1 . s HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. Nil, DESPEBANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. K VOL. V. Frost Bit ten. We were riding homo from tlio Carrols' ball, Nolly Saimargont and I, you know j The white flakes fluttered about our lamps, An I our wheels rollol silently through the snow. We'd daneeJ together the evening through, For IJortiBtoin's viols had "played their heat i" Ilor fair hotd drooped, her lids were low, And her dreamy cyeij were full of rest. Her white arms nestled along her lap, Her hands half holding, with weary grace, Her fading violets ; passing sweet Was the far-off look ou her fair young face. I watched her, speaking never a word, For I would not waken those dreaming eyes ; mn mo oreatn or tuo violets filled the air. And my thoughts wero many, and far from wieo. At lset, I said to her, bending near, " Ah, Nelly Sansargent, sweet 'twould be To ride together our whole lives long, Alone with the violets, you and me." Her fiur face flushed, and her sweet eves foil Low as the murmur of meadow rills Her answer canio to me " Yes, perhaps ; But who would settle our carriage bills V Tho delicate blossoms breathed their last ; Our wheels rolled hard on the Btones just men, pnero too snow had drifted j tho subject dropped And has never been taken up again, HOW I BECAME A FARMER. Uno fine summer afternoon I deter mined to become n fanner. Don't, for Roodness sake, think that I was going ' "y iiu-iu, ior sucn were not my 111- m-uinuiM. io, not iy any means. Why -i ii.ui never joined tno JL'atrous of Hus bandry was because I had been black balled by that Rame organization some thing loss than half a dozen times. And why I was not going to buy a farm the reader can easily guess I hadn't the required amount of fuuds. But I am wandering away from my line summer afternoon. To return I will tell you why and in what way I was going to become a tnrraer : My bank account was no more, and my landlady would not wait with me for another week s board, hence my departure from the city and my arrival among the farm' crs. The time was spring when I wan dered among the rural districts. me grass was just starting from its mother earth, and looked inviting in the extreme, to a lazy young man with the world before him, and no one to take caro of but himself. When I sny in viting, i don t mean inviting to eat, but to lie down and take solid com fort thereon. I threw myself on the green sward 'neath the shade of a friend ly bush growing near the roadside. I was lying thus, dropping into a delight ful snooze, when a voice from the highway disturbed my calm repose. "Say, young feller, what's the mat ter?" I remained perfectly quiet, turning tho matter carefully over in my mind. I was lying on my back, and, with very little bodily exertion, I raised my left leg to a perpendicular position, and gently moved my foot up and down, and waited to see tho efl'ect. And to this day, I solemnly believe, though I know I am liable to bo killed for saying it, that this motion was the sign of distress among the Patrons, for iu un instant the man iu the wagon was at my side. Bonding over me, he said : " What ails you, young man ?" I said nothing for a moment, wonder ing "if what ails you" was the test worn, and, it so, what would be the proper response. Finally I groaned out with a mysterious and unknown work ing of my. lingers the words, "Corn liread." With a bounding heart I saw I had beyond a doubt hit the nail on the head. Without a word my fraternal brother as sisted mo to arise, aud led mo limping toward the wagon which stood in the road near by. He helped me into the wagon, aud, aftr I had imbibed some thing from a little brown jug, I was able to tell to my rescuer the story of my wrongs. This I will not repeat for rea sons best known to myself. Suffice it to say, that the farmer was deeply touch ed by my tale. I wound up by telling him I wanted to get work on a farm. "Well, now," said my rescuer, "I am look in' for a young chap to work on my larra. Did you ever shear aueep I "Oh, yea," I said, "I have done as much of that as any other work about the This was the truth, for I had never been on tho grounds of a homestead in my Jifo, 1 was just going to tell him what a jolly time I had experienced last iinsimas when the idea struck mo I might be treading on dangerous grounds, bo I determined to remain silent on the subject until I had learned something about it. " How much will you pay a month for a good hearer," I ventured, determined not to air my ignorance. How much a month ?" said he, with unmistakable astonishment. "Why, man, I won't have shearing enough to hist a week." '.' Oh, yes," I replied, "shearing on a small scale, I understand." " Small scale !" he repetitod, with em phasis. . "How many sheep are you used to shearing in the spring f " "Oh, that's all right," I replied, coolly. " Of course you will not shear as many sheep in the spring aa in the fall." Aud here I commenced to whistle an unknown melody. " Young man," said my companion, savagely, " did you ever hoar of shear ing sheep in tho fall?" Without paying attention to this pointed question, I asked : " How much will you pay a month for a farm hand, generally?" " Well, I'll give you about eight dol lars a mouth, and feed." I gave a prolonged whistle, wonder ing what I would have to feed, but not uaring to asK. "What do you say, young man? Do you hire ?" I didn't exactly understand him, but said "yes," at once. We arrived at the farm a little after dark, and at ten o'clock I got into bed between two burly farm Lands, and soon dropped asleep to musio of quacking k, uaming nogs, una my two bed fellows snoring an accompaniment. In tho morning, or rather in tho night, at half-post three, I was aroused from shearing sheep by the man behind me rolling over rae and standing on the floor. Wheu I was ablo to speak, I said : No reply. ' Where's the fire f "No fooliu', 'young man," was the gran reply. loud better be tmnblin out, or you will miss your breakfast. jumping hurriedly into his pants and t i J ' uurmg this speech tho speaker was boots. " wen, you are hungrier than 1 ever was, although I've often been in need of a square meal. Hut I tlnuk I would have to be pretty bad off before I would hurry as you do." Hut, ere I had finished, my audience was half way down stairs. I rose, and leisurely put on my clothes and went down stairs, guided by a piece of tallow canuie sputtering in an old dirty lantern. hen 1 landed in the kitchen I found the farmer, his son, and two hired men standing before a bench, on which was about hair a dozen lanterns similar to the one in my bed chamber. I was astonished. Could it be possible that theso dirty lan terns were productions oi tho farm t " Here is your lantern, vonnnr feller. said the "boss," as I heard the two men call linn. I took the proffered production, and in solemn silence we marched through the back door in single rile, and wended our .way in the direction of the barn; the boss taking the lead, tho two hired men next, aud the author gallantly bringing up the rear. I thought this a strange way of going to breakfast, but said nothing. I was not yet thoroughly awake, and, as we were thus marching along, I foil into a sort of doze, and dreamed I was on a railroad train and tho men before me wero my brakemon. Ail aboard! 1 snouted, swinging my lantern auove ana arouud my neau. I suddenly became aware of mv mis take, i naa struck tno man next in front of mo on the nose, and strange as it may seem, he was without doubt dreaming tho same thing as I was, thinking himself a conductor also: for he turned toward me and said something. I could not tell whether it was "all aboard" or not; anyhow, he swung his lantern m sucn a way that it struck my head, and tho lantern was smashed to atoms. "What's up?" I said. "Off the track ?" lie made some remark about uncoup ling me, but as i was no nand to debate. I turned and followed my train, while my brother conductor went back o the station to procure ifnotlior lantern and return on the next tram I will not relate what transpired while at tno oaru, uut let tno reader guess we did something by saving, after two hours work we returned to breakfast, which consisted chiefly of cold turnips aud fat salt pork; with nothing to drink but black collee without sugar or milk. hen breaKtast was over we again re paired to the barn this time to shear sheep. They were all huddled together iu a small pen near the born, where they nad been put tno night previous. The boss and I got into the pen for tho pur pose of catching and handing out to the two men, who were to carry them into the barn. On getting in I was cautioned to look out for the old ram. But I was not afraid; I determined not to catch tho old am, and thus remain unhurt. But, alas ! for human nature, how sadly I wa3 de ceived. For a wonder my first attempt to catch a sickly looking lamb was a success. I picked him up iu triumph, ami started to where tno man was in waiting, but on the way my burden be canio restive. So I put it down in the centre of the pen, and stooped fondly over it to rest myself. 1 was thus stand ing over the helpless sheep, when a voice called out: " Look on": for the ram !" Tho next thing I knew I was flying through the air over the fence. I struck tho ground, faco downward, of course, Presently I arose, and, finding no bones broken, struck out into the open country beyond. Tho farmer laughed, tho hired men ditto, the sheep bleated, the dogs barked, and 1 well, never mind that. Before I was out of hearing, the tarmer mrtue some remark about paying for meals and lodging ; .but, without needing his plaintive appeal,! rushed bravely onward, vowing never to look on u uruuger again. n r Too Much to Believe. One day, Farmer Eobsou's old hen came scratching about in my meadow, says St. Nicholas, aud just then the pretty sclioohna'am tripped by with two of her children. She was talkiug to them about tho fish called tho stur geon. " Yes, my dear3," she was saying, " I read it this very morning in tho Popular Science Monthly. Nine huu dred and twenty-one thousand six hun dred eggs have been found in a siuglo sturgeon !" "My! what a lot!" exclaimed one of the children ; " and if every egg gets to bo a sturgeon, and every one of the new sturgeons lays just as many, just think what heaps aud heaps of grandchildren a sturgeon must have." The teacher laughed. They walked on ; and suddenly I heard a sort of gulp. It was the old hen. I never in my life saw any living creature in such a state. She was so mad she could hard ly keep inside of her feathers. "Nine hundred thousand eggs 1" she exolaimed (you would have thought she was only trying to cluck her head off, but wo understood every word, "nine hundred thousand etr-micr-cun'-coEra ! !on t believe a word of it I n o o o - i Nvr was such a thing since the world began sturgeon, indeed 1 Never even heard of such a bird. What'll schoolteachers say next, 1 wonder? June Hundred i, .,.,. i .. : i.,.i i The last 1 saw of that hen, she was strutting off indignantly toward the barnyard to tell the other hens about it. Order is heaven's first law, and it has never been repealed. HID Gr WAY, ELK How to Keep the Children Pure. " Will you not use your inttuentfo ill trying to deter large boys from con taminating the minds of smaller boys? Things which should be told in a wholo somo manner and as solemn trutln are distorted into Tile shapes, and permanent injury is done to children s minds. Would it not be better for the body to be poiaonod than the mind, that parents might see tho harm done, and thereby be enabled to use cures and antidotes f But I am sorry to say that I think the troublo lies deeper than with the bier b y haye been Rooking around, and I ftm nilltn Hiiro flint if flnoa A inrv tmrrlit am quite sure that it does. A jury might acquit them with tho verdict, more sinned against than sinning. It is the men that I am coming at, for just so long as they uieei iu groceries, on street corners, and iu shops, telling Btories unfit for the ears of their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters, just so long big boys will listen and think it canning to emulate the filthy example. Is it not a terrible thing to look into a young man's face aud think of the impurities his mind must be loaded with unless he has had strength to cast off tho unclean thing and bo a nobleman " No subject more vital in its bearing on the morals of tho young could have place in this column, says the New York Tribune, iii reply to the above letter. There are parents who recognize among the duties they owe their children that of instructing them with respect to tho origin of life. This is left shrouded iu impenetrable mystery, and all manner of lies are told iu reply to tho questions which at a very early age children will ask. The mother leaves this matter for hr daughter to be told about by any chance schoolmate, who, with the few grains of truth she may communicate, is more than likely to sow taro3 that never can bo weeded out. Tho iunocout heartod boy learns from his roucrh com panions what his own father or mother should have told him with perfect simplicity aud ingenuousness, and learns a great deal that they would never have nad him know. Truth is sacred, truth is pure aud never corrupts anv one. It is the vile admixture of falsehood with it that contaminates. Every fact in human physiology can be so communi cated to a pure mind that it? delicacy shall not be iu the least offended. The time to make these fact3 known is when the desire to inquire into them manifests itself, and the best teacher is the parent. As between husband and wife, so between parent and child there is no place for suame. nero vntue reigns shame can net come. A child thus taken into sacred intiinnov with its parent will instinctively revolt iioiu wuuiever is vulgar and base and ob scene. At every period in the develop ment of the young life the parent should be before everybody else in prenarinir and fortifying his son or daughter against the dangers which lie in his or her path. There is nothing that so strongly binds a child to virtue and honor and chastity, as perfect and unrestrained intimacy between it and the father and mother. We are careful about the sewaoro of our houses, about ventilating them, and see to it with diligence that every nook and corner is kept neat and sweet. Let us carry the same thiug into character aud open all tho doors and windows of the soul by total frankness aud transparent simplicity, that the pure air and sun shine of heaven may have access to them and keep them pure. One word more. If homo is made so attractive that boys and men prefer it to the corner groceries, an ounce of pre vention will bo found better than manv pounds of cure. Thoughts for Saturday Sight. Sin is ashamed of sin. To step aside is human. Pleasure and sorrow are twins. Above all things reverence yourself. Honest mou are tho gentlemen of na ture. Memory always obeys tho commands of tho heart. Man is the weeping animal bom to govern au the rest. I here is even a happiness that mnkea tno neart airaid. A wise man will moke more opportuni- ties than he finds. The thought of eternitv consoled fnr ii i i .w .... tun suormess 01 lite. Sad is his lot who. once nt Wf. in bio Jiie, lias not been a poet. Solid love, whoso root is virtue, can "o more iiie than virtue itself. cultivate not only the cornfields of yourniind, but tho pleasure grounds also, Nurture your mind with great thoughts T :.. iu- i " , . o -- uciievu iu me neroic makes heroes, As turning the logs will make n. .lull nre burn, so change of studies a dull brain. A good discourse is that from which one can take nothing without taking the life. When a man can look upon the simnle wuu ruse uuu ieei no pleasure, Ins taste :i i . . i i . . . . nas been corrupted. ! should say sincerity, a deep, great. genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic oi all men in any way heroic. 11 you wisli success in life, make per severance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius. A man ought to carry himself iu the world as an orange tree would if it could walk up and down the garden swinging perfume from every little censer it holds up to the air. It is said that jealousy is love, but I ueny it; ior inougn jealousy be procured by love, as ashes are by fire, yet jealousy ciuuiunuoa iovo as asnes smother name. He Did. The following storv is told about a uuukirk man: On St. Valentine's rlnv he bought ton of tho ugliest valentines ho could find, each one caricaturing some weii unown iauic or loible of liis w fe. and sent them to her. While the poor woman was crying over them nml wondering u there reallv were ten nen , , .... - " - PIa lu 'he community who thought so uieanly of her, the boy of the family 841111 : " Pa, are those the pictures you mine store wnere you got my whistle?" There are onlv five States in thn Tlnion where the governor receives a salary of but 81,000. These are Michigan, No braska. New Hampshire. Ehode Island. and Vermont. Louisiana and Indiana pay $8,000, and Pennsylvania $10,000. COUNTY, PA.,, THURSDAY, APRIL OUR NEWSPAPERS. Dr. Ilnllnnd linn a Word to Hnjr About the Krn-nnnprr l'rrss and lis Conduct, Tho cordial praise and the gentle criti cisms which we receive from month to mouth from the newspaper press, says Dr. Holland, editor of Soribner's maga zine, have placed us under many obliga tions, which, we are bound iu houor to confess, have received little practical ac knowledgment. We have endeavored, it is true, to profit by all wise suggestions, and tried to show our gratitude by mak ing our monthly offering more and more valuable to its great host of readers ; but we have had too much tho feeling of a junior, or a protege, to presume to make any return iu kiud. Shall we bo pardon ed if, for once, we break out of tlus very pleasant position of a recipient, and try to realize to ourselves how much more blessed it is to give than to receive ? As newspapers, simply, those of America ore tho best iu the world. The entire globe is raked, aud raked clean, every day, of incident, movement, and event, to be blazoned upon their teem ing pages. Science, religion, politics, society, commerce, mechauics, all things of human concern, find place for every fact and phaso iu their columns. The lightnings are their messengers, winnow ing the midnight world with their wings, and bearing iu their beaks from the harvest-fields of thought and action every precious seed that has ripened and dropped during the day. N o cost of toil or gold dismays them. Their servants are on every battlefield, in the thick of every mob, in the forests and the deserts, on the mountains and on the seas, watch ing kings, watching parliaments, sitting by the side of the astronomer in his vigils, recording tho message of the preacher, counting the steps of scientific progress, and bearing the product of all this enormous enterprise aud industry, morning by morning, to the homes of the nation. The outcome of this world wide inquisition and exposition rises al most into the realm of miracle. We have no words to express our admiration of it no phrases by whieh we can measure the height and depth and length and breadth of the largess it contains and the influence it exerts. Thus much we can say with entire truthfulness; thus much we do say with thorough heartiness. To preside over a great American newspaper is to hold and exercise one of the most dignified offices of the world. Now, let us open the newspaper, and see how it looks. Freighted with the world's great affairs, loaded down with the hopes, straggles, misfortunes, crimes, triumphs aud achievements of humanity, we expect to find it earnest, dignified and catholic. Tho first thing we see is halfu column of sensational headings, addressed, perhaps, to tho prurient curiosity of the basest men. We open a Western paper, and find over an item of intelligence, or of falsehood, concerning a grievous scandal the word "HELL!" in as largo letters as can be squeezed into a column. This is followed by minor heads, every one of which is intended to produce a sensa tion. We go on through the paper, and it is all sensation. Oftentimes the headings mislead as to the real character of the intelligence to which they are the preface. All the news chronicled is wrought up into its most startling forms. To pique curiosity, to raise feeling, to attract attention, to appeal to the sense of tho marvelous, to bo stun ning rather then simple and true, nre tho upiureui motives oi the conductor. Is this an extreme case? We can furnish papers by the hundred that steadily pursue tins course as a matter of policy. It ia not enough that wo havo party presses iu religion and politics that give a party shape to everything that comes to them. Tt is mt. o"nmirl. that we have presses that rejoice in scandal and crimo, and take greater de light in them, and greater pains with their details, than are excited by those affairs which mark the advance of the world in goodness aud wisdom. It is not enough that there are papers which mold all things that thev touch in flin persoual purposes and preiinlii.pa rf their conductors. If a thing is tame it must be whipped into a startling appear ance. If it is sad inexpressibly sad from its badness its badness must yield the requisite sensation. Great and good names are jested with. Topics whieh involve tho most precious interests of the human race are tossed flippantly about, like tho balls of a juggler, to at tract tho eyes of the gaping multitude. ouujecia oi winch ciaiiu-eu can never know too little are laid before the family eyo as familiarly as if they were not steeped in shame. To receive the world's news, in the spirit and shape in which it is presented to millions of readers every day, is to suppose that all the world's momentous events are conceived in fever and brought forth in hysterics. If anything were really gained by this course there might be a poor apology for it, but nothing ever was gained by it. The papers which indulge in it most are least trusted. The moment an edi tor becomes thoroughly conscientious, and recognizes the importance and dignity of his position, he .drops his sensational headings with disgust. If he has nows from Zanzibar, tho heading of his item states the fact; and if the reader is interested iu Zanzibar he reads the item.' If he has important news from Zanzibar his heading states that fact, and if very important news from Zauzibar, that fact; and the reader finds tho facts as represented, and judges of the facts and their relations without having been misled by sensational headings. It is a good newspaper rule to hit every subor dinate, sensational head wherever tho editor sees it. All news with nioro than one head is guilty of a crime agaiust editor and reader alike, and deserves decapitation. Shall we mention another sin ? Have we, to-day, any such thing in America as private life i Is a private man, or even a man's family, safe from public mention? Alas ! that the press has an apology for its familiar handling of private names and private affairs ! Alas I that there are so many iu private life who rejoice in the public ailing of their personalities aud personal movements! Alas, that the details of private life nre devoured so greedily by so many who do not seem to know that the love of notoriety is vulgar, and that their desire to pry into the life of others compromises their dignity and their neighborly good-, Willi After nil, is it a dignified bnsi ness for the pross to minister to this low aud unhealthy greed? Is tho world so barren of great topics that tho press, perforce, must transform itself into a neighborhood tattle and a publio gossip ? Are valuable opinions and intelligence so scarce that it must send its prying in terviewers out among the ranks of private men, to worm ont their secrets, on pain of misrepresentation and abuse, and spread them before a curious publio ? The American press of tho future will not do it, unless civilization Bhall retro grade, nnd our nation remain a nation of children. The Work of Females. The annual report of the Massachu setts labor bureau refers to the subject, " How certain forms of employment affect femalo health." The influences that affect the proper establishment and normal cause of the peculiar functions of femalo operatives are first considered, and four causative errors in the manage ment of labor are enumerated os the chief sources of the disturbance peculiar to women of this class. The first is the age at which young girls are permitted to leave a life of animal growth and to become a part of an occupation or ma chine ; the second, the employment by manufacturers aud corporations of the plastic and undeveloped forms nnd pow ers of those girls of tender years with incomplete vital functions; the third, their employment in occupations which cannot be undertaken without injury, except by thoso of confirmed strength aud capacity ; and, foiuth, that they are summoned to a long day ol labor winch requires their unremitting attention un der circumstances and conditions radical ly unfavorable to a healthy condition. These four combined bring about de rangements of the female organism which too often unfit their victims for tho more important functions of woman hood. Each branch of labor in which women are generally employed is next taken up. aud the results of a thorough system of inquiry into the effects produced are given. It was found that the most inju rious work was that performed by mill operatives, badly ventilated and over heated rooms and constant application of the mind and body being the most prominent evils. Type-settmg is next considered, and the conclusions reached are that women cannot staud at the " case " and bo healthy, as it produces back and headaches, weakness of the' lowerimbs, and a dragging pressure on tho hips. Telegraphy is not as injurious to female health or development as the two classes of labor just mentioned. The inquiries among sewing machine opera tors did not evoke very satisfactory an swers. Iieplies were received from nearly two hundred correspondents, and considerable difference of experience was narrated, n largo majority stating that they suffered somewhat by their work, and others ailirming that no serious dis orders were created. The diseases fos tered by this branch of labor are chiefly iudigestion, muscular pains affecting the lower limbs and trunk, aud general de bility. After reviewing other forms of work and their evil effects on tho female system, the report gives as tho grave mistakes of our labor system that we em ploy thoso whoso years absolutely pro hibit them being employed at all, and that we sadly neglect the measures that can alone insure a correct sauitary condi tion of our female operatives during their labor. Girls under fifteen years of age should not be employed at all ; girls of any ago, and women generally, should not be employed at work uusuited to their sex, and, iu the performance of la bor to which they can with propriety bo permitted, periodical leave of absence should be granted them, so that the functions and nervous systems have a cnanco to recuperate. White Load as a Poison. About eighteen months ago, says tS'cribncr's, an article appeared in a Brooklyn newspaper describing a white lead factory at Williamsburgh, tho opera tives of which were said to be constant ly suffering from metallio poisoning. The proprietors of tho factory sharply controverted tho statements made, but several of the workmen came to tho writer's support with accounts of nu merous well-authenticated cases. In a few mouths the subject was forgotten, and the factory now finds no scarcity of men to fill it. Nevertheless, the dis astrous effects of the lead industry are proved on the best medical authority. iue manufacture of white lead is the most dangerous branch. The pro cess is as follows : A number of earth ern vessels are prepared, into each of which a few ounces of crude vinegar are poured. Sheets of lead are then introduced in such a manner that they neither touch the vinegar nor project above the top of the jars. Tho vessels are arranged in rows iu a largo budd ing and inclosed between boards cover ed with tan, one rw being placed on top of another until a stack is formed. The building is next closed, and a spon taneous process takes place, the exact nature of which is not understood. But when the building is opened after a lapse of several weeks and the stack is taken to pieces, the greater portion of the metal is found to have been con verted into a carbonate. This, wash ed and ground while wet, is whito lead, and when it is packed in casks it is ready for the market. The poison affects the work-people partly through inhalation and partly through the agency of the skin. The inhalation is the most fertile source of evil, however, and the commonest symp tom is oolio, which is easily cured. There are other and more serious symp toms, which develop into paralysis un less work is discontinued; but as the wages paid by the manufacturers are high, and as many of the operatives have large familes to support, medical prohibitions aguiust the continuance of work are often disregarded. At last here is a new fancy in the pres-J uuigiiaiion line, tie uorroweu a bonnet from a lady in the audience, and as he was about to return it it caught fire in the gas, and he liad to stamp on it with both feet to extinguish the flame. Misery of tho lady I It was her best bonnet. Then he fared a pistol, and a bonnet just like it fell from the chandelier in the middle of the theater. 8, 1875. SPECULATING GOLD. How I lie Price of tlold wnn Knlsrd to lis fri'upiit Figures by lirokers. The rise iu gold in the United States within the last few weeks is, according to the New York &'un, a purely artificial one. That paper explains tho whole thing, as follows: To begin with, the amount of gold held by the nation is small, and the pro ducts exchangeable with foreign lands are all raw, unmanufactured, nnd conse quently cheap articles ; while the ex travagance of tho people surpasses all reasonablo limits. Everybody wants everything from Europe, and the United States accumulates in this way every year a debt of over $150,000,000 with specie paying countries. Then, again, all the freight and passenger money goes to foreign countries. The gold which France sends to England and England to France returns again. The velvets and silks of Lyons, and tho wines of Bor deaux are paid for iu London in the same coin and to about the same amount ns Manchester and Sheffield goods nre paid for on tho other side of the chant uel ; while in this country wheat and sal- pork are almost the only articles the country has to pay with for all the Euro pean products absorbed by its fast and extravagant population. 1 he position of tho United States m the money market of the world is about as bad as that of Russia, and by far worse than that of Austria or Italy. Yet iu none of these half-bankrupt countries do people entertain nny expectation of returning to specie payments witlrn the liviug generation. In round numbers there are Borne 8800,000,000 of paper money in circulation against some .$20, 000,000 of gold in this country, exclusive of California. Tho interest on a debt of 81,715,000,000 has constantly to be paid iu specie, aud absorbs almost all that the resources of the Union can be rea sonably expected to produce. By a re cent statement of the Treasury there were 878,000,000 ill gold iu the hands of the government, of which 23,000,000 were deposited on certificates, leaving a balance of 55,000,000, which is just enough to cover the bonds called in and the May iuterest. If to these natural circumstances of the case are added the strong gambling proclivities of the com munity, the prevailing practices of sell ing short nnd borrowing gold, and the reckless way in which nil business is car ried on, the fact of gold not having long ago risen much beyond its present quo tation becomes a matter of sur prise. It cannot help goiug up to twenty per cent. premium, that is to say to about tho same level upon which it stands in the empires of Alexander and Francis Joseph. uasing themselves upon these general considerations, a number of men, head ed by Drew and Robinson, organized a pool, bought and locked up about six or seven millions of gold coin in their safes, nnd are quietly waiting till it goes up. The foreign bills are to bo paid some how, the Custom-house duties take daily about half a million, and the banks have all of them not more than a million or two hi their vaults. It might be snpposed that merchants would begin borrowing gold from England, but tho moment a movement of this sort begins, tho Bank of England will raise its rate, and render exportatious of metal impracticable. Be sides, England holds no end of American bonds, aud when asked to lend gold, she will send out these bonds instead of metal. The gold pool thus anticipates that its success is assured, and argues that tho higher tho gold be, tho more greenbacks tho foreign merchant will ob tain for his sovereigns nnd the more will ingly he will como to this market. They propose thus to fill their own pockets and to confer a blessing on the country. That is an illusion, but illusions are such pretty things that it is a pity to destroy them, especially at a time when they are so rarely to bo met with. Death of Piinnie. Punnie, tho Esquimau child, or as sho was called by her new friends, Silvio, died at Groton, Conn. Silvio was the adopted child of Jo and Hauna, tho two Esquimaux who were so devoted to Capt. Hall. Thoso who may have read the ac count of Capt. Hall's perilous journey may remember many interesting traits of this Esquimau child, and how she was purchased of her "parents for an old sled and a jack-knife. Little Punnie was one of the party of ten whites, two Es quimaux, two women, and five children, who, under the command of Capt. Tyson, were separ ted from tho Polaris and left in the dreary Arctic seas almost to the mercy of the waves. From the 10th of October, 1872, to April 30, 1873, this child floated on the ice-floe. After hav ing drifted some 2,000 miles, the party wsw finally rescued by the Tigress, iu latitude fifty-three degrees and thirty five minutes north. The little Esquimau was receiving her education at Groton, and showed great sweetness of disposi tion and capacity. Physically, Punnie was very diminutive, aud her health not very good. It seems sad to think that this poor waif, after passing through such untold perils, should havo finally succumbed, though tended by the kind est of friends. The Potatoes. Some of the household repines tn'vnn in the papers are calculated to do more harm than good. Mrs. Hopson's servant giii recently read in tho paper that "po- i tatoes should bo of uniform size to cook ! evenly. It was more than two days be fore she found the meaning of the word " uniform," and then she went to work on half a bushel of potatoes. As sho couldn't make the smallest the size of the largest, she pared down the large ones until they were as small aa the smallest, and as the latter was about the size of a walnut, the had a weak lot of potatoes by the time she had made them of uniform size, and a quart measure would have held them all. The potatoes were "short " for dinner that day, and, as an explanation and some very sharp words followed, Mrs. Hopson's servant girl now cooks potatoes of all sizes in one pot. They are raising a great outcry on the continent because the Germans are making a cheap champagne from good grapes. Over here we manufacture a castly champagne from turnip juice, rot ten apples, sulphurio acid and old boots, and some people rather like it. NO. 7. PATRONS IN BUSINESS PRISES. ENTER- A Hint to the Clrnnom Whnt tlie I.oi-n I Business Houses Will Do. The Patron's Jfclpct; of Iowa, a Grange paper, says iu a recent issue: A word of caution is duo with regard to these co-operative enterprises. Store keeping is a trade as much as fanning; grain selling is a trade; cattle nnd hog selling is a trade; insurance is a trade. No man can master either of them in a day or a year. It may happen that tho active managers of these enterprises aro well informed and well prepared for their duties, nnd then success is likely to follow; but it may happen, ngniu, that inefficient or incompetent men get into those places, and then failure is pretty sure to follow. And, worse than tho other, it may happen that an acuto swindler will work himself into one of these positions of trust, and then disaster and disgraco are certain. Let the direc tory look sharply to the character nnd qualifications of their business agent; let them see that he is honest; let them see that he is of sound judgment and well adapted to the work iu hand; let them seo that he has the needed experi ence and energy; and then let them pay him liberally and not hamper him with petty restrictions. Quite as important as securing the best practical management for grange enterprises, says tho New York World, it is to engage in no enterprises that cannot bo defended on other grounds than those of absolute necessity. There have been successes in keeping griingo stores, but where one dollar has been saved through their agency ten havo been saved by purchasing through on agent, and twenty by cultivating amica ble aud just relations with local busiuess firms. There is not in the United States one couutry merchant who, on being as sured of the custom of all the farmers of his vicinity, will not, for cash, give them rates which will represent first cost, plus the lowest and unavoidable charges for rent, interest, handling, freight, tare and tret, depreciation, etc. This attained, it is undesirable to go further and risk a grent deal to win, possibly, a very little. There is this to be said against graugo enterprises: Their failure or partial success will inevitably be magnified to the disadvantage of tho order generally by its enemies, who aro on the alert al ways, and never so well satisfied as when they see Patrons engaging in enterprises of doubtful utility or problematic profit. This is what every Patron should cherish at heart tho reflection that ho is a mem ber of the order, nnd that unjust but by no means ineffectual criticism will lay to the account of the order the imperfec tions of its members. A Peculiar Humor. Among other traits of character which are common to man and beast, says a writer, is the sense of humor. This is developed in various ways. Mostly it assumes tho form of teasing or annoying others, and deriving amuse ments from their discomfort. This is the lowest form of humor, nnd is popularly known among ourselves ns practical joking. Sometimes, both with mnn and beast, it takes the form of bodily torture, the struggles of the victim being highly amusing to the torturer. Civilized man has now learned to consider the infliction of pain upon another as auything but an amusement, and would sooner suffer tho agony than inflict it upon a fellow-creature. But to tho savage there is no entertainment so fascinating as the tor turing of a human being. Take, for example, th a North American Indian tribes, among whom the torture is a solemn usage of war, which every warrior expects for himself if captured, aud is certain to inflict upon nny prisoner whom ho may happen to take. Tho in genuity with which the savago wrings every nerve of the human frame, and kills his victim by sheer pain, is ab solutely fiendish; and yet the whole tribe assemble round the stake, and gloat upon the agonies which nre being en dured by a fellow-creature. Similarly the African savago tortures either man or women who is accused of witchcraft, employing menus which aro to horiiblo to be mentioned. Yet even in these cases the cruelty seems to bo in a great degree owing to obtuseness of perception; and the savago who ties his prisoner to a stake, and per forates all tho sensitive parts of his body with burning pine-splinters, acts very much like a child who amuses itself by catching flies, pulling off their wings and legs, and watching their unavailing efforte to escape. , I did not know whether it is the case now or not, but some twenty years ago I saw cock- 3haf era publicly sold in Paris for children to torture to death; the amusement being to run a hooked pin through their tail, tie a thread to it, and seo the poor insect spin iu the air. After it was too en feebled to spread its wings, it was slowly dismembered, the child being greatly amused at its endeavors to crawl, as leg after leg was pulled off. I rescued mony of these of theso wretched insects from the thoughtlessly cruel children, and re leased them from their sufferings by instantaneous death. In Italy a similar custom prevails, though in a more cruel form, the crea tures which are tortured by way of sport being more capable of suffering pain than are insects. Birds are employed for the amusement of children, just as are the cock-cuafers in France. A string is tied to tho leg, and the unfortunate bird, after its powers of flight are ex hausted, is generally plucked alive and dismembered. It is not done from any idea of cruelty, but from sheer incapacity to understand that a bird or a beast can be a fellow creature. The Italians are notorious for their cruel treatment of animals; and if remonstrance be made, they are quite astonished, and reply, " jVon e Crist iano" (It is not a Christum). Monster Religious Meetings. Moody and Sankey, the American re vivalists in London, continue to draw large audiences. These meetings are at tended by as many as 15,000 to 20,000 people. At the same time an English man, Rev. Mr. Varley, is holding mon ster revival meetings in the Hippodrome in New York, fully 20,000 people attend ing, and the vast building being crowd ed every Sunday night.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers