. MS f r
(
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPEIIANDTJM.
Two Dollars per . Annum.
iiilf
VOL. V.
The Farm and Ihe City.
An old farmhouee, with meadows wldo,
And sweat with clover on each side ;
A bright-eyed boy, who looks from out
The door with woodMiie wreathed about,
And wmlies his one thought all day t
" Oh ! if T.could but fly away
Fran this dull spot the world to see,
lion- happy, happy, happy,
How happy I should be !"
Amid the city's constant din !
A man who round the world has been,
Who, 'mid the tumult and the throng,
Is thinking, thinking all day long t
" Oh ! oould I only trace once more
The field path to the farmhouse door.
The old, green meadow could I see,
How happy, happy, happy,
How happy I should be !"
AX OLD SAILOR'S YARX.
I had shipped into the ship Robert
jsowne, in JNew Xork, bound for San
Iraneisco, and she put in to Rio for
fiesh stores, liavin' passengers aboard
Sha were locrsred as puttin' in for water.
but that were only on account of the
ins trance, cause, yon see, water bein
necessity, yon can go in for that without
making a deviation of the wnere. That'i
what they calls it, you know, and your
insurance is all right ; but the real fact
were she went m for stores, and princi
pally grog. Whether the skipper and
ins passengers got it or not 1 don t know,
but 1 m very sure I did. and when
woke out of the spree I found that the
ship had been three days at sea and had
curried an my dunnage with her.
wen, sir, ot course, without money
anu witnout ciotnos l had to come on
the consul's hands, and it were the first
time I had ever done so, except in case
01 wreck. .very scrape 1 ever cot into.
sir, and almost every scrape everybody
else ever I know'd got into, come of
dmikm rum.
Well, the American consuls in foreign
ports has a fund provided for sich cases
as mine, for you see when a captain pays
- . ? . . . .
a man on in a ioreign port ue nas lor to
give him three months' extra pav. one
month of which the consul keeps, and this
creates a tuna lor to pay the board and
passage homo of shipwrecked sailors
and I were pretty well wrecked and no
mistake. Then every captain has for to
take these men when the consul sends
them on board, leastwise a certain num
ber accordin to the size of the ship,
and he is allowed for to make 'em work,
jist as if they'd been shipped regularly.
There was three of us consul's men on
board of this here Sarah Lucinda, me
ana a ciitip named Jack Wilson, and
another chap named Billy Corr. We
wore all pretty well " mops and brooms'
when we came aboard, but Billy Corr
was tue worse, and he went right down
si:jk the day arter we left Rio. I'd heerd
of him ashore, and folks in Rio didn't
soem to make him out rightly. I'd
h'erd tell that he come there a passenger
li'cn, aboard of a brig from somewhere
on the south side of Cuba, and that he
had lots of cash, and all m gold pieces,
and that ho d swayed away on all taut
ropes, never drawin a sober breath till
his money were all gone, and then bust
iu' it out on tick as long as possible, and
luially fetchin tin as I had onto the
consul's hands. Well, sir, you can easy
see no u ueen on a montn s drunk, an-1
in that tirao it ain't probable he'd ever
ate a square meal ; so you see, he laid
right over mo and Jack, as hadn't more
than a woek of it for want of means.
It has almost alwavs happened, sir.
that if anybody were sick aboard of a
ship where I were it would bo me that
would have the job of takiu' care on 'em,
and this time me aad Jack bein' kind of
supernumeraries, and coruin' aboard
onto the same lay with this Billy Corr,
of course, when ho went down right bad,
me and Jack was put for to look out for
him. W'll, he were bad, there's no de
nyin' it. It were like Paddy, when he
fell from aloft ; ho said it weren't the
fall that hurt him, it were stoppiu' so
sudden, and this poor chap, as long as
he were ashore he'd get some grog every
day, just enough to carry him along safe,
but as soon as he got to sea, where he
couldn't git any, the sudden stoppage
brought on the "triangles," and he had
'em about as bad as any one ever I seen.
Lord love you, sir, how that chap did
yell. For one whale night he kep' shout
iu' Murder I" at the very top of his
voico. Jack aud I got rome canvas gas
kets, and wn strapped him down to the
bunk a lid, s j he couldn't do no hurt to
liisself nor to nobody else, and then we
took turn and turn about a-watchin' him.
Did you ever have them things, sir i
No ; well, you needn't want to, for
they're jist awful. How it is that any
body as lias had 'cm once and got ever
it, should ever go on a-driukiu' and have
'em a?iu, is more than I can tell, and
yet they dues, ni everybody knows.
Tain't often, though, that anybody lias
iu as nan as turn chap, i d seen a
plenty of it afore, and maybe had had a
touch or two myself, tmt nothin' like
this had I ever seen. The mate's name
were Charley Richmond, and he were a
good man. I've heern tell he used some
times to bowse up his own jib pretty
taut and he done all that oould be done
for this poor chap, though he wasn't
nothin' but a consul's man. He winded
the cook within an inch of his life, cause
ho said he'd be hanged if he'd make
gruel for a drunken brute like that ;
rneauin' this here Billy Corr.
Well, sir, we got the southeast trades
good and strong and they carried us
away up to about six degrees north, and
then we laid two days into the doldrums
afore we got the northeast trades ; but
when we did sret 'em they was so stronor
that we had to carry our to'gallan' sails
and siugle-roefed topsails, and she goin'
free, too.
We lost the northeast trades some
wheres about the lutitude of twenty-four
degrees north, and was a box hauliu'
about into the horse latitudes for over a
week, and then we got a breeze from
southwest, which come on light, with
cloudy weather in the forenoon, and
breezed on arter dinner with rain. It
were a duff day, and a week day, so it
must have been of a Thursday, and our
side had the watch trom eight to twelve
of the night. The main to'gallan sail and
foretopmast studdin' sail were set when
we oouie on deck, and we were a headin'
her abont iior-norwest and jumpin' her
along about eleven knots a rainin' like
blazes and as thick as tar. We'd never
seed the old man carry sail afore, and
we didn't know he had it into him, but
ne certainly were a givin' it to her that
night and no mistake.
We had a good boom brace on the
ft tun-sail boom, and we toggled the
lower halliards and made a jumper out
of them, but it weren't no uso, and at
abont five bells the chap at the wheel let
her come to a bit, and snap went the
boom jest at the boom-iron. Well, it's
about the easiest way for to git a topmast
stunsail in arter all, and we wasn't long
we thought then that the old man would
shorten sail, but he didn't, and we
hung on and went below, leavin' whole
topsails and main to'gallan' sail on to
her, she a wallowin', for the sea had got
up and everything a-crackin' like mad.
I've always had my idee that the old
man his name were Jones had been
a-takin' a little of somethin' in honor of
the fair wind and gittin' out of the dol
drums, 'cause once, when I went aft for
to take in the slack of the wheel ropes,
I seen him a slappin' her on tho weather
quarter, and a-talkin' tr hnr, sayin':
" Go it, old gal, go it, old gal ! do your
prettiest, my lady 1" and sich talk as
that, and it appeared to me a kiud of a
sign that the old man had been a takiu'
some thin.
Well, sir, when our side were relieved
I went into the fore hatch house, where
this here Billy Corr were, to give Jack a
spell at the watehin', and let him go on
deck.
'Well, Jack, my boy," says I, "how
h.' he by this time i"
" Well, Tom," says Jack, " lie's been
still for a half hour or so i the ravin' has
left him, but I'm afeared he's too far
gone to build up ngiu."
Well, sir, Jack goes on deck and I
sits down a dozin by the side of the
bunk, when all of a sudden this here
Billy Corr says in a whisper, Tom, is
that you ?" and this was the first rational
word ho'd spoke for upward of three
weeks ?"
" Tom," says he again, and I had for
to bend over him for to catch what he
said, " how long have I been here ?"
J tells him, and then says he agin:
" Have you took care of me all this
while ?"
" Me and Jack Wilson has." savs T.
He was silent for a minute or so. anil
then he says agin: " Tom, I've shipped
tor tho long vyage. I knows I can't trit
up agin, but afore I slips my wind I'd
like for to tell you somethin' that'll make
you and Jack Wilson rich."
Well, clap a stopper on iist now.
old chap, says I, "and by-and-bye
when you're stronger you shall spin me
the twister, and me aud Jack will be as
rich as ever you can make us. '
--mo, Buys ne, "it must be now sr
never. To-morrow I shall go over the
side feet fustwards."
"Very well, old chap." savs I : " if it
will ease you to reel it off. eo ahead. nl
if I gits asleep, why give me a rouse
once in a while. "
She were called the Charlotte and
were a brig bound from Jamaica to
Havana in ballast. She were goin' to
buy a cargo in Havana and go to Europe,
and the last thing we took in afore we
left were six kegs full of gold, which
were stowed down in the run.
"There were a chap aboard of that
brig that they called ' Carrotty ' Brown,
'cause he had red hair, aud me and him
helped to stow away this gold. When
we was one day out Carrotty proposed
to me him and me was in one watch
that we should kill all hands and capture
this gold. At first I refused, but at last
consented, and Carrotty at once went
into tho forecastle and stabbed the other
two men. I then killed the cook, and
at four bells I relieved the wheel and
Carrotty killed the man I relieved the
third man in our watch. Afterwards he
came aft to where the mate was dozin'
on the rail, and together we pushed tho
mate overboard. Carrotty then went
into the cabin and killed the captain.
He then proposed that we should keep
the steward to lend us a hand in remov
iu' the gold, which we done.
' We had intended for to land on the
south side of Cuba, aud bury our treasure,
markiu' the spot, so that we could como
and get it when we could do so without
suspicion ; but in the morniu' the Little
Cayman were in sight, and we resolved
to land thero. We rau tho bark close in.
and then hove to and not tho boat out.
and then we turned to and got the gold
up out oi me ruuaud lowered it into the
boat. There were six kegs of it, and
they weighed about three hundred
pounds each, so that by tho time we got
our water and provisions in the boat
were pretty full.
" Carrotty and mo then went down
and bored some holes into the brie anil
ii. ... . . .
men we come up ana got m the boat.
'Pl n ii . .,
xhcu varroixy savs to tne steward!
You git up a lot more provisions. nnl
and we'll soon be back arter it; we've
got as much as we can carry now.'
Then we shoved off, leavin' the stoward,
who didn't know the brig were scuttled.
a gittiu' up provisions. It were eight
bells wh.m we left hor, and at ten o'clock
we seen her go down.
" There's a little cove on the west side
of tho Little Cayman, and there we
landed. We rolled our gold up to a cer
tain spot that I'll tell you about present
ly, and there we buried it.
" That night, somohow, Cairotty and
me got to be afeared of one another,
and we laid down to sleep with the boat
between us, and the last thing Carrotty
said to me was: 'Bill, we'll stick to
each other, won't we f to which I an
swered: 'I'm "jonhuck," if you are.'
But I slept with one eye open, and along
about ten o'clock I seen Carrotty comiu'
round my side of the boat with his knife
in his hand.
It were a hard flsrht. Tom. ami rmlv
but he lost his knife in the first of it I
wouldn't be here now; but when it ended
I were alone on the island, and Carrotty
stretched out in the moonlight with my
knife in his heart.
The next day the vessel come along
which fetched me to Rio. I stuffed my
pockets with gold pieces, and I got
aboard of her. What good has it done
me, Tom f I've jist drinked myself to
death, and have never had a minute's
peace day nor night since. I shall go
overboard to-morrow, but you and Jack
shall have that gold, and now I'll tell
you how to find it."
Jist at this time I heerd a crash on
deck, and I know'd that the main to'
gallau' mast had gone over the side, and
the next minute all hands was called to
shorten sail. It were, I should judge,
Ill DG WAY, ELK
nigh hand onto two bells, and afore we
got her double reefed and the wreck of
the main to'-gallan' mast cleared away it
were full 2:80. Then I went into the
hatch-house agin, and Jack with mo, for
to hear where the gold was, and first we
thought Billy Corr were asleep, but
when we come to look more closely we
found he were dead as a mutton, and tho
secret .of the gold died with him.
World.
The First Ram Battle ot Sea.
A corespondent says : As to the sink
ing of the Ro d'ltali'a, I had an account
of it from the lips of Admiral Von Tege
thoff himself, while breakfasting with
him tte-a-teie in Vienna in October,
1869. He was then organizing tho
squadron which was to convey the Em
peror Francis Joseph to Constantinople
and F.gypt. The admiral, who was one
of the simplest as well as one of the
bravest of men, told me that on reading
the account of the preparations which
were mado at Now York in 18G2 to fit
out the Vanderbilt for the purpose of
ramming aud sinking the Confederate
iron-clad Merrimack, he made up his
mind that this would prove to be the
best way of dealing with armored vessels
in action, and devoted himself to a
special study of the questions involved.
When he was ordered down with his
small, mixed squadron to Lissa, early in
July, I860, to relieve that place, then
besieged by the powerful iron-clad fleet
of Admiral Persano, his intention was to
test his theory on this subject. As he
went into action on the 18th he signaled
au nis Rinps "jsear down on the enemy
.1 1- Al ,1 tt' n , . , " '
huu muii mem. xiis own nagsmp, the
reruiuaud Max, n my memory serves
me rightly, was an iron-clad of about six
hundred horse-power. His captain. Ba-
ron Max von Steruek, had orders to "go
for" all the iron-clads in the enemv's
uu.-, yjLirj uilci llllULliex, HI1U U1U SO Willi
great spirit and skill. The Ferdinand
Max successively ran three Italians
aboard, captured the flag of one, crippled
1,., ( .I. ,M
iiuuuier, anu sanit tne third, the no
d'ltalia, iu two minutes, with her whole
crew ot six hundred men. The Aus
trians tried to save these poor fellows,
with humane inconsistency, but only
succeeded in rescuing a few of them.
Admiral Von Tegcthoff told me, by the
way, mat ne never saw men behave more
gallantly than the Italians on this shin.
Tho crew cheered defiantly as their huge
ship csireened over, and the sharpshoot
ers in the tops went down firing their
rines.
Fall and Winter Fashions.
Among useful new costumes, says a
luauiou journal, are tuosa ot black cash
mere, a fabric that is now as low-priced
as good alpaca, aud is more graceful and
pliable, though it does not endure hard
usage so well. It is made up in con
junction with black gross grain of the
qualities that are now sold for $1.50 or
82 a yard. One cashmere suit that will
servo as a model has a single bias
flounco shired near the top, and edged
top anu ooitom witn suk kuite plaiting.
Tho long square overskirt, open up the
back, is trimmed across the front with
three bias bands of gros grain placed
quite far apart, and each band edged
with fringe. The basque has two sido
bodies, one of which is very long, and
begins in the shoulder seam. The
Byron collar and the sleeves are of gros
grain ; three lapping folds from the
cutl, aud a row of hix buttons is set on
these. A second black cashmere suit
has' a square overskirt that does not
meet behind, but has three puffs of silk
set in dowu the back, with a wide frincred
end below. The edge of tho overskirt
is trimmed with a kmfa plaiting of silk,
and this extendi up the back on each
side of the silk puff. The basouo has
silk sleeves, collar, silk forms down the
back, and something like a vest of silk
m front. A pretty suit of brown cash
mere has a plaited flounce that is partly
silk and partly cashmere.
Another novelty is a double anronthnt
in uiiiereui, on eacu siue ot tne narure.
and laps iu front. Sometimes these
aprons are plain on the left side and
striped on the right. A suit of three
materials; plain brown Ale-erienne.
striped Algerieune, aud brown silk, is
made iu this way. A plain apron laps
from tho rierht side over another on .h
left, which is striped ; both are edged
with striped knife plaiting. The basque
is of plain wool, with striped sleeves.
The brown silk skirt has striped wool
nun buh piaiungs.
The Folice Court.
"Moruiug," said Farmer West, with
a noa, as ne ranged before the bar.
' ' Are you William West f " -f
"Yaas."
" Aud you got drunk?"
"Seems so."
" Where do you live?"
"Way off."
" Came in on an excursion and got so
drunk that you fell into a tub of eggs?"
"I'm sorry about it," replied the
farmer, " but I didn't see them aigs,
aud tho whisky kinder flew to my head
before I knowed it."
" Mr. West, while I could theoreti
cally make you perform some immense
gymnastics in the direction of the house
of correction, I believe that you are
sorry and won't do so any more. I bin
going to suspend sentence, but when
you reach home you can say to your
friends that you came within a hair's
breadth of finding a habitation into
which the chromo peddler and tho book
canvasser never enter."
"Well, I'll never come "here again,"
replied the farmer. "I went and
squandered ten shillings around town,
lost a darned good jackknife, wrenched
tho heel off that boot there, and I feel
as meau as a dog under a smoke house."
Detroit Free Prena.
Nevada Boys. Speakincr of Nevmla
boys a local journal says : The sight of
a gram field to them would be more
wonderful than a circus with a caravan
attached, and what sort of a mine flour
and grapes and peanuts are dug out of
is to them a perpetual mystery. They
can tell you all about the levels down to
the seventeenth, can tell you what sort
of engines are running in all the works.
and the name of every locomotive that
comes to the city just by the whistle ;
but they never climbed an apple tree or
stole a watermelon except from a fruit
stand-in all their lives.
COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER
THE GREAT PROBLEM.
A New York Rinte Editor Tackles ihe Cur
rency ucRtlon and Nellies It A Urand
Hcbemr.
Wo look upon the currency question
of the day as one of the most serious
problems before the people. The polit
ical press, of course, look upon the ques
tion from a standpoint governed entirely
by the platform of their party. It is to
the independent press the press shack-
eled by no political platform or halter
that the country must look for tho solu
tion of a problem that, unless settled,
may end in bloodshed and strife. The
Jiecord, an independent sheet, shall not
be found wanting, or its editor playing
the laggard, at tlus important epoch. It
is the duty of the independent press to
suggest plans and propositions that will
aid the country in its trying hour. The
Jiecord offers this plan, which, it is
pleased to say, has the friendly counte
nance of B n F. B r, J y
C e, J y Q d and W m
B rD n: The proposition is start
ling in its features aud immense in ita
proportions, yet magnincentlv simple.
It is well known that gold is heavy, that
every person wiio carries it long in his
pocket is annoyed at its excessive jing
ling, bowed down by its weight, and
troubled by the fact that it is continual
ly wearing away his pockets. The
Jiecord proposes to do away with cold
as a circulating medium, and allow it to
be used entirely iu ita proper vocation
, c, that of filling decayed teeth.
As to rag money, or the shinplaster,
every" person knows how troublesome
that is. It is annoying, every time you
want to buy a cigar, to be obliged to
break a dollar bill, and it is' more annoy
ing to find stowed away in every pocket
filthy "rags," that the chances are have
been fondled and hugged to the bosom
of paupers and perhaps lepers. Physi
cians tell us that many cases are record
ed where the most loathsome diseases
have been eBgendered through the cir
culation of shinplasters. Besides, they
encourage gambling, drinking, gift en
terprises, and the use of patent medi
cines ; they encourage robbery and mur
der, aud the building of poorhousos.
The Jiecord proposes to do away with
shinplasters and rag money. It proposes
that our business should be done ou the
mutual plan.
For instance, if a man wants a copy of
the Jiecord, he stops into the Jiecord
office and takes it. It is free as water.
No filthy lucre, no dirty greenbacks, no
fever-stricken shinplasters, no annoying
chunk of gold is offered for it it is sim
ply taken. If we wish a suit of clothes
or a steam engine, a steamboat or a raft
of logs, we simply send a note to tho
man who deals in those things, and they
will be forthcoming. Each and every
person, man, woman or child, Pat from
the Emerald isle, Lo from the prairies
of Colorado, John from the land of tea
everybody does the same thing takes
what is wanted, and gives what is asked
for by others. The system extends
through all the ramifications of business
and commerce, and to everything that is
needed from a piu to a tunnel under
the English channel. It is bounded by
no confines it is crand. unlimited in
its scheme and its workings. This grand
plan, which is original with us, simplifies
everything. It abolishes deceit and
crime, and simplifies our wants. If a
man can't get a drink ho hankers after it
under our plan it would be free to all,
and nobody would want it. How grand,
how magnificent, and yet how simple
how very simple the plan is. It is
known that communism has threatened
France and other nations. Our plan
would scatter communism, for there
would be no necessity for it. Thpro
would be no paupers, and everybody
would work with a willing hand and
an open heart.
Ihere might be some little incon
venience in arranging matters on the
street, so that the wheel within the wheel
would run smoothly, but it would soon
be arranged, and all would go well.
There would be no necessity for partv
platforms and bickerings, even in the.
same party no necessity for an editor
running around all the week to collect
ten dollars to pay his help no necessity
for a wife waking her husband np at
five o'clock in the morning for four cents
to buy a pint of milk no necessity for
anything in this world but the grand
aud noble feeling of brotherly love and
humanitarianism, which would bo sure
to follow the adoption of the Jiecord's
great " nuisance abohsher and methodi
cal settlement of the currency question."
Let us have peace. Owego Y.)
Jiecord.
v. A Lire Child Burled.
The Cynthiana (Ky.) Democrat prints
the following remarkably, circumstantial
account of a recent discovery near that
town: Mr. Thomas A. Demmon, who
resides about six miles from this place,
went out to his barn to attend to some
business, when he heard a cry as of
something in distr?ss. lie at first
thought it was a cat,'' but could not tell,
and began searching for whatever it
might be that was making the noise.
After looking for some moments, he
went to a pile of logs that were under
the eave of the barn, and upon finding
that the noise came from it, he becran
moving the logs, and, after movincr
them he, fouud a heap of fresh dirt, and
the cry (evidently of a child now), seem
ing to come from under the ground, and
upon digging the dirt away was horrified
to find an infant about three or four
days old, which had been buried alive.
It was still alive, havinflf been laid mi
its back, a handkerchief placed over its
face, and two wide boards over it, so as
not to touch the body, and the dirt on
the board making a nice little grave.
The child is alive and well.
England's Paper Money.
Bank of En eland notes are never re
issued, but when paid in for gold are at
once canceled. They are then preserved
for seven years, so that inquiries rela
tive to forgeries or frauds on which the
notes may throw light may be answered.
The stock of paid notes for seven years
numbers 91,000,000, and fills 18,000
boxes, which if placed side by side would
reach three miles. Pile the notes one
on the other, nd the 'pile would be
eight miles long. Join them end to
end, and you will have a ribbon 15,000
miles long. Finally, their original value
was over 815,000,000,000, and their
weight more than one hundred and
twelve tons. ,
A Romantic Story.
In the old days, when the Indians and
the white men were engaged in a con
stant warfare, the central region of New
York witnessed such scenes as now only
the extreme West ever beholds, there oc
curred, as all readers of history will re
member, a terrible massacre at Syracuse.
The settlers there were surprised in their
sleep by a bnnd of savages who com
pletely overwhelmed them, killed the
men and carried many of the younger
women away with them as captives.
Among those thus reserved for a fate far
worse than death was a beautiful girl
named Cathleen, the affianced bride of
the famous hunter Ensinore. This man,
Scotch by birth, had lived for years on
the frontier," and was renowned alike for
his skill in the chase and prowess in bat
tle with the Indians. He was away on a
hunting expedition when the massacre
took place, and reaching home a few
days afterward found only ruin aud de
spair where he had thought to hold a
weddiug feast. .Learning the fate of his
bride he lost no time iu attempting to
rescue her, and following the trail of
her captors, he at last discovered that
they were encafflped on a cliff overhang
ing Owasco lake. Disguising himself
as an Indian, Ensinore, at the risk of his
own life, mado his way among the Iro
quois, who were resting after their vio
torious expedition. ne represented
himself as belonging to a tribe, of
Southern Indians and soon had the
freedom of the camp.
In this way he succeeded in seoing
Catldeen, who he learned was to be
wedded to one of the chiefs. Of course
the lovers were not long in planting an
escape, and ne stormy night Ensinore
contrived to release Cathleen from tho
wigwam where she was held prisoner and
the two started to quit the camp. They
were discovered, however, before they
had gone far, and there was nothing for
it but to yield or to fight. Resolved to
sell his life aud his brido dearly, Ensi
nore held a brief, fierce battle with the
savagbs who first assailed him. He suc
ceeded in driving them back for a few
moments, and then he and Cathleen ran
to tho edge of the cliff, and preferring
aeatn together to the fate that awaited
them if they were captured, hand iu
hand they leaped the precipice. It was
a fearful plunge, but fortune was with
them ; they fell into the water unhurt,
and swimming to Ensiuore's boat,
which was moored below, they made
good their escape, favored by the dark
ness and the fctorrn. It is in memory of
tho bold hunter and his bravo bride that
this pretty village on the cliff bears the
name of Ensinore.
The Hill Gate Excavations.
On July 4, 1876, tho great explosion
which is to shatter the submarine, rocks
at Hallett's point and open a navigable
channel for vessels of large draft, com
ing and going through Longr Island
sound, to and from New York city, will
take place; such, at least, weunderestand
to bo the present intention of those in
charge of the work. The excavation
now in progress consists in the boring
of the holes in which the heavy charges
of nitro-glycerine are be placed. These
borings are about half finished, and will
require the labor of two or three months
longer, after which two months more
will be occupied in insetting the
chnrges.
The entire surface undermined meas
ures two and a quarter acres, and the
cuttings aggregate 7,541? feet in length,
varying in height from eight to twenty
two feet, and in width from twelve' to
thirteen feet. There is a roof ten feet
thick between the mine and the water ;
and the latter, at the outer edge of tho
excavation, is twenty-six feet deep at
low tide. Between the heading and gal
leries heavy piera are left, which now
sustain the immense weight of rock and
water above. In each pier from ten to
fifteen two and three inch holes aro be
ing drilled, and in the roof similar aper
tures are being made at intervals of five
feet apart. All of these openings will
be filled with nitro-glycerine, in charges
of eight and ten pounds, and nil will be
connected together by gas pipe filled
with the same explosive. This will be
done during tho cold weather, when the
danger of hauling the nitro-glycerine is
greatly diminished. ' "
Previous to the explosion, the coffer
dam will be broken away and tho water
allowed to till the entire excavation, so
that it will serve aa a tamping. Then,
by means of an electric fuse, the nitro
glycerine in tho gas pipe will be tired,
which will determine the blowing up of
the whole affair. No fear is apprehend
ed as to the result, since it has been de
termined that the explosion of half tho
charges will be sufficient to cave in the
roof, and cause it to fall to the sunken
floor, deepening the water at once to a
proper depth, or necessitating but little
dredging to complete the work.
The no w operations at Flood rock will
involve still greater cuttings than at
Hallett's point. The shaft is now down
to a depth of fifty feet. The Halletfi
point work has been under way sinqe
1869, but has been greatly delayed by
the failure of Congress to provide suffi
cient appropriations ; if the same course
is to bo followed with reference to the
Flood rock excavations, it will be mani
festly impossible to form any estimate
of their time of completion.
He Knew What Was Coming.
The Providence Journal tells the fol
lowing old story, which is worth repeat
ing : A careful, old-fashioned man a
few years ago came into town to sell
some shares in a bank. " Why do you
wish to sell them ?" he was asked. " You
cannot invest your money better. The
bank is well managed, the dividends are
certain, regular and satisfactory." Our
friend from tho country replied : "I
know all that. The bank is well
enough ; but I don't want stock in a
bank where the cashier keeps a race
horse and bets on the course." When
the cashier defaulted, a few years after
ward, the overcautious old fogy did not
hold any of the shares, which went
down fifteen per cent.
A youth, who desired to know how to
become rich, sent a shilling in annwer to
an advertisement, and received the fol
lowing valuable recipe : Increase your
receipts, and decrease your expenditures.
Woik eighteen hours a day, and. Jive on
hash and oatmeal gruel."
7, 1875.
Securing Wild Honey.
The white man's fly," as the Indians
call the wild honey bee, lives between
civilization and solitude, and the averago
white man likes to track the "fly" to its
home and to sooop out from a hollow
tree the stores of honey that have accu
mulated lor years. There are men in
Morris county, N. J., says tho Sun, like
John Odell, who, owning a patch of
ground for themselves, keep their bees
on the mountain tops and iu the swanip
iitufiB ior miies arounti, and they are
safe. No one but a professional bee
hunter could ever find the hives, and it
is an unwritten law among them that they
shall respect each other's prior rights.
A big blazed spot on the side of the tree
that holds the bees, aud the mitials or
mark of the discoverer, are sufficient to
protect his rights of property, and he
can lose his bees only by their swarming
anu cnoosing another home. Then, un
less ne is present to loilow them with
his own eye from their old home to their
new, his claim upon them is gone, and
they will bolong to him who first finds
them.
The professional bee hunter begins
his work early in the spring. He stands
close by some flowering shrub, or by
uome paicn oi spring nowers, iroru which
he follows a single bee sometimes for
miles, blazing his way as he goes, until
he sees it enter a hollow tree or a cleft
iu the rocks. If the hive proves to be
new property, the finder establishes his
claim with his hatchet, aud takes careful
bearings of the spot, jotting them down
with reference to local streams and rocks,
and natural landmarks unintelligible to
strangers, and as bewildering as Capt.
Kidd's log books have been to modern
gold seekers. He calculates his longi
tude, perhaps, from some woodchuck's
hole known only to himself, and his lati
tude from some tall tree conspicuous by
its blighted top, or from a pool that has
a historical interest to him by reason of
a big trout which he caught there; for
tho bee hunter is usually a fisherman and
sportsman too. Later in the season the
best starting ground is from the few
buckwheat fields that are cultivated on
the sunniest spots of tho hillsides; but
ne honey is taken from the hives until
late in the fall, after tho gathering sea
son is over. Then, if tho storing place
is accessible, the bulk of the sweet
treasure is taken out, only euorgh being
loft to maintain the busy workers through
a semi-torpid winter.
The Olive Tree.
The following is taken from an article
in Appletons' " American Cyclopaedia,"
revised edition, entitled " Olive " : The
common olivo is one of the earliest trees
montioned in antiquity ; probably it was
a native of Palestine, and perhaps of
Greece, and it was introduced into other
countries at a very early day; it is largely
culitvated in southern Europe, western
Asia, and northern Africa ; it was
brought to South America and Mexico
moro than two hundred years ago, and
in various parts of California it was
planted at tho mission establishments,
where some of the old groves still re
main, notably that of San Diego, which
is still iu good bearing, and other plan
tations have recently been made there.
In tho Atlantic States the olive was in
troduced before tho Revolution, and at
several times since ; it is perfectly hardy
and fruitful in South Carolina ; the chief
obstacle to its cultivation seems to ba the
fact that its crop matures just at the
time when nil the labor is needed to se
cure the cotton. The French enumerate
over twenty varieties, differing in the
size nnd color of their loaves and fruits.
Olive oil is obtained from the ripe fruit,
the pulp of which contains about seventy
per cent, of oil. Italy produces annual
ly about 33,000,000 gallons, while the
production of France is only about
7,000,000.
A Taste for Reading.
" My sou is an inveterate leader,"
said a lady the other day; " all he wants
is a book or a paper, and he is happy."
"And what does he read?" asked the
listener. " Ho subscribes for
(mentioning one of our most popular
sensational newspapers), and pays for it
out of his own spending money, and he
reads everything iu it; then he borrows
books of boys iu the neighborhood I
don't know what they are, but he is never
without one or more. When he's read
ing I'm sure he's not in any mischief."
Sure ? How could she be " sure," if
she didn't know what her boy was read
ing, that the very soul of vice, and mis
chief, aud ultimate ruin was not at work
within him, quiet as he seemed over his
book ? There are in New York city alono
no less than thirteen publications, all
with large circulations, for boys' and
girls' reading. These supply the most
vicious matter, mainly pirate, highway
man and Indian stories. A police officer
in Philadelphia stated not long ago that
if certain publications could be sup
pressed, and certain plays bo removed
from the boards of the theater, the re
form school for boys would soon be
empty.
Girls Fishing.
A writer tells us how ladies fish. He
says lie saw four of thorn who had suc
ceeded in lauding a littlo flounder. No
sooner had the poor fish struck the
ground than all exclaimed in one voice :
"Ouch! Murder I take it away.
Ugh, the nasty thing 1"
Then they hold up their skirts and
gather about that fish, and all the time
tho one who caught the fish is holding
the hue in both hands, with her foot on
the pole, as though she had an evil-disposed
goat at the other end, wliich she
expected to butt her at any moment.
Then they talk over it :
" However will we get it off?"
" Ain't it pretty ?"
Look how it pants."
" Wonder if it ain't dry ?"
" Poor little thing, let's put it
back."
" How will we get the hook from it?"
" Pick it up," says a girl, who backs
rapidly out of the circle.
" Good gracious ! I'm afraid of it.
There, it's opening its mouth at me."
Just then the fish wiggles off the hook
aud disappears into tne water, and the
girls try for another bite.
Swamp lotsinDuluth are advertised
as " eligible sites from which to view
fne mellow shores of the moaning lake.
33.
The Ring.
" Give me," said Lubin to his fair,
To whom he would be more than friond,
" Give me the little ring you wear
'Tis like my love it has no end."
" Excuse me, that I caouot do,
My heart you have no hope of winning, t
The riug is like my love for you,
For, Lubin, it has no beginning."
Items of General Interest.
The best engineering Building a
bridge of faith over the river of death.
M. Quad's new book, ''Quad's Odds,"
is having a very large sale among peoplo
who like fun. Quad is ever funny.
Feminine typographers are not popu
lar because nialo typos consider it uuro
mantio to "setup with any woman in
a printing office.
" Where do peoplo go who deceive
their fellow men? asked a Sunday
school teacher of a pupil. "To Europe,"
wa9 the prompt reply.
If a dog's tail is cut off entirely, will it
not interfere with his locomotion ? Not
exactly. It will not affect his carriage,
but it will stop his waggin'.
Mr. Samuol Murdock, who has mad
a thorough study of the mound builders,
will try to construct fac-similies of the
most remarkable works ou the Centenni
al grounds.
A man may form what opinion ho
likes tliis is a free country but it's tho
expression of them in the presence of
his wife's mother that makes life sapless
nnd barren as a last year's corn cob.
That was rather a startling statement
made in the insurance convention by tho
president of the Continental, that there
was six times more wealth consumed in
this country by fire than in Europe.
" How much did ho leave I" said n
lady, on learning the death of a wealthy
citizen, " Everything," responded the
lawyer ; "he didn t take a cent with
him."
The California wine crop is increasing
every year. This year it is expected to
exceed 8,000,000 gallons. In a few years
a large number of vines will come into
hearing, increasing the present produc
tion almost one half.
" Cantell A. Goodlie," has told one in
an Illinois paper, about how he got lost
in a cornfield, the other day, strayed
around two nights and a day, nnd had
been given np for dead by his family,
when he finally found his way out.
Pierceville, Pa., is excited over the
finding of five human skeletons, which
were unearthed by a party hunting wood
chucks. They are believed to be those
of a family named Soarles, who started
lor JSew lork many years ago, but were
never heard from.
Tho Canadian women are said to wear
neither bustles nor striped Blockings,
nor even false hair. Aud yet there are
peoplo who pretend to think gracious
goodness I that the Canadian women
are just as neat and tasteful as tho
women of this country !
A Cincinnati corpse arose in its coffin
and quietly remarked: " I feel very
queer." The two young men who were
sitting up with it had important business
down town the next moment, and din
not hesitate to pass out through the win
dow to attend to it, either.
A French butcher, on his death-bed,
said to his wife : " If I die, Franchette,
you must marry our foreman. He is n
good young man, and the business can
not be carried on without a man.
" True, my dear," said tho affectionate
wife, " and I've been thrnkiug about
that already."
Said a distinguished politician to his
sou: ".Look at me I I began as an
alderman, and here I am at the top of
the tree; and what is my reward? hy,
when I die, my son will bo the greatest
rascal iu the eity." To this the young
hopeful replied : " Yes, dad, when you
die but not tjJl then."
At a recent trial the prisoner entered a
plea of "not guilty," when one of the
jurymen put on his hat and started for
the door. The judge called him back
and iuformed him that he couldn't leave
until that case was tried. "Tried?"
queried the juror, "why, he acknowl
edges that he is not guilty !"
Judge Burnbam, of the " Boston
Tachygraphio Society," proposed to
drop the letter " a " from ' head," aud
ugn from " tlirough as " u was
dropped from " labor," " honor," and
valor, and " k from " almanac,
"music," and "logic." Millions of min
utes and money aro lost in writinsr use
less letters.
A short time since two young ladies
were accosted by a gypsy woman, who
told them that for fifty cents she would
show them their husbands' faces in a
pail of water, which being brought, they
exclaimed: "We only see our own
faces!" "Well," said the old woman.
those faces shall be your husbands'
when you are married."
A good' precaution against trumps.
sneak thieves, and bold beggers is a
chain fastened across the outer door, so
that the door can be opeued wide enough
to see and speak with the person who
rings, but not wide enough to admit one.
Thus the door cannot be pushed open
by one from without, nor any one gain
admission without the consent of those
within.
A farmer once hired a man to assist in
drawing logs. Tho man, when there was
a log to lift, generally contrived to se
cure the small end, for which the farmer
rebuked him, and told him to take the
butt-end. Dinner came, and with it a
sugar-loaf Indian pudding. Jonathan
sliced off a generous portion of the lar
gest part, giving the farmer a wink, and
exclaimed : "Always take the butt-end!"
Some young lady student, wh
couldn't keep the secret, has been telling
about the ridiculous practice of " &jn ash
ing" among the girls at Vassar College,
which appears to be a silly sort of love
making confined to members of the
female sex, in the absence of young men.
It seems that the more " gentlemanly "
in appearance a young lady is the more
of a "smasher" she is among her com
panions. It strikes us that when the
imagination of young lady students be
comes so vivid as all this it is full time
they left school.
NO.