who in those wilds at tempted to dress or conduct himself ac cording to tho effete standards of tho East. Sitting at the dinner-table of a Colorado " hotel " recently, ho (tho speaker) became suddenly conscious that his vix-a vis, a youth of twenty-two, in tho characteristic garniture of a broad brimmed hat, leather hunting-jacket, and shooting materials ad libitum, was grow ing restive at souk thing ho (the lecturer) was doing. Tho cloud on tho young man's brow deepenod rapidly, aud in the space of another minute he dropped his knife, aud turning round to the rest of the company, exclaimed: "Well, I'll be hanged if I can stand this any longer. Why, lie's eating pie with a fork 1" David Crockett, after returning homo from his first trip to New York, gave his backwoods auditors his idea of Tho First Gentleman in the Metropolis " rhilip Hone is the moct gentlemanly man iu New York, boys, and I'll tell you how I know it. When ho asks you to drink he don't hand you a glass, ho puts the decanter 011 tho table, aud walks off to tho window nnd looks out until you have finished." It was curious how the popular opinion in regard to these sub jects changed with tho longitude. In some parts of India and Chiua the ladies all black their teeth iu much the same fashion that we do our boots. A native of that country, who was pointed out tho beautiful wife of an Englishman, at some public festival, remarked: "Tho Eng lish lady is not handsome; why, her teeth are as white as a dog's teeth, and her cheek is tho color of a potato-blossom." Much of this difference of opinion as to the elements of vulgarity was duo to erroneous conceptions. A Prussian professor, who had lately been intrusted by his government with tho duty of examining into the subject of shell-fish aud their successful propa gation on the shores of tho Baltic, re ported, after a patient examination of the facts in tho case, that shell-fish had a deleterious and treasonable tendency, and were for those reasons not to be en couraged. Tho evil consequences of their free consumption were best seen, tho professor said, in America. In that misguided country tho people wero iu the custom of frequenting seditious gatherings known as clam-bakes, where tutor gorging Mieiuauives ou a species of clam, called the oyster, they proceeded to talk treason, abuse tin government, tear each other's hair, and fight like madmen. In fact, the devouring of this ill-starred bivalve made the poor people crazy, and, for this reason, the learned professor deprecated its furtlicr propa gation in German waters. Another fact that challenged their attention was the contempt with which Europeans, and especially Euglishmen, were apt to re gard Americau customs and institutions. Here every honest man was a gentleman, and every honest woman a lady. In many other things in art, science, and in agriculture tho American peoplo were inferior, but iu that ono they wero superior to all the systems which tho old world could boast. Tho extent to which this thoroughly American idea was reversed in older countries cannot well be conceived by those who have not visited them in person. No American knew what it meant in England to bo called "Lord." He (the speaker) had seen a gentleman of worth and position stand absolutely spellbound iu the pre sence of a titled loafer, whose only hon est claim to be noticed lay in tho extent and variety of his kennels. Iu America, so great, of late years, had become the public disgust for great titles and great fortunes, that a very rich man was no longer respected. Of what use was it to accumulate millions by years of in dustry and patienco when a political blackleg could come along aud steal a double fortune in half the time. Tho American of good repute is ever growing afraid of displays, which formerly were thought proper enough; afraid to wear his own honest diamonds for fear of being taken for a gambler or a person who nad plastered a court- house. Effect of Exercise. It is found by observation that the effect of " training," or the persistent uso of gymnastic exercises, is to enlarge tho heart and lungs both in size and capacity. Archibald McClaren, superin tendent of tho Oxforil gymnasium, and author of " Physical Education," says: " Ono of the army officers sent to me' to bo instructed iu gymnastics gained five inches in girth around the chest in less than throe months. " That this growth is not explained by tho mere enlarge ment of the pectoral muscles is proved by the increased volume of air which the lungs are enabled to respire, aa is demonstrated by the spirometer, and pott-mortems abundantly show an in creased capacity as well as size in the heart and large blood vessels. The lungs increase both in length and breadth, forcing the ribs outward and the dia phragm downwards. It is for this reason that athletes and gymnasts are enabled to make prolonged and violent exertions without getting out of wind. The ca pacity of tho heart and central arteries being enlarged, they can accommodate more blood. Their contractile power being increased by this new demand upon them, they are enabled to send on the current through the lungs with in creased velocity, and thus by their greater capacity are able to oxygenize the blood as fast as it is supplied to them, and so no congestion takes place, and no inconvenience is felt. The nor mal capacity of the lungs of an adult mule is about two hundred cubic inches. It is computed that au enlargement of tliree inches arouud the chest gives an increase of fifty cubio inches of lung capacity. It is said by the "oldest inhabitant" that such a midwinter drought as lias oocurred in Western New York was never seen before. It is to be hoped that it may not be seen again. THE UUSIXESS OUTLOOK. The I'nnt nnd tlie Future n Viewed from a t'oininrrrlnl Hlnmlliohtl. The report of the Mercantile Agency of Dun, Barlow & Co., in their review of business, says : Chief among the favorable signs of the times is tho gen eral tendency toward economy. Ex travagant expenditure, up to the end of 1873, was ono of the most alarming phases noticeable in the community, anil even had tho process of reversing that tendency been more rude aud disastrous, the panic aud its succeeding months of depression will not have been iu vain if tho necessity for retrenchment has been made apparent. That this reduc tion in expenditure has been almost uni versal is evidenced by tho restriction of trado during the year of which so many complain. Otherwise it is difficult to account for tho dull times iii a country so abundantly supplied with every essen tial of prosperity with crops unsur passed, and an area under cultivation never equaled; with a productive power in its manifold industries beyond belief twouty years ago, and a marked pro gress in all material elements. Had thero been any widespread distress, ony failure of production, scarcity of labor, or continued disturbance of tho monetary system of tho country, the depression of tho past ycarmightbe attributed toother causes thau now appear. What is tho legitimate trade of the country founded on but the actual demands of the com munity? If these wants are less in ex tent in ono year, or a series of years, than in another, tho legitimate trade i3 just so much influenced. It is obvi ous, therefore, if the depression of tho year can be attributed to no worse cause than a judicious economy, there is no great ground for apprehension. On the contrary, the only true path back to re newed activity and a safe prosperity is in this direction. It is true that tho pur chasing power of tho peoplo iu many localities is impaired by the condition of numerous industries now paralyzed from previous over-production. Time is needed to restoro these interests to their normal condition, and we must wait patiently until tho equilibrium be tween supply and demand for these pro ducts adjusts itself. If in the delay no greater calamities occur than have been apparent in tho past year, there will bo cause for congratulation. Still another hopeful sign is the steady effort to at least largely reduce indebted ness, if not entirely to liquidate it. While among railroads and largely ex panded corporations this has been found next to impossible, we are persuaded that, among merchants and traders, the amount of current indebtedness, as com pared with this time last year, is vastly decreased. We have had abundant op portunity note cms process 01 liquida tion, and through it had very nearly reached its'mimmuin prior to tho pur chases for the spring trade, we are per suaded there has been many a prosperous time in the history of the country when the realizable assets of tho mercantile community were far less in proportion to the liabilities than now. A close conservatism in the granting of credits is another prominent feature of encouragement, and iu this onr peculiar position enables us to speak somewhat authoritatively. We find the shrewdest merchants not content, as they formerly were, with markings aud ratings of credit, with mere generalities and meagro reports; but they demand close estimates, the fullest details as to assets and liabilities, particulars as to antecedents, character nnd capacity, which iu the largo majority of cases wo aro not only able but too glad to supply. Wo are conscious that there is much in tho past year to discourage, and, seemingly, to delay a return to a healthy condition of trade. Prices for many products havo materially declined, larere losses havo been submitted to, and sales have been largely restricted. Those eases aro rare in which the surplus in business ha3 been much increased as the result of tho year, while the cases are numerous whero parties have barely held their own; und many, if they honestly look their alfairs in tho Into, must admit a loss. Liquor in New York. There was a lengthy session of the New York Assembly committeo on inter nal affairs, convened for tho purposo of tilting into consideration tho excise bills now before tho Legislature. Tho sub ject of a uniform excise law for the whole State .is an important one. The liquor interests were represented at the meeting by a largo delegation, also the beer and ale dealers. It is understood that tho principal points of tho bill pro posed by Mr. George A. Stauf, of New York, will be adopted by both houses. This bill provides iu the main that com missioners of excise iu each city, town aud villugo of tho State shall have pov-er to grant licenses for a period of six months and not more than a year at a time. The liceuso fee is set down a3 fol lows: For snlo of malt liquors, light ami na tive wines or beer not less than $20 nor more than $30. For sale of spiritous liquors, wines, ales and beer, not less than $30 nor more thau $50. For hotel, having 100 lodging rooms, not less than $100 nor more than $150. Hotels having more than 100 lodgiug rooms, not less than $150 nor more than $250. In case of refusal to grant a license the party will be entitled to hearing beforo the courts, and if no valid objection ap pears, then the commissioners are com pelled to grant such privilege. It is made the duty of the sheriff, his deputies and the police authorities, to report any infringement of the law, but the commissioners are empowered to prosecute and recover penalties in the courts. The bill also provides that the commissioners of excise, in each city of the State, shall be appointed by the mayors thereo, and confirmed by the common council, and for good cause re moved by the mayors. No mention is made of Sunday traffio. As an instance of the depreciation of property in tha oil regions, it is said that wells that onoe brought $250,000 cau now be purchased for 910,000. Items of Interest. It is said Venus has a mountain five times as high as our highest. Moro snow is said to have fallen in France this year than for twenty years previously. Mark Twain says the Sandwich Islanders nre generally as tinlettered as the back side of a tombstone, According to a French journal there nre still living in France and its colonies 23,000 men who have fought under tho first Napoleon. A Pennsylvanian has served thirty seven years in jails and prisons, and says that he prefers it to keeping houso with an ill-tempered wife. The total number of loeomotivo steam enginos in tho world is said to be 45,007, of which 14,223, or nearly one-third, aro in the United States. A little girl upon her return from a children 'ft party, being asked if she had a good time, replied: "Yes; but thero wasn't much boys there." " Go it, old fellow, " paid two idlo senpegraces to an honest laborer nt v ork. "Work away while we play; sow and we'll reap." "Very likely, my lads," replied the old man, coolly; "I'm sow ing hemp." " J. Gray Pack with my box five dozen quills." Thero is nothing re markable about this sentence, only that it is nearly as short as one can be con structed, and yet contain all tho letters of the alphabet. Thero is a man in a Chicago hospital, a victim of a railroad accident, whoso head is alive, but his entire body seems to be dead. Knives have been stuck into his body, but they produce no effect upon him whatever. Tho Kansas City (Mo.) Journal says that there-is a young lady living in Clay county, about five miles from the city, twenty-five years of age, who has for years shed her finger and toe nails aud her teeth eyery year. A sliort-horned steer was recently butchered in Detroit that weighed 4,100 pounds alive, and yieled three thousand pounds of dressed beef. This is believed to be the largest animal ever slaughtered for beef ou this continent. High moral teaching having fa'led to stop a daily deficit in tho cash account's of the Lawrence American, the book keeper next tried what a steel trap would do, and made tho thief show his hand within twenty-four hours after. A would-be school-teacher in Toledo recently replied to a question by ono of tho examiners: " Do you think tho world is round or flat? " Well, somo people thiuk one way and some another, and I'll teach round or flat just as the liarent.s nlpnse " A Western lawyer, noticing tho pres ent of a cup to a brother lawyer, says : "Ho needs no cup. He can drink from any vessel that contains liquor, whether tho neck of a bottle, tho mouth of a pickle jar, the spilet of a keg, or the bung-hole of a barrel. A countess was arrested in Paris, a day or two before Cliristmas, for shop lifting. Her raids had been very profit able. She pleaded that she was separated from her husband, had little means, and as her pride compelled her to give New Year's presents, she was driven to theft. A Western granger shipped a barrel of flour with the address, " Queen Victoria, Windsor Castle, England." He waited long and putiently for an autograph let ter of thanks, and was much chagrined the other day at learning that his flour had been sold at auction with a niasis of unclaimed freight some time beforo. Kalakana remarked to a friend, before leaving Washington, that the ladies of that city appeared to him " very for ward." One -of his attendants, who chanced nt the moment to espy a fashion able dressed female with an enormous bustle, expressed the opinion that they seemed to him principally " backward.' It is safe to assert that a leaso for 990 years has never run out in this country, but this has recently occurred iu Eng land. Au estate let for that term has reverted to tho representatives of tho original holders. The land is at Wool wich, and was church property 1,000 years ago, but was leased to tho crowu for military purposes. Tho population of Paris, numbering about 1,800,000, is said to consume about 4(5,000,000 gallons of wine, nearly 2,000,000 gallons of alcohol and alco holic liquors, 500,000 gallons of cider aud 0,800,000 gallons of beer somo twenty-eight gallons of wine, beer, and spirits a year for each of the inhabitants, including women and children. A lady residing in Newark Valley no ticed the oven doors of the stove open, On .retiring she closed them. In tin morning, on going out in the kitchen, she noticed a peculiar smell emanating from the oven. On opening the door nho found that her two favorite cats had crawled in the night before, she closing them in, and they had been lit erally cremated. A New Orleans minister recently mar ried a colored couple, and at the con clusion of the ceremony remarked : " On such occasions as this it is cus tomary to kiss the brido, but iu this caso we omit it." To this nnclerical remark the indignant bridegroom very per tinently replied: " On such an occasion as this it is customary to give the min ister ten dollars, but in this caso we will omit it." A peculiar libel caso is to be tried be fore the Chester county (Pa.) courts. A Mr. William Beuner posted a notice on his property forbidding a neighbor, named Lewis H. Hammond, or his family from trespassing on his grounds. Hammond retaliated by a similar prohi bition of Bonner from his grounds, add ing the words: "As I have only four turkeys left," and therein lies the al leged libel. A serious objection to the use of West ern bituminous coal is found in the ex cess of sulphur it contains. This mineral, it is well known to iron masters, is ex tremely destructive to iron, and the presence of it .in fuel in any quantity speedily destroys the stove iu which it is used. ' Inventors have taxed their powers in vain, so far, to provide a remedy for this, but unless the sulphur can be reT moved before the coal is burned, no very great eucoeu is likely to attend their efforts!
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers