7
7
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
YOL. V,
HIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUIISDAY, JULY 29,
1875.
NO. 23.
The Dislihl Hchool.
Tho district schoolmaster was Billing behind
his groat book-laden dork,
Close-watching tho motions of ncliolars, pa-
thotic and gay and grotcrque.
As whisper tho hnlf-loalkss branches, whon
autumn's brink brocy.os havo como,
Ilia little ecrub-tliiekct of pupils gout upward
a half-sniothorod bum ;
Like tho froqnont sharp bang of a wagon,
whon treading a forest path o'er,
Resounded the foot of tho pupils, whouevor
their hcols struck tho floor.
Thcro was littlo Tom Timma on the front scat,
whose face was withstanding a drouth,
And jolly Jack Oibbs just behind him, with a
rainy new moon for a mouth ;
There were both of the Smith boys, as studi
ous as if they bore names that could
bloom,
And Jim Jones, a heavon-built mechanic, the
Blyost young knavo in the room,
With a countenance grave as a horse's, and bis
honest eyes fixed on a pin,
Quoer-bcut on a deeply laid project to tunnel
Joe Haw Kina' skin.
There were anxious yonng novico, drilling
their spe lling books into tho brain,
Loud-pulling each half-whiepored letter,
liko an engine just starting its train ;
Thoro was one fiorcoly muscular follow, who
scowled at tho sums on his slate,
And leered at the inuoeout figuros a look of
unspeakable hate,
And his white teeth cIobo together, and gave
his thin lips a short twist,
As to say : " I could whip you, confound you !
cjuM such things be done with the fist !"
Thoro wcro two knowing girls in tho corner,
each ono with somo beauty possessed,
Iu whisper discussing the problom which one
the young master likes best ;
A class in tho front, with their rcadors, wore
telling, with clitlicnlt pains,
How perished bifvo Marco rjozzaris while
blooding at all of his veins ;
And a boy on tho floor to be punished, a Btatuo
of idleness stood,
Milking faces at all of tho others, and onjoy-
iug the scone all ho could.
Around woro tho walls gray and dingy, which
every old school sanctum hath,
With many a break on their suifaco, where
grinned a wood-grating of lath.
A patch of thick plaster, just ovor tho school
master's rickety chair,
Boomed throat'ningly o'er him suspended, liko
Damocles' Hword, by a hair.
Thoro were tracks on tho desks whore tho
knife blades had wandered in search of
thoir proy j
Thoir tops were as duskily spattered as if
they diuuk ink evoiy day.
The sqnaro stovo it puffed and it crackled, and
broko out iu rel-fUtning soros,
Till tho grout iron quadruped tremblod liko a
dug fierce to ruh out-o'-doors.
White Biiowflukes looked in at tho windows ;
tho gale pressed his lips to the cracks ;
And the children's hot faces wore streaming,
tho while they were freezing thoir backs.
Will Carlton.
TIMID SIMS.
" Timid Sims," as ho was called, was
- hold iu very inferior repute among the
boys at Texas Bar, because ho had back
ed down before a six-shooter. A man
on Texas B.ir might be lucking iu many
qualities, but if ho had "the sand," it
covered a multitude 01 sins. " Sand
was tho jocular translation for "grit."
Sand, iu a locality possessing but littlo
law and 1 ss order, was an ulisolute es
sential to a god standii g in Texas Bar.
Simi had ouo merit. Mo was an inde
' fatigahlo prospector, aud nt last struck
gravel diggings on Bixel's Flat. Had ho
been " smart." ho might have monopo
lized tho entire lead. lie contented
himself with a modest sKee at ouo end.
Thou down came the able-bodied cutting
and shooting men of Texas liar. Jim
Freemantlu had worked a bank claim
facing tho il.it two years previously,
without suspecting tho diggings which
existed an eighth of a mile back. No
matter. On the plea of possessing a
prior claim on Bixel's, ho and his coin
peers argued that they had the right of
"running tho first boundary lines."
Sims had already run his own, which in
cluded, so far as ho could judge by ex
ternal indications, a fair slice of tho lead
supposed to exist underneath. This
Freoinantlo & Co. coveted. So they ran
their linos, which clashed with those of
Sims. Sims found Freemantle's notices
posted in tho heart of his claim. lie ex
postulated with him. lie renewed his
own notices, which had been torn down.
Theso were again snatched oft", and his
boundary stakes kicked over. This was
accompanied by a threat from the pro
prietors of the "Conquer We Must"
claim, that " any more of that sort of
thiug would leaft to bullets." So Sims
' took water," and was obliged to take
up with tho fragment of tho ground ho
had discovered.
Wang Chu kept a "China store" a
little above Bixel's Flat. ' Wang Chu
' dealt principally iu gin, salt fish, tea and
opium. In his leisure hours ho had con
structed a boat for transporting parties
of his countrymen, who, from time to
time in their immigrations about tho
country iu thoir search for diggings,
might desire to cross the river. It was
built after the Chinese stylo of mariuo
architecture It was cumbrous, heavy,
lop-sided aud unmanageable iu the most
quiet waters. One aim iu its construc
tion had been to use as much old tim
ber as possible. When Wang Chu had
finished Tho Ark," as the miners
termed it, he painted two great eyes in
the bows. Thereby he had doemed he
had made it a rational, living, seeing
creature. Wheu it was first set afloat,
there was a dedicatory burning of crack
ers, joss-sticks, other pow-wowing aud
' an iucrcasod consumption by Wang Chu
and his contemporaries of gin and
opium. After this the ill-starred and
uuguiuly craft floated iu its crippled and
lop-sided fashion in a little bight of the
river. Its passage over the Stanislaus
at the lowest Btage of water was accom
p lished wit 1 a vast amount of loud out
cries and gabbling on tho part of Wang
Ohu and his crew, who miuglod their
frantio paddling, when in tho heaviest
current mid-stream, with an incessant
vociferation of contradictory orders to
each other. Tho result was generally a
lodgment of tho " Tho Ark " a quarter
of a milo below its starting point on tho
opposito side, nud a suspension of all
Wang Chu's other business until it was
towed by hand ngainst the current back
again.
All the whito men on tho river wero
agreed on one point, that tho "Ark"
would drowu somebody cro its mission
was ended. On this being told Wang
Chu, as an additional precaution he
painted another eye in the stern, sacri
ficed a pig to somo Mongolian marine
deity, burnt more joss-sticks, and ter
minated the ceremonies with another
outpouring of gin and opium.
In the summer time a California
mountain river is an attenuated, feeble
stream, that one may ford at every hun
dred yards; an alternation of rivulets,
motionless pools, boulder covered
islands and great granite boulders rear
ing themselves high out of the waters.
But when swollen by the long-continued
rains of winter or the melting snows of
the Sierras in the spring, its quiet,
peaceful character vanishes; it becomes
a turbulent, roaring, treacherous mon
ster; it sets death-traps in every direc
tion. Here a whirling eddy, smooth
enough on its surface and seemingly
harmless ; yet possessed of invisible
arms, more powerful than those of tho
devil fish, to suck and carry men down
into its lowest depths; thoro a mael
strom, raging and roaring over tho rocks
hidden beneath. During tho freshet
the banks quiver and tremble as tho im
mense power whirls and foams past, and
your voice is caught from your lips and
nulled into indistinctness. From " 49 "
upward, every ono of theso mountain
gold-bearing strenms has claimed a long
list of victims, aud many a bravo fellow
has been caught iu their deadly em
brace never to bo seen afterward.
Tho Stauislaus was "booming" ono
spring afternoon at its highest water
mark, when five Chiuamen, encumbered
with their blankets, bundles, rockers,
jacks, pans and shovels, came stringing
down the Park Hill trail. They stopped
aud refreshed themselves for a time at
tho stream, and then, accompanied by
Wang Chu, placed themselves and bag
gago in the boat to be ferried over.
A quarter of a milo below their start
ing place was tho Black rock, a gigantic
boulder, which for centuries had pitted
itself against tho stream. It was not
more than one hundred aud fifty yards
from the shore, and the Stanislaus at this
point was not more than double that dis
tance iu width. Here tho waters sud
denly narrowed to this compass betwixt
rocky walls, rushed rather iu a succes
sion of great waves or bursts than a
regular current. This, iu fact, was the
tipper entrance of the Big canyon, two
miles in length, anJ bi-easou of the
rocky walls and raging current, no min
ing could ever be successfully accom
plished here at the most favorable sea
son. Directly opposite tho Black rock,
on a littlo knoll, was tho cabin of Timid
Sims. no, in company with a chance
partner, was working on the bank near
by.
Sims was always picking up the waifs,
stragglers and castaways drifting about
tho country. His house and scanty
larder were over open to them. He took
them as partners, and trusted them as
freely as though they had como burden
ed with trunks full of indorsements aud
testimonials of good character. Some
times thoy robbed him; sometimes they
got drunk and made his houso a paude
mouium; sometimes they effected tho
samo result without tho aid of whisky,
by gradually developing sour, surly,
ferocious dispositions. Tho best of the
lot carried the gross result in gold dust
of a week's washing to Columbia for tho
purposo of turning it into coin, and after
many days' waiting therefor, Sims re
ceived a letter from tho delinquent,
stating that he was overwhelmed with
shamo aud remorso, but ho had given
way to his besetting siu for gambling,
aud the dust had all gono into tho maw
of tho " tiger." He had not proved an
able workman cither. His hands seemed
never before to have grasped pick and
shovel; and after a morning's gasping
labor, Sims would often insist that he
should remain nt homo during the after
noon aud make himself comfortable, for
it was a sore distress to see a man past
ing aud struggling with work to which
it was very clear ho was unaccustomed.
"You'll get your throat cut one of
theso nights by somo of these chaps
you're always picking up," was tho
rough aud condescending advico of Jim
Freemantle to Sims. Sims looked as if
the idea was entirely now to him, but the
next straggler coining along was readily
taken in.
It was about cloven o'clock. Sims and
his co-operativo straggler had put
through their last run of twenty-five
buckets, and wero " washing down"" to
seo how it had yielded. Tho sievo and
apron of tho rocker wero taken olf.
There was a great deal of black sand iu
tho bottom of the apparatus. This Sims
was running off by means of successive
streams of water, poured from his long
handled dipper, aided by a peculiar
rapid rocking of the machine. Slowly,
at the upper end, tho black sand deposit
assumed the shapo of a point, and near
the apex, ono after another, camo out a
little run of golden yellow flakes.
"Takes a good deal of dirt to make a
little gold, doesn't it?" said the strag
gler. "When I was on tho north fork
of the Tuba, in '51, I got six ounces
once out of twenty-five buckets. Thorn
wai the times, though."
" Thero's about two bits hero, I
guess," said Sims. "Well, that's better
than nothing; aud we ain't beholden to
any one for it either. I 6ay, Tom; if
those Chinamen start to cross the river
iu that old boat of Wang Chu's they'll
drown."
Tho boat had started, and was gliding
up an eddy in direct opposition to tho
course of tho stream. For the immense
mass of waterrushing down and striking
the rocks at the narrow entrance of tho
Big canyon caused a portion nearest
shore ou either side to be sent directly
back full three hundred yards. For this
distance there were two smooth currents
runniug up; between them, a foaming,
surging current, rushing down. By
taking advantage of these upward ed
dies a skillful boatman ccftdd laud his
craft on either side nearly opposito tho
point from which he had started.
Wang Chu and his passengers sailed
smoothly olong until the upper eddy be
ing reached, the boat's head was turned
into the mid current. Then it seemed
as if seized by a monster. It was whirled
around like a top, shot for a second on
tho top of a great surge, and shot down
again out of sight and under. Thoro
was a momentary glimpse of tho five
men, paddling wildly and half rising
from their seats; the next they wero all
gono. A hundred yards below, liko a
whalo shooting qjtt of wator to blow,
came tho boat, "bottom lip, from- tho
depths, and clinging to it was Wang
Chu. It was dashed against the Black
rock ami pressed under by tho current.
Wang Chu sprang on tho rock. Tho
rest wero never seen. Sims and tho
straggler gazed like men in a dream.
There, before them, were still tho rush
ing, roariug stream, tho sun shining, tho
birds singing; all going on and having
gone through it all as though nothing
was happening or had happened, and, in
five seconds, four human beings snatched
fron life to death I
But Wang Chu must be rescued.
There was tho poor, half-submerged
creaturo on tho rock, tho ice-cold cur
rent at times dashing clear over him, and
striving, as it were, to tear him from his
hold; and lietween him and tho shoro
tho merciless stream, which could as
easily Rweep away a thousand men as
one.
There ho remained until near night.
Gradually the population of Texas Bar
and Bixel's Flat accumulated on tho spot,
All measures to float him a line by which
ho might be hauled on shoro proved
abortive.
" I'll swim off and take a lino to him,"
at last said Sims,
"No, don't go," said one among tho
crowd ; " it's certain death I"
"I willl" said Sims.
" No, you won't not if I can help it,"
said Jim Freoinantlo. " You're wrong
to try it ; and if you do, we're going to
stop you. We've as good a right to stop
a man from committing suicido as
murder."
Thoro was a
murmur of assent from
Sims turned away and
tho bystanders.
walked toward
his cabin. When again
ho emerged, it was with a cocked six-
shooter iu his hand. Ho camo straight
toward tho group and spoke:
" You say you will stop mo from swim
ming off to the Black rock. I do not
intend that you shall. You havo suc
ceeded in making my lifo thoroughly
miserable on this fiat by injustice, tauut
and abuse, aud now that there's a chance
for getting rid of it you want to stop me.
You seo you have inado a mistake.
You've put mo up for a m in without a
grit. Well, I'm going to show you that
courage runs in streaks, aud it takes
different circumstances in different men
to draw it out. I'm courageous enough
now to own that I backed down before
some of your six-shooters, bocauso I
didn't think my lifo was worth yon dirty
little claim. But any of you would risk
yonr lives iu a dispute over a pack of
cards, because you've got a fighting
reputation to keep up at any cost, aud
you dare not live to bo called coward
by some hound who would pick your
pockets had ho a chance. Not ono of
you dare go near Tom Wilson's cabin,
when l nursed him through tho small
pox. Not one of you dare go a prosoct
ing as I did on the headwaters of Owen's
river, and camp out for weeks alone,
fifty miles from the nearest settlement.
And I'm not afraid of tho river, savage
as it looks ;" for tho roar of its waters, as
I've listened to them many a long night
in my cabin, has been a kinder voice
than any of yours, and if I drown, I
waut tho Stanislaus to bury mo somo
whero deep down iu its channel, where
your hands at least may never drag mo
out. Let mo pass !"
They made way for him. His faco
was white, hard, firm and desperate.
He walked with a proud step, liko a
king going to the scaffold. All the shrink
ing timidity, tho baflled hesitation of
former days, hail disappeared. It was
another man who passed through tho
crowd, another being who had, as it
wero, suddenly risen up and usurped
tho body of Timid Sims.
Jim Freemantle walked hastily a littlo
ahead of the rest. "Lnok here, Sims,"
said he, with a moro kindly intonation
iu his voico than over he had used in
speaking to him before ; " look here
come back, boy if you go in, you're
only goin' to get drowned for a China
man tisu't worth it anyhow and and
we've mado a mistake, and yi uro grit,
that's all. Here, tako my hand."
Kims took tho proffered baud. It was
but for a moment'. Ho did not allow
tho grasp to detain him. ",It's too
late," said ho. "I don't waut your
kind words now. I don't need them. I
stand above you all, and I've known it
thi3 many a day. I'm going to prove to
you that I ilcn't fear death. If I should
turn back you'd say in loss than a week
I'd been playing a game of bluff. I al
ways knew I had grit enough iu mo. It
only wanted your scorn and that poor
creature's extremity to bring it out."
Ho walked for a few yards further tip
the river bank, made ouo end of the
light line ho carried fast to a stake,
divested himself of his upper clothing,
aud holding the other end of tho warp,
plunged iu. It was all over in a mo
ment. Down with racehorso speed ho
was borno on the surging, muddy bil
lows toward tho Black rock ; dowu he
came, borne like a feather ! with one
arm uplifted, as ho was shot past, he
held out to tho Chinaman the lifo-pre-serving
lino, which the poor creature
eagerly grasped. But Kims could get no
hold of tho black and polished boulder.
The fearful current, roaring and tremb
ling, bore him into tho mouth of the
Big canyon ; but no ono on Texas Bar
after that hour ever spoke of " Timid
Sims."
A Brutal Fellow.
James Brown, of St. Giles, London,
claims to bo reckoned among tho noble
baud of vivisectionists, his trade boing
the catching of cats and skinning 'em
alive. " Tho simple fact is," he says,
" I get an honest living by skinning cats,
aud because skins takeu from the live
cats ore worth sixpence apiece more than
those taken from the animal when dead,
I skin th cats alive whenever I can."
As tho court did not believe in Brown's
cruelty, ha was sentenced to twclvo
months' imprisonment. .
A Criminal's Career.
Looking at tho pioturo numbered No,
195, iu tho Now York police court gal
lory, says a correspondent, a careful ob
server would at onco pronounce it to bo
that of a talented man. The high foro
head, finely-shaped head, and general
contour of the features denoto intelli
gence and firmness. It is that of Charles
II. Bullnrd, alias " Piano Charley,"
ono of tho most expert bank robbors in
tho country. In company with " Ike
Marsh and Mark Shiubnrne he effected
the famous robbery of the Ocean bank,
in Now York city, by which nearly $500,
000 was carried off by tho burglars. Then
came, in 18G8, tho equally daring rob
bery of the messenger of tho Merchants'
Union express company, on tho New
York Central road, between New York
city aud Buffalo. Bullard, Marsh, and
one Thompson entered tho express car,
bound and gaggod tho moFSonger, and
stolo $100,000 from the safe. They flod
to Canada, but were extradited and
lodged in Whito Plains jail for trial.
Ex-Recorder Smith was hired by Mrs.
George Roberts to defend tho prisoners
and was paid $1,000. After the exami
nation, which resulted in their boing
committed for trial, the gang wont
through tho ex-recorder on his way
homo, aud stole back the $1,000. Then
a party of notorious burglars, headed by
JJiiiy .tori-ester, of JNatnan murder ce
lebrity, perfected a plan for freeing
Bullard, Marsh, and Thompson. They
went to Whito Plains and dug into the
jail while tho prisoners assisted them
from tho inside. The men were freod
and wcro lost sight of until the robbery
of tho Boylston (Mass.) bank in 18G9.
Tho bank was plundered of $540,000.
It was thou learned that Bullard,
under the name of Judson, hired the
house next to th3 bank, and with his
companions cut through the wall into the
bank vault. Bullard at onco flod to
Paris, taking his wife with him, and
under tho name of Charles II. Wells
opened an American drinkiug saloon
under tho Grand Hotel, on the Boule
vard des Capucines. A faro bank was
carried on in a private room at the rear
of tho saloon. The place was continually
thronged with Americans, and Bullard
did a thriving business for over a year.
Bullard was finally arrested and the
place broken up. Bullard was tried at
tho Palais do Justice on a charge of
keeping a gambling house, convicted,
and sentenced to ouo year's imprison
ment, nis wife came to this country
and was robbed of a quantity of valuable
furniture and her money by a woman
keeping a boarding houso. When Bul
lard was released he camo to New York,
joined ids wife, and took up his quarters
in a house kept by a noted burglar
known as " Dutch Dan." This man
informed tho police of Bullard's being
in the city. Ho was at once arrested,
taken to Boston for trial, convicted, and
was a short time ago sentenced to twonty
years in Stato prison. Bullard is a man
of very good education, speaks French
and Gorman fluently, plays the piano
finely (whence his alias of Piano Charley),
and is one of the very few burglars who
can open a combination safe with his
hands alone.
Pauperism and Crime.
According to official returns provided
by several departments under the Brit
ish government, it wonld appear that iu
the year 1864 thero wero 1,009,289 per
sons who had received relief from the
poor rates in England and Wales. In
Scotland the number was 120,705, and in
Ireland'69,217. Ton years later, which
brings us to last year, the number of
persons who had relief in England and
Wales was only 829,281, ond in Scotland
111,990, both countries therefore ex
hibiting a marked docreaso. In Ireland
tho number was 79,033. Hero there is
an increase, but it is more apparent than
real, duo to the better administration of
the poor laws and to the more careful
collection of statistics. It is notorious
that tho condition of the Irish poor is
vastly bettor than it was even in 1864.
Airtho returns from tho largo cities, and
especially from Loudon, have also for a
long time past shown a steady decrease
in pauperism.
Again, tho number of convictions for
crime iu England and Wales in 1804 was
14,726, in Scotland 2,359, aud in Ireland
3,000. Ten years later such convictions
were reduced iu England and Wales to
11,089: in Scotland to 2,230, and in
Ireland to 2,542.
There is, therefore, an actual decrease
in both pauperism and crimo. But that
decrease is mich greater than these
figures seem to show. We must not
forget that the population has greatly
increased. In 1805 wo have not the
returns for the previous year at hand
tho population of tho United Kingdom
was 29,861,908. But in 1874 it had in
creased to 32,412,010 ; and it is calcu
lated by tho registrar general that it is
now increasing at tho rato of 1,173 every
day, or 428,145 annually.
Cost of Burial.
Tho Now York Tribune says : From
facts given iu editorial, tho following
schedule of the cost of a first-class funeral
ou tho American plan may be adduced :
1 Rosewood coftin, lined with velvet 300
1 Comu-plate (name and all the virtues
engraved gratis) 12
8 Full extension eilvor-plnted handles. . . SO
1 Cotliu-box to protect cotliu ", 8
1 Ice-box (second-hand) 15
1 Bhroud 25
1 Hearse 10
10 Carnages to Greenwood 70
8 fairs gloves to pull-bearers 20
8 Sears for pall-bearers aud one fof door. 10
1 Undertaker's fee for personal attend.
auce 25
4 Porters to carry out coffin 6
1 8exton at church 15
1 Organiet and choir 40
Flowers 100
1 Lot in Greenwood COO
1 Grave-digger 5
1 Monument, home njauufacturo, of
Quincy granite 900
Total 2,101
The Beer Capital op America. In
ternal revenue roports show that tho
city of Milwaukeo, with its one hundred
thousand inhabitants, consumed during
the month of June 28,327 barrels of
lager, making 14,050,192 glasses, at a
cost or $702,509.C0 to the consumers.
As half of the population may be as
sumed to be minors below the beer
drinking age, the remainder must have
taken ten glasses each per day,
THE NORTH POLE.
Wl I tlm InlcrcKilim Problem of nn Open
1'olnrMra Uver ho Molvcrt f
A portion of the globe fifteen hundred
thousand square miles in extent- -more
than thirty times as largo as England aud
nearly ouo-half as largo as the United
States, exclusive of Alaska embracing
both soa and land, is unknown to man
kind. All attempts to penetrato it havo
failed. There aro no romances more
thrilling than those which tell of those
efforts from the time of John Cabot, who
sailed uuder nenry VII., to tho time of
Sir John Franklin, who lost his life in
the reign of the good Victoria. It was
the dream of Cabot to find a short road
to India through the Arctic seas a
dream cherished by the mariners of that
time with unvoryiig faith. This was
more than threo centuries ago, when tho
world was wondering over tho discovery
of America, and English daring would
not patiently rest under the honors
achieved by tho Spanish, the Portuguese
and the Dutch. Theso three centuries
havo beeu marked by persistent efforts
to redeem the failures of Gabot. We
have our own Henry Hudson, to whom
wo owe tho discovery of New York and
the river which immortalizes his name
urging his small vessel toward the pole
in 1007. In ono of theso odventures
ho was to die a dismal death, abandoned
by his seamen in an opon boat. We
havo tho Frenchmen endeavoring to
work their way north from Canada, in
the time of Charles II., but without re
corded success. The Russians also, un
der their great Czar Peter, wero to renew
the effort in more recent times, under
Behring, the Dane, who was to discover
tho strait which divides Asia from
America. Tho burden of the efforts to
penetrate the Arctic regions have rested
upon tho English. One huudrod years
ago we had Lord Mulgravo seeking the
way to India, stimulated by a largo re
ward. Among those who sailed with
him was young Nelson, afterward to bo
como the mighty admiral. About this
time Captain Cook, who was to meet his
fate in the Sandwich islands and to be
como one of tho most interesting and
romantic names in our literature, strenu
ously sought to open the passage to In
dia. It was Cook who discovered the
proximity of tho Asiatic aud American
continents.
So many failures, says the Herald,
have only stimulated renewed effort.
The nineteenth century has scon many
expeditions. Rewards wero offered by
tho English to whalers to press into
high latitudes. It is moro than fifty
years since Parry mode his famous ex
pedition, when Franklin went over tho
land for five thousand fivo hundred miles
to mark its geography. Thirty years
havo gono by since Frankliu went out
with tho Erebus and Terror. His in
structions were to endeavor to find a
passage from Baffin's bay to Behring
strait, and on July 26, 1845, ho was last
seen entering Baffin's bay. He was to
dio two years later a victim to his in
trepid devotion to duty. It is twenty
years inco Dr. Kano commanded his
expedition aud solved some important
problems. We havo tho record of tho
Polaris, so well known to our readers ; the
valuable expeditions of Dr. Hayes, and
tho achievements of the Austriaus under
Lieutenant Payer. Tho problem of the
north pole was never so interesting as
now ; Austriaus, Germans, English and
Americans are olike striving to solve it.
Thero havo been many misfortunes and
disasters, many sacrifices that we mourn.
But every explorer goes out guided by
new experience. The difficulties that at
tend tho attempt aro extraordinary aud
disheartening. But in tho end courage
and patienco will win, Tho nineteenth
centiuy, which has soon so many won
ders, bids fair to realizo tho dream
of every mariner since tho time of Cabot
the dreani of Arctic discovery, and of
making tho north polo as familiar as the
equator.
A Curo for Duelists.
Thcro was a French regiment iu which
duoliug was all tho rage. Tho officers
wcro always fighting each other, or get
ting up littlo afl'uirs with tho officers of
other regiments. At last tho war office,
wearied out of patienco, changed tho
commanding officer. A colonel was
sont down who would bo sure to stamp
out such nonsense. Two days after his
arrival, two of the officers came to ask
his permission to go out aud fight. To
the amazement of everybody ho gave
his consent; the officers went forth to
fight, they slightly wounded each other,
and "honor was satisliod," as tho phraso
goes upon theso occasions. They were
no sooner recovered than they received
an order to wait upon tho colonel.
"You have to go out and fight again
to-morrow," he said; as they looked at
him with questioning astonishment, ho
explained: " When officers fight in tho
regiment I havo the honor to command,
they kill. Go 1"
The officers went out again, and this
timo made good holes in each other,
which took six months to heal. Tho
story is very horrible. They were sent
out again and ogaiu, and at last they
killed each other, but henceforth and
forever in that regiment, and a good
many besides, thero was ou end of
dueling. The fate of tho young men
who were thus sacrificed to bring about
such a result was sad, but they brought
it on themselves, inasmuch as being
fully awaro' that the colonel was sent to
repress dueling, thev choso almost on
his arrival to demand that ho should
stultify himself and permit them to have
their way. It is, we have said, only on
the condition of the duel being thorough
ly iu earnest, and a tight to the death.
that it has a raimn d'etre iu modern so
ciety, and tho history of this French
regiment proves that it flourishes iu
these modem days chhifly on the credit
of being inocuous.
Population,
Chicago and St. Louis have been x-
ing tho " Smith method " of calculating
the population of cities. It is claimed
that in tho United States thero is one
Mmith to every 540 persons. Tho St.
Louis directory shows 900 Smiths, nud
calculations by the abovo suggestion
give 489,240 as the result for St. Louis.
A Chicago editor succeeds in finding in
his directory 1,390 Smiths, ond forty
eight Smyths, Smits, Schmidts, etc.,
making iu all 1,438. Multiplying this
number by 540, he makes Chicago's pop.
ulalion loom up to 770,520. " ' '
The Hair Worm, or Horsehair Snake.
A friend has sent us a lively specimen
of that singular species of animated na
ture known as the "hair worm," or
"horsehair miako." It camo into tho
possession of our friend from the faucet
of her dwelling, connected with tho
water works. In answer to inquiries as
to its origin, and how it camo all the way
through the pipes, we append tho fol
lowing: Most of our readers aro doubtless
familiar with the form and appearance of
this singular worm or snake, and many
of us, when boys, and somo of ns when
full grown men aud women, wero fully
impressed with tho belief that a hair
from a horso's tail, when left iu a pond J
or other still, warm water, wouia turn
into one of those singular creatures. It
lias been a popular belief that if incau
tiously handled it will bito tho ends of
the fingors and occasion that peculiar
sore or gathering callod a whitlow. But
tho microscope shows that it 1ms neither
jaws nor other instruments by which it
can either bite or sting. Indeed, it has
not even a mouth, but obtains its suste
nance by the absorption of fiuids through
a mombrano over that part of its body
whero tho mouth should bo. Joseph
Leidy, a well known Philadelphia pro
fessor, once tried a series of exhaustive)
experiments to prove that this popular
notion of its origin could not bo true,
Tho microscope and scientific iuveatiga
tion, however, have moro fully proven
that this, like every other living crea
ture, springs from nu egg in tho first
place.
Science informs us that this is not an
insect, but belongs to that class of para
sitic worms which livo and thrivo for a
certain length of timo in the iutestincs
or substances of some other body, liko
tho tape worm in the human Rysteni and
the trichina in the hog. Tho uamo of
tho genus to which this worm belongs i i
Oordins, and there are quite a number
of different species. The most common
species of this genus, and that to which
tho ono now before us belongs, livo in
in the bodies of grasshoppois, crickets,
aud various other insects ; but when
nearly mature and full grown, they boro
their way out of their insect home, and
take to the water or moist earth, whero
after a few days they lay their eggs,
whioh aro almost innumerable. They
are laid in long strings, which look liko
very fine white sowing cotton. Ono of
these worms was scon by Prof. Leidy,
while ho was experimenting, to lay a
string ninety inches long ! Theso eggs
are exceedingly small so small that up
ward of 12,000 of them have been count
ed in ono forty-fifth of an inch as thus
laid in a string. This would givo some
thing liko six millions of eggs as tho
product of tho single worm observed by
Prof. Leidy.
Tho eggs, exposed to tho warm sun,
hatch in about one month, and liberate
worms which havo very little or no re
semblance to their parents. The pro
f cssor during his investigation succeeded
in hatching several eggs. They pro
duced small tadpole-shaped creatures,
with a spine and two circles of sharp
hooks six in a circle, which could bo
pushed in and down out of tho head.
This forms a kind of boring apparatus,
by which tho tadpolo can penetrate tho
bodies of such insects as may approach
them. Tho professor placed somo of
tho larva) of May flies iu tho vessel iu
which tho eggs were hatched, and soon
tho young tadpole Gordu wero seen to
bore their way into tho larvro. They
were also seeu to penetrato tho delicate
membrane at the joints of the legs of
crickets and grasshoppers which wero
confined and placed in the vessel. They
were carefully watched, and it was found
that they gradually ascended among tho
muscles and other organs ot tho bodios,
strongly reminding one of tho similar
but slower movement of trichina) in tho
muscles of man and the hog.
Of course, their chaugo from tho tad
polo condition to tho worm takes placo
withm the body of the insect in which
they take up their temporary homo,
living aud increasing by the nutritious
lluids thero found until nearly or quite
fully growu. That such is the case has
been verified by a report from Mr. Jus
tus Gago, who some years sinco wrote to
tho Michigan Farmer, as tho result of
his observations, that ho had discoveied
that tho cricket resorts to tho water din
ing tho month of August to rid itself of
its unwelcome intruder. Mr. uage had
been led to believe that the hair worms,
which were numerous in a certain
locality, issued from the bodies of
crickets, which wero also numerous iu
the samo locality, although ho was unac
quainted with tho manner iu which they
found their way into the crickets.
Ono day, after ho had been experi
menting by placing crickets hi the
water to obtain hair worms from them,
aud had succeeded in securing two
specimens, ho noticed a cricket crawling
up the side of his water pail. It jumped
into tho water, lay quiet for a moment,
produced a hair worm somo six inches in
length, and then made it3 escape nimbly
over tho edgo of thj pail. About tho
same timo ho found a worm some seven
inches long in a dead cricket which ho
found under a stone. Pacific I2ttral
J'rcss.
Training a CliiM.
Tho very first lesson a parent has to
learn is that whutover ho attempts to
teach a child he must himself first prac
tice. Whatever ho wishes his child to
avoid, ho must mako up his mind to re
nounce, and that from tho very earliest
stage of existence, and down to the
minutest things. Iu young children the
imitative faculty is so enormous, tho
reasoning power so small, that f ne can
not be too careful, even with infants,
to guard against indulging in a harsh
tone, a brusque manner, a sad or angry
look. As far as is possible the tender
bud should live iu an atmosphere of
continual sunshine, under which it may
safely and happily unfold, hour by
hour, aud day by day. To effect this
there is required from tho parent, or
those who stand iu the parent's stead,
an amount of self-control and eelf-do
uial which would be almost impossible
had not Heaven implanted on tho one
sido maternal instinct, ou the other tha .
extraordinary winning charm which
there is about all youug creatures,
making us put up with their endless
waywardness, and lovo them all tho
i better tho more trouble tlioy givo us.
Thoughts for Saturday Kiglit.
Brutes leave ingratitudo to man.
Self trust is tho essenco of heroism.
Jealousy dislikes tho world to know it.
Wheu all clso is lost, tho future re
mains.
Hopo is a light diet, but very stimu
lating.
Tho inuocont seldom find an uneasy
pillow.
A foo to God was never a truo friend
to man.
Wo read tho book of cxperienco only
backward and find it punctuated as Clod
willed.
Had we not faults of our own, wo
should tako less pleasure in observing
thoso of others.
Man without religion is a creature of
circumstances : religion is abovo all
circumstances, and will lift him up abovo
them.
Every man has iu himself a continent
of undiscovered character. Happy is ho
who acts tho Columbus to his own soul.
Thero is no dearth of charity in tho
world iu giving, but thero'.is compara
tively littlo exercised in thinking aud
speaking.
If wo look upon lifo as a gift of days,
only ono to be used and improved at a
timo, all its duties can bo dono, all its
burdens borne.
Everything that tends to emancipate
us from external restraint without adding
to our own power of self-government is
mischievous.
Many persons aro judged harshly by
tho world because they allow no eyo but
God's to see into the inner sanetuurics of
their hearts.
The most civilized are as near to bar
barism as tho most polished stoel is to
rust. Nations, liko metals, havo only a
superficial brilliancy,
Items of Interest.
M. Thironin has been imprisoned for
one year in France because his dog kill
ed a littlo boy.
Pitch a lucky man into tho Nile, sa3s
an Arabian proverb, aud ho will como
up with a fish iu his mouth.
Compared with the quantities of
pianos practiced on mornings, tho num
ber of suicides is very small at this season
of tho year.
Tho theory that two railway trains can
pass each other safely on a single track
is again disproved, and yet tho experi
ment will bo tried again."
A San Francisco rumsoller was con
vinced of tho degradation of his business
when his daughter, eleven years old,
got drunk and was arrested.
It is a groat comfort to I: aid -headed
men in these, red-hot, star-spangled,
centennial days, to reflect that the eaglo,
too, is bald-headed. Stylo is nohair.
" I declare," said Susan, as sho watch
ed tho people coming into church, "that
man looks lino a piece oi uricii ueei.
"Hush," said her sister, " it isn t meet
in you to talk so. "
Tho "black death" scourge, which
has recently appeared on the rivers
Tigris and Euphrates, is tho samo which
destroyed millions of lives iu Europo
and Asia during tho fourteenth century.
A young man fell from an attic window
in Baltimore tho other day, a distance
of fifty feet, and, strange to say, did not
kill himself, though ho broko both arms,
lie had been sitting in tho window
asleep.
Professor Collier, secretary of the Ver
mont Stato board of agriculture, says
that all the specimens of potato bugs
sent to him from different towns in Ver
mont prove to bo something else than
tho Colorado beetle.
An English tourist who recently start
ed alouo to ascend to the summit of
Mount Snowdon, iu Wales, is missing.
Ho is supposed to havo sunk in a quick
sand on tho edgo of a lake near his path
in descending tho mountain.
William Ingraham choso u sapling in
Savoy, Mass., from which to hang him
self ; and it bent with his weight so that
his legs trailed on tho ground, compel
ling him to strangle himself to death by
leaning heavily in tho noose.
It is noticed that twenty-niuo land
marks have already becu secured in tho
patent office for the word " Centennial,"
as applied to various articles of manu
facture, such as almanacs, cigars, omen
ing, bitters, shirts, watches and even
lager beer.
A counlo of confldenco men at bt,
Louis, tho other day, lit upon a roughly
dressed " Granger" and got him to tako
some bogus twenty dollar pieces for
greenbacks. But tho joko didn't end
thero, as tho victim was tho famous
detective John Eagau.
Santa ASfca is seventy-seven years
old, but ho is still erect and slender,
and his black hair aud black eyes yet
preserve thoir original brilliancy. He is
as fond of cock righting as ever, dux
hasn't money to indulge in it as much
as he would like.
Solomon Hagar was a lazy drunkard
who lived with his industrious brother
at Harvard, Mass. no went homo
drunk and the brother threatened him
with expulsion from tho premises if ho
did not reform. " You will be sorry for
that," said tho sot; and thereupon ho
went to the barn, set tiro to a mow of
hay, and was burned to death in tho
conflagration.
Au Albany gentleman was a fow days
ago annoyed by tho noise of four spar
rows that had built their nests over ono
of his window copings. He accordingly
tore down tho nests and threw them into
tho street, when, much to his surprise, a
flock of sparrows immediately gathered
on tho spot and with much chattering
restored to their old placo the habita
tions of the homeless birds.
A timber raft sont down the Missis
sippi from Wabasha, Mum., to St.
Louis a few days ago, was composed of
250 cribs, making 2,343,205 feet of lum
ber, after deducting the usual ten per
cent. In addition to this there was a
"top loading" composed of 11,284
bundles of lath, 1,081 palings, 773 1
thousand shingles, and 470 sticks of
square timber, assorted sizes ranging
from the largest clown tyj the Binollest.