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.