C
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
.VOL. V.
HIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUESDAY, APHIL 22, 1875.
NO. 0.
Love's Appeal.
Thou nwayost my life, as moons tho sea s
Nature's incvitnljlo laws
Lose plainly blond elToct with cauBO
Thau thou doHt rule my destiny.
Tliou art my fate ! undroamod-of Wis
Is utorod for mo in 0110 Hwect word.
Let but its opposite bo hoard,
And then thou art my Nemesis.
O, pauc, and solemn counsel take !
Think what it is to own control
O'er mini's whole being, life and soul ;
To bid a heart beat high--or break !
All other hope, ambition, love,
Centers in that by thee Inspired :
IiO?s ardently my soul is fired
With aims that point to worlds above.
So, liko a votary at the Bhrine,
I feel the alllatus o'or me stonl
BUudly beforo thy feet to kneel
And render homage qnito divine.
Thon speak ; be this appeal my last ;
Only icmember that, a life
Before thee lies, for peace or strife
A future thou canst blcus or blast.
Bpcak. I will bend me to tky will,
In sileut joy, if thou say " Yes."
If " No," I'll hide my bitterness
And be thy mute adorer still.
THE FORGED CHECK.
Cleora Duhamel was a belle, an
heiress, and motherless. Her father, a
wealthy merchant, engrossed in busi
ness, imagined that money would do any
thing, and so left his only daughter to
tutors and governesses, musters and mis
tresses. When Cloora entered society, at the
ago of eighteen thus her father willed
she became at onco one of the queens
of the circle in which she moved, and ran
such a course of coquetry, extravagance,
and pleasure, as only a girl with her
beauty, temperament, and bringing tip
was capable of.
Her father's attention was first attract
ed by her extravagance. Miss Cleora's
monthly allowance, though too ridicu
lously large to be told here, was not near
ly enough for her. Every month bills
wore sent in for her father to settle, and
in spite of remonstrance, and even
something sterner, and though tho ono
creaturo that this spoiled heiress stood
in awe of was her father, still these bills
grew.
One month, Mr. Duhamel threatened
to withdraw his extravagant daughter
from society entirely. The next, he de
clared, in the mest solemn manner, that
the next time she overran her allowance,
he would himself notify the various fash
ionable tradespeople with whom sho was
most in tho habit of making bills, that
they must not trust her. Clara believed
him this time. No more bills were pre
sented her father for payment.
One day Frank Reeve, a young clerk
in tho employ of Mr. Duhamel, astound
ed that gentleman by asking his permis
sion to marry his daughter. Of course
ho received a very abrupt and peremp
tory "No," for his answer. And tho
merchant, not doubting that Cleora her
self was answerable for tho presumption
of which this young gentleman had been
guilty, reached homo in a very irate
frame of mind, and summoning his
daughter, reproved her sharply.
Cleora laughed first, pouted after
wards, and ended by crying.
Less than a week from that time, Miss
Cleora received another lecture, couched
in much briefer language, but eloquent
beyond anything that young lady had
ever listened to before, judging from
the impression it made.
"You ought to bo proud of your work,
miss," declared Mr. Duhamel, angrily.
"Frank Beeves has got himself into real
trouble this time, and there's no doubt
in my mind that ho would never have
done so crazy a thing, if his head hadn't
been turned about you."
"What has poor Frank done now?"
asked Cleora, incredulously, but looking
a littlo uneasy.
" He has been forging tits name of
Duhamel & Co."
Miss Cleora started, and turned red
and white all in a breath.
"Papa, how do you know?"
"He don't deny it: had tho effron
tery to present it at tho bank himself,
even."
Silence some moments. Miss Cloora
grew paler and paler, and twisted hsr
black curls with nervous whito fin
gers. "Papa, what will you do with him ?"
she asked, presently.
" I ? I do nothing. The law he has
outraged will give him a term in prison,
probably. Serve him right, too."
" Do you know where he is now?"
she asked, tremblingly; but the mer
chant, absorbed in his own reflection,
did not notice that.
" In Newgate, of course."
"Oh, papa !"
Cleora Duhamel rose to her feet,
white and palpitating.
Mr. Duhamel lifted his keen eyes to
her face scrutinizingly.
" It would be easy to imagine that you
had some personal interest in this young
scamp, he said, coldly.
Cleora clasped her hands, and looked
ivp at him with trembling lips.
"Well?" exclaimed tho merchant,
angrily, rising also.
" Papa, what niado you let him go to
Newgate ?"
"Beally? Why should I not, pray ?
Come, come, miss. It is a good thing
or you, I see, that ho is disposed of."
" Papa, Frank lleoves never forged
anybody's nanio in his life" and
Cleora burst into tears for tho second
timo that evening.
"He don't deny it himself," repeated
Mr. Dahamel, with added indignation
and amazement at his haughty daugh
ter's espousal of tho young man's cause.
As Cleora mado her escape from the
room, he began to pace up and down,
muttering, " Sho's self-willed enough to
do anything. I'm glad he's where he
is, though I always liked the young fel
low. It's odd too that he wouldn't de
fend himself. Neither denied or owned
it. Soma mystery there, but it's not
my business to solve it."
Frank Reeves was tried for forgery ;
pleaded "Not guilty," but refused to
give any account of the forged check he
had certainly presented at the bank and
received ths money on. He was sent to
paison for five years.
During tho trial, a woman, plainly at
tired and closely veiled, was observed to
bo unremitting in her attendance upon
tho proceedings; and tho prisoner, it
was noticed, seemed to watch for tho
entrance of this person, and to be uneasy
till sho came, when his handsome face
would flush slightly, his dark eyes
brighten with pleasure, and ho would
resume his usual nir of mingled prido
nud deterininntien.
When Frank Reeve's bright young
hoad vanished bchiud the ignominious
prison walls, ho carried next his heart a
little scented note without address or
signature, but written iu an exceedingly
delicate femalo hand, and having in one
corner a most dainty silver and blue
monogram, "CD." It said: "You
are a hero. I am a cowardly creature,
unworthy of you. But the day you are
a free man, if you do not despise mo
too utterly by that time, I will be your
wife. Every hour of your heroic im
prisonment I shall think of you. I love
yon already, and shall love you more and
moro till wo meet."
Three years from that time, Mr. Du
hamel died suddenly; and his daughter,
still single and still beautiful, came into
th possession of a large fortune. Iu
the course of the fourth year she ob
tained, by private and personal appeal to
tho Homo Secretary, Frank Reeve's
pardou.
The two met at last in Miss Duhamel's
own magnificent drawing room. The
beauty and heiress had attired herself
with an artistic elaborateness she had
never bestowed on any party or recep
tion toilet. Her loveliness was beyond
description; her eyes were flashing with
tears.
Frank Beeves came calmly into the
room, and stopped a few paces off,
without offering to approach nearer.
He was very pide, and his closely-cut
hair altered him very much. The years,
tho confinement, and the companionship
of brooding thoughts, had graven upon
his face sterner lines than had marked
that handsome countenance in the flush
of eager, romantic youth.
Some unexpected expression iu that
face seemed to strike Cleora.
"Frank," she exclaimed, and in her
haughty voice was a new and piteous
accent, " you have never forgiven me,
Frank 1 I have suffered too."
Ho did not say more, but his eye
flashed, and ho uttered the word "suf
fered " after her contemptuously.
"lama pardoned convict," he said,
proudly. " Iu tho terrible prison to
which your cowardice condemned me,
my young and eager manhood, all those
generous and self-sacrificing impulses
which made me your tool, even the heart
which loved you, have been one by one
crushed out of me. I forgave you at
first. Afterwards I grew bitter month
by mouth, day by day. It was so little
you needed to do, to have saved mo all
that long horror. Your father would
have forgiven you. I might have been
spared my honor, my good name, if
you had stood by your own wrong
doing." " Oh, Frank, I will atone ! I am rich.
We can gonny where you aro not known,"
Cleora exclaimed, sweeping towards
him, and extending her whito hands en
treatingly. He lifted his somber eyes once to her
peerless face.
"Miss Duhamel," ho said, "there
aro sonii things that even money can
not buy that even the love of a beauti
ful woman cannot atone for. That is
what I camo to tell you, and Good
bye." Without so much as touching her
hand, he was gone.
In another country, Frank Beeves re
deemed himself from the stain of that
injustico once done him, and became an
honored member of society through his
own patient endeavor.
Miss Duhamel never married.
The Source or Salt.
The sea depends on the disintegration
of rocks on land for salt. It doesn't orig
inate in oceans and seas. Bains wash it
and hold it a solution as particles are
liberated by violence, decomposition,
and gradual action of many natural
forces. All streamlets and rivers, there
fore, are constantly transporting salt to
the sea. If there is more than can be
held in solution, then it accumulates in
masses at very deep points. Thus the
salt mines of Portland and the vast hori
zontal beds of pure salt in Texas, as well
as that mountain of rock salt iu St. Do
mingo, wero collected at the bottom of
ancient seas, which are now dry land, re
mote from water. There ore places in
Africa where the process of disintegra
tion of salt from rock is regularly going
on, but there is not water-power enough
to force, it onward to the sea. Hencethe
particles are spread abrof.d and mixed
with the soil. The negroes of Northern
Africa having discovered its distribution
where there is no water to dissolve in
the ground, leach it. Iu that way they
separate the salt. Salt pervades the
earth. It exists in the grasses and most
vegetable products on which animals
feed. In that way they derive enough
in most countries to moot the demads
of their natures. They require as much
as civilized humanity. With them salt
is necessary, as with ourselves, for keep
ing the organs of vision in good condi
tion. Stop tho supply, and blindness
would ensue.
II I? Conscience.
One of thn most conscientious sheriffs
on record hai turned up in Iowa. A
railroad was to be sold at sheriffs sale,
aud a friendly agreement was made by
which this model official was to receive
three hundred and fifty dollars in pay
ment for his part in the transaction,
which required two hours, perhaps, of his
valuable time. But after the sale he
happened to look at the statute which
fixed bis fees, when he found to his
horror that ho had been transgressing
the laws of the State, which declared
that he should receive no other fees than
those legally assigned him. So he re
fused the liberal sum offered him, and
said he would take nothing but his law
ful fees, which iu this instance, it seems,
amounted to 811,000. The railroad men
endeavored to hold him to his original
bargain, but hi was too conscientious
to violate the laws he was appointed to
uphold, and, the case going to the courts,
his integrity was rewarded by a verdict
is his favor.
A Father rinyliig Indian.
At a Louisville masquerade tho pro
cession was witnessed by a largo crowd.
Among tho motley host who perambula
ted tho streets, in tho procession, was a
long, cadaverous-looking fellow repre
senting a Comanche Indian. His face
was painted red, his suit was
well made up. tJpon his pon
derous feet were a pair of new
moccasins, and hanging from tho beaded
girth that encircled his body were half a
dozen "boss pistols" and as many
scalps. Inside this belt stuck a cheeso
knifo and a scytho blade. His long
black hair was banded with a brass hook,
from which stuck about a dozen of tur
key and goose feathers, and in his right
hand he held with an iron grasp a toma
hawk, red with some victim's blood.
Everybody saw the wild Indian, but no
body knew it was Skimncr.
Wbile the procession moved through
the various streets, Skinner would get
dry, and break ranks by dodging into
barrooms and taking his usual doso of
"fire-water." As the procession passed
his house a new idea struck Skinner. He
would go homo ond searo Mrs. Skinner
and all the littlo Skinners. He cut looso
from the procession, took another doso
of " fire-water," and by the timo ho
reached his front gate, ho was tho most
reckless looking Comanche tho world
ever beheld. Ticking up new courage
ho rushed into the front room where tho
little Skinners were "playing circus."
His appearance was acnompanied by
wild yells and fancy dancing, while he
made that tomahawk fly around the
room over the children's heads as if he
meant business, tho little Skinners
shouting, "Oh, Mr. Iujin, don't I"
"mother!" "murder I " "fire!" and
there were such screams as would have
mado any " sure enough" Indian run.
Skinner was just in the middlo of his
fun, when tho screams of the children
and tho war-whoops of tho Comanche
brought Mrs. Skin;.er to tho scene, arm
ed with an iron skillet. She slipped up
behind tho "playful Indian," drew a
bead on his nose, and landed that skillet
with the force of a sledge-hammer and
the rapidity of lightning against it. The
hand let go tho tomahawk, tho feathers
flew, tho belt bursted, and tho scalps,
pistols and knives fell to the floor. There
was a flesh-and blood spot iu tho middlo
of his face where that nose was a mo
ment beforo tho skillet mashed it. There
was a groan, a fall, a somersault or two,
aud all was quiet. That Comanche had
found tho " hnppv hunting grounds."
Skinner has an Indian masquerado suit
for sale.
Justices' Justice in England.
The Pall Mall UazcAle says: With
coals at their present prico poor people
who live near a fore.it are exposed to a
great temptation. They must, however,
keep their hands from " picking and
stealing," or rather from sticking and
stealing, for justice iu this country is ad
ministered very indifferently, and its
mill wheels occasionally grind exceed
ingly small." A case heard a few days
ago at tVe St. Martin's, Stamford, petty
sessions ought to bo a warning to
"stickers." Four women were summoned
for sticking in Clilfo forest on the lfith
of February, and doing damage to tho
underwood to tho extent of sixpence.
It appears that the forest is the property
of Lord Exeter, and a heavy penalty wa's
pressed for, as considerable damage, it
was stated, had been done to tho under
wood by stickers. Tho magistrates
thereupon lined all tho defendants 1
9s. 6d. , including damages and costs, or
a month's hard labor. This judgment,
according to the report in tho Stamford
Mercury, appeared to stagger the poor
women, who pleaded piteously for a
mitigation of tho sentence, declaring
that they had been compelled to go out
sticking to get firing, as they wero un
able to buy coal at Is. Gd. a hundred
weight. After awhile tho magistrates
relented so far as to allow a fortnight
for payment. This act of mercy did not,
however, satisfy tho offenders, who
urged that they should never be able to
pay the sum demanded, and would have
to go to prison, and two of the defend
ants, an old woman aud a young girl,
actually surrendered themselves in cus
tody on this absurd plea. Another old
woman, who said she had only 10s. is
the world, that her husband was ill in
bed, and had been so for three months,
and that she only went to get a few
sticks to make a fire to warm him, got
her penalty at last reduced to 1, but
her money was exhausted. So evenly
are the scales of justice balanced in this
country that an old woman who picks
up a utick and a ruffian who knocks an
old woman down with a bludgeon are
mulcted in about the same penalty.
The Coal Area.
The total coal area of the United Stat es
is sectioned off in square miles about as
follows: Illinois (largest of all), 36,000;
Missouri Bash), 20,887; Iowa, 18,000;
Kansas, 17,000; West Virginia section,
16,000; Ohio section, 10,000; East Ken
tacky section, 8,983; Pennsylvania sec
tion, 12,502; Pennsylvania anthracite,
472; New England Basin, 500; Maryluud
section, 550; Tennessee, 5,100; Alabama,
5,330; Indiana, 0,440; We.st Kentucky,
3,888; Texas, 4,500; Michigan Basin,
6,700; Nebraska, 3,000; Arkansas, 9,043;
Virginia, 185, aud North Carolina, 310.
The great bulk of tho general coal de
posit is tho common soft or bituminous
coal, tho exception being tho semi-bituminous,
the anthracite and the caunel
coal found largely in tho Kanawha coal
fields of West Virginia.
Boiled Flat.
James Reese, aged fourteen, was rolled
out flat in a Huirisbiirgh rolling mill.
His foot slipped aud tho body fell for
ward, and while striking out with his
arms one of them was caught, which
carried him into and through the roll,
through a spaoo only three and one-half
inches in width. A cry of terror from
the unfortunate lad attractod the atten
tion of tho workmen, whe, upon looking
around, saw the body of Reese on the
other eide of the rolls and one of the
arms disappearing, The engine was
speedily stopped, and upon examination
it was found that the lad had been fear
fully mangled his arms, head, shoul
ders and body giving evidence of his
fearful end, lie was rolled out flat. It
was fauud necessary to raise the rolls be
fore the body could be extricated. -
ProverDs.
Homo is homo be it ever so homely.
Hopo is a good breakfast, but a bad
supper.
Have your cloak made before it begins
to rain.
Idle folks have the least leisure.
Live not to cat, but eat to live.
Let not your tongno cut your throat.
Liars are not to be believed when they
tell the truth.
Make hay while tho sun shines.
Never split wood against tho grain.
Never light your caudle at both
ends.
Never make a mountain out of a mole
hill.
None are so deaf as those who will
not hear.
One is not so soon healed as hurt.
One eye-witness is better than ten
hearsay.
Ono bad cxamplo spoils many good
precepts.
Ono hour's sleep beforo midnight is
worth two after.
Praise a fair day at night.
Patience and time run through the
longest day.
Quick at meat, quick at work.
Reckless youth makes rueful age.
Strike while tho iron is hot.
Temperance is the best physic.
Short reckonings make long friends.
"lis the second blow that makes tho
fray.
The best physicians are Dr. Diet, Dr.
Quiet and Dr. Merryman.
Welcome is tho best cheer.
Where there is a will there is a way.
When tho will is ready the foot is
light.
What may be done at any timo is
never done.
Beecher's Domestic Circle.
Henry Ward Beecher testified in court
that ho was married in 1837, the first
year that ho was nettled as a preacher in
Lawrenceburg, Ind. He was engaged,
he said, half as long as tho patriarch and
his wife, seven years, and ho was twenty
three years old when married. His wife
was about tho same age. Ho says: I
think she was twenty-three also ; a part
of the year sho is twenty-four when I am
twenty-three, and the rest of tho year wo
are of the same ago. Ho has four chil
dren living, aud five, as ho says, "wait
ing for me." From a very early period
I remitted to my wife, ho says, almost
entirely my secular affairs, so much so
that until within two years, since my son
came to live with me, who was in busi
ness, I never eve drew my own salary.
Tho checks were mado out to her, aud
all treasurer's accounts were " Mrs.
Beecher, Dr.," and I knew neither what
money camo in nor what money camo
out, so far as my salary was concerned.
In the earlier period of my life I had a
very sensitive feeling in regard to the
sacredness of letters ; I would never
open my children's, nor suffer anybody
else to do it ; I would never open my
wife's letters, neither did I wish her to
open mine ; but within the last fifteen
years correspondents have so multiplied
I grew careless through over-occupation,
and they littlo by littlo passed into her
charge, and for the last fifteen years, if I
was gone, or if there was any reason why
perhaps somebody might suffer, she has
always opened my letters, aud, to a very
considerable degree-, answered them ; if
thero wero any of which she had doubt
she waited until I came home.
Making a Piano.
It takes nearly four years to make one
instrument; three years and some months
to season the wood, and three months to
form tho parti. No less than sixteen
different kinds of wood enter into the
formation, embracing the softest, tough
est, hardest, heaviest, lightest and most
compact graiu. In tho "action " alono
there are eleven different kinds of wood.
The piano, moreover, is cosmopolitan,
from the fact that the vegetable, animal
aud mineral kingdoms of the world con
tribute to the composition. While spruce
pine from Northern New York, maple
from Massachusetts, pine nnd ash from
Michigan, cherry from Pennsylvania,
walnut from Indiana, and poplar from
West Virginia, after passing through
choppers, sawyers, raftmen and inspec
tors, as well us buckskin of four kinds,
first from the wild deer and then from
the manufacturers, are necessary, this
country doos not furnish all the material
required. Six kiuils of felt, four kinds
of cloth, bc-i.'.ea silver for the plates, sil
ver gilded strings, cast-iron, many kinds
of paper, a s also ivory, ebony and var
nish, are all imported from other coun
tries. In an ordinary piano there are
five hundred screws, one hundred and
seventy strings, eighty-five keys and five
hundred and twenty key and tuning
pins. In a seven octave square about
ninety square feet of veneering is used,
and in the "action" alone there are no less
than 5,072 pieces. From the foregoing
some conception of the requisites of a
square, upright or grand piano may be
formed.
A Fair rutiire.
From every quarter come tidings of
good prospects for traffic, manufactures,
aud shipping. Factories that had sus
pended work for months aro now resum
ing operations. Business men aro
launching out caously but steadily
into new ventures. Capital is showing
itself to tho light after long concealment,
weary of inactivity, and soeking places
where it may bo safest and may do the
most good. "Tho croakers aro withdraw
ing into their holes, and the faces of all
who are disposed to work for better
things wear tho sruilo of confidence.
Not the least of the hopeful auguries for
the summer i3 tho magnificent prospect
of winter wheat. Lower rates of trans
portation ore also a good omeu of tho
prospect of a more free commercial in
terchange. Industrial and mercantile
activity will soon spread sunshine every
where. Xcw York Commercial Adver
tiser. Asking Him. " Hullo, stranger ! yon
appear to be traveling!" "Yes, I al
ways travel when I'm on a journey."
"I thirk I have seen you somewhore."
"Very likely. I've often been there."
"Mightn't your name be Smith?"
" Well, it might if it wasn't something
else." "Have you been long in these
parts?" " Never longer than at present
live feet nine." " Do you calculate to
remain here some time ?" Well, I
guess I'll stay till I'm ready to leave."
The Italian Beggar.
The Italian, when he takes to beggary,
says a city paper, is very much of an
adept. Thero is about his simulation a
picturesqueness and dramatic power
which is most fascinating. Ho speaks of
his sunny Italy with a lino poetic feeling
sharply in contrast with the shoulder
shrugging condescension and diffident
deprecation with which ho alludes to
our own poor inhospitable country.
"Ah I bella ma," said one of these ro
mantic vagabonds lo a lady in whoso
kitcheu he was solacing himself, "my
beautiful Italia is one day i i Juno. It
has no snow in tho street aud no
huugaree in zo belly." The lady natur
ally inquired why ho did not stay in
beautiful Italy. " Ah !" he said, with a
shrug of tho velveteen shoulders, "it
was Vesuvius that drive mo to zis forlorn
country. " Vesuvius drove into a lawyer's
office on Broadway ono fino day, a
brazen scamp, who exhibited a printed
certificate from an American consul in
J taly to the effect that the bearer had
been blown up by the velcano, his
family torn from him, and his vineyards
made desolate. Would tho liberal citizen
of a great republic have pity upon the
wretched stranger. The lawyer, who
had more leisure than briefs, cross-ex-nmined
the volcano-smitten Italian.
Did ho liko traveling by volcano? Did
it hurt him most when ho went up or
when he came down ? . At what rate of
speed did ho travel when he was blown
into the air, and did tho smell of gin
certify to his sufferings, or was it only
an accident of temporary emergency?
The suffering foreigner only shrugged
his shoulders aud said: "Mo no speakee
Inglesia." Fiually, losing temper under
the continuous lire of cross-questions,
the volcano-ruined stranger measured
tho distance between the stairs ond the
place where he stood, and said: "Oh,
you bo dashed," and down he went be
fore tho astonished lawyer could put out
his hand to stay him.
A Cardinal's State Conch.
It is an old Roman custom that a car
dinal should not appear iu tho streets on
foot, so it is necessury that Cardinal
McCloskey should have his state car
riage. The New York Herald gives us
a description of it : Neither in color nor
ornament is it prepared to attract notice
in the street, still it is on extremely
luxurious vehicle. Hung upon what
aro termed suspension springs, the. body
of tho. coach sways with a cradle-like
motion at tho slightest impulse. The
coach cost $3,000. It is an almost mas
sive, round-bodied town coach. Within
it is lined with dark green satin and
fitted with every appliance needful to
people who can ride in their coaches.
Tho body is painted lustrously black,
and its running gear is of dark green,
liko the upper side of an oak leaf. These
colors aro relieved by the pallor of tho
silver mountings of tho carriage. The
only exact mark by which people will
learn to pick out Cardinal McCloskey's
coach from a host of fino vehicles drawn
by proud horses is the coat of arms on
its doors. This is a combination, it is
s:d, of the armorial insignia of the
cardinal's family and some of the em
blems of his priestly offico. The field
of tho escutcheon is green. A crimson
chevron running from side to side of
tho shield up toward its center makes a
lozenge at its base, in which there is a
golden lily flower. On th field of tho
chevron are three silver Malteso crosses.
At each upper extremity of the shield is
a golden star. Surmounting the es
cutcheon is a doublo crosslet, as it is
called that is, a cross haviug one large
and one small transverse, the latter being
above the former. The escutcheon is
thus described in heraldic terms '.
Field vert, a chevron gules, with three
Malteso crosses, argent; two ctoilea or
in chief, and a Jleur-de lis or. Crest, a
doublo crosslet. Tho horses aro said to
be tho finest of any team to be found.
Blessings on the Boys.
Blessings on the boys. Not the
young, healthy, rosy-cheeked male sav
ages of thirteen or sixteen years. They
cannot help being boys, and deserve no
special credit or condemnation for it.
But blessings on those hale old boys of
forty or forty-five or even sixty, who
bend their broad shoulders to the bur
ners of life, but who do not let those
burdens crush their hearts; whose eyes
are quick to catch the light of merri
ment over a droll story, and quicker to
fill with tears of sympathy for a friend's
distress; who retains a boyish love and
reverence for all that is womanly; whose
boyish confidence in humanity, as a
whole, though often shocked, never
dies; who watch eagerly for the bright
spots of sunshine on life's carpet, and
seat themselves where it falls brightest
and warmest. They rarely grow very
rich, for their boyish generosity is too
ca eless forthat; they may not command
the awe of admiring crowds; tney are
not always systematic enough to be safe
ly trusted with important offices; but
the nimble feet of childhood springs to
them, manhood trustingly extends to
them a wide open hand, women creet
them with a confiding smilo, and all
through life they livo and receive great
treasures of pure love. Clod himself
is very tender to theso boys.
i Very Bail Writing.
! Talking of spelling and writing, tho
I New York Jferald says: Bad writing is
productive of cursing, and who can tell
i how much Horaco Greeley, Rufus
i Choate and Colonel Forney, public men
i with extensive correspondence, have
done to make swearing a national vice ?
Every letter theso great statesmen wrote
went forth as an evil one to promote
profanity. Colonel Forney, on the oc
casion of one of Mr. Choate's great
speeches, wrote him a complimentary
letter, iu which he said, in his poetual
way: " You sum an heathen heaven in
yourself, and top high crowned Olym
pus." Mr. Choate read the sentence
thus; "You seem an heathen in heaven,
you wretch, at top a fly blown pumbue,"
and in a tit of anger wrote a most abu
sive ieply, which Colonel Forney still
keeps i his album as a cordial invitation
to dinner.
As A. T. Stewart grows older, the
question of what he will do with his
$40,000,000 becomes more and mere
interesting.
The Florida Orange Groves.
A Florida correspondent, doseribing
both the attractions and drawbacks of
the peninsular State, goes into ecstasies
over tho orango gloves which abound
there. Tho most celebrated of these is
the property of Colonel Hart, his being
the largest grove of bearing trees in the
country. It has 580 trees, varying from
four to eight inches in diameter, all
set ot equal distances from each other,
in straight rows each way, and so Wrick
together that among tho largest trees
the ground is completely shaded. The
old crop of oranges has been nearly all
picked, and the trees are budding very
thickly aud beginning to blossom. Tho
trees now blossoming will have fruit in
the middle of September next, from
which time they will bo picking all tho
fall and winter until all aro harvested.
Heretofore they have allowed them to
hang on tho trees until the first of May;
but it has been found better for the trees
and they get a larger crop by not letting
the fruit hang on so long. The oranges
keep perfectly sound as long as they
hang on the trees, aud one frequently
sees a single tree on which are buds and
blossoms, green, half-grown oranges aud
ripo oranges. The fact that Florida
oranges are far superior to any others,
and that both climate and soil are
specially favorable for the cultivation of
this fruit, makes it certain that their
culture is destined to become ono of the
most important, if not tho chief of pro
ductive interests in the State. Florida's
chief element of attraction is unques
tionably her climate, which, when com
pared "With the climate of Northern
States at this season, is, indeed, agree
ble; but at present it is almost the only
source of enjoyment to bo found thero.
To make it a really desirable country for
wmter residence it requires a very
large influx of Northern enterprise and
capital.
A Spelling Frolic.
The Baltimore American savs : Out
West they are turning tho spelling
matches into fun. A huge affair of the
kind in Cincinnati tho other night was
nothing moro than a lot of grown folks
playing school. Some of tho solid men
:n business and politics first camo out
as the infants' class, aud were put
through their paces on monosyllabic
words. One of tho "boys brought a
monstrous kite to school along with him,
and was duly reprimanded. Between
attacks on tho elementary speller the
class refreshed itself, and startled the
audience with a fearful rendering of the
antique ballad concerning the adventures
of Mary's In nib. Ono naughty boy was
detected m tho possession of an unlaw
ful apple, and when tho pedagogue
pocketed it tho houseful of peoplo
seemed by their perceptible laughter
to recognize the action as a rather neat
hit at the habit of tho average Cin
cinnati schoolmaster in the confiscation
of contraband property. Some of t'io
big boys and girls took liberties with
Webster that would have mado Jodi
Billings open his eves with wonder.
One of the most amusing incidents of the
evening occurred after the intentimal
fun was over aud tho spelling had begun
in earnest. The school had opened with
same forty-odd pupils; one after another
had been thrown in tho orthographical
wrestle until tho best dozen remained,
and the word "cassinette" was given.
Now, there is nothing extraordinary iu
tho spelling of tho word, but every one
of tho twelve was vanquished by it.
They spelled oil around it, but failed to
hit tho right letters, ond another victory
for tho dictionary was scored .
Sarin? is Wealth.
One great cause of the poverty of the
present day, wisely says an exchange, is
a luiiuro ol our common people to op
predate small things. They do not re
alize how a daily addition, be it ever so
small, will soon make a lama pile. If
the young meii ond women of to-day will
only begin, and becrin now. to save a
little from their earnings ond plant it in
the soil of some good savings' bank, and
weekly or monthly add their mite, tney
will wear a happy smile of competence
when they reach middle life. Not only
the desire but the ability to increase it
will also grow. Let clerk and tradesman,
laborer and artisan, make, now and at
once, a beginning. Store up some of
your youthful force for future contin
gency. Let parents teach their children
to begin early to save. Begin at the
fountain head to control tho stream of
xtravagance to choose between, poverty
and riches. Let our youth go on in the
habits of extravagance for fifty years to
come as they have for fifty years past,
and we shall have a nation of beggars,
with a moneyed aristocracy. Let a gen
eration of such as save in small sums be
reared, and we shall be free from want.
Do not be ambitious for extravagant
fortunes, but seek that which it is the
duty of every one to obtain indepen
dence and a comfortable hvme. Wealth,
and enough of it, is within the reach of
all. It is obtained by one process, and
one only saving.
Useful Information.
One thousand laths will cover seventy
yards of surface, and eleven pounds of
nails will put them on.
A cord of stone, three bushels of lime,
and a cubio yard of sand will lay ono
nunureu cuoic ieei oi wall.
Eight bushels of good lime, sixteen
bushels of sand, and one bushel of hair,
will make enough good mortar to plaster
one hundred square yards.
Ono thousand shingles, laid four
inches to tho weather, will cover one
hundred square feet of surface, ond five
pounds of shingle nails will fasten them
on.
One-fifth more siding and flooring is
needed than the number of square feet
of surface to be covered, because of the
lap iu the siding and matching of tha
floor.
Five courses of brick will lay one foot
in height on a chimney; six bricks in a
course will make a flue four i aches wide
aud twelve inches long, aud eight bricks
in a course will make a flue eight inches
wide and sixteen inches long,
The project of putting au organ in a
Scotch Presbyterian church at Sheffield,
England, recently, excited such pious
horror that it was carried by a majority
of only four, and ou a Saturday uight it
was lound that a hole bad been cut in
the bellows by seme of the faithful.
Items of Interest.
Tho best corn cultivator A tight boot.
Colorado' sticks to it that fhe has a
starch mine.
Two hundred more agricultural labor
ers ore en route from England for
Canada.
Tho value of tho coal and lignites
mined in Germany iu 1872 was not far
from $100,000,000.
Don't imagine that you wero born to
reform the world. You can't split a
mountain with a toothpick.
Enterprise. The Chicago IVmes sold
twenty thousand extra copies on tho
strength of the editor s going to jail.
Did you see tho Run danco yesterday
morning? asks the Oswego Palladium.
No; wo were sober, replies an exchange.
How on earth n woman can keep her
gab going while holding a backcomb ond
six hairpins in her mouth has always
been a mystery and always will be.
A silent member of Congress, being
entitled to send his speeches free by
mail, put his frank on himself, ond
wanted to ride free in a mail car, under
tho pretext that all his speeches wero in
him.
The women of Boston paid moro taxes
last year than all the men who voted for
and elected Gov. Gasten. So ays
William I. Bowditch in his pamphlet on
tho " Taxation of Women iu Massachu
setts." By moistening the knife or borer with
a moderately strong solution of caustic
soda and potash, instead of with water
or alcohol, it is said that India rubber
may be cut with as much ease as ordinary
cork -wood.
It is claimed in England that the title
of cardinal is not necessarily ecclesiastic,
and that it comes within tho category of
foreign orders of nobility that cannot bo
legally held without tho direct consent of
the Queen.
Those who are disposed to be gloomy
because there is more crime than thero
used to be, should remember that there
are moro folks than there used to be,
and what is quite as noteworthy, more
charity and benevolence than there used
to bo.
Tho ordinary expenses of the Massa
chusetts militia last J ear were about $34
man. The annual average expenses per
man iu Connecticut is 835; in New York
(without including rent of armories of
pay of men on duty), $25; in Maine,
$16.25, and in Bhode Island, $10.
London has another new industry. A
man advertises himself ns " window
tickler, from three to seven." He wakes
heavy sleepers who wish to get up early.
Window tickling is waking without
ringing the bells, by means of a long
pole, with which he taps on the window
pane.
A quiet, peaceablo gentleman ill
Philadelphia has recently given up busi
ness, sent his family into tho country,
and calmly announces his determination
of devoting tho remainder of his life to
discovering tho man who sent him a
paving stone by express, with $17 charges
on i.
At Salinas (Cal.) the other day, a man
who was detected whipping his wife was
visited by an improvised court of vigi
lantes, tried by tho most primitive pro
cess of law, and hung to ono of the trees
in his dooryard. Ho was cut down, how
ever, beforo ho had been seriously in
jured. After relating a snake story, tho
Owensborough (Ky.) Examiner odds:
Wero our informant not a man of truth
aud strictly temperate habits, we should
bo moro than half inclined to suspicion
that his littlo snako story was erected,
on tho ruins of a pint of Cincinnati
whisky.
A writer iu the Druytjixtx' Circular
says that in treating some cases of tape
worm ho has employed no preliminary
provisions beyond forbidding the patient
to take any breakfast the day on which
it is intended to remove tho worm, and
giving him a largo dose of Rochelle salts
the preceeding night.
A resident of Milledgeville (Ga.) who
saw the recent whirlwind strike the Oco
nee river, says the water went up, ho
thinks, a hundred feet in the air, and for
a few moments the bottom of the river
where the tornado passed was laid bare,
and the mud and soil was blown into
tho tops of the trees.
An inebriate stranger precipitated
himself dowu stairs, and on striking tho
landing, reproachfully apostrophized
himself with: "If you'd been a-waitin"
to come down stairs, why in thunder
didn't you say so, you wooden-headed
old fool, and I'd a came with you, an'
showed you the way?"
A smart young Bostoniau offers to
wager a considerable amount on his
spelling. He says you may give him
any word iu the English language, in
common use, or obsolete, technical, or
otherwise, and he will spell it correctly
the first time. Almost any smart young
New Yorker can do tho same, "It" is
not a difficult word to tackle crthographi
ally. Some economical Parisiennes recently
attempted a new mode of revivifying
their old ball dresses. The gentlemen
at a prefectorul ball found that, as they
dauced, their dress suits became whito
from head to foot. On inquiry they dis
covered that the Parisian belles had del
uged their skirts with vcloutine to mako
tho faded ond dirty dresse3 look fresh
again.
Two boys wero recently tried at Wol
verhampton for stealing goods that wero
exposed outside of a shop door. Tho
recorder, in sentencing them, suid that
the custom of tradesmen exposing goods
not only tempted to crime, but led to
publio expeuso for the prosecution of
the thieves. He therefore determined
to try and put a step to it by compelling
shopkeepers to pay tho coht of any
prosecution.
A wealthy merchant of Fnivpoit, in
New York State, had so strong a pre
sentiment that he would meet his ifath
through suffocation, that he refused to
introduce gas into a fine house which he
had just finished. Then he went to
Syracuse to buy furniture, and while at
A liotel blew out Lis gas end went to
bed. In the morniug he was found
dad; but theie scerxs to be about as
much carelessi-eiB as coincidence iu the
way he died.