f- 1 - f 1 1 i i 1 i r l ' f HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. YOL. V. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PAT," THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1875. NO. 39. lie ifiiii Domestic 1(11 ss. A Fragment. ' lam A married lady of thirty odd. Every evening I Bee in their beds A " baker's dozen " of ourly heads. Every .morning my Blumbera greet The putter patter of twenty-six feet Thirteen little hearts are always In a flutter Till thirteen little months are filled with bread and butter ; Thirteen little tongues aro busy all day long, Twenty-sue little hands, with doing something wrong, Till I fain am to do, With an energy, too. And when my poor husband comes home from his Work, ' Tired and hungry, and fierce as a Turk, What do you think is the pictnre he sees ? A legion of babies, all in a breeze Johnny is crying, And Lncy a-sicliine. And worn-out mamma, with her hair a-flying : all Strong and angry William beating little Nelly ; Charley in the pantry eating currant jelly ; Jtichard strutting round iu papa's 8uuday coat ; Harry at the glass with a razor at his throat i ltobert gets his fingers crushed when Susy shuts the door, And mitigates their aching with a forty-pound Voar ) Baby at the coal-hod hurries to begin, Throwing in his mte to the universal din. Alas I my lord and master being rather weak of nerve, he Begins to lose hiB patience in the stunning topty-turvy, And then the frightened little ones all fly to me for slither, And so the drama closes 'mid a general helter skelter. in gue you. my name, lest you find me a myth. Vour,T-ea't(eotfnlly, Mrs. John 8mith. THE YOCXU BALLOONIST. A Mary of Frimte. It was a very unfortunate thing. At the very lust moment, when everything was ready, Killick the balloonist met with on accident and could not go up in the balloon. It would seem the most natural thing to apologize to the crowd and have the ttffair postponed until the ballooniBt .recovered, lint the unfortunate fellow de- clared that the mob would not submit to this,ind to my surprise proposed that I should go up iu his place. I had made one or two trips with him and had learned from him to manage the valves and ballast, the rudiments of the art of ballooning. I was young, active, nnd had a steady head, and the owner of the Defiance was quite willing to intrust licr to me, if I would so far oblige him. A rich landed proprietor of the neigh borhood a vainroung man, with a taste for notoriety hud offered fifteen louis d'or to-bo taken up as a passenger; and to disappoint M. Victor de Videueuve aud Ioko three hundred francs was also an unwelcome contingency. With scarcely a thought of the result I said I would go. M. de Villeneuve was not to arrive till the last moment, when up we would go. I was now iu the rocking, swaying car, and, stooping down, I ascertained that the bag of bilust, the coil of spare rope, the flags, aud telescope were at my ioei ; men i assured myself that the gr-ipnel was provided with its tough oord, aud tuo whizz of a rocket and a descending shower of colored spangles in ure gave a warning note ot prepara tion. Rockets now soared aloft, amidst the huzzas of the crowd, aud then, spring ing from the driving sent of a light open carnage drawn by a gray norse, there, appeared the figure of a stout, well-dressed man, who elbowed his way so quickly through the tliromr thnt I had scarcely time to conjectuie that this must be the volunteer companion of my aerial voyage, M. Victor dd Villeneuve, before he scrambled into the car, and was at my side. " Let go !" he ciied. iu a sharp. im- perious tone, to the men who held the ropes. A voice raised iu acc, nts of command seldom fail of its effect, however ques tionable may le the right of him who uplifts it, and the men addressed, in their astonishment, mechanically obey ed. The balloon rose a little, nothing now restraining its upward flight save tho trigger-cord, firmly moored to a post below, the spriug being in my grasp. "Off we go!" exclaimed the passen ger, with a jovial laugh that had scarcely tho ring of honest raiith iu it. Perhaps AT. de Villeneuve, for all his swaggering deportment, was ill at ease as to the results of our voyoge, and Bti'(4 to carry it off gayly; such were my thoughts as tho Catherine wheels be gan to revolve in cascades of whirling tire aud the crowd to cheer. It was the moment for our start, but I hesitated to pull the trigger, for uow a strange bustle and confusion below attracted my atten tion, A mounted gendarme, his saber aud carbine clanking, had ridden up at the full gallop of hia reeking horse, followed at some distance by three others, who spurred furiously forward. There were a few hurried questions, then a smother ed outcry, a roar of voices, and a sway ing backwards and forwards of the ex cited populace. I looked down at the crowd of up turned faces. 'Stop I stop! Englishman, stay I" cried out the brigadier of the foot police. 'Let go, fool!" thundered the man who sat beside me in the car. "But it is the police that" I began, thinking that M. de Villeneuve had sud denly taken leave of his senses. 'Come down 1 stop haul the rope I " was the shout from below; but as the words reached my ear my companion Ix lit forward. Something flashed in his hand a dagger-knife and the cord was cut, and the balloon darted up wards. "In the name of the law ah ! you won't?" cried a gendarme, discharging his carbine, an example that was follow ed by his comrades; but the balls whistled idly by, while we rose and rose uutil the inn and the gardens and the shouting rowd and the sputtering fireworks had diminished to pigmy size, end presently disappeared altogether, and the balloon rode on, solitary, through the fields of tiir. " A singular salute our friends gave us, eh, when they bade unbon voyage!" said M. de Villeneuve, with a chuckle that was incomprehensible to me. The moon, half full, had now risen, and I could see the face of my com panion the swarthy, keen face of a man forty years of age, with short dark hair, slightly grizzled, fiery black eyes, and very white, strong, sharp-pointed teeth, which gave him, when he "smiled, some what the expression of a laughing wolf. He was a man of powerful frame, and the fingers of tho gloved hand which he now laid upon my arm were as strong and supple as f-teel. "Avow," said this strange passenger, with a grin that an ogre might have envied, " avow that you take me for a qnerr specimen of the French provin cial gentry But first, how comes it that Killick is absent, and one of your age has the honor to be my pilot ?" I told him briefly and in offended tones what had occurred. "We must now," I added, "look out for a place to descend, for the wind is freshening, and" "Let it freshen !" ' rudely interrupted M. de Villeneuve. " Sets fair for Spain, does it not?" "For Spain?" I echoed, in surprise. Could this self -conceited country gentle man really deem that we were bound on such a journey as that ? I could not help laughing as I said: "Why for Spain, monsieur?" " Well, Italy would have served me as well had the wind been a westerly one. Ha, lad, what are you about that you nnger that rope r "I am opening the valve above," I answered, coldly, because it is time now to sink to a lower level and descend" " Descend, eh ?" briskly put in my fellow-voyager. "We may as well understand each other at once. Hands of that rope, I say, if you would keep (he roof on your skull, "he added, threat eningly, as ho drew a revolver from with in his waistcoat, and deliberately pointed the barrel at my head. "I'll show you who s captain up here. My brain reeled and my blood ran cold as the horrid thought flashed upon me that I was, at that fearful height above the earth, in company with a mad man. Nothing surely save insanity could account for the extraordinary bo havour of M. de Villeneuve. But I suppose I put a tolerably good countenance on the matter, for my formidable companion laughed again, but less ill-naturedly, as he said : " You face it out well, boy. I like a youngster who shows a heart somewhat bigger than a chicken's. And I'm not so bad as I look never do this I" h? drew his hand as he spoke edgeways, with a meaning gesture, across his throat " when I can get my little profits by ?uieter means. But you stare at me as If were a mountebank selling quack medicines. Can you guess why those gendarmes were so peremptory an hour ago ? Because they wanted the pleasure of my company back to Toulon, that's all. Did you never hear of Risque-son-cou ?" And then I remembered to have seen a paragraph iu a local paper announcing the escape from Toulon of a criminal of tLe worst aud most dangerous type. And here was I, E l ward Holmes, artist, voyaging by night in a balloon, in com pany with a runaway galley-slave, well armed with knife and pistol, and more than a match in strength for me, even had he been less well provided ! My terrible companion was only too much disposed to be talkative ; and as we swept onward before the freshening wind, he was kind enough to favor me with a few brief anecdotes of his past career, in which the jocose aud the hor rible seemed to mingle in cynic confu sion. He told graphically of the ten days of hardship and hunger which he had endured while skulking among the rocky hills by night, and lying hidden among thorny brakes by day, until at last he broke into a preau of triumph in relating how he hod encountered and robbed the true M. de Villeneuve on his way to the village f.te. " Twenty frhiniug naps in his purse, the idiot 1' he said, exultingly, and three thousand francs, besides, in notes. Well, well ! I left him gagged and bound to a tree, after I had taken the freedom to change clothes with him ; and there he stands, no doubt ; trem bling, but fortunate to keep a whole skin. And I found in his pocket the letter of M. Killick, promising to take him as a passenger in the balloon here ; aud so " And so the idea had presented itself to this daring and ready-witted ruffian to personate the victim of his recent rob bery, and thus to procure tho means of flight in what was certainly nn unexam pled fashion, while I was the luckless scapegoat of his audacious enterprise. Meanwhile the wind, as I have said, was rising, and as we hurried on I look ed downwards, and saw by the shimmer of the moonlight on tho tremulous waves that the sea was below us. I could not forbear from an exclamation of dismay. The desperado at my side also looked down. " Bah I sea or land what matters it?" he said, recklessly. "Throw out bal last ; do you hear me?" and unwillingly I complied. The balloon instantly rose, and it soon became perceptibly colder, so that I shivered, and had to chafe my hands to gether te prevent them from stiffening. My companion's iron frame showed no signs of suffering from the abrupt low ering of the temperature ; but after a time the Defiance seemed to be nearer to the sea, for I heard the low roar of the waves ; and then Risque-son-cou im- Jiatiently flung out another bag of bal ast, and we rose. . "If we come down in France, my young friend," said the strident voice of the escaped convict, as we floated through masses of misty vapor, the con densed moisture of which wetted me to the skin, "you may bid adieu to what ever home ties and British, affections your insular heart may cherish. It's no fault of yours, you will say, if the wind carries this flapping gas-bag to Poiton or the Nivernaia. No, but is Risque-son-oou to wait while the young English man crawls to the nearest brigade of gendarmerie to give notice that his fel low traveler Was Peter Paul Qrincheux ? Thank you. I prefer to keep my own oounsol. So sure as we drop where Na poleon is emperor I prove that one can keep a secret better than two." " There s something wrong with, the valves," said my companion, roughly, an hour later; "the gas is coming down, and we are sinking. It's for you, aeronaut, to ascend the netting and stop the escape of gas. I was very reluctant to obey. To climb the netting of a balloon, when at a great height above the earth, is never a very pleasant task; but to do so, leav ing behind me a ruffian who might at any moment pistol or stab, me as I de scended, thus relieving himself from an inconvenient witness, was indeed irk some. However, Risque-son-cou evinced such vehement pertinacity that at last I complied; and having adjusted the valve, crept back to the car, sick and giddy, but unhurt. The moon had faded awav. There were pale crimson streaks in what I took to bo tho eastern sky, and below lay piled up gloomy masses of black cloud, throngh which gleamed at inter vals something white aud lustrous, like the marble pinnacles of the cathedral at Milan. " We're steering straight. Fatality, for onco, befriends me, exclaimed the desperate sharer of my journey, " fer those are tho peaks of the Eastern Py- reneos. Chuck over ballast, boy, don't let us ground on them." We were, in reality, floating amongst the serrated summits and snow-clad mountain-tops of the huge chain of mountains that form a natural barrier between Gaul and Spain. Below, the sullen cloud-banks menaced elemental war, and already low-muttering growls of thunder reverberated among the ser rated ridges beneath us. " ihrow over more ballast, com manded my ruffianly companion. I flung out, with some misgivings, the remainder of the last bag of sand and small pebbles, but the Defiance did not rise with its former buoyancy, Much gas had been lost. The once smooth surface of the silk, painted in gaudy stripes of pink and blue, was wrinkled now, and fluttered loosely in irregular festoons. More than once it seemed as though we must be dashed against Lome one of the towering peaks above which the balloon slowly revolved. Day had broken ; the sun was rising, red and angry, in the stormy eastern sky, and as a current of air wafted the balloon rapidly forward, I could dimly distinguish forest, and meadows, and spurs of wood-clothed hills, lying to the southward of us. The snowy peaks, rosy-pink in the morning radiance, were Deing grauuany leu oenina us. "Hurrah 1" cried out the galley-slave, triumphantly, as he too scanned tho landscape. "We're well across tho frontier now, and Pierre Paul Grin chuex is as safe as any 'other French man from the odious summons to trudge back to the chain-gang. Thank your stars, Englishman " A stunning peal of thunder cut short his boastful discourse, and as it did so the Defiance heeled over, and was driven like a dead leaf before the gale, by the sudden rush of a mighty wind, that bore us almost to the surface of the ground, aud lmrrieQ us along with head long rapidity. What was that, like a river of glancing water, on the dusty high road beneath us, the yellow road like a ribbon wind ing amid rocks and thickets? Troops on the march, no doubt, the sunlight glinting on their bayonets. I could see that as wo approached they came con fusedly to a halt. " Again, hurrah I" shouted the galley slave. " A cheer, noble Spaniards, for your guest, .Pierre lJaul, now safely As he spoke I saw the earth very near us, saw the soldiers run to right and left, as though to clear the way for our passage, and thon, with a sickening crash, the balloon and the car seemed to strike aga'ust a rock, and a thousand sparks of hre filled my bewildered eyes, and then all grew dark. " He'll live, this one, never fear," sold a cheery voice speaking in the Spanish language, which I partially un derstood, as I awoke to find myself lying upon a truckle-bed in a wayside cottage, euiTounded by a group of office) s, while a regiraental surgeon was feeling my pulse. " Only a couple of ribs the worse, I think." "And and the man that was with me?" I asked, feebly. The doctor shook his head. "Not your father or your brother, I trust, Caballero?" he said. "Ah, then, I may tell you that his head was dashed against a rock, and his neck a tough one, by-the-bye very effectually dislo cated." And so it was. Risque-son-con had shared the proverbial fate of the pitcher that goes too often to the well. Strange to say, my fortune was, to a qualified extent, made by the accident which had so nearly put an end alto gether to my worldly anxieties. The kind protectors who had picked me up, a wayworn stranger, with two ribs broken, by tho roadside, had me con veyed along with them on a Utter to the garrison town of Girona, whither they were bound, and in the military hospi tal of this place I was cared for, until youth and a robust constitution enabled me to get the better of the fever that en sued. My story was noised abroad, and all Barcelona seemed eager to sit for its portrait to the young English artist who had visited Spain in so singular a man ner; and thence, with good professional recommendations, I passed on to Mad rid, Paris, and London, and have never since known the actual pressure of want. - I afterwards heard that a subscription set on foot at Marseilles compensated M. Killick for the loss of his balloon, but he and I never met again. Owe. "Oh for a plainly dressed woman," is a sigh which comes from a writer on the New York World. While he is about it he might as well owe for a lady fashionably got np. It will be all the same, and he can go into society and into bankruptcy at the same time. , When you hear a man say that the world owes him a living, don't leave any movable articles, particularly any bank bills, lying around loose. Fur Trimmings. Fur trimmings we the most fashion able garuiturt) for sacks, cloaks, ' and heavy wraps of all cleths, silks, and velvet, the Bazar tells us. There is an endless variety of trimming fnrs, some of which we have already quoted, bnt the caprice of the season is for dark furs that have white-tipped hairs ; and so popular are these that furriers have re sorted to sewing gray or white hairs in the dark furs when nature has not sup plied them. Of the latter is a fancy fur called silver otter, which is a black fur with silver hairs sewed or even pasted in. This is of no real value, but is the fancy of the moment, a fashion for a season. It is really beaver fur dyed black, and this, when the white hairs aro inserted, cot-ts $8 a yard. Block marten in its natural color is also given a facti tious value by adding theso white hairs, and is sold for 4 a yard. .. .These furs are really imitations of the fine sea-otter whioh. in its best qualities, is supplied Dy nature with these "silver points or fine white glossy hairs ; this fine fur is among me cnoicesi inuumiugs ior vel vet, seal, and silk cloaks, and costs from $6 to 815 a yard. The plain otter fur ranges from $8 to $12. Beaver borders cost from $6 to $10. The most expen sive of all fur trimmings aro the eable- tail borders, ranging in price from 820 to Sf50 a yard. A showy inexpensive trimming, resembling chinchilla and quite as durable, is made from silver coon skins, and sold from S'i to 85, Gray fox furs have also a very good effect on gray, brown, black, or blue fabrics, ana cost irom si.ou to 7.0U a yard. The cony trimmings vary in shado, and aro called black, brown, gray, silver, or white cony, according to color, They are much used for--trimming chil dren s clothing, ana are very low priced, ranging from forty'ecnts to sixty-five cents a yuru. AuAgrcenhle Story.. " Milk mysteries and a milkman's miseries " is the alliterative heading a Now York exchange places over a trial that took place in the marine conrt. This was a suit for the recovery of $300 from a milkman who had been supplied by a dairyman np in the country. In the course of the trial some interesting developments were made that we appre hend will prove very interesting to all consumers of milk. - In the first place, it appears that the employees of the railroads are in the habit of opening cans, taking as much milk as they want, and replacing the stolen fluid with water. If the cans are locked they are broken open, for the milk will be had. Assuming that pure milk is shipped by the dairyman, what miiBt be its condi tion on arrival in New York, even before it is doctored by the dealers here ? But it appears watering is not the greatest of the agents used to adulterate the milk. In summer baking powder, sulphur, and other mild and ogreeable tonics are ad ministered in the milk to preserve its tone and prevent it souring. In the course of the trial referred to, it ap peared that on one occasion an overdone of baking powder was given a can with lamentable results. During the night the powder began to exercise its leaven ing functions with such admirable suc cess that the lid was blown off the can and tho fluid overflowed the floor. At other times the smell of sulphur from the milk was so strong that the dealer was obliged to throw the fluid away. In consequence of this he refused the dairyman payment, and the suit that was begun in consequence was the me dium that brought these pleasant facts to light. Badly-fed cows, water, sul phur, and baking powder combined do not tend to produce pure milk. Don't Worry. To retain or recover health, persons should be relieved from all anxiety con cerning disease. The mind has powtr over the body, for a person to think he has a disease will often produce that disease. Thi3 we see effected when the mind is intensely concentrated on the disease of another. It is found in the hospitals that surgeons and physicians who make a specialty of certain diseases are liable to die of them themselves, and the mental strain is so great that some times people die of diseases which they have only in imagination. We have seen a person seasick in anticipation of a voyage ere reaching the vessel. We have known persons to dio of imaginary cancer in the stomach when they had no cancer or any mortal disease. A blind folded man, slightly pricked in the arm, has fainted and died from believing that he was bleeding to death. Therefore, welU persons, to remoiu so, should be cheerful and happy, and sick persons should have their attention diverted as much as possible from themselves. It is by their faith that men are saved, and it is by their faith they die. As a man thinketh so is he. If he wills not to die he can often live in spite of disease, and if he has little or no attachment to life- he will slip away as easily as a child will fall asleep. Men live by their souls and not by their bodies. Their bodies have no life of themselves, they ore only receptacles of life, tenements of their souls; and the will has much to do in maintaining the physical occupancy or giving it up. Wheat in Xew York. The number of acres of wheat under cultivation in the State of New York in 1850 was 12,408,904 ; in 1870, 15,627, 206 ; increase, 3,218,212, or twenty-six per cent., while the wheat crop, which should have gained in the same ratio, fell off nearly eight per cent. Winter wheat was the chief crop in western New York from the earliest set tlement until about twenty years ago, when winter killing, the midge and other annoyances led many farmers to the cultivation of other cereals or fruits. Still winter and spring wheat are largely grown, though the yield seems to grew smaller year by year. . ... When the Western States began to send down their vast crops of wheat the farmers of New York looked around for other crops. They devoted more land to barley, oats, corn and potatoes, and made some successful experiments in to bacco. Buckwheat, hops, broom corn and hay were ooked al tony and certain localities were devoted to one or two articles. . . .,' A REMARKAPLR CASK. An Innocent Boy Chiira-ra lllmitrli with Crime A Puzzle to be Solvrit. A remarkable case occurred in one of the public schools of Hartford, Conn., the Times says, presenting a phase of character on the pnrt of two young scholars which puzzles the astute and observing teachers. The sack of a little girl was one day, it was supposed, taken from the cloak room. The princi pal went into the lower department and ' J Al- 1. .1 1. 1 lliqurreu li any oi lue ecuoiura unu neru i it. Several hands went up; on inquiry, however, it was found that none of the scholars could trace it beyond the cloak room : but one little fellow, six years of age, who had raised his hand, at first said he knew where it was, and then, commencing to cry, said he had never seen it aud knew nothing about it. Go ing into the apartment above, the prin cipal made the same inquiry. No one had fceen the sack, but a brother of the little six-year-old seemed to feel uneasy at the ouestion, aud evinced some cmo tion. He was eight years old. The teacher, seeing what he conceived to be evidence of knowledge in regard to the Back on the part of the two little broth ers, t oiled out the eldest one and asked him where the sack was. At first he denied any knowlodge in regard to it, . . .i ' i i i.: :i ii DUt tne principal questioning mm uiuuijr and kindly, the little fellow finally eaid that he took tho sack, but he decUned to tell where it was. The principal visited the boy's parents, and in the presence of tlie boys stated what nod nappenea, The parents at once directed the boys to tell frankly and fully all they knew about the sack. The oldest one said that, on leaving school, he took the sack, put it under his overcoat, and started for his home; that on the way onother boy snatched it from him and ran off with it. His little brother said he saw tho boy snatch away tho sack. Neither could identify the boy. When it was suggested that the oldest boy's overcoat was so small that he could not get a sack under it. he said: " I guess a girl rolled it up into a very small wad and put it under there." On inquiry it be came evident that no such snatching in cident had occurred. The case had now become interesting, and a policeman was sent to interview the eicht-vear-old boy. who haa all tuo timo been auite calm and self posi-o sed, though contradictory in his stories. The policeman interviewed the boy at the schoolhou3e. The boy told him that he took the sack, and had hidden it in a va cant lot between two stumps, where he eovered it with dry leaves. The police man requested tho hoy to go with him to the place of conoealment, and he readily consented. He led the policeman, not toward a vacant lot, but into a street of dweliing'houses. The policeman asked the boy if this was the right direction to the stumps, and he said it was. But the surroundings did not appear right, and the policeman again inquired " You are not deceiving me, are you ? You are not leading me to your home i the policeman not knowing where he lived. The boy coolly replied : " Oh, no ! this is the right way ; I'll show you the stumps ;" and in a moment more the little fellow dodged into his own house, leaving the policeman out in the cold. Finally the boy's mother permitted tho policeman to take him over to a nro en gino house to see if he could get from him the true story of this affair. Tho bov went along without fear or emotion, Ho finally took the policeman into a lot, showed him two stumps near together, and said : " There is the place where I hid the sack." - But there was no evi dence that any sack had been hidden there : it did not appear at all like a place of concealment ; aud tho boy's story being contradictory, tho policeman took him to the engine house and shut him into a room, asking him now he liked that? The boy mildly replied " I rather like this." Leaving him there for a time it was found on opening the door that he had lain himself down and gone to sleep I The policeman then took him to the station-house, put him iu a dark cell and, partly closing the door, said he must tell truly where the sack was or he would shut him iu. The boy then utterly refused to tell him ony thing more. The policeman then asked him : "flow do you like tins placer The boy replied : I like it well enough," and did not appear to be at all disturbed at the prospect of a gloomy conmienient, The policeman shut the door, and then inquired: "How do you like it now?" The boy replied: " I like this pretty well ; it s a pretty good place." The policeman was astoundod to find this utter indifference and composure on the part of a boy of eight years, when con fined in a dark cell that had so often subdued hardened men. He said to the boy : "If you hear any rats in the cell you must call to me loudly and I'll come and drive them off." "If I hear any rats," quietly replied the boy, " I'll lot you know :" and there the little follow remained through the afternoon, with out a whimper or complaint At the approach of evening he was taken out and appeared no more alarmed or disturbed than if he had been in the parlor of his home. He was sent to his parents; and policeman, teacher and parents were puzzled over this strange case. But now comes the most singular part of this remarkable story. The next day the sack was found ; and the circum stances attending it were such as to render it impossible for the little boy accuseu, or uis uroiuer, w uavo iiau any thing to do with it. or even to have seen 1 " 1 1 1 A 1 1 it 1 And this settled fact throws a still greater mystery around the stories of the two little brothers, and especially the action of the oldest one. He was not treated harshly by the principal, who mildly end kindly attempted to impress upon him the duty of telling the truth in regard to the sock. The only harsh treatment he received was when he was shut np, and this seemed to make no impression upon him. He is a remark able boy, evidently, and an ordinarily good and faithful boy. isut what singu lar phase of character it is that induced him to say so readily that ha took the sack when "he had never seen it ; and to give so many particulars as to what he did with it, all of which were purely imaginary ; and the conduct and evi- denoe of his little six-year-old brother. too, who said he saw a boy snatch a sack away, is also inexplicable. A Vermont man, who was sous yea since accused of murdering dne of his neighbors, confessed bis crime, ana gave b11 the particulars of it. lie wai sentenced to be hanged; but his life was saved by the sudden reappearance of the individual supposed to have been murdered there having been no murder or violence at all. This case is a matter of judicial record, and a. puzzle to jud ges and lawyers. That " confession " was by a man of mature years, of educa tion nnd of good character. Now comes a " confession," also of an offense never -li . 3 I 1 . 1 1 . eoilliuiixeu, vj uoy 01 lenuur jeitru and it is corroborated by a little brother, who never saw anything of the kind which he says he saw. This story, in which is involved a peculiar phase of human character, or the .workiug of the mind under serious accusations, is some thing for teachors, as well as lawyers and judges, to reflect upon and define, if they can. Church Pews. There is a speck of history connected with the origin of church pows that can not help bnt prove interesting, in tne early days of the Anglo-Saxon ana some of the Norman churches a fitono bench afforded the only sitting accom modations for members or visitors. In the year 1319 they are spoken of as sit ting on the ground or in a standing pos ture. At a later period the people in troduced low, three-legged stools, and they were placed in no uniform order in the church. Directly after the Norman conquest wooden seats came in fashion. In 1387 a decree was issued that none should call any seat in the church his own except noblemen and patrons, each entering and holding tho one ho first found. From 1530 to 1540 seats were more appropriated, and a crowbar guarded the entrance, bearing tho ini tial of the owner. It was in lulia that galleries were thought of. And as early as 1618 pews were arranged to afford comfort by being baized or cushioned, while the sides around were so high as to hide the occupants a device of the Puritans to avoid being seen by the offi cer, who reported those who did not stand when the name of Jesus was men tioned. A Straugo Prisoner. One of ex-Gov. Dix's official acts near the close of his administration was the pardon of John Parsons, who had served twenty-three years of a life sentence. His crime was the unintentional killing of a man in a street nght in Mew lork. In Sing Sing he became, throngh good behavior, a favorite with the keepers, and was often sent to the village on errands, but by his fow friends and rela tives out in the world he was soon for gotten. He lost, with the knowledge of their disregard, all desire for freedom, grew to regard the prison without re grct as his permanent homo, and op posed frequent offers of endeavors to se cure for him a pardon. Several years ago he was allowed to visit New York alone, and while in Niblo's theater was seen by a keeper, who, supposing that he had escaped, handcuffed and took him back to Sing Sing in spite of his ex planation. J. hat was his last absence from the prison, for when tho pardon from Gov. Dix was received ho wept, declared that if sent away he would com mit some crime that would insure his return, and prevailed upon the warden to allow him to stay. A few days ago he died in his cell. The Presidential Election. The New York Herald, rejoicing at the fact that the Republican and Demo cratic parties were equally balanced in the late elections, says : Neither party can afford to blunder In so critical a conjuncture. The increas ing body of independent voters will de cide the contest when the scales hang so even ; and the necessity which each party will be under of bidding for their support should incite eacli to put for ward its best man and make such a dec laration of principles as citizens of sound judgment can approve. The next Presidential election will not be a sharp conflict of clashing policies ; for the country is nearly unanimous on every topic which will be touched in the party platforms of next year. The contest will probably be decided by the personal merits of the candidates in point of ability, integrity, experience, public ser vices and popular magnetism, it is for tunate for tho country that neither party con presume upon its strength and put forward mischievous principles or a vul nerable candidate. The present equality of the two parties is the most hopeful sign of the times. The Agreement. A resident of Detroit, says the Free Press, secured a place for his boy to learn a trade a few weeks ago, having a written agreement with the manufactur er. The boy proved very destructive on machinery and window glass, and finol ly, the other day, the manufacturer call ed upon the father and said : "I can t keep Henry any longer. His recklessness has cost me over $200 in four weeks." "What's the matter?" inquired the father. "Why, ho has broken over twenty panes of gloss, for one thiug, and the other day he destroyed a piece of ma chinery which cost me f 140." "He did, eh?" "Yes, lie did." . " Well, when I go home I'll look our agreement," eaid the father, don't think there is any clause in it which says he shan't break windows or machinery, but 1 11 look to make sure I A Butter Tiler. An Auburn paper tells this delightful story: Saturday morning a woman ap proached the stall of a market man in Williamsport and asked if he had any good butter. The man informed her that he had a prune article, at the same time unfolding a fine roll from a clean white cloth, which hs exhibited. The woman seized it like a tiger, and held it up to her nose, and then deliberately reaching back of her head drew forth a hair pin and jammed it deep into the butter. As shs drew the pin throngh her mouth, she shook her head, and re marked that it wasn't good, and adjust ing the pin she moved on A Bnrled Love. Our love was born amid the purple heather, When win-la were still, aud vesper lights were red t For one bright year we cherished it together ; Now it lies cold and dead. Driid ; and across' the brown bill-ridges, wail ing. Comes the wild autumn in her swift return, With sullen tears, and misty garments trailing Over the faded fern. Ah, there may come a timo God send it quiokly When love's lone grave shall wear a fra grant wreath Of blooms, aud velvet mosses, piling thickly Upon the duBt beneath. And we, across the heather slow returning, May seek, perchance, this sacred mound of ours ; Beek it, tinvexed by any foolish yearning, And find it lost in flowers. Items of Interest. A goose recently died in Paris at tho pge of 230 years. Noses are fashionable, and have al ways been followed. Whisky is alike an internal furnace and an infernal turn-us. Oregon has a new town called Pay Up. It is said to be a good place for settlement. Abiel Walker, a robust farmer of Dummer, N. H., was butted to death by his ram a few days ago. It is reported that Know-Nothing lodges are being organizod in New Jer sey, Maryland and Pennsylvania, A Swedish schoolhouse, fcr exhibition at the Centennial, has been shipped from that country to Philadelphia. In London, with 7,500,000 inhabi tants, there were three births to two deaths to every quarter of an hour in 1874. A Texas paper says : Mr. J. Johnson, the cotton planter, has received his gin, and now has commenced work in good earnest. Some person recently advertised in the London I'imcs for a servant girl, "one who fears the Lord and can carry one cwt." Californians say they can toll an East ern man as soon as ho makes a purchase. If there's two cents change coming to him he wants it. It is estimated, from such census re turns as have been published this year, that the population of the United States is about 4G.250.000. Fast mail trains are a great conveni ence to retail merchants. They receive dunning letters now several hours earlier than under the old plan. Eight southern counties in California, which polled bnt 10,138 votes in 1861, cast 15,421 at the late September elec tion, showing a rapid increase of popu lation. Twenty forts aud a large number of provisional camps are beiug constructed i- -i l i i ,;i., f. ill n circle, aouut iwuivo uiuco im Paris, and will be completed in 1878, three years sooner than was anticipated. An exchange advises that if a person be attacked with cramps, a hot bath be prepared for him as quickly as possible. But while the bath is being prepared, somo attendant should rub the cramped part briskly. " How many little ones uow, grand mother ?" you ask Queen Victoria sinco the Duchess oi . Edinburg increased the number by one, and the good old lady will smilingly reply : " Twenty-seven, Bir twenty-seven grandchildren, thank you bless their little hearts 1" A thief entered the cellar of a grocery store in a Canada town the other night, and ingeniously contrived to steal several gallons of molasses by boring a hole through the floor of the salesroom above, and letting his' augur penetrate tho bot tom of a cask, whose position he had carefully ascertained in the daytime. Allen A. Angel and Elizabeth Hunt were married at Jackson, Mich., the other day. their marriage contracts, signed by both, ending thus: If the union and harmony that now exist be tween us should exist through our natu ral lives, then this contract is to remain in force ; otherwise to ue nuii ana voiu. He used to cramp hi feet up in littlo boots and limp painfully to her residence every Sunday evening, Din tne morning after his marriage ho went into a shoe store, drew a mark around his foot, and about an inch distant from it on both sides and at the heel and toe, and order ed the proprietor to put him up a pair of boots after that pattern. Oh, there's sweet liberty, there's balmy, boundless freedom in the marriago state. Value of Trees Iu Towns. Mr. Griffiths, the medical officer of health for Sheffield, in his report upon the sanitary condition of that town dur ing 1874, makes the following remarks in reference to street trees: In the formation of new streets, and on the evo of the contemplated widening and altera tion of old ones, it is to be hoped that an effort may be made to provide tor tne planting and establishment of trees wherever practicable. The pleasing ap pearance of verdure in summer, and the agreeableness of the shade afforded by the foliage to pedestrians, are Denenis to the inhabitants weu worm ine enors and the cost. Whoever has visited the boulevards of continental towns, or even the squares of London, can testify to the advantages of verdure as offering pleas ure to the eye and gratification to the mind. Moreover, from a sanitary point of view, the benefits are of incalculable value. It has been asserted that the ag gregate surfaces of the leaves of well grown elm, lime and sycamore trees, with their six to seven million leaves, equal about 200,000 square feet, or about five aorea ; and these are almost con stantly absorbing and digesting the car- bonio acid and various exhalations given off by the putrefaction of animal and vegetable matter, and, as if grateful for such support, return into the air pure oxygen, which reinvigorates and renews animal life. Trees thus remove poison from our midst, and to be without them is an oversight. Trees can be had which will exist, with suitable attention, in any part of the city.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers