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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL, DESPEltAKPtTM. , Two Dollars per Annum.
YQL Y' ? I1IDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUHSDAY, MAY 0, 1875. NO. 11.
The Selling School.
Ilia name is Ephraim Blodgett; not specl
ally renowned,
Except as champion speller, in all the coun
try round.
urtnograpnioal asp.rauts were apt to fare
quite slim
At any snelling match where they encounter
xl Ehraim.
2Tie spelling book he had by heart, and eke
the dictionary;
Ami Science, at hii tongue's end, laid Its
qtiee- vocabulary.
ihe dubious monoityllable he'd floor with
perfect ease,
And go through words sesquipedal like light
ning through a cheese,
; You couldn't weave a spell, with any common
alphabet,
XSy which to capture Ephraim, or put him in a
sweat;
And his admirers frequently remarked of
. . Ephe, that he
Could spell the Cliina-glyphics off from a
cheut of tea.
The people ceased to find, in spelling schools,
their wonted fun.
What show was there against this ortho
. graphic gattling-gun,
That mowed down all before it, with a rat
tling fusilade
Of consonants and vowels punctilliously ar
rayed ?
Just at the culmination of Ephraim'a re
nown lie took part in a spelling school in an adjoin
ing town.
Full soon the solo survivors of that ortho
graphic war
Vcro Ephraim and a schoolgirl, his solo
competitor.
With equal ardor, twixt these two raged the
uncertain fight.
tVIiere victory might perch, at last, was quite
indefinite.
cuiately placed
The insidious silent letter, and the diphthong,
Jauusfuced.
In vain the weird and magic spoils upon that
girl were cist,
The cabalistic letters dropped from hor lips
ho fant.
Vain likewiee for a long time was the effort
to suppress
Epho's "niry tongue that syllabled " tough
words with such success.
Tho audience was excited. "Stick to him,
sis !" Borne cried,
And "Go it, Epho," his partisans defiantly
replied.
But Ephraim was the hero of a hundred
spelling schools,
And, ou the whole, his prestige made him
favorite in the pools.
In fact, though, they were laying for Eph
raim. Ho got
Tho word, at last, that dropped him as if he
had been shot;
Tho word that chokod the Welshman when
mortar from a trowel
Confuted his tongue at Babel. A word with
out a vowel.
An ashen hue crept o'er his face when Eph
raim heard her spell i
" D-rn-u-r-k-gs-m-c-k.il."
"Spell-bound upon a ragged edge of conso
nants !" gasped Ephe.
They buried him with his spell-ng book and
a feeling of relief.
LOVE OR PRIDE ?
Great purple shadows swept across the
hnyrields; the distant landscape was be
coming indistinct, and the moon was
slowly riling in the heavens.
After awhile the twilight deepened
into as much of darkness as there would
be in the summer night, and silence fell
upon the earth. Then a girl stole noise
lessly across a small garden, and stood
beside a gate that led into the adjoining
churchyard. A yew tree spread its
lark branches wide above her, but the
nilvor tints that were slanting down upon
the tall gravestones, and bringing out
the delicate lines of the old church
spire, touched also her white face
making it whiter than usual. She did
not start as a tall figure approached from
the further side of the churchyard.
She had evidently been expecting some
ono, and when she heard the words-
"lou are out late, Miss Jervis," she
HuiKuy answered:
" I was waiting for you; I wanted to
say good-bye to you before you went
awujr.
"I thought you had done that al
reauy, replied the young man, with
some bitterness.
" Not quite," returned the girl.
wearily; "you were too angry for me
- iu oii y xi, Hs i wisneu.
"Had I not the right to be so?" he
asked. "Ever since I have bfen ot
bhelford you have been deceiving me.
I belioved you to be as earnest as I was
myself, and now "
Ho paused.
'And now?"
Her voice had a sharp ring in it as she
repeated his words, as though she would
give denial to what he had said; but her
faoo looked like stone in the moonlight,
white and immovable, as she continued':
"I did not understand that you could
really bo iu earnest, otherwise I might
have told you before what I have told
you to-day."
"You. did not believe in moyou
looked on me as heartless ns a deceiver.
You do not believe in me now."
"I do."
"What do you believe f" lie asked,
impetuously; "nothing good, or you
would not give rne tho answer you have
given mo. "
" Everything good except the know
ing what is good for yourself. I want
you now io say good-bye to me without
any anger in your heart. Tho day will
come when you will perhaps bless me
, for what I have had courage to do to
day." And she held out her hand.
The young mart hesitated. " Is there
no hope ?" . . :
" None."
Her voice rang low and clear through
tho summer air. Again he hesitated,
then suddenly taking both her hands in
his, ho bent down and kissed her for tho
first time.
She gave a faint cry; and disotfgaged
herself. i ........... . .
" We part in peace."
And with these words she turned and
fled, not looking bock, or perhaps she
might have repented her decision.
Once in the house she sat down In the
empty sitting room, made light as day by
the moonbeams. The old dog rose as
she came in, and when she threw her
self into a chair he laid his head in her
lap.
There came a sound of clattering of
plates in the kitchen on the opposite
side of the narrow passage, and her
mother's voice sounded sharply, giving
ner uireciions about supper.
Presently she entered.
" Where have you been, Ally f How
ill you look 1 And you're all shivering
Come into the kitchen, child; Anne's
gone off to bed, and there's a bit of
fire in the grate. It might be winter
instead of midsummer, to feel your
hands."
Alice rose mechanically. She walked
dreamily into the little kitchen, where
her mother drew a choir to the fire for
her.
Presently a ruddy, good-humored
iooKing youth entered, saying:
' Let me have my supper here, moth
er. The fire looks pleasant, though it is
summer time.
Mrs. Jervis opened the oven door and
took out a covered dish that hod been
kept warm there. Alice, watching her
as sue piaceci n on tne table ana Inid
knife and fork. beside it, instinctively
roused herself, and taking a jug from tho
dresser went to the cellar to draw some
beer for her brother.
It was a relief to her to perform this
menial service.' It seemed almost an an
swer to the question she had been osk
ing herself over and over again since her
conversation with Mr. Scrope in the
morning. She was even glad that all
around her looked so commonplace, so
poor poorer and commoner than ever
to-night. And a bitter feeling rose iu
her heart and made her almost indignant
that some people should be eo much
more favored in a worldly point of view
man otners.
When she went to her room, instead
of undressing, she opened tho window
and gazed out towards the yew tree un
der' which she had parted with Mr,
Scropo, and then suddenly untwisting
her long hair she turned to tho looking
glass, not with any feeling of vanity,
but in order to find what had so attract
ed him,
It was more than a handsome face that
answered back her coze, ono which
showed an amount of earnestness and in
telhgence not often met with. Of this
she was no judge herself, neither of the
continual change of expression which
Mr. Scropo had begun by curiously ob
serving, and ended by being thoroughly
uikiciiku iu. xxw wus passing ms vaca
tion at Shelford. reading and fishina-.
and hnd made the acquaintance of Wil-
iium jervis on me banks of me river,
and through him. whom it was a conde
scension on the part of Mr. Scrope to
notice, of Alice herself.
Alice perhaps understood the footing
on which they stood better than her
brother, and the innate pride in her na
turo caused her to accept it with reser
vations. She felt the gulf between them
ana measured it by the world s standard.
Therefore when Mr. Scrope made his
somewhat startling offer she, in spite of
ner surpriso, was not unprepared with
ner answer.
And now that she had riven it. she
asked horself if she had done ritrht.
Mr. Scrope was an only son; a brilliant
future was before him; a world of which
sne knew nothing was familiar to him.
Could she, who was accustomed to the
littlenesses incident to circumstances
somewhat above actual poverty, move,
with propriety in circles accustomed to
every luxury I Would his relatives, so
far above hers, accept her and her be
longings? She answered, "No." Mr.
Scrope had argned what matter since
it rested with him to give her
place and position iu tho world as his
wife f But that she knew would bo a
separation for him from all former asso
ciations, and her own unfitness to move
in her lover's sphere would make her a
clog upon the life of him to whom, be
fore she knew it, she had given her heart.
Such had been the train of argument
she had pursued, and she had struggled
free from tho prospect open to her not
without pain, and had dismissed it as a
dream of beauty that had naught to do
with waking hours. And now
But it was over. The morning rose,
and she went about her tasks as usual.
perhaps even more energetically, since
she needed an outlet for her pent-up
feelings. Mingled with pain thero came
a sense of lmppiness in the knowledge
of Mr. Scrope's love. To have it nay,
perhaps to possess it still carried her
into another world, in which, however,
she must always bo alone, since all that
had passed must forever remain her own
especial secret.
Mr. Scropo went abroad; and after
a time ho returned home to begin his
career.
Alice Jervis pursued her homely and
monotonous life. She grew quieter and
graver, and worked more diligently.
She believed that she liad decided right
ly as regarded Mr. Scrope's happiness,
and the sacrifice she had made for his
sake mada her feel that she had a right
to be interested in him, and she lived in
tho excitement of seeing his name in tho
papers and in gaining every particular of
him within her grasp. She smiled when
she read his name among tho presenta
tions at court or noted his presence at
the court balls. At such times she looked
down at the shabby dress and tho poor
appointments surrounding her, and
wondered what sort of an appearance
she would have mado in other circum
stances. At length she saw another announce
ment. Mr. Scrope was going to be mar
ried. She turned pale, and put down tho
paper.
And yet she had expected this an
nouncement had looked for it day after
day. Nevertheless, alia felt a strange
pang, which as long as he was unmarried
she had escaped.
Down by the river, where tho water-
flags hoisted their yellow standards
among the reeds, and where the forget-me-nots
blossomed along the banks, she
sauntered, listening to the murmuring
waters, wnose Duraen was ".Past, past,
past.'-' -'Even Boer appeared to under-'
stand it, for he looked un- Into lier-faco
and whined.
The great gray bars of clouds spread
across the setting sun and blotted out
the sunlight; but still Alice paced up
ana aown unaer tiie poiiara willows
until tne evemug was far advanced.
Night was setting in around herj the
light and life were over. She had
scarcely realised Untd the present mo
mont how present Mr. Scropo had been
In her every thought.
Tho morning after reading the news
in the papers another very startling
piece oi information came to ner:
She was an heiress.
By one of those strange chances in life
tnat are so common nowadays, her moth
er's brother, beginning life as an artisan,
had nmafwed a princely fortune. And
he loft it between Alice Jervis ond her
brother.
And Alice Jervis sot down and wept
bitterly. To hor it had come as a mock
ery. Her lot in lifo was cast, what did
sne want with money now ?
In duo time she read of the marriage
itneu; nun vut it uill oi me paper ami
placed it in her pocketbook. It was all
over.
Three years slipped away. Three
travelers entered an hotel in a little
foreign town. One. a beautiful woman.
a little past her first youth, whom ono
knew in a moment, in spite of tho im
provement that had taken place; but
her brother was scarcely to be recog.
nized. A tutor and three years of for
eign life had caused a marvelous trans
formation. The third, au elderly lady,
was not much altered, excepting that
her dress was handsome as heart could
desire.
They took their places at tho table
d'hote, and exactly opposite to them sat
a lady ana gentleman. Tho latter look-
eu wearieu, anu ms snort black mus
tache twitched with the curving of the
restless mouth beneath it. The lady
was iair, iosiuonauie, ana vivacious.
Alice Jervis started. She would have
moved, but William Jervis, all ignorant
oi past events, naa exciannea :
"Mr. Scrope 1"
Mr. Scrope looked across, wondering
ub tne ineuuiy recognition irom an ap
parent stronger. Then his eye fell upon
ii: 3 i ' i i i --.a i i r.
auto unu uv biui i-u, out qmcKiy recov
ering himself he bowed, saying :
" Pardon mo if I did not at first re
member you.
Mrs. Scropo had turned in delight
lowaru wmiam jervis.
" The first English voice, excepting
my husband's, that I hove heard for three
weeks. 1 do not understand Italian,
ond have consequently had no ono to
talk to but Mr. Scrope. Can you imagine
anytmng more areaaiui I
lhen turning to her husband she said:
You must introduce me to your Eng
lish friends."
"Mrs. Scropo Mrs. and Miss Jervis."
said Mr. Scrope, his look riveted on
Alice.
The face that had never left his
memory in spite of his marriage, had
grown to a higher beauty than even he
jiuu imuguieu io ue possible. Ana,
mougii ne Knew it not. it naa come
about through her striving after an ideal
that she deemed worthy of him.
aiming tuo pulses that throbbed so
painfully, Alice conversed with him as
with an old acquaintance, and yet tho re
membrance of their parting on that
moonlight night was vividly present to
both of them.
Mrs. Scrope talked incessantly, the
more especially as Wuliaui Jervis was a
lively talker, with a frank, holf-iestiucr.
half-deferential manner that had some
thing very winning in it.
Alice Jervis watched Mrs. Scrope nar
rowly, and wondered why Mr. Scrope
had married her. And instinctively the
answer came, because he did not care
very much about her, but found that the
alliance would add luster to his career.
There was something paradoxical in the
idea, but it passed with her. Sho had
argued that if Mr. Scrope had really
cared for herself, to care much for Mrs.
Scrope was impossible.
bo they met. and so they parted, in
tho little out-of-the-way Italian town;
and Alice had seen Mr. Scrope once
more. Was she glad or sorry ?
The Scropes returned to England
the Jervises remained abroad. And thev
heard nothing more of one another.
Exactly why she had come there sho
could not tell. It was more to gratify an
old longing than for any definite reason,
though she had persuaded herself into
the belief that she had business at Shel
ford. At any rate, upon the anniversary
of that day, eight years ago, whm she
had waited under tho yew-tree to say
good-bye to Mr. Scrope, Alice Jervis
stood with her hand on the wicket-gate,
quietly reviewing her life, ond once
again asking herself whether love or
pride had had the greater part in her
decision.
Tho branches of tho yews were wavinar
gently, the roses were rustling their silver-tipped
leaves, and tho white moon
light fell upon the graves. Still with her
hand upon the garden gate, she looked
towards tho church, trying to believe
that the years had stood still, and sho
was there waiting for Mr. Scropo.
Sho was turnuig away when a dark
figure approached her and a well-remem
bered voice said:
"Miss Jems!"
"Mr. Scrope 1"
" Yes; I was waiting for you. I wish
ed to see you before you went away."
Almost her own words in their last in
terne
She looked up at ln'm half fearfully.
It was so strange to see him there at that
hour of night, .'ud an almost supersti
tious awe crept over her.
" I wanted to tell you that you have
ruined my life so far. I heard that you
were at Slielford. I know that you would
bo hero to-night, and I have come to ask
you if you repent the past, and are will
ing to atone for it."
Alice shrank back.
" Mr. Scrope !" was all she eould say.
" The inferiority, if there be any. is
on my side," he said; " you have im
proved the past I have wasted it. Yet
the wasting of it I lay to your charge. I
knew you better than you knew your
self. I wanted a wife who would under
stand me, and would give me sympathy.
You could have done this, and you re
fused it. Will you refuse it now ?"
Bewildered, and yet indignant, Alice
shrank further away from him. '
" Mr. Scropo,-" she said,' " I bid you
go bock to your wife. I bid you to w
pair tho brilliant prosppcts you seem so
wrongly to have marred."
. " 1 wish I could," ho answered, sor
rowfully. " My wife is dead, Alice, or I
should not be here to-night. She died
two years ago. Yon are hard and unjust
as you have ever been."
"Dead!" stammered Alice. "How
could I know ? I have but just returned
to England." Sho moved nearer to him;
she held out her hand. " Forgive me,"
she said.
And their eyes met; and Mr. Scrope,
looking down into hers, stooped and
kissed tho quivering lips for tlie second
time in his life.
Wonderful Retention of Heat,
Tho following statement is from the
Virginia City (Nevada) Enterprise:
On the 30th of October lost, about two
o'clock in the aftpriioou, the large air
shaft of the Belcher niiue, then com
pleted to the 1,000-foot level, took fire
and was destroyed. The timbers of the
shaft all buniod out, and the rock fell
in and blocked it up. After deliberation
it was thought that it would be better
and cheaper to sink a new shaft than to
try to clear out the old one, so badly
were its sides caved and so great was
the quantity of rock that had tumbled
into it. The new shaft was sunk a short
distance to the west of the old one. It
has now reached a point to the 1.000-
foot level, where it will be continued
down on an incline. The incline was
started nt tho 1,000 foot level, and car
ried up to meet tho vertical portion of
tho shaft. The course of this incline
carried it through the remains of the old
vertical shaft, but as soon as it was
tapped the men found they could do
nothing in it on account of tho ashes,
burned errth, and rocks that poured
down into the incline. A tunnel was
then run until it had reached a
point a short distance west of tho old
shaft, when a vertical upraise was made
to the line of the proposed incline to be
rim up to meet the new shaft. The men
then began working down on the incline
in order to meet the point from which
they were driven iu trying to come up.
They have succeeded in getting into
the bottom of the old shaft, where, much
to their surprise, they find the rock still
red hot. Iu trying to put in timbers
they were set on fire, and in order to
work at all it is found necessary to bring
a line of hose into tho place and play a
stream of water upon the rocks wedged
in the bottom of tho old shaft. There is
no timber on fire among tho rocks.
They seem to have been heated to a de
gree so intense at the the time of tho fire
that they have remained red hot ever
since. Nearly three years after the great
fire in the Yellow Jacket mine places
were found in the lower levels where the
tho rock was still red hot.
Domestic Barberlng.
Yju can always tell a boy whose
mother cuts his hair. Not because the
edges of the hair look as if they had
been chewed off by au absent-minded
horse, but you tell it by the way he stops
on the 6treet and wiggles his shoulders.
When a fond mother has to cut her boy's
hair, sho is careful to avoid ony annoy
ance and muss by laying a sheet on the
carpet. It has never yet occurred to her
to set him on a bare floor and put the
sheet around his neck. Then she draws
the front hair over his eyes and leaves
it there while sho cuts that which is at
the bock.
The hair which lies over his eyes ap
pears to be on fire. She has uncon
sciously continued to push his head foi
ward until his nose presses his breast,
and is too busily engaged to notice the
snufHing sound that is becoming alarm
ingly frequent. In the meantime he is
seized with au irresistible desire to blow
his nose, but recollects that his hand
kerchief is in the other room. There is
a fly lights on his nose, and does it so
unexpectedly that ho involuntarily
dodges, and catches the points of the
shears in his left ear. At this ho com
mences to cry and wish he was a man.
But his mother doesn't notice him.
She merely hits him on the other ear to
inspire him with confidence. When she
is through, she holds his jacket collar
back from his neck, and with her mouth
blows the short bits from the top of his
head down his back. He calls her atten
tion to this fact, but she looks for a new
place on his head and hits him there,
and asks him why he didn't use his
handkerchief. Then ho takes his awfully
disfigured head to the mirror and looks
at it, and, young as he is, shudders as
he thinks of what the boys on the street
win say.
Among the Pygmies.
From accounts it would appear that
Col. Long's present expedition into
Africa at the head of tho Egyptian
troops relates to explorations among that
most interesting people whom Schwein
furth has made known to the world tho
Niom-Niam, or Pygmies of Eauatorial
Africa. This singular tribe of men aro
mentioned as far back in history as by
x loiemy, ana irequem allusions nave
beeu made to them by various travelers
ever since. They are the smallest race
of men of good proportions known on
earth, and but few specimens have ever
been seen by scientific eyes. It will be
remembered that bchweinfurth attempt
ed to bring one of these creatures with
him down to Lower Egypt, but he
perishod on his first contact with civiliza
tion. Whether his skeleton was pre
served for science wo aro not informed.
These little creatures seem as malignant
and wicked as they are abnormal in
size. They are reputed to be the most
irreclaimable cannibals in Central Africa,
and Schweinfurth's account of their
habits and those of neighboring tribes in
this respect, are the most disgusting
that have anywhere been given of any
branch of the human race. If the long-looked-ior
" missing link" ever is to be
discovered between the savage and the
animal, anthropologists will certainly
look for it among this vicious and pygmy
raoe.
Stealing. The following is one of
the efforts at poetry of Mason, arrested
in New York for passing counterfeit
money:
"A little stealing is a dangerous part,
But stealing largely is a noble art 1
Of his good. name 'ti uu-an to rob a inn,
But stealing million makes a CongrMMH
The Poetry Drawer.
About this tiulo every year there is a
house-cleaning soiree afoitnd tlio offlde
of a daily newspaper. Tho cobwebs are
brushed down, some kalnominiug done,
a little paint applied, and tho "head
editor "turns the "poetry" drawer of
his table wrong side up and sighs a still
small sigh as he regards the scores of re
jected manuscripts. Almost every day
for the past year he hns tossed poetry
into the waste-basket with liberal hand,
and yet here is enough to fill a book.
Some have been saved to be returned,
but were never called for; others havo
a ray or two of merit; others were laid
aside out of compliment to the author,
who is level-headed on all other matters.
Ah I tho crushed hopes buried in this
heap 1 The young, the old, matron,
maid, bachelor and Benedict have con
tributed. Some were thirsting for fame,
others had an hour to spare, and nine
teen out of twenty have written at the
bottom of the last page: "I know you
like good poetry," or, "Please publish
this in a conspicuous place."
Some time lust fall a young lady, sit
ting at her chamber window when she
ought to have been in bed, saw the cold
clouds drive by and heard the October
winds wailing on the house-top, and she
ran after the ink-bottle and dashed off a
pound or two of rhyme, commencing
with:
" This autumn eve the winds are blowing,
x ne puaniora ciouas are noatmg Dy,
Like rivers o'er tho rocklets llowiug,
Then"
But that's enough. When a stone is
called a " stonelet," and a brick is called
a "bricklet," such poetry will bo worth
a dollar a line.
Next comes a long letter headed:
" What a Little Girl Thinks." No one
will ever know from that letter what sho
thought. The ink was heavily diluted
with wa'er, the pen was as line as a pin,
and the man who succeeded iu decipher
ing it would havo had his eyes ruined
forever.
The next is more poetry. Somo poor
girl's brother went to war, and happen
ing to remember it she tunes her lyre
and sings:
" Our Edward was a noble yonth
When from bin happy mother's home
He passed, in soldior's garb uncouth,
And left ourheartlistonosad and lone."
It appears from the above that Ed
ward's mother was happy, but as to Ed
ward's own feelings thero is no clew.
He passed, but whether he passed to
Canada or tho Potomac no one knows,
though charity supposes tliat ho died
on the battle-field. Some of the soldiers
looked spruce enough iu their uniforms,
but it seems that Edward's " garb " had
an uncouth appearance.
Beqniems are always in order. When
a poet can't tackle anything else ho can
always make a strike on a requiem.
About the middle of November is the
time to get up requiems on the dying
year. This one camo in about that time.
The author says :
" Filled is the air with snowfUkee,
As pure as the mind of a bride,
. Iu snowy white, on a morning bright,
In youthful beauty and pride.''
It is a sad thing to look upon a snow
storm, especially if the wood pile is lying
around loose iu the back yard and tho
police are determined to enforce the
snow ordinance. Further on ho says
" the winter's winds aro cold," but if he
has any doubt of it the American public
will put up a heap of money on it.
Poetry again. It is headed: "Alone,"
and the author soys it is original. She's
a young lady, and she trills :
"All alone in the twilight lighted room
I'm watching the uhadowo come and go.
Like the restless tide with its ebb and flow,
But darker than night is my sad heart's
gloom."
Poor girl I It's dull business looking
for shadows in a dork room. Aud
what could have ailed her heart that a
breach of promise suit wouldn't have
swept away ?
Aud here are two pages on " Lost
Rites." It's a woman's hand agaiu, aud
sho says:
" Lay her upon her bier
The summer, lately dead."
It is a sad thing to have summer pass
away. No more hanging over the gate,
no more strawberry short-cake farewell
to peaches and cream 1 The girl un
doubtedly felt sad, but sho wasn't half
as melancholy as her father, who knew
that he'd got to lay in ten toijs of
coal and unnumbered potatoes and cab
bages. The next is on " Tho Flag We Love,"
and a young man must have worked on
it until three o'clock in the morning I
He says that he adores the star-spangled
banner, and that he wants to die with its
folds covering him. Flags are so cheap
that he can keep one on hand to be ready
for emergencies.
The next one starts off and inquires :
" Where are the birdies we used to see V"
That's the question, and as she does
not answer it she cannot expect any one
else to bother his head. Boys have a
habit of "pegging "at birds, and per
haps the worm crop was a failure and the
songsters had to hunt up fresh fields and
pastures new.
Ah I well. There's dozens of pages
left, and it will answer every purpose if
they are sent to tho rag-mUL If it were
a capital offense to put rhymes together
every hangman would be killed by over
work within a month. Detroit Free
Press.
A Terrible Joke.
There have been such a number of
cases in which the perpetration of sense
less and wretched jokes has led to very
lamentable results, that a very strong
argument might be made therefrom in
favor of a law against the dangerous ex
ercise of this propensity. A young
girl, who had been attending revival
meetings, returned to her home in a
highly agitated state of mind occasioned
by what had been wrought upon her
feelings by the exciting scenes witnessed
at the " revival," which fact suggested
to some of her heedless friends au op
portunity for fun. Accordingly, one of
them dressed herself in flowing, white
robes, and with spreading muslin wings
fastened to her shoulders and her face
whitened, stole softly into the girl's
room in the night The girl awoke to
find what she did not doubt was an angel
standing by the side of the bed. She
screamed in terror, and the other girls
ran into the room, expecting to end the
exploit with laugHTer; but she had been
frightened literally out of her senses,
ana had to be take-to an insane asylum.
In Canes of Apoplexy.
Apoplexy is becoming so freqneut that
the following hints by a well-known
physiclltu frit treatment in cases are not
out of place:
Hold patient's head and body bolt tip
right, sitting iu a chair, feet, on the floor.
Bind a handkerchief, wide list or tnpe
tightly round each arm and leg, close to
the body to cut off return of blood to the
head. Place the feot in a pail of hot
water (kept hot by refilling) mode strong
with cayenne pepper, anil thoroughly
rub dry pepper on the legs, hands and
arms, which can be done by means of a
cloth or towel, to avoid escapo of tho ex
citant into the air. Lrt the person who
supports the head, while steadying it
with one hand, dip the other in cold
water, both hands being kept thus con
stantly wet, and in contact with the fore
head and whole brain (by no menus
neglecting tho animal or motive braiu
behind), either as lying ou the head or
moving about on it, and so the whole
head being kept wet and cold, though
prevented dripping on the body by some
sufficient protection round the neck, as a
large towel, not allowed to heat the
neck, yet stopping or catching the wnter;
but this cold water is not to be used ex
cept at first for a time, when it is im
perative to make an impression, and
check the flow of blood from the rent
vessels in the brain, but at length is to
be exchanged for tepid and then warm
water, to kill the reaction, and, by con
stant evaporation, leave the head perma
nently cold. Lot other persons tako the
trunk in charge, vigorously and per
sistently plying its whole surface v.ith
th ir hands, the frictions, manipulations
and magnetism all having this one effect,
to draw the blood away from the brain,
as well as now doing something far more
important revitalizing and restoriug the
body. All these things should have
gone on together from the first moment
simultaneous prescribed handling of
extremities, trunk, head presently to
be followed by inevitable return of con
sciousness, for no surcharge of blood in
the brain could possibly hold out against
such enforced persuasion. Binding tho
arms and legs alone would iu time re
lieve the brain, tho limbs turning pur-
Elo, and swelling almost to bm-sting from
aving left the head actually destitute,
the pallor of the face now calling for
successive and gradual untying, first one
arm, next the other, then iu the same
maimer tho legs, and last tho feet, rub
bed quickly and porfectly dry (to fore
stall the cold of evaporation) and the
patient placed in bed to rest and re
cover. Binding tho limbs a Jew mo
ments before the stroke would have pro
it, so would lying with the head in tho
center of a horizontal revolving disk,
whirling the blood to tho feet, as this,
too, by the same mechanical compulsion,
would aid to cure. Of course, in the
absence of any pepper, the great main
effect would still have gone on.
About Eating at Sight;
A legend of ancient times, handed
down from generation to generation,
through century upon century, still ob
tains iu almost every household to the
effect that if one eats just before going
to bed one will surely see ono's grand
mother. Now there seems to be some
thing terrible about the appearance of
this nocturnal grandmother, but as the
writer never conversed with any one who
had been subjected tc one of her plion
tomio visits we are disposed to be in
credulous, and flout the legend in the
face of the bearer. However hungry
one may be at bedtime, the temptation
to satisfy the cravings of the appetite is
always met by this " old wives fable,"
and it always serves to bar the pautry
door against an evening intrusion.
There's no telling how much suffering
has been brought about by this idea, and
now we believe the time has come when
hungry men, be it at bedtime or meal
time, ought to burst the legendary bonds
which have thus far bound them and
eat when they are hungry. To take a
hearty meal on retiring is,of course, very
injurious, because it is very likely to dis
turb ono's rest and produce nightmare.
However, a little food at this time, if
one is hungry, is decidedly beneficial; it
prevents the gnawing of an empty
stomach, with its attendent restlessness
and unpleasant dreams, to say nothing
of tho probable headache, or of nervous
and other derangements, tho next morn
ing. One should no more lie down ot
night hungry tlum he should lio down
after a full dinner, tho consequence of
either being disturbing and harmful. A
cracker or two, a bit of bread and butter,
cake, a littlo fruit something to relieve
the sense of vacuity, and so restore tho
tono of the system is all that is ueces
ary. We have known persons, habitual
sufferers from restlessness at night, to
experience material benefit, even though
they were not hungry, by a very light
luucheon before bedtime. In place of
tossing about for two or three hours as
formerly, they would roon grow drowsy,
fall asleep, and not wake more than once
or twice until sunrise. This mode of
treating insomnia or sleeplessness has
recently been recommennded by several
distinguised physicians, and tho pre
scription has generally been attended
with happy results.
The Duration of Life.
The following facts on the duration of
life appear in the Deutsche Verxicheinngs
Zcitung : In ancient Home, during the
period between the years 200 and 300
A. D., the average duration of lifo among
the upper classes was thirty years. In
the present century, among the some
classes of people, it amounts to fifty
years. In the sixteenth century tho
mean duration of life in Geneva was
21.21 years, between 1814 and 1833 it
was 40.68 years, and at the present time
as many people live to seventy years of
age as 300 years ago lived to tho ago of
forty-three.
It Passed.
"Five cents fare for that child,
madam," said a street car conductor as
he opened the door and put his head into
the door.
" Very well," she replied, feeling iu
her pocket; " this is an orphan child and
I'm its guardian. I must have a receipt
for all moneys paid out, and as soon as
you write one I'll drop a nickle iu the
box." -. .
Ho shut the door and leaned over the
brake like a man in deep thought. ,
Items of Interest.
A Terre Haute babe, crawling around
the floor! had an ear bit off by a pig.
It is said to require higher art to con
vey a delicate compliment than to utter
a biting sarcasm.
A Veteran shopkeeper says that, al
though his clerks are very talkativo
during the day, they are always ready to
shut up at night.
They wondered nt tho short collection
iu a Missouri church, and investigated to
find that one of the collectors had tar iu
the top of his hat.
The inhabitants of the Nicobar Islamic,
in the Bay of Bengal, are the only per
sons who had front seats at the total
eclipse of the sun.
The most curious freok of ono of the
recent cyclones in Georgia was tho driv
ing of a hickory tree two feet in diameter
four feet deeper into the ground.
Somebody sent to a lady in London nu
Easter egg which contained an African
scorpion, by which interesting insect tho
lady was bitten so that sho will j'robably
die.
The greatest feat in eating ever re
corded is told of a man who commenced
by bolting a door, nfter which he threw
up a window, and swallowed a whole
story.
Tho saddest thing in Life is the specta
cle afforded by a young person who has
burnt all her hair off her forehead with
a hot slate pencil, and cannot nfibrd to
buy a row of curls.
. The cavaliers, during the protectorate,
were accustomed in their libations to
put a crnm of bread into a glass of wine,
and before they drank it, say: "God
send this Crumwell down."
No Irishman ever made a greater bull
than the English lawyer who drew up on
indictment charging that the prisoner
killed a man with a certain wooden in
strument called an iron pestle.
Epitaphs were discussed before a fellow
of twenty five, who thought they were too
complicated, and gave the following as
what he would like to have on his tomb:
" JOHN THOMPSON, 1850-1950."
Mrs. J. J. Astor recently sent $750 to
a chililren's aid society, to pay the fares
of fifty-nine homeless boys to the West.
Tho little fellows started, after being
comfortably clothed and well fed, under
ono of the agents of the society.
The Narragansett Indians at Chavles
town, P.. I., held their annual town
meeting a few days ago. The method
of election consists in placing the two
candidates somo distance apart, after
which tho members of tho tribe divido
with the two men, and those in tho ma
jority are declared successful.
A physician of Saylorville, la., who
was mode the victim of a first of April
hoax, by receiving a summons from a
fictitious patient and traveling a consid
erable distance in haste to answer it,
turned the tables on tho jester by send
ing in to him a bill for professional ser
vices, and compelling payment, with
costs, by process of law.
A smart yonng Bostonian offers to
wager a considerable amount on his
spelling. He says you can give him any
word in the English language, in com
mon use, or obsolete, technical, or other
wise, and he will Bpell it correctly the
first time. Almost ony smart New
Yorker can do the same. " It " is not a
diilicult word to tackle orthographically.
Arsenio out West is considered as a
remedy for hog cholera, and carelessness
in using the poison frequently produces
distressing accidents, llecently ot Camp
Chase, Ohio, a mother aud ten children
nearly lost their lives by eating bread in
which arsenic, purchased as a medicine
for stock, had becomo mixed. Tho
drug was left lj'ing loose on a shelf in
the pantry.
Thero is not a drinking saloon iu
Hutchins, Iowa. There used to lie four,
but the widow of a man who froze to
death after getting drunk in them sued
tho proprietors, and gained a verdict of
$2,800 against each. Tho liqmor busi
ness is becoming unprofitable in Iowa
since tho passage or the civil damage
law. A similar law exists in New York,
but is seldom enforc.d.
A convict in the Nashville penitentiary,
who has been regarded as a dumb idiot
for tho two years during which he has
suffered incarceration thero, succeeded
in evading the vigilance of his keepers
the other evening, stole a suit of clothes
and somo money, and escaped. When
he was recaptured a few hours afterward
he had, in some singular manner, re
covered both his speeeh and his reason.
A Xew (joddess.
The Shanghai Gazette, alluding to tho
death of the late emperor of China, con
veys the information that shortly before
the emperor's death a gigantio image, the
goddess of small-pox, was paraded round
the city of Pekin in solemn procession,
aud then taken into the very bedroom of
the dying youth, where it was worshiped
and lionored with many propitiatory
offerings. As, however, the goddess
continued obdurate, she was subjected
to a severe thrashing and other insults,
and finally burned. The fatal result of
the attack was, we suppose, her revenge
for the maltreatment.
Poor Little Sufferer. A little
daughter of Albert Williams, of Hartford,
Conn., was fatally burned recently.
While enduring intense suffering, says
the Post, she spoke frequently to those
at her bedside, and the following words
show the current of her thoughts in her
last moments: "Is my dolly burned?"
"I want somebedy to kiss me." "Some
body do kiss jne." "I want my papa."
"I wish I was dead and in heaven like
Nellie Gridley." "I was always good
and kind, wasn't I, papa!"
It Might Have Been A Wisconsin
lady who attended many parties with
Jefferson Davis when he was a young
lieutenant, recently described him as
very retiring and meditative, and always
seemed to be contriving something, or
thinking of something outside of the
company. She suggested that she knows
a lady in Wisconsin who might have been
Mrs. Davis, and would have been but for
her father's constantly telling her that an
army officer was like a sailor, and had a
lover in every post, '