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.