n
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIX. DESPEItANDTJM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
YOL. V.
HIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY,- PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1875.
NO. 41.
, . Self-Revealed.
" Dip doop thy pon Into my hcr.rt,
O ahgcl scribe, and write, that I
May kuow myself j I will not cry
Nor woop dip ilocp ; I will not start."
fho angel dipped doep in lior heart,
And dronr his dripping pon and wrote j
And, though her knees together emote,
She did not cry, nor weep, nor start.
He wrote one word in many ways,
All quaint, hut beautiful, until
His fair white roll was fullj and still
Her mudeHt eyes she did not raise.
" Is it all written ?" "Even so,
Behold." She saw not, for her sight
Was dim with pain and in despite
lior woman's tears began to fluw. .
Then through her tears she looked again,
And saw the word all written fair ;
And smiled and sighed, and with her hair
Toyed, crying ! " Love? but love in pain ;
" Yet Thou, dear Christ, haKt shown mo how
To die for hive ; let others wear
Life's roses in their waving hair,
I twine Thy thorus abant my brow."
The angel bent his stately head.
And bade her bless him as she bowed ;
" For thou my name acd state be proud
I am no peer to thee," he said.
Scribner.
A MEP.ttY CHIUSMAS.
A Story for the Holiilnja.
"A rarry Christinas !" It echoed
t'jvongh th-j wide streets in a thousand
different voices; it raug out in the clenr
sleigh holla; it was shouted through the
liouse by childish voices; it wna whis
pered in lovincr tones bv the invalid's
conch; it was sighed forth, with bitter
emphasis, in the prison cells; it was
muttered, in linrd voices, in the dark,
dirty alleys, where merriment was u
mockery, or the despairing mirth of
over-wrought misery. ' ' A merry Christ
mas I"
" Anna 1" said a low, feeble voice,
from n poor, hard pallet" Anna I"
" Yes, mother; I am here."
The child for she had not seen more
than twelve or thirteen summers rose
from a seat upon the floor, laid aside her
sewing, and bent over the invalid. The
room was a garret, poorly protected
from the cold, snowy winds without. A
small lire hardly served to take the bit
terest chill from the air. Tho furniture
consisted of two mattresses upon the
floor, and a low, wooden chest.
"Anna, dear child, put aside your
work. It is Christmas day. Where is
Charley ("
"Gone to tho store. Mr. Perkins
promised him a new jacket for a Christ-'
mas jrift, and ho has gone for the order."
"And you, 'my poor child, will have
no gift."
"I am as fortunate as you," said
Anna, with assumed gayuty; but, iu
spite of her efforts to restrain them, a
large tear rolled down each cheek.
"It is very cold," said tho invalid,
shivering.
"Mother ! dear mother 1" and how
the tears flowed freely "you are sick,
shivering with cold on Christmas day !
ami I cannot warm you 1 Others have
flue gifts; large houses, warm fires, and
plenty to eat; while we are starving and
freezing. It is unjust. O Heaven ! hast
thou, no pity for my mother?"
" Anna, it is ju ,t. Listen, my child,
and you shall hear my story. Long
years ago, I was tho petted child of
'wealthy pareuts. I had brothers and
sisters; but, ot all, I was the favorite. I
was beautiful and talented, and my
father's idol. With every indulgence,
every care, my path through life was
strewn. And how did I repay it ? With
bitter, gross ingratitude. I was aspoilt,
willful child: but my parents were blind
to all my defects, seeing only my fair
face, and hearing only the praises of my
various teachers.
" Among tho visitors at my father's
house, there was a Frenchman, a mau
who called himself Count de la Posta.
He was hmdsome and graceful. I loved
him. My father, wiio saw his roiil
worthlessness, tried, by gentleness and
love, to win me from him. ThU was
impossible. I fancied hi.a a persecuted
saint, a id clung to him still more close
ly. At la t, my father exacted from us
a promise tj separate, and hold no com
munication with each other for a
year. He hoped that in that time
ha could convince ma of his uu
worthiuess. Anna, you will dospi.se
your mother when she tells you that
in six mojitln she broke her promise,
and elojTed with Count de la Posta. I
trusted to my father's great love for
forgivoues-i. I was wrong. My ingrati
tude, disobedience, and deceit met their
just punish'ui'iit ; my father refused to
see his erring child ; it was a bitter dis
appointment, I had so counted on hij
love ; but I turned to my husband for
comfort. Now came the hardest blow
of all. My husband coolly iuformed me
that he was no count, that his name was
Dugarde, and that ho had beeu valet to
noblemen all his life. He had married
me in hopes of sharing my dowry, and
now quietly refused to support me. For
ten years we lived a life of utter nn
happiness. You were born, and Charley,
and named for my favorite brother aud
sister. I earned something by selling
the jewels I had brought from home,
and by assisting my husband in giving
French lessons. Had he but loved me, I
could still have been happy ; but he
treated me with coldness, sometimes
with cruelty, and continually reproached
ine with my poverty, aud failure in win
ning pardon from my father. At last,
lie died. In all these long years I had
heard no word of love from his lips ;
but on his deathbed he spoke to me
tenderly and gently. Anna, I have long
forgiven him all his unkindness ; do you
the same. After he died, I again sought
my father. Iu vain ; he refused to see
me. For three years more I supported
my children ; then came this sickness.
Two years have I lived in abject poverty,
supported by charity and the little you
could earn. Anna, my child, I will soon
cease to be a burden upon your young
hands."
" Mother, do Dot speak so. You break
my heart."
"Anna, my dear child, who will care
for yon when I am gone I God bless
aud pity my orphan children t It is
Christmas day. This very day, fifteen
yoars ago, I left my father's house. We
were having a gay party, for Christmas
day is also my birthday; and I was on
that evening seventeen years old. I left
my homo in a rich dress, glittering with
jewels, aud my hair decked with flowers;
anil now i die in a garret, ou a hard
mattress, shivering with cold. Then
there were soft furs to envelop my thin
ly clad form, and cover my bare neck
and arms; now, rags cover me, and I
perish with the cold. Father in heaven,
my punishment is just, but it is bitter I
Anna, what o'clock is it ?"
' It is after dark, mother. The fire
light is all that makes the room light.
Ah, here comes Charley !"
A lad, a year or two younger than
Anna, came boundiiig into the room.
" Mother 1 Auna I a merry Christ
mas ! I have a new jacket and five dol
lars in money; but I have better news
than that. There was an old get.tbman
in Mr. Perkins' htore; and, when he
heard my mother was sick, he told me
to come to his house, and he would give
me somo fruit fruit, dear mother, at
Christmas ! and f omo wine and jelly.
Anna, get your bonnet and tho basket,
and come. I know the bouse; he led
me past it; it is not far from hero."
" Shall I go, mother?" said Anna.
"Yes, dear; but come back soon; I
feel very weak aud ill to-night; and I
long for jelly or wine; it will give me
new strength. Good-night, my chil
dren." Thoy sfarted on their errand. Auna,
oppressed by tho sa i story her mother
had related, and filled with dark fore
bodings, could scarcely keep pace with
her merry-hearted brother, who, filled
with joy at his Christmas presents, and
longing to carry the promised dainties
to his mother, bounded along, unheed
ing the falling snow and the cold wind,
which blew open his poor jacket, and
nipped fiis lingers ami toes. His pre
cious new jacket and the five dollar? had
beeu left in his mother's hands.
"A merry Christmas 1" was shouted
in clear voices by all the children in Mr.
Leclerc's rich mansion. . Toys lay scat
tered in careless profusion upon the vel
vet carpet ; books were on tho handsome
table ; every luxury was in the room.
Lola Leclero sat with her arms around
her eldest child, looking at pictures ;
aud.little Nellie and Harry played about
the room. Aunt Jenny, Mr. Leclerc's
sister, petted tho only boy, encouraging
him in his noisy glee, while Chloe came
from the front door every few moments,
bearing some new gift ; now it was a doll
for Nellie, now a rich cake, covered with
white frosting, for all, now a drum for
Flarry; now a book for Miss Lola.
There was joy and gladness, and truly a
merry Christmas, in that house. The
day flew by with joy and feasting ; and
in the evening the house stood dark and
deserted. There was a large party at
Lola's father's. The family, children
and all, were to assemble ; and thither
this happy household had gone.
Now, reader, you and I are privileged
persons, and wo will stop in before the
other guests arrive. We find only two
persons iu the parlor ; one an old gen
tleman, the other a lady between thirty
anil forty years of age, but still beauti
ful, . with a sweet face and a low, sweet
voice. Tho gentleman is pacing up aud
down tho rooms, while the lady ar
ranges some music upon the grand
piano. Luxury can scarcely devise a
more superb apartment. It is long,
vory long, and wido velvet carpets, rich
furniture, gilded frames containing cost
ly pictures, velvet curtains, whose rich
crimson is subdued by fine laca cover
ings, everything speaks of lirga wealth.
The lady's dress is of rich silk; aud cost
ly jewels glitter iu her hair and on her
round white arm. These, the ocenpauts
of tho room, are Mr. Pomeroy and his
daughter Auna, who is tho hostess of the
expected company, for Mrs. Pomeroy
has lain iu her quiet grave for ten years.
Suddenly tho gentleman paused in his
walk, aud spoke to his daughter : My
dear, there was a child iu a store, this
morning, whose story interested me. He
lias an invalid mother ; aud I promised
him some wine and fruit fur her. He
will bo here soon. Will you attend to
these things ? It is Curistaias ; and wa
must renmmber ih po r."
The lady left the room ; and the old
gentleman resumed his walk. " Christ
mas !" he muttered. "Fifteen years!
fifteen years !' Oh, flattie, my child !
where are you this Christmas night ?"
The laro parlors soon iill.-d with
guests. Music, dancing, aud merri
ment were at their height, when two
ehildrou came upon the broad, snow
covered step in front of tho lvwe.
"Oh, Auua!" mil Oliirlay. "isn't
it fine in there ?" and he leaned o ver the
railing to liok in at thii window.
"Listen ! you can hear tho music ; don't
they look pretty, daueing? Oh, Anna,
see tho little boys and girls ! See, that
little girl Ls just about as big as you ;
aiu't sue pretty, in her white dress, with
gold rings on her sleeves ? Don't she
look like an angel? Oh, Anna! don't
you wish you lived in a big house, and
had white dresses, and dancing, and
music?"
" They are coming to the door, Char
ley," said Anna.
The children were led into the wido
hall, and stood over the furnace register,
warming they cold fingers, while the
servant went to find Miss Pomeroy. Soon
they were surrounded by little children,
dressed in gay, pretty clothes, who
clustered, full of pity, around the chil
dren who had no Christmas presents.
Miss Pomeroy herself brought out the
basket. As she came near the group,
she hastily placed the basket upon the
hall table, and came to Anna. " Child 1
child 1" she cried, while the tears
poured down her cheeks, "who are
you ?"
" Anna Pomeroy Dugarde."
' My little namesake 1 my niece !
Oh, my child! my sister's little one !
Father !" The old gentleman came
hastily at her call; . " Bee !" she cried.
"Is she not Harriet's image? Look,
father! Oh, this is Christmas night I
Once again, I pray you, forgive my
sister!"
Anna" the old man's voice trem
bled " is this not a forbidden subject ?"
But she is sick ! poor ! her children
begging on Christmas night I Father,
pity her forgive her! Children, all of
you, plead for your, aunt your little
cousins I Nellie ! Lola I 'oh,' "will you
not all speak I"
A handsome man now came from the
parlor and spoke to Charley.
" Your name, my man ?
" Charles Pomeroy Dugarde."
"Whatt my name? Why"
"It is Harriet's child, Charley," said
Anna Pomeroy. " Father 1 ah t you
weep. Father, may we go and bring
Harriet here ?"
"Yes, go; take the carriage and bring
her here," said Mr. Pomeroy..
"She cftu'fc come," said Charley;
"she's got no bonnet and shawl; she
sold thein for medioiue, ever so long
"go."
In n carriage piled with soft furs and
cn hions, Charley and Anna went for
th, ir sister, while their little namesakes
were taken by Lola and dressed Anna
in a white dress, to Charley's great de
light, and the young man himself in a
warm suit of his cousin's.
Harriot lay on the hard mattress,
watehing for her children. The fire was
low, almost out, the room bitter cold,
and the invalid longing, with intense
desire, for the return of her children.
The time passed slowly, the fire went
out, and, iu the dark, cold room, went
up a prayer for pity and petition for her
children. She felt tho cold creep through
her limbs, aud she fancied she should
die without again soeing Anna or
Charley.
"This way," said a voice n the
stairs; and a moment later her landlady
entered, bearing aloft a candle, aud fol
lowed by a lady aul gentleman, laden
with furs and shawls. The lady dropped
her pile, and sprang to tho bedside.
"Harriet ! Oh, my sister! to find you
iu this place I"
" Anna ! is it indeed you ? Is my
father dead, that yon can come to me?"
" Not dead, Harriet, but forgiving.
Come, sister, you must come with us. "
Gentle hands wrapped hor in warm
clothes, and her brother's strong arms
bore her to the carriage. A huge, soft
bed, a warm room, and low, loving
voices around her, seemed like a dream
of paradise; but when her father, layiug
his hand upon her head, called down
Heaven's blessing on her head, then
was the cup of joy full.
The day that closed that night at Mr.
Pomeroy's was, indeed, a "merry
Christmas."
A Singular Set.
It Ls not an uncommon thing for luna
tics to be possessed of the idea that they
have been chaugod into some animal, as
tho deg or the wolf. Out of this insane
notion there was developed, in the early
aud middle ages, a popular superstition
that men were often transformed into
wolves, and, like them, roamed the
forest impelled by the fiercest instincts.
Iu the fourteenth and fifteenth cen
turies, this hallucination became epi
demic, and large numbers of persons in
Franco aud Germany were affected by
it. The sufferers on pt on all fours like
quadrupeds, and barked, leaped, and
howled, after the manner of wolves.
They herded together in tho mountain
districts, and were as destructive as tho
brutes thoy simulated. They were call
ed were-wolves, and, uniting the cun
ning of men with the ferocity of wild
beast, were greatly to be dreaded.
Tho chief atrocity of which they wero
guilty was tho murder of little children,
on whose flosh they feasted. In 1521,
three of theso were wolves wero tried at
Bosaucon, and cufes3od that they had
sold themselves to the devil. One of
them admitted that he had killed a boy
with his teeth and claws, but was deterrod
from eating him by fear of the country
people. Auother acknowledged that he
had killed a young girl as she was gath
ei ing peas in a garden, and the third
that he had killed and eaten four differ
ent children. The wretched maniacs
were punished for their crimes by burn
ing at the stoke.
In 1660, great numbers of those were
wolves infested the J ura, and, by their
depredations, made themselves a public
scourge. Six huudred were executed ou
their own confession of child-murder;
aud yet the most terriblo punishment
visited upon the lycauthropes scarcely
sufficed to bring the epidemic under
control. .
Mr. Latouche, a late writer on"rortu
gal, mentions that, among the peasantry
of that eouutry, the superstition of the
wcre-wolf still prevails almost universal
ly. When sitting at the fireside of the
small land owners in rural districts, he
was often regaled with stories of the
craft with which these children of the
evil one ingratiated themselves into the
confidence of simplo, trustful folks, only
to betray them at last by stealing infants
from tho cradle and devouring them in
aesert places.
Feeding a Crowd.
Philadelphia is getting ready to lodge
and feed all creation, next year. It cal
culates that at least 125,000 people can
be comfortably lodged that is, 85,000
in the hotels and 90,000 in private
houses. As to feeding, one restaurant
promises 50,000 meals a day, and others
caiiy upthe total to 200,000. A com
pany has invested $200,000 in poultry,
packed frozen in a White Mountain
storehouse, and to be sent on in detach
ments by refrigerators next summer.
Another firm has 150,000 hams in store
for tho summer raid. The way the
Philadolphiaus figure it is this: 20,000
fresh arrivals every day during the
show; each one to stay ten days and
spend $5 a day this makes a million a
day, or two hundred millions for the
whole season ! This is wild talk, though
seriously put out.
An Earnest Woman.
The Churchman tells the story of a
woman, but without giving her name,
who became tired of a life mainly em
ployed in eating and dressing, and re
solved to devote herself and her money
to a nobler purpose. At the close of the
rebellion she went to a sandy island off
the Atlantis coast, where about two hun
dred persons were living in poverty and
ignorance, and established her home
there with the intention of benefiting
the inhabitants. She began with teach
ing, by example, how to cultivate the
land lucratively, and was Boon imitated.
Next she established a school for the
children, and afterrard a church. Now
the island is a thrifty region witn an in
dustrious and moral population, the
change being the work of one woman.
HOME STUDIES.
Mametlilim About the New Boston Society.
A Boston correspondent of the Spring
field Itcpublican says : Much inquiry
having been made' concerning the new
association here called the "Society to
Encourage Studies at Home," it may bo
well to give some information concern
ing it to your readers. It was formed
last year, I believe, and its only organi
zation seems to be a committee, of which
Dr. Samuel Eliot (44 Brimmer street) is
chairman, and Miss Ticknor (9 Piuk
street) is secretary, t . Among the other
members are Mrs. ' Agassiz and Miss
Hageu, of Cambridge, Miss Cleveland
and Miss Cora Clarke (daughter of Dr.
J. F. Clarke), of Jamaica Plain, Miss F.
E. Appletou, of Brooklir and
George Ticknor, of Boston. The pur
pose of thi society is "to induce young
ladies to form the habit of devoting
some part of every day to study of a
systematic and thorough kind." To
effect this, courses of reading and plans
of scientific study are arraugod, one of
which lies before mo. It includes six
courses : 1, general history (1500 to
1G00); 2, natural science (zoology, bot
any, physical eeography aud froolorv):
3, art, with exercises in drawing and
painting; 4, German; 5, French; 6, Eng
lish literature, including portions of
Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton's prose and
poetry, Addison, Goldsmith, Thackeray,
etc. Other courses have no doubt been
arranged, but this is all the list I have
seen. The rules of tho society are as
follows :
1. Ladies joining the society as stu
dent members must bo at least seventeen
years old.
2. Each member will pay 2 a year, at
the beginning of each term, to meet ex
penses of printing, postage, etc.
3. Members will be expected to try to
devote a certain amount of time each
day, or each week, to their work as mem
bers.
4. The term for study will be from
October 1 to June 1. In Juno a meet
ing will be held in some private house
in Boston, whero all may assemble to re
ceive and distribute certificates or diplo
mas. 5. A lady wishing to join the society
as a student can procure a programme of
studies from the secretary. When she
has selected the bronch or branches she
wishes to pursue, she will inform the
secretary of her choice, aud will receive
in return the special directions which
have been prepared for tho course she
has selected. She will at the same time
bo iuformed to which member of the
committee, and at what stated timos, she
is expected to report her progress; and
at those times she will be 'supplied with
turtlier lists and directions.
C. Pains will be takon to select for
the programme works that can be easilv
obtained, as students will procure them
for themselves. Book clubs and public
libraries will make the more exponsivo
volumes accessible, and some of these
will bo loaned by the society with a tri
fling charge. Advice about the purchase
of books on the list will be given when
asked, if the books are to be bought in
Boston.
At the end of the term of eight months
the students who havo taken any or all
of the prescribed courses are invited to
send iu essays in English, French or
German, on subjects of their own choice,
to show tho results of their diligence.
The Bootblack's Story.
When a dozen newsboys and boot
blacks had collected on the custom
house stairs, and when each one had
grown tired of jaw-breakers and pop
corn balls, "Little English" remarked ;
" Sposen Jim Cocoauut tells us a
story. "
" Sposen," remarked all the others.
"Well, gentlemen," remarked Jim,
after a few digs at his head, "I will tell
you a true story about a girl. Her name
was Marier, and she had yallerhair, blue
eyes, small feet, and she was worth a
million of dollars."
" In stamps ?" aked Cross Eyed
Dick.
"Iu clean cash, right in the savings
bank," answered Jim. This girl was an
orphau, with no one to boss her around,
and if she wanted to bo out till eleven
o'clock at night, she could. There were
piles of fellers after her to marry her,
but sho stuck up her nose at tho hull
caboodle."
" What fur?" anxiously inquired Fire
cracker Tom.
"What fur? Why, she knew they
loved her money iustead of herself. She
wanted some one to love her earnestly
and like gosh. Well, one day when she
was going down te the post-office to see
if there was ary mail, a runaway horse
came along. Marier fainted away and
sat down in the road, and she'd have
been broken all to pieces if it hadn't
been for a bootblack 'bout my size. He
pulled her into a shooting gallery,
brought her to, and then hired a hull
omnibus, and took her home.
"And they fell in love and were finally
married," remarked Suspender John
son. " No, my fellow countrymen," sadly
replied Jim; "gin him ten cents !"
And is that all?" exclaimed three or
four voices.
" All she gave him, and that turned
out to be counterfeit!"
There was a long period of silence, and
then Cocoanut Jim continued :
"Which is a lesson to us never to
marry a girl worth a million dollars."
" And we never shall !" they solemnly
replied. Detroit Free Press,
What he Said.
As he came out of Woodward avenue
gate the other night and walked slowly
up the street, the boys heard him saying
to himself : " I know she loves me, and
I know 1 can never love any one else.
Let's see it's November now. On the
1st of January I'll walk into the office
and tell Old Skinflint that I must have
$25 per week or I'll quit. He'll say
quit and be darned, and I'll go and see
Tom, and have him see Jim and get me
into a bank at a hundred per week, and
thou I'll buy a house and lot, ask Jennie
to marry me, stick up my nose at that
old hunker of a father, fill the yard with
vass and stataiary, liave silver stair-rods
and French jnirrorsv. I'll show this town
what is what. Detroit Free Presi.
- A Glimpse of Gabriel Conroy.
i From Bret Harte's new serial story in
Scribiier, we clip the following extract :
It was raining. Not iu the usual di
rect, honest, perpendicular fashion of
that mountain region, but only sugges
tively, and in a vague,' uncertain sort of
way, as if it might at any time prove to
be fog or mist, and any money wagered
upon it would be hazardous. It was
raining as much from below as above,
and the lower limbs of the loungers who
gathered around the square box stova
that stood in Briggs' warehouse, exhaled
a cloud of steam. The loungers in
Briggs' were those who from deficiency
of taste or the requisite capital avoided
the gambling and drinking saloons, and
quietly appropriated crackers from the
convenient barrel of the generous
Briggs," or ' filled their pipes from his
open tobacco canisters, with tho general
suggestion in their manner that their
company fully compensated for any
waste of his material.
They had beeu smoking silently a
silence only broken by the occasional
hiss of expectoration against the hot
stove, when the door of a back room
opened softly, and Gabriel Conroy en
tered. "How is he gettin' on, Gabo?" asked
one of the loungers.
So, so," said Gabriel. "You'll
want to shift those bandages agin," he
said, turning to Briggs, afore the doc
tor pomes. I'd come back in an hour,
but I've got to drop in and see hnw
Steve's gettin on, and it's a matter of
two miles from homo."
"But he says he won't let anybody
tech him but you," said Mr. Briggs.
" I know ho says so," said Gabriel,
soothingly, "but he'll get over that.
That's what Stimson sed when he was
took worso, but he got over that, and I
never got to soo him except in time to
lay him out."
The justice of this was admittedven
by Briggs, although evidently disap
pointed. Gabriel was walking to the
door, when another voice from the stove
stopped him.
" Oh, Gabe ! "you mind that immigrant
family with tho sick baby camped down
the gulch? Well, tho baby up and
died last night."
" I want to kuow," said Gabriol, with
thoughtful gravity.
" Yes, and that woman's in a heap of
troublo. Couldn't you kinder drop iu
in passing and look after things?"
"I will," said Gabriel, thoughtfully.
" I thought you'd like to kuow it, and
I thought she d liko me to tell you,"
said the speaker, settling himself back
again over tho stove with the air of a
man who had just fulfilled, at great per
sonal sacrifice and labor, a work of su
pererogation. " You're always thoughtful of other
folks, Johnson,' said Briggs, admir
ingly. "Well, yes," said Johnson, with a
modest serenity, "I allers allow that
men in Califomy ought to think of
others besides themselvos. A little keer
and a little sabe on my part, and there's
that family in the gulch made comfort
able with Gabe around 'em."
Meanwhile this homely inciter of the
unselfish virtues of One Horse Gulch
had passed out into tho rain and dark
ness. So conscientiously did ho fulfill
his various obligations, that it was near
ly one o'clock bofore he reached his
rude hut on the hillside, a rough cabin
of pine logs, so unpretentious and wild
iu exterior as to bo but a slight improve
ment on nature. Tho vines clambered
unrestrainedly over the bark thatched
roof ;. the birds occupied the crevices of
the walls, the squirrel ate his acorns on
the ridgepole without fear and without
reproach.
Ah Sin as a Domestic.
Is the Chinaman to bo the domestic
servant of the future ? asks a writer in
Soribner. Will another consus show
him stealthily supplanting the European
in our households, and setting up his
gods on the kitchen mantels of this
Christian land? . I stoutly believe not.
The Chinese, whether miners or menials,
are hardly more numerous in the United
States than they were five years ago.
" Forty centuries " havo been too much
for Mr. Koopmanschoop and his immi
grant runners. Even when the China
man comes to the States, he leaves his
wife and children behind him; he comos
hero with no thought of resting until he
can rest at home; his supreme wish is
ever to return to his native land, and if
he be so unhappy as to die in exile, his
bones at least must be borne back to
sacred soil. Surely, a great element
among us is not to be built up by im
migration of this kind. Mivssos of for
eign population thus unnaturally intro
duced into the body politic, must sooner
or later disappear liko tho icebergs that
drift upon the currents of our temperate
seas, chilling the water all around them,
yet tuemseives slowly wasting away
under the influence of sun and wind.
having in themselves no sourco of sup
ply, no spring of energy, no power of
self-protection; helpless and inert amid
hostile and active forces; their only
part, endurance; their only possible
end, extinction.
A Japanese Legend.
A certain white fox of high degree,
and without a black hair upon him,
sought and obtained tho hand of a young
female fox who was renowned for her
personal boauty and her noble connec
tions. The wedding was to be a grand
aflair; but, uuhappily, the families of
the betrothed pair could not agree upon
the kind of weather to be ordered for
the occasion. The parents of the bride
thought it good luck that a shower
should fall on a bridal procession. The
bridegroom and his friends objected to
having their good clothes spoiled thus,
and to the damper which a rain would
put upon their merriment. There was
danger that the match should be broken
off, when a very astute old fox suggested
a compromise. They might have sun
shine and rain together. This happy
thought was received with acclamations,
and the order was given accordingly;
the bride's palanquin or norimon was
borne to the house of her future hus
band with blissful ' satisfaction on all
sides. In Japan, a sun-shower is called
" The Foxes' Weddinir." In New Eng
land, .the natives mysteriously remark:
" The devil u whipping his wif with
a codfish tail."
Indian Jugglers.
Everywhere in India one meets with
the jugglers and serpent charmers,
whose feats are famous the world over.
Matheran, a locality iu the table land of
the Ghauts, 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the
sea level, where the English have estab
lished sanator'a both for the soldiers and
the residents, is naturally one of the lead
ing rendezvous for these jugglers. They
assemble during the season on this table
land and perform thoir tricks from one
bungalow to auother. Somo of them are
very skillful. Almost entirely naked,
and in the middle of your room, they
will make a serpent disappear, a tree
grow and bring forth fruit, or water flow
from an apparently empty vase. Others
will swallow a saber, or play tricks with
sharp knives. Each has his special ac
complishments. One of their most curi
ous tricks is that of the basket and child.
A child, seven or eight years old, stand
ing upright iu the basket, writhes in
convulsions under tho influence of
music, and disappears slowly into the in
terior, which is barely large enough to
contain it. Scarcely is it inside when
tho musicians throw themselves upon it,
close the lid, and pierce the basket in
every direction with their long knives.
They strike with all their might until,
the bamboo giving way, the basket is
almost completely flattened, and seems
no longer capable of containing any
thing. They then reform the circle and
resume their chant, to which a voice now
responds from the forest. Tho sound
gradually approaches, and at last seems
to come from tho basket, which becomes
more and more distended ; tho lid is re
moved, and the child springs out. This
trick is very adroitly performed, and,
though capable of being explained to
Europeans, excites lively astonishment
iu the Indian spectators.
The top trick is likewise very curious.
The juggler gives a vigorous impulso to
the top, which he places on the top of a
small stick balanced on his nose ; then,
according to the request of the spectator,
the top suddenly stops, or again goes on
spinning. This last part of the opera
tion M. Eous8elet thought by far the
most extraordinary. That the top should
stop is intelligible ; but that it should
aftorward continue to revolve, without
any new impetus, aud perform these al
ternate maneuvers for several seconds, is
the inexplicable point. Our traveler at
tentively examined both the stick and the
top, but could discover no trace of me
chanical contrivance
The Ynukeo Farmer and his Wife.
But if they are Bilent, they aro not
surly; give them time and they ore amia
ble enough, and they aro first and last
honest. They do not ask too much for
board, and they show some slow willing
ness to act upon a boarder's suggestions
for his greater comfort. But other
wise they remain unaffected by the con
tact. They lenru no greater glibness of
tongue, or liveliness of mind, or grace
of manner ; if their city guests bring
with them the vicos of wine or beer at
dinner and tobacco after it, the farmers
keep themselves uncontamiuated. The
only pipe you Finell is that of the neigh
boring Irishman as he passes with his
ox-team; the gypsying French Cana
dians, as they wander southward, tipsy
by whole families, iu their rickety open
buggies, lend the Bole bacchanal charm
to the prospect that it knows. Theso
are of a race whose indomitable light-
neartedneas no rigor of climate has ap
palled, whereas our Anglo-Saxon stock
in many country neighborhoods ofJLNew
England seems weather beaten in mind
as in face ; and this may account for tho
greater qnick-wittedness of tho women,
whose in-door life is more protected from
the inclemency of our slues. It is cer
tain that they aro far readier than the
men, more intelligent, gracious and
graceful, and with their able connivance
the farmer stays the adversity creeping
upon his class, if he does not retrieve its
old prosperity. Iu the winter his
daughters teach school, and in the sum
mer they help their mother through her
enterprise of taking boarders. The farm
feeds them all, but from tho woman's
labor comes thrice tho ready money that
the land ever yields, aud it is they who
keep alive the sense of all higher aud
finer things, neaveu knows with what
heroic patience apd devoted endeavor.
The house shines, through tham, with
fresh paper aud paint; year by year they
add to those comforts and meek aspira
tions towards luxury which the summer
guest accepts so lightly when he comes,
smiling askance at the parlor-organ in
the corner, and the black-walunt-framed
chromo-lithographs ou the wall. At
lantic, Poor Paul Morjihy.
Paid Morphy, the famous chess player,
is in a New Orleans asylum, hopelessly
insane. He was born in that city iu
1840 of wealthy Creole pareutngo, and his
adoption of the game of chess ns a busi
uess not only offended his relatives, but
occupied the years iu which he might
havo achieved success in some other
career. He returned to his home juet
before the rebellion, suddenly and
thoroughly disgusted with chess so
prejudiced against it that he has since
never played. He has subsequently led
an idle, morose life. His daily routine
oi existence, says the ISew Orleans J'lea
ytme, involved a walk on Canal street
every morning, where his dapper little
figure-always scrupulously well dressed
be ame as well known aud as regularly
looked for as the noonday bell. After
his daily promenade he retired from pub
lic gazo until evening, when he appeared
in his box at tho opera, where, it is said,
he never missed a uight. It is further
related that during these years he per
mitted no friendly acquaintance; he was
never known to associate with anybody
but his mother, and persistently repelled
advances from those who, having been
friends of his early youth, desired to re
new their associations. Ho lived a
strange life, a strange, moody and pecu
liarly mournful man. About a year ago
he began to lose his mental control, and
several months ago was put in a private
asylum. Some of his friends hold the
theory that his malady had its start in
the strain upon his mind in playing
many and dimeuit games of cness.
There are now about 1,000 decked ves
sels and 17,000 opeu b..uts, with 42,000
men, engaged iu tho Canadian fishery.
Items of Interest.
When a man gets tired of himself ho
generally tiros other people.
It is on extraordinary fact that when
people come to what is commonly called
high words, they generally use low
language.
A petrified fores' has been discovered
in the desert of northwestern Hum
boldt, about thirty miles west of the
Black Hock rauge of mountains iu No
vada. A cynical man insists that the fewer
relations or friends tho happier we nro.
"In your poverty they nover help yon,
iu your prosperity they always help
themselves."
It is stated that a convict of New Eng
land, after twenty years service in the
penitentiary, has dug up the money ho
stolo from the bank, and will begin life
anow, as it were.
The Cherokee government has abol
ished the use of the whipping-post, and
delinquents will hereafter be pent to tho
calaboose instead of baring their backs
to the crepitant lash.
Next season landlords instead of an
nouncing " magnificent views," " excel
lent table" and "beautiful drives," will
substitute " the best of sewerage," ' ex
cellent ventilation" and "pure water
drawn from a well two hundred feet
from the house."
A Western debating society has
been struggling with the question:
"Do boys or girls make the most
noise?" It was finally decided that
" they do," after an elaborate argument,
showing that half of the noise boys mado
was caused by girls.
The Icelandic colonists have found
their " best holt" on the shores of Lake
Winnipeg, iu Canada, where thoy have
taken up a tract of 1,000 miles, fifty
miles along the shore and twenty miles
inland. Three or four hundred are
domiciled and more are expectel.
A drunkard who was to have a finger
amputated in the presence of Albany
Medical College students, by Dr. Arms
by, died under the influence of chloro
form; and the surgeen says that in near
ly every recorded instance of death from
an anrosthetic the patient was addicted to
intoxication.
All Polish landed proprietors iu four
provinces have beeu ordered by the
liussian government to sell to their pres
ent holders any farms rented by "us
siaus, upon conditions regulated at St.
Petersburg. This, it is said, will com
plete tho impoverishment of the local
Polish nobility.
It is the mind's wealth that makes the
lover's body rich. Two bosoms with a
single thought discharged themselves of
that thought as follows: " Araminta,
pet!" " What, Charles, dear'?', "What
dreadful cows, lovely !" " Eh, sweetie t"
"I said 'What dreadful cows!' dar
ling!" " Oh, did you, my own ?" " Yes,
ducky!"
The grape harvest in France is said to
have been unprecedented the present sea
son. The owners of lare vineyards have
been obliged to fill their vats twice, and
have now double the usual quantity on
hand. None of tho viuegro wers have any
recollection of so abuudaut a vintage.
Tne quality of the wine has also turned
out much better than was expected
A Saginaw lady sang out to her hus
band as he made, his exit through the
doorway : " Go to Bari's and get somo
No. 50 black thread, three cord."
"K-ris-to-fer K-lnmbo," muttered tho
head of tho family, as he started after
the wood-inspector to cord it up, " why
didn t she order a car-load lot and be
done with it. Must be she is going to
have tho sewing society this week."
In the pocket of a nan who was killed
while drunk in a Cincinnati gambling
house was found the following memo
randum: " Took my last Rpreo May tho
18, 1875. Five rules from this date.
First Is to never eat but three meals a
day. Second Is never to eat anything
between meals. Third Is to eat as
little as I can every meal. Four Is
never to drink any intoxicating drinks.
Fifth Is never to use any tobacco."
The Man irho was Not Elected.
The candidate who didn't get enough
votes to elect him the other day is out
on the street now, wearing tho look of
an injured man. As ho turns a corner
he meets Jones, aud Jones says :
"Ah ! Well, I'm sorry for" you ; I'd
have bet money that you would go in by
500 majority."
" My majority would have been twice
that if some dastard hadn't started the
rumor that I was opposed to education,"
replies Unsuccessful.
" They lied about you, ch ?"
"Lied? Why, they told tho most
outrageous falsehoods the human mind
could conceive ! I've got a clew, and
you look out for three or four suits for
damages !"
Turning the next corner ho meets
Davis, and Davis yells out :
" Hello ! I see you aren't dead yet !
Well, I'm sorry for you ; I wanted to
see you go in.
"And I should have been elected
straight as a string if my name on the
ticket hadn't been spelled wrong. That,
and that alone, floored me."
One block moro and Smith rushes at
him and shouts :
" Hang it ! but I thought you would
nave waxed that fellow by tnreo tnou-
saud votes ?"
" I'd have done it liko a shot," replied
Unsuccessful, " but the inspectors re
ceived hundreds of illegal votes and I
was laid out. This thing isn't through
with, however ; I propose to carry it to
the supreme court.
As he reaches the oily hall the fourth
man holds out his hanu and says :
" wen, you conidn t Doth be elected ;
but you did just run like a quarter
horse."
" I can toll you Bomethin," whispers
Unsuccessful.
"Eh! What?"
"I believe the ballot boxes were
stuffed against me."
"No 1"
" 'Strue as you live I I think I can
put my hand on a man who will swear to
it, and I tell you I'll make it red-hot for
those inspectors !"
And tho unsuccessful candidate is cer
tain in bis own mind that he is a great
martyr.