7.. f - r HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. ' NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. YOL. Y. BIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBETl 23787 . NO. 44. TIio Music of Childhood. When I bear the waters fretting, When I Bee the chestnut letting All her lovely blossom falter down, I think: "Alas the day I" Once, with magical sweet singing, Blackbirds set the woodland ringing That awakes no mou while April hours wear themselves away. n our hearts fair bope.lay smiling Sweet as air, and all beguiling ; And there hung a miet of bluebells oa the Blopo and down the dell t And we talked of Joy and splendor That the years unborn would render i And the blackbirds helped us with the story, for they knew it well Fiping, fluting : "Bees are humming; April's here, and summer's coming : Don't forgot us when yon walk, a man with men, in pride and joy ( Think on ua in alleys shady When you step a graceful lady; For no fairer days have we to hope for, little girl and boy. "Laugh and play, O lisping waters I Lull our downy sons and daughters ; Come, O wind, and rock their leafy cradle in thy wanderings coy ; When they wake we'll end the measure With a wild sweet cry of pleasure And a ' Hoy down derry, let's be merry, little girl and boy 1' " OXE BIGHT OF A WIFE. "John," said I one night to my hus band, as I put my basket of sewing away preparatory to retiring, " John, as you go down to-morrow morning, I wish you would atop at Mrs. West's door and leave her $5 for me." "Five dollars!" and my lord looked up quite astonished. "For what?" ' Way, sho is collecting money to aid that society sue is secretary or, ana as I always felt interested in it, I told her I would give hor S5." I snid this with quite a show of as surance, though I really felt quite un easy ns to the reception of my request, for' John is rather notional in some of his ways; however, I had been cogita ting some matters lately in my own niiml, and determined to make a bold stand. "Well, Sarah," at length came the reply, "you need not count on my do ing any such thing. I don't approve of that society at all, and not one centof my money shall go to help it. " "I givo it out of money," said I, growing bolder. "I only asked you to leave it at her door for me." "Your mouey ! What do you mean?" "I mean what I say my money. Have 1 no right to spend money as well as you ? I don't approve of the Masons, but that dots not hinder you from spending m mey and time for them as much as you have a mind." John looked at mo quite amazed at my nudden outbreak. You see, I had al ways been tho most amiable of wives. Then ho broke out quite triumphantly: "Come, now, who earns the money that maintains this family ?" "You and I together, said I. " Together ! Well, I should like to nee the tirst cent you havo earned in the seven years wo havo been married. Together! Well, I call that pretty rich." My spirits were visibly declining un der his ridicule, but I kept on as boldly as I could. " When we were married you thought, or proteuded to think, yourself very happy in assuming the eore of board and wardrobe. I didn't ask it of you. You asked mo to bo your wife, knowing well nil that meant. " "As nearly as I remember," inter rupted John, " you were mighty ready to acoopt me." "Granted to save argument, "said I, coloring. "Well, wo stood up in church to gether, and you promised to love, cherish, etc., and so did I." "And obev, too," said I ; "but you, in return, endowed me with all your worldly goods, and the minister pro nounced us man and wife; and so we have lived." "Yes," said John, complacently, "and as I lookback over the time, I think I have dono what I agreed, and made a pretty good husband. I really think you ought to be thankful when you seo how some wives live." "Well," said I, "I think I have been a domestic, prudent wife, and I don't feel one atom more of gratitude to you than you ought to feel to me for being a decent wife. Is it any more merit that you keep your marriage prom ises than that I keep mine ?" " Sarah, you are positively very acri monious to-night. Don't you think we had better go to bod ?" " No, sir. Well, meantime we have laid by money to buy 'this house, and still have some in the bank." " Thanks to my hard work !" chimed in John. " More thanks," said I, "to the per fect good health we have always had. We made all these promises for better or for worse. Now it has been better for us all the time. Had you been sick or honest misfortune befallen you, I should have managed some way to re duce our expenses so that yeu might feel the burden as little as might be. Had I been sick, more care would have fallen on you. But we helped each other save, and now I claim an equal right with you in spending money." " Whew ! Why, that is treason. But go on." ' " If we occupied the respective posi tions of superior and subordinate, I should do what I do for you for a fixed stipend, and no questions should be asked as to the use made of it. Being equals, I will not ask compensation as a servant ; but because the contract we have made is a lifelong and not easily broken, I do not therefore call it very magnanimous in a prosperous man to accept these services and render in re turn only my board and the least amount that will creditably clothe me." You see I was growing irate. John's temper, too, was evidently on the rise. "What do you mean by services ? Housework! I am sure a home is as much for your satisfaction as for mine; and I am sure the tailor does not leave much of my sewing for you to do." ' I don't complain of housowork nor of doing your sewing; but I do think the burden of little Johnny has fallen on me." " It strikes me," said he, with a pro voking complacency of tone, " that if you earned his living yon would have less to say about the burden falling on you." "John," said I, "answer me hon- estly. Do you work any harder or any longer now than you did when he was born I "I don't know as I do," said he; " I always worked hard eaough. " Well, and so do I. But now as to Johnny. I presume you will allow you self half owner of him, as the law allows you entire control over him. How much do you do lor him I " I maintain him. I do mv pa t." "No, John, you are wrong; you don't do your part. From the first you never have. Did not weary months go by in which you bore no part whatever of tho burden i " Well, that is curious complaining ; wnat would you nave me do? "You might have got a servant, in stead of letting all the housework fall on me; or you might have kept a horse so that I could ride out and enjoy the fine weather; but that is all post now." "I should say that it cost me enough for the doctor, nurse, etc., without talking about Keeping a horse." " True, it cost enough; but I am talk ing about the division of the burden Was the part you bore in the payment of those bills equal to my part in the matter? Would you have taken my place for that money if it were to have been paid you instead of those who cared for you t 1 think not. "Didn't I have all his clothes to buy?" " No, sir. I went without new clothes of any sort for a season, and the money saved from my wardrobe supplied all that was needed ; and 1 might add that all his other clothes have been got in the same way." " Well, really, I had no idea how much of a martyr you were. Next you will be clothing me in the same way, How thankful I ought to be for so calcu lating a wile. " Now, iu these two years," said I, continuing in the fane of his sneer, " all of the care and confinement consequent on attending the child have fallon on me. I have managed some way to ac complish my housework and sewing as I used. I can hardly think how it has bee i' done. Did it ever occur to you to think how many times I have been to church since he was born V "You wouldn't expect a man to take care of a baby, would you ? That isn t a man's work." " Isn't it ?" said I, bitterly ; " then I wouldn't have a baby. I have been to church just four times, and then some visitor had 6taid with Johnny. How many times did you ever get up in the night to sootho him when he has been sick and fretful ? " How do you suppose," said he, "I could work by day if I didn't get my night's sleep ? " Just the same way that I do when my night is broken, exactly. " Well, Sarah, what is the drift of all this talk, any way ? ler I don t see any use in prolonging it." " Well, then it is my original state ment that as I did my part of the" fami ly labor and took all the care of Johnny, and you are a man in prosperous cir cumstances, I am entitled to as much money for that as if 1 were employed aud paid by the month for the same work, and I have a right to spend money for things that don't suit you, if I please to do so ; and I may add," said I, with a sudden vehemence, "that it is mean and contemptible in you to try to oppose or forbid my doing so." John said no more. 1 saw by the look in his eyes that he was quite angry ; and so was I. That was the first time in our married life that we failed to kiss each other good-night. Indeed, I felt guilty, though I hardly know why, but was late before I fell asleep. Tho next morning all was serene. No trace remained of the evening's storm, but nothing more was said about the obnoxious subscriptions. Next day I met Airs. est, and she thanked me very much for doubling my money. Dear John I lie d.dn t mean to be unkind, but he had never stopped to think about such things. When his next settlement came, and he slipped a 820 bill into my hand and said, "That is for your private purse," I really thought he was the best husband in the world, Girls' Dresses. The vest overdress is one of tho most popular overdresses for girls. It is a partly-fitted polonaise, with a deep Louis XV. vest set in. The back is shorter than the long front, and has but one seam ; for very stout girls it is bet ter to skape a side form in the back, making three seams, in the English fashion. The side of the garment has a useful square pocket. The long front slopes away sharply to show the vest, which is set in with the side seams, or, if greater warmth is required, this vest may have a separate back made of flan nel. The kilt skirt is generally worn by girls, but a gored and flounoed skirt may be used if preferred. Braid in short parallel pieces, and giving the military effect, is the trimming most used for these suits. The materials are any dark warm wool stuff, such as cash mere, serge, camel's hair, or Knicker bocker. Solid colors are preferred for such dresses, but the design is also liked for plaids, as it requires so little trimming. For very small girls who cannot arrange their dresses carefully it is, perhaps, better to attach the kilt skirt to the vest overdress, making the whole suit one garment. To do this the placket opening of the skirt should be made on one side, and the belt of the skirt should be tacked to the back and sides of the overdress. . The gamins of London, being forbid den to beg in the streets, have neatly circumvented the low. They purohase a bundle of straw, commerce of all kinds being free, and sitting at the cor ner of a street entreat pedestrians to buy a single whisk. It is said that some urchins by this traffic make a profit of over ten dollars a day. THE MIND IN DISEASE. dome Interemlnff but Startling Incident of a Hclentiflo Theory. The Popular Science Monthly cites some curious incidents of the acute de velopment of certain mental faculties in disease. As the impairment of one faculty intensifies the power of another, so physical prostrations of a similar nature produce the same phenomena. Imagination and memory, as the most impressionable faculties, are subject to physical influences. Imagination has produced death when the physical ail ment did not warrant it, and courage has not unfrequently enabled men stricken with disease to overcome its ravages. It is estimated that a large proportion of the deaths of a cholera visitation result from terror. This dan ger is distinctly recognized by physi cians, who often combat the terror they encounter as much as the real disease. Tho effect of imagination is illustrated iu the textbooks of mental philosophy, by instances where criminals condemned to death were placed in a warm bath, with the information that they were to bo bled to death ; then came a slight cut and finally death. Such is the effect of imagination on mind and body. Hypo chondria and homesickness are namos given by the doctors to mental diseasos that havo often had fatal results. Tho Monthly states the case of n near relative suffering from extreme nervous debility, who begged to be taken to an asylum for the insane on account of a vivid and unnatural impression of "thinking of two things at the same time." The same person was also afflicted with startling consciousness of things happening to her children at a distance, which proved to be correct, the anticipation of what people were going to say, aud the power of reading the motives of others. A similar phenome non oamo within the experience of a now famous actor, who, in his younger days, was given to a free use of stimulants. He anticipated the words and thoughts of those who were speaking to him, and would frequently approach a strangor on the streets and startle him with call ing his name, speaking hi3 thoughts, telliuR him some aocret of his past life or some undisclosed intention for the future. The impulse to do this at times was irresistible. Of late years this mor bid poroeption has passed away entirely, and, as is stated, it would seem to be because it has not beeu subject to the excitation of stimulants. Dr. Steinbeck onoe found an illiterate peasant praying aloud in Greek and Hebrew when he was prostrated with disease ; it was subsequently ascertained that he had heard tho parish minister pray in those languages when he was a child, and, though ho could not recall a word of them when in health, they came back to him in disease Abercrombie relates how tho attendants of on asylum found a youug girl inmate playing diffi cult anl exquisite music on tho violin, with no previous instruction or practice only she had beeu accustomed to sleop in a room adjoining that occupied by an itinerant musiciau of great talent. Sho could only play these airs when asleep. Memory in aged persons otten grows more vivid with advancing age and de clining powers. Sir Walter Scott, who had overstrained his physical powers. speaks of being haunted by a " sense- of pre-existenco. The faculty of lntensity- ing in sleep the thoughts or study in which one is engaged iu waking hours belongs to the saw e phenomena.- A stu dent in Germany, anxious to acquire tho language, and deeply immersed iu the study of it, in order to attend lectures, found that he could carry on a conversa tion fluently in his sleep, though he could only stumble along when awake. ihe latent mania oi "mmd reading is perhaps another development iu the same direction. They Were All " Rulued." It must have been a very touching scene iu tho Tweed mansion the other day, says the New York lYibune, when the news was communicated to the fam ily iu such an abrupt and unseomly manner that the eminent statesman had oozed away. "What! Gone?" they all said, with uplifted hands aud staring eyes hands that went up and eyes that bulged with such perfect 6imultaneous uess and uniformity that it seemed as though the movement could only have been perfected by practice. Then one of the sons, with a sudden realization of the terrible blow to the reputation of the family, uttered the exclamation: "We are ruined." Another member of tho family iu dramatic attitude before a mirror belonging to the city of New York gasped: "Ruined I" A. son-in-law of the statesman who had oozed caught the refrain, and agonizing away into the embrace of a luxurious arm chair belonging to the city of New lorn moaned: limned. All over the mansion, the princely mansion be longing to the city of New York there were noises of sobbing and waitings of distress, and everybody said, with a unanimity that could not have beeu sur passed even if the old mau himself had made out the returns: "ituined! Then the sheriff's officers began to take on in the same way and say they were ruined; and the hack driver round the corner doubtless joined in the general chorus with the remark that he was ruin ed; and Sheriff Conner, when he heard the news, immediately dropped his face into his hands aud said audibly that he was ruined. For a little thing like that, we have never known such large and pervading consequences in the way of ruin. Well might the sheriff and his deputies meet each other with the mel ancholy remark : ' What ruins we are, and what ruins we pursue." A Little Hint. The teeth are covered with a delicate enamel that is liable to injury from the use of any hard substanoe, like a knife or gold toothpick. The enamel once broken or chipped off opens the tooth to decay. The gums and bluing of the mouth are also likely to be injured. A quill or a soft piece of wood make the best toothpick. A celebrated aurist, or ear doctor, onoe said that no person should put anything inte his ear smaller than his elbow. Curious Tolson StorIe. A stoi'V is coins round the dailv nrnna. to the effect that a man once spit into a rattlesnake's mouth, and tho snake died ; ue did tho same ining to an adder, and it diod also. Another adder would not open its mouth, so he spit on a stick, rubbod tho spittle on the addor's nose, and it diod. A non-poisonous black snake was treated in tho same way, but it did not die ; and the oouolusiou is drawn that human saliva is as poisonous for poisonous snakes as the poison of snakes is for man. In order to realize the improbability of this story, we will state that tho poison of snakes is not their saliva; but a special fluid Becreted iu a bag situated near the root of the poisonous fang, which is provided with a channel to con duct the poison from the bag to near the point, so that it may bo injected into the wound. Many poisons, dangerous if given by injection, are harmless in the stomach, where, by the digestive powers of the gastric aud other juices, they are decom posed and made harmless. So the vac cine virus, which by inoculation pro duces the well knowu ulcer, is porfectly harmless when swallowed ; and several other organic poisons, especially of the septio kind, of animal origin, are only dangerous when entering the system by a wound, and may with impunity bo taken into the mouth and stomach. An excoriation or scratch on the lips or tongue, by which they may enter the circulation, is dangerous, as has been proved by many examples. Henco the danger of wounds during dissection by medical students, by which the decom posed animal matter of the subject en ters tho circulation, and kills the poor victim rapidly ; while students with an unimpaired skin on their hands may dis sect any subject with impunity. A case is on record of a young lady who kissed the dead body of hor father. She had a little excoriation on her lip, which was touched by the moisture on the lips of the corpse ; it soon inflamed with all the characteristics of a virulent dissec tion wound, and in a few days sho was a corpse also. The poison had entered into the circulation of her blood. Experiments iu this line are of course highly objectionable ; but as far as ex perience has shown, most poisons of this kind may with impunity be taken in the stomach. If the saliva of man or animals has any dangerous Qualities, it is Mostly 'only manifest when entering the circulation of the bitten individual, and especially wh n the saliva has been changed in its nature by the excitement of passions, such as great fear, anger, etc. Hence arises the often malignant appearance of bites by infuriated men or animals ; while the iutordnctiou of such saliva into the stomach weuld undoubt edly, in most cases, not be attended with serious consequences. This shows the absurdity of the idea that the nor mal human saliva should be poison in the month of any animal, whether possess ing poison bags connected with its teoth or not. The story reminds us of one which went rouud the papers some years ago, about a man who was bitten by a rattle snake through his boot. Long after his death, every one who tried on the boot died of the consequence of a scratch in the foot, produced by a serpent's tooth projecting inside the boot ; and tho cause of the mischief was only discover ed when many persons had been killed. The inventor of this story did not know that the rattlesnake poison is only active when freshly injected from tho poison hag. Another Horse Disease. The Philadelphia Press ' says : For some time another epidetnio has pre vailed among horses in this city. Tho new disease is pronounced by skilled veterinary surgeons to bo " Aptha Zartica," or eruptive fever. The disease is stated to be even more contagious than tho epizootic, and unless it is arrested at once will prove fatal. In several instances in large stables where one horse is attacked tho disease spreads rapidly through the stable, and very few animals coming in contact with those affected escape. The first symptoms of tne disoase are noticed by a peculiar ex pression of the countenance, saliva flow ing from the mouth, aud moisturo ex uding from the eyes. In some cases it is accompanied with troubled breathing and considerable fever. Upon opening the mouth of an animal stricken with this malady there will be found small vesicles ou the edge and upper portions of the tongue and gums. On the third or fourth day's illness large patohes of the covering of the tongue drop off and the animal refuses food. The disease, as in other eruptive fevers, whether in mau or beast, runs a fixed course, and the eruption cannot safoly be arrested unless proper remedies are immediately applied, together with good nursing, which adds materially to the speedy re covery "of the animal, which may be effecteof in from six to ten days. At a recent meoting of Pennsylvania veteri nary surgeons the nature and treatment of the new disease were discussed by a number of the members, all of whom pronounced the disease to beoontagious, and advised that the sick horsos shou d be kept apart from those which had not taken the disease. An epidemio has also broken out within the last few days on the outskirts of the city and in Camden among hogs and cattle, which is somewhat similar to " Texas fever." Among hogs the disease has proved terribly fatal, as in some cases the farm ers have lost, in a few hours, from sixty to seventy per cent, of their stock. In Camden and its immediate vicinity the stock has more or less been attacked, and many hundreds of hogs and cattle have died. At the present writing the disease has not beeu arrested, although every known remedy has been applied. For the purpose of ascertaining the na ture of this new malady a committee of five veterinary erperts are holding ooun cil, and will in a short time suggest a remedy for this new aad fatal disease. A miserly old apple and peanut ped dler of Rochester, N. Y., who has scraped together about $100,000, had a little five-year-old boy arrested and brought into court the other day for stealing a board, worth one cent, to play shinny with; but the judge discharged the youthful criminal with a mild lecture. SYMMES' HOLE IN THE EARTH. The RctItiiI of an Old nnd Boinpwliat Htnrtllng Theory.lu the Hollow of the Earth. Americus Symmos, Esq., of Louis ville, lectured at Riversido, Ohio, re cently, explaining a theory which his lather, uaptain John isymmos. pro mulgated fifty years ago. The term " Symmes' Hole1' was for many years in the mouths of the people, but is at present seldom heard, and scarcely ever understood. The lecturer said that his father. Capt, John Cloves Symmes, retired from the army after the war of 1815, and in 1818 became convinced in his own mind that the earth was hollow and habitable on its interior surface. Capt. Symmes devo ted tho remainder of his lite to the study of scientific matters, with especial reference to their bearing upon his theory. - He petitioned Congress to grant him means to make an expedition to the north, expecting to penetrate the girdloof everlasting ice which surrounds the. pole, to sail into the interior of the earth, and to take possession of the glorious country to be found there, in tho name of the United State-H. Ho was full of patriotic desire that his own be loved country should have the glory and profit of the grand discoveries, which he never doubted would some day be made. He was so inspired with this lovo of country that when Russia teudur ed him the command of an expedition he declined, because he felt thai it would be successful, aud the iriory there of redound to that country and be de nied to tho United States. Thus he even sacrificed the fondest hopes of his life upon the shrine of his patriotism, and died, iu 1829, broken-hearted. He died as he had lived, certain that his theory was correct and would ultimately be demonstrated. Capt. Symmes held that the depres sion in the outward surface of the earth began at some point between the sixty- eighth and eightieth degrees of latitude, aud that the transition space, or verge, as he termed it, occupied about 1,800 miles, after which the convexity would ceaso, and the surface would become concave, opening toward the interior. lie maintained that the crust of the earth was about 1,000 miles thick, leav ing an interior surface of about 6,000 miles. The distance from one run of the depression of the outward Biu-face to tho other he claimed to be about 4,000 miles, aud the depression iu the shape of a funnel until the narrowest poiut should be reached, whence tho surface widened out into the interior concavity. Light and heat being essential to this new world, Capt. Symmes relied upon the rays of the sun being cabt directly into the opening a certain distance, and then being refracted and reflected until they should yield light and heat to the whole interior ; but should there not be sufficient sunlight aud heat, the lecturer seemed to think that there might be a sufficient quantity of inherent heat to eke out the requirements of nature. Mr. Symmes cited several facts from the experience of Arctic explorers, all going, as he thought, to prove the cor rectness of his father's theory. Dr. Hayes, Capt. Hall, aud others had gone far enough north to see nimbus clouds hanging over open wat.-.r in the distance, indicating warmth. Wood drifting from the north had been picked up with cuts iu it made with an ax, showing that this interior region was in habited with a race who understood the use of iron. The lecturer compared Capt. Hall to Moses, as being permitted to look into the uppermost laud, but not to enter and enjoy it. He spoke with profound sorrow of the fact that the Polaris turned back when within one day's sail of tho open water, which would have inevitably conducted her into the interior of the earth, whereby his father's theory would have been demonstrated, and the United States have acquired dominion over the new world of Sym meszc nia, as he termed it At this point tho lecturer appeared so overcome with the intensity of his re gret that so fine on opportunity for proving the correctness of his father's theory should have beeu lost, that ho was obliged to terminate his lecture, be ing almost prostrated with a sudden dizziness. The Speaker of the House. The speakership of the United States House of Representatives is the third office in the country in rank and dignity. In case of there being vacancies at the same time iu the offices of President, Vice-President, and president of the Senate, the speaker would act as Presi dent till an election was held. The office is one of much power and responsibility. It requires a minute knowledge of the rules of parliaruenlery law, and the ability to apply them promptly when occasion arises; tact and capacity for managing men; dignity, presence of mind, readiness and im partiality. It is no easy thing to preside over c, noisy . body of nearly three hundred earnest partisans; and the speaker who does so successfully, is entitled to re spect and praise. . ' The speaker's most important duty is to appoint the committees of the House, which shape the business and legislation of the body, aud which, therefore, need to be formed with the greatest judgment and care. The mode of electing the speaker is simple. It usually requires a majority of the votes cast to elect him. When the House meets, the clerk of the last House calls it to order, and presides during the election of speaker; and no other busi ness can be entered upon until an elec tion has been made. The roll of members is called alpha betically, and as each member hears his name, he cries out the name of his candi date for speaker; and this process goes on over and over again, until a majority have united on a candidate, and have thus made a choice. " Ain't you rather old to ride for half price I" said a oar conductor to the elder of two boys. " Well, remarked the youth, " I am under fourteen, and this boy with me is only six. . That don't make twenty, and you will take two boys under ten for half price each." TOWN AND COUNTRY. It Ik Not Where we I.lve but the Manner of Our Lire that Telle the Story. The New York Tribune has the fol lowing : In spite of January bills, dull trade, and depression in stocks, mar riages are reported as unusually numer ous this winter, and crowd faster on each other in theso weeks whioh precede the holidays. Not marriages of the showy son, euner, wuere point laoe and pres ents of plate and diamonds argue a foundation of comfort and ease.'at least for the present ; but quiet little wed dings, where the brido wears muslin and the bridegroom his one Sunday suit, and there are no rich kinsfolk, and no money in bank, and nothing but love and hard work to depend upon for the future. Whethei Tom aud Amelia are wise in marrying at all on such a founda tion is a matter safely to be left for tho gossip of their friends ; it is one which will settle itself by tho amount of love, common wi.se, and ability for work which each takes into (he partnership. Next to this genoral question comes, now that they are marrieil, the point for decision as to whore they shall live. Will hard work, eoonouiy, and affection bring them comfort aud happiness soon er iu the town or the country ? In such a question the chances end advantages for a probable family aro always to be taken into account. II Tom is free footed as to business engagements, his prudent friends are apt to aruge him to go West, take his little capital or skill in business to some new settlement and "grow tip with thg town." Health, wealth, virtues of every grade, he is assured, will be promoted by such a change. There will be over powering arguments, based on purer air, purer morals, the lack of tempta tion, to display, and the cheapness of living, winding up with the general as sertion that God made tho country after the veiy best model of Arcadia, and left the towns to tho making of mnu or the devil. Now the Tribune has always urged this side of the question, found ing its arguments, howevor, on the pluiu facts that th- cities were over crowded; that the markets for small capital, for ordinury skill or kno .vledge lay in the hali-settled tracts of the West rather than ir large cities; that, simply from the vast amount of competition iu town, the amount of intelligence, pluck, unduvance which would give a young trader or professional mau cer tain success iu u growing village would not carry him through the first year in New Yort. Wo do not retract these as sertions. If Tom has neither n secured position, money, family, nor political in fluence, Miero is not much chance for him this winter in New York; while without my of theso he may make a fair succetis in ft Western town. But let us suppose he has what ho calls a "fair piarl " iu this city ; ho is a mechanic ecviain of work ; a clerk ou small pay; a doctor, clergyman, journal ist, wi n a very moderate but sure in come. lorn and Amelia weigh this in come in their minds incessantly, and it appeals such a miserable little sum I 11 they measure it. against their actual needs, it is small enough, but if (as is most common) against the income of Tom's employer or fiat of the million aire whose carriage wheels throw mud on them at the crossings, it shrivels and withers quito out of Mcht. On half tho sum, Tern's cousin, out in Smith City, uves in a double uncK house, drives his wagon, and as Amelia cries ecstaticilly, has a farm of teu acres, for the vege tables, h-ns, cow and children ! Still, the present income is a bird, though a small one, iu the hand, and it is not at all certain that there are any in the bush. Therefore they resolve to stay in town, at 1 ust until "the times lift a littlo." Having so resolved, we have a word or two of consolation for them. To sensi ble, genuine pooplo tho scale of expendi tures is very evenl" balanced between New York aud Smith City. Tom's work or services, to begin with,oommand one half as much more wages iu the larger city; routs and provisions are double or troblo tho price in New York; fuel and lights about equal; the wages of servants of the ordinary sort, as Amelia will prob ably not require skilled cooks, butlers, and other masters, ranee very nearly even; if she choses to do her own work, it will cost half tne time and strength to do it hero that it will in the country; clothing of all kinds, including shoes, art. treble the price iu tho village, and more costly iu proportion a it is distant from the seaboard cities. "But," cru3 Tom, "tha temptation to outlay here I Sooiety, dress, amuse mentall these ure exigeut in their de mauds in the city. And the children if God sends them I don't want to bring them tin in a community where they will be reminded of their inferiority at every turn. I want them to feel as good as the best." Tom, in short, re gards Smith City as a Utopia where he shall find the sublimer virtues and a Spartan simplicity of life. It is nothing of the kind. There is no such place iu the Uuited States. If you should go to the top of the highest peak and find a cabin there, a wonuui shall come out of it with her calico skirt pinned back after the latest fashion plate known to her, and judge of you by your clothes. In fact, iu small towns there is more anxiety to follow "the style," more blind, idiotio subservience to fashion in dress, furniture, ana habits of life, thou iu the metropolitan city. Amelia, in her tuird floor flat, can do her own cook ing or washing, if she pleases, dress herself in her waterproof and old felt ht, and nobody but Tom will either know or care ; whereas in Smith City, a new gown, an idea different from her neighbois', a way of cooking potatoes unauthorized by public opinion, will bring on her the cackling of the whole community. Snobbishness, vulgarity, love of display, lie in wait for her in one place as much as in the other. Her boys will be made to feel their in feriority to the squire's sons. The vil lage, as well as New York, will have its grog shop ready for them, its gambling table, its other and straigbter roads to ruin. The sum of the whole matter is that it is not the skies under which your young friends choose to live, but the manners which they carry with them, that will give them true success. Com mon sense, eocuomy, and contempt of sham will help them to live comfortably in New York or Pike's Teak. And if they givo to their children something bettor thau money or social position to stand upon, they will never feel their in feriority to those who have them. Chinee Cheap Labor. We are coming TJnole Samee, Lee hundred million stlong, We are eoming to makeo' Frisoo All samee as Hong Kong. We will workee beree cheapeo, Beat white man allee way, An J makee poor white lonmen For obow-ohoy clay all day. San Diego Union. Items of Interest. There are seventeen fashionable ways for a lady to do up her hair, and none of the ways require over four hours' time. There are about 65,250 professional beggars in Paris, of whom 25,480 aro women, 14,500 men, 13,060 girls, and 12,310 boys. The losses by fire in New England, iu November, were a million aud a half dollars, nearly two-thirds of them iu Massachusetts. The State census of South Carolina, which has just been completed, shows a total population of 923,447, an increase of thirty per cent, iu five yoars. Two ladies were talking about uota papers, and one said: "I alwnvn nun Irish lincu." "Do you," said the other, "why. I think York Mills muslin ever so much better." Many a fond mother has been per suaded by an affectionate daughter to part with her 1812 velvet cloak, aud havo it converted into an underskirt. So stjlish, you know ! The total number of teachers iu all the States and Territories is 247,300, be ing nearly one to every nine children in constant attendance, and of the teachers about one-half are women. " Now my little girls and boys," said a teacher, "I want you to be very still so that you can hear a pin drop." Iu a moment all was silent, when a littlo boy cried out: " Let her drop !" A Western paper has this personal item : Those who know nice old Mr. Wilson of this place will regret to hear that he was assulted in a brutal manner last week, but was not killed. Three hnndred locomotives aro stabled at Syracuse, aud whenever two hundred and fifty of them cro screech ing and tooting the Syracuse infants moan in their cradles aud wish they were dead. A Pennsylvania boy lugged an eight- eeu-ounce can of nitro-glycerine around in his pocUet lor ten days beloro his parents took notice of it, aud tho way they smiled on him till the cau changed bauds was simply gorgeous. Philadelphia manufacturers have in troduced improvements in their ma chinery for punching cold iron, by which they are able to punch a half-inch holo through au inch and three-quarters of wrought irou cold, making a perfectly smooth perforation. Ninety mechanics and artisans wtih their families havo immigrated from Pennsylvania and settled on Hood river, Oregon, and over threo hundred will follow in tho spring. They intend build ing a college, a woollen mill, a grist mill, and other educational aud indus trial establishments. It will be hardly necessary to tell the name of the facetious party who went into a dry goods storo the other day, and was observed to bo looking about, when the proprietor remarked to Lira that they didu't keep whisky. "It would save you a good many steps if you did," was the quick reply. A Mr. Allen, of Los Angoles, Cal., has left 810,000 to the county, on condi tion that it should be kept at interest until it would amount to 30,000. jn case it was not accepted by that coimty it was to go to any county of ouy State, except Cook county, 111., which should agree to the terms. The will has beeu probated, but the testator's relatives contest it on the ground of his insanity. Fort Plain is greatly troubled over some recent kissing business. A young married man kissed a pretty girl at a sociable. His wife was angry. He ex plained that ho did it by mistake, and there was peace for a day or two. The pretty girl heard of the terms of settle ment, however, andbeing angry in turn, reported around town that the young married man had made tho same mis take hundreds of times. Hence the difficulty, and there is apparently to be no end to it. Australian statistics show that insanity of a violent kind prevails to a frighU'ul extent ou that continent. Iu 1861 there, were 161 inmatas of asylums iu Sonth Australia, being ono to 750 inhabitants. In 1870 they numbered 307, and at the close of 1871 there wero as many as 324, or one to 021 of the population. Ibese figures do not represent the entire list of insane, but only madmen and other in mates of the asylums. A brakeman on one of the railroads went to the superintendent for permis sion to " lay off" for a day, and mode a request for a pass to ride home on. The superintendent said : " If you were working for a farmer, aud wanted to go home, do you suppose he'd hitch up his team and take you?" "No," said the brakeman ; " but if ho had a tearu al ready hitched up, and was going right pass the door, I'd say he was a mean cuss not to take me." He got his pass. An improvement in safety lamps has been devised by Mr. Boullenot, of Paris. It consists in replacing the lamps usual ly employed 1n mines containing fire damp by others supplied with air out side the mines, aud branches are lod into all the workings. Through these com pressed air is forced from the surface by air pumps, and the improved lamps are screwed to tho air pipes by couplings with stopcocks. The cylinder inclosing the flame is protected by a cage, aud the products of combustion pass off through two pieces of gauze. The match for -lighting ihe lamp is inserted through, a spring dip, ignited within the lamp, and cannot be withdrawn iintil it is extinguished.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers