- .
t. I
A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.C-
Two Dollars per Annum.
- ' . ' i i ' ' ' ' ' i -. i .if i . i
VOL. V.
"Vliy.
t did not lovo him. Loug ago,
Instead of yes, I gave him no.
I did not love him ( but to-day
I rend his marriage nstioe. Tray,
Why was I sad, when never yet
lias my heart known the least rcgrot
Over that whispered no ? and why,
Beading the notice, did I sigh ?
No analyst can guess the cause i
A woman's reason laughs at laws.
Sure, I am glad to know the wound
I gave in healed, that he has found
Love's bloesedness and peace j and yet
A. woman never can forget
The man who onco has loved her ; and
To-day I eeem to gee him stand,
With every glance a mute caress,
Still pleading for the longed-for yes.
. His eariy love tor me is dead .
Another lives in that love's stead ;
And if lie Iovr s her well, as men
Should love their chosen ores, why, then
IIo must be glad that long ago,
Inotead of yes, I gave him no.
Perhaps that is the reason why
I read the notice with a sigh.
A WOMAN DID IT.
A Touching Utile Story.
A broad stretch of barren, saudyshoro,
covered here and there with ragged tufts
of scanty evergreens ; boats lying up ou
tho Btraud like sleepiug sea monsters, on
one Hide ; nnd oh the other the eternal
roar of great white-crested billows, ding
ing white showers of spray into the salt
BCHiiled air this was what Mrs. St.
Leger saw as she'stood ou the piazza of
the solitary hotel, with her husband at
her side.
" Is it not grand. Beatrice?"
She shuddered, and drew invounta
ri!y nearer to him.
" Yes ; but oh, how dreary I how sol
itary 1"
" People dou't expect much society iu
a place like this, Beatrice ; health is the
main object for which wo see;, aud I
believe, the roses avo brighter alroady iu
your chcuks, dearest wife. See how lit-,
tin Nell is frolicking down on tho ihoro
with the old boatman and hia wife.
Shall wo, walk dovi and bring Nelly
back ?" V
" You go, Alfred, and I will wait for
yoji iu the parlor. Don't bo long, for
the sun lias already set and tho air grows
chilly."
Little Nell and her female companion
were nlono on the shore when Mr. St.
Leger jiflned tho group the boatman
had strayed off in n'notber direction to
look for a missing onr and the child
ran gk-ofully to moot him.
" Puna, pap.. ! see this pre tty pink
shill !"'
But Alfred St. Leger saw neither shell
nor child. He had grown suddenly pale,
then crimson.
" Kathleen Morison!"
Tim tall, pretty young woman threw
the scarlet shawl bark from her head, na
she bowed. " Ho you haven't forgotten
our flirtation, Mr. St. Leger f And you
are married, and this is your little girl.
How time pastes.
St. Leger drew a deep sigh of relief as
Kathleen broko into light laughter. If
Ik- could but hnye seen the cruel smile
upon her mocking lips he would scarcely
havo carried so light a heart in his
bosom.
" Mamma, Kathleen says it's the pret
tiest place a cave, whero tho saud is
like silver and the little junk and purple
hhellslio in heap". Kathleen can row
mo out in half au hour. She ofteu
goes."
Nelly's cheeks were in a flame, and
her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
Mrs. St. Leger looked languidly up
from her book.
" It 1-t safe, Kathleen ?"
" Qnito so, ma'am ; we'll be back by
teatime.
"Then I may go, mamma?"
i " If Kathleen will take care of you,
pet."
The purple light faded into gray, and
the gray into starry darkness, and the
liioou rose tip solemnly over tho tides,
and they did not return.
" Oh, Kathleen, I am so tired. Take
ino back to mamma."
" Hush, child 1 We're going where
the suu shines all the year round, and
you shall gather ripe oranges from the
trees, and the parrots are redder than
ponies. Just wait a minute."
" And can I have a monkey ?"
... " Twenty, if you like."
"But will mamma bo there f"
" No ; but we'll send her a monkey
iu a letter."
Nelly laughed at the idea; but the next
miuuto her cheeks grew pale again.
"I want my mamma, Kathleen. I
don't care for tho monkeys and tho par
rots any more. I want my mamma."
Kathleen did not answer. She was in
tently watching the movements of a
large vessel lying a little distance out at
sea. Suddenly a tiny wune pennon
fluttered out, and was instantly with
drawn. "Tho saints be blessed I" muttered
Kathleen. I began to think it would
never come. Nelly, darling, here's the
boat; jump in."
Are we going to mamma?"
" Yes, yes jump in, quick."
And Kathleen's strong arm was pull
ing them out to sea in another instant.
As they ran up alongside the large
black hull of tho vessel, a voice hailed
them.
"la it you, Kathleen Where's the
child "
" Here."
" Tho ladder will be lowered in a
minute. I tell you what, my girl,
you've ehown courage to-day."
The atldetio young tar greeted her
with a hearty kiss as she stood beside
him; but her cheek was oold as ice as
littl). Nelly clung, terrified, to her
skirts.
"lam revenged I" was the first, the
last, the only thought that whirled
through her brain.
- And when, the next morning, long
after the outward-bound Sardinia was
spreading her white sails to the breeze,
the littlo boat drifted ashore, people
whispered to one another that old Mor
ison 'b daughter and the golden hnirod
little girl were lost at sea.
Ten years afterwards, Kathleon Mori
son a childless widow, a listless exile
now upon a foreign shore wa-i standing
at her door, where the glowing Italian
sunshine streamed down through blos
soming vines.
"The saints protect us from such n
grim face as yours, Kathlina 1" cried a
merry neighbor, balancing a basket of
fish on her head, as she tripped by.
" Don't yon want to hear abitof news?"
"I am not so wrapped up in the fine
folk at the castle as you, Niuetta," said
Kathleen.
"It's a lovely lady," returned Niuetta,
" and she's dying by inches La Signora
San Legero.
"St. Leger!"
"Ah I that's the way tho English havo
it."
" Go away ! I want no more of your
idle gossip I"
Ninotta retreated, fairly appalled by
tho sharpness of her neighbor's tongue
and voico; and Kathleen stood gazing
fixedly into the snusot, with eyes that
saw not a shade of the carmine glow.
"I thought once that I should never
pity her," mused Kathleen, " but that
was before my babes died. I havo felt
the serpent's tooth in my own heart
since. Poor lady! and sho is dying of a
broken heart. I wish I could dio ! "
The next evening, as Mrs. St. Leger
was lying on the sofa by the open win
daw which led out upon marble terraces
and velvet-smooth lawns, a slip of white
paper came fluttering down upon her
lap as softly as the floating petal of an
orange blossom. And, rudely scrawled
upon it with a pencil, she deciphered
these words :
" There is one white American flower
auiorg the pomegranate blossoms at
Mareo Silvedo's."
Beatrice St. Leger's cheek turned even
paler than its usual shade of pallor as
she read the mystic lines.
"Read, Alfred."
" Nelly wa;i drowned ten long year3
ago, Beatrice."
"Nelly is alive, Alfred ; I know it, I
feci it ! ' Oh, lo:;e no time inquire who
and whero Mareo Silvedo is !
"I will inquire," he said ; "but, Bea
tvice, calm yourself. ReniPniber how
often Ave have been deceived before"
" Wo shall not bo deceived again,
Alfred."
Mareo Silvedo sat at his cottage door,
Kiuoking a short pipe of son's dark,
fragrant wood ; an ohl, wrinkle-faced
Italian, with a skin as fellow as ptrch
nient, iron-gray hair and keert black
e,ys. Two or three children, as dark as
himself, were playing around him ; and
when Mrs." St. Leger noted the ruddy
crimson hue of health in their cheeks,
s!ie knew what was meant by the words
Mr. St. Leger alighted, nud began to
talk to the old man in his own language.
" Are thehe all your children, Signor
Silvedo?"
" Yes, signor all. Two are with the
saints iii glory three are here."
Beatrice, listening from the carriage,
felt the blood grow chill around her
heart. Was the faint light of hope that
had begun to dawn on her life's horizon
but a deceptive mirage, aft r all.
Mr. St. Leger was about to re-enter
tho carriage, when the old Italian rose
pol toly to his feet.
" The siguor and signora would honor
him by partaking of a glass of hi own
Mine ? Nay, he would recoive no refus
al. Elena Nella!"
A tall, slender girl of fifteen or there
abouts came to tho door a girl with a
skin as fair as drifted snow, and blue,
serene eyes. She looked wonderingly
at the strangers.
Mrs. St. Leger uttered a low, smoth
ered cry. All the changes that had
passed over Nelly's head had not al
tered her to the mother's wistful, loving
eyes. Sho was the " Little Nelly" of
the weary years ago,
"Nelly! Nelly!" she cried, wildly,
"don't you remember your mother ?"
. And Nelly St. Leger, with tho flood
gates of memory wide open in her heart,
fell, sobbing on her mother's breast.
"I knew I had a mother once, before
I sailed across the sea," she faltered, in
Italian : "but I thought she had forgot
ten me !"
Mareo Silvedo, who hnd been gazing
in blank astonishment fron one to an
other, now came forward aud told how
the child had been loft at his door one
chill Novembernight, how and by whom
ho did not know, nor could the be
wildered child tell him.
"I had just buried my youngest
child," he said, "and it seemed as if
the good saints meant this one to take
her place. I shall miss her sorely,
though I dou't grudge her to the siguor. "
Kathleen, standing at the door as the
carriage rolled by the next day, with
Nelly sitting between her father and
mother, smiled darkly to herself.
" I had meant that my revenge should
havo lasted still longer," she said to her
self; " but the poor lady cannot live loug
and, after all, she was not to blame.
Besides, when littlo Kathleen died, I
buried almost all the bitter smart in he r
grave. Let them be happy while they
can."
For Kathleen knew that she was
amply aveDged.
All About Armies.
If the United States Congress carries
out its purpose to reduce the army from
25,000 to 15,000, it will be the smallest
armv of any nation, says the Now York
Herald. France, with a population of
80.000.000. has a standing army of 303,
000 men ; Great Britain, with a popula
tion of 32,000,000, has an army of 225,
000 : Germanv. with a population of 41,
000,000, has a peace establishment of
274,000. Mexioo, with a population of
9,000,000, maintains an army nearly as
large as ours is at present, the Mexican
army consisting oi Z,oai men,
A TOnva flnotia farmer who sent a sam
ri lmrrel of urn iles to the recent fruit
exhibition at Birmingham, England, has
been informed officially that, " though
there was an exceptionally good show
of English apples, the American fruit
beat theia in size and very far indeed in
color.
EIDGWAY, ELK
SETTLING ACCOUNTS.
A View of Mutter, nnd Tliln. nl the End ol
the Year.
Bishop Clark writes to the Ledger as
follows : The end of the yi ar is the
time for settling our accounts. We look
into our affairs to see how we stand in
tho world. And how are you getting on ?
I hoar, in reply, all sorts of voices in the
air, some quite ohoorful and others very
sad.
The first to which I give heed is
noither joyful or mournful tho man
says : " I hold my own ; I owe no one
anything that I cannot pay ; I have
been able to obtain food and raiment for
myself and my family, and therefore I
suppose I ought to be content. I con
fess, however, that I would like to have
laid up something against a rainy day ;
I would like to have made some little in
vestment that would bring me an incomo
without working for it so hard; I would
like to put up something for my chil
dren, as I see my neighbors doing around
me." There are few of us who would
not sympathize with this feeling. But,
if your work has been well done, you
have gained something beside food and
clothing ; tho fiber of your soul has
been made stronger, and if yon can
leave your children the legacy of a good
example, put tliem straight upon their
feot to earn au honest living as you havo
done, they will be better off in the end
thau if you bequeathed to them the
moaus of living iu idleness and luxury.
Tho strong men are those who rind their
capital in their brains, and earn credit
by their conduct. These are the men
who rulo.
From another quarter I hear a more
doleful sound, aud the voice says : " I
have not been able to hold my own. I
am worse off than I was when the year
began. I had nothing then, aud I have
less thau nothing now, because I have
accumulated debts which I am unable to
pay." This is bad, very bad; for we
muy sentimentalize about the moral
beauties of poverty as much as we please,
when we get at the real thing, with its
daily huugeriuga and shiverings, its piti
ful make-shifts aud ilismal contrivances,
skulking arouud corners, or slipping
quickly iuto doorways to avoid the inex
orable creditor; its efforts to keep up
appearances and tinal abandonment of
all regard for appearances; I say, when
wc gt at tho real thing, it provus to be
a very disagreeable aud repulsive thing.
But it may bo your own fault tbatjou
have not' succoeded any better; you may
have folded your arms while others were
working ; waiting for opportunities in
stead of making the opportunity, as all
successful people do; laboring only when
you felt like it, which may have been
very seldom, saying to yourself, because
you havo 4een so- unfortunate as to bo
born into the wrld, therefore the world
owes you a living, whereas it really owes
you only what you earn. Or, perhaps,,
yon have not been very indolent, out
have lived carelessly and beyond your
income, contracted debts, without know
ing how they were to be met, and iu-
lulged m luxuries which you could not
afford. You honed that somehow mat
ters would como out right, that some
thing favorable would turn up, but the
yoar has closed and brought no relief.
n? i. u .i:
rv c muy ue surry iur uun iiiujiuiiiicu
men, but wo do not altogether regret
that they have some auxiety aud suffer
iny, beeauso this may lead them to do
better iu tho future. To persist in this
kind of life will inevitably lead not only
to social degradation, which is no slight
calamity, but also to the ntter deteriora
tion ot personal character, which is a
thousand times worse. Hie young man
who begins with running iu debt is in
danger of running into something worse
than debt beforo long. It is a pitiable
sight to see one trying to live by his
wits, with perhaps u very slender stock
of wit to draw upon. To be rich and
aud torpid is bad enough, but to bj
poor and torpid is sure destruction.
lho next voico that wo near is iu
another tone; the note is stdi sad, but
the roughness is gone. This man says:
it is not my lault that 1 navo tailed to
better my position. I have done the
best that I could. I have toiled hard,
lived carefully, expended frugally, but
everything has turned against mo. If 1
had received my dues as faithfully
as I have tried to pay my debts, if
I had had the same return for my labors
that others have had, I would not com
plain. As it is, I am disappointed and
disheartened. I do not like to ask for
favors; I will not be flishonest. I am
trying to do my duty iu the state of life
where God has placed me, Out X meet
with no encouragement and no success.
The new year comes to me dark with
clouds; it brings with it a heavier load
than I am able to bear my faith in
Pt rvideuoa is almost gone. ' Beware of
that ! To lose your faith would bo far
worse than to lose your money. I do
not know why you are thus sorely tried,
but God does, and you will find it out
by-aud-bye. The best fruit does not
always grow in tho richest soil. Awhile
ago, I saw a raau removing the mellow
earth from tho roots oi a tree, and suu
stituting iu its place cinders and ashes
the tree was growing too luxuriantly.
and the vitalizing sap ran - to wood and
leaves. I do not mean to say that you
are to sit down doggedly aud look for
no further worldly prosperity; it rather
becomes you to believe that if, with a
buoyant heart and a strong will, you
persevere in well-doing, a change for
the better will Boon come. You will not
be tried beyond your power of endur
ance. Some oi tuose wno nave oeen
most prosperous in the end, met with
. ,v at i : :
tne severest reuuns m mo uegiuuwg.
One further voice breaks the stillness,
and that la briHk and jocund. It says :
"I have prospered abundantly, I am
much richer than I was a year ago,
whatever I touch turns to gold." I trust
tneu that you have touched nothing that
is deteriorated by turning into gold. I
trust that your conscience has not be
come metallic I trust that there are no
widows er orphans to cry out against
you. I trust that you have not kept
back tho hire of the laborer. I trust
that you have not advanced your pros
perity by over-reaching. I trust that
you can look back upon the process by
which you have grown rich, with as
much satisfaction as you regard the
wealth you have secured. And I also
hope that you are prepared to use the
means at your command for the benefit
of the world. Men often lay out splen-
COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JANUARY
did projects of benefloenco, which they
intend to carry into effeot an soon as
they get rich; but when the riches come
other use ore found for the money. - If,
however, you have grtwn rich honestly,
and if your whole nature has expanded
with the expansion 6f y6ur estates, then
you deserve to be congratulated. For
it is a good thing to have the promise of
the life that now is, well as of that
which is to como. It is pleasant to see
the work of our hand) prosper. It is in
vigorating for a ( ooibiaan to feel that he
carries power. They who sneer at riches
are glad to take all wl ioh they can fairly
get. . Very few men are sorry, when a
new year comes round, to find a balance
in their favor. . , ; -:?.... i i
Clay andJJowie. '
Henry Clay used la toll a story of his
own experience. Upon enrtntn ooca
Bion, in his early mi rhood, Mr. Clay
was travoling in a public stogo coach in
Tennessee. His fellow passengers were
a young lady and her Uusbaud -the lat
ter evidently an invalid and a man in
the front corner, so muffled up iu a fur
lined cloak that his features were con
cealed. Ha appeared to be rather under
than over the medium size, aud was evi
dently enjoyiug a refreshing 6luinber.
By-and-bye a big, brown-iaced, brawny
Kentuckian got into the coach, smoking
a rank, coarse-grain eu cigar. He gazed
around fiercely, as though he woidd im
press upon the minds of his new com
panions that he could chew np and swal
low any one who dared to interfore with
him. In short, he was " half horse and
half alligator, with a goodly sprinkling
of panther and grizzly bear thrown in."
He puffed forth huge volumes of tmoke
without the least concern for the com
fort of his companions.
Presently the lady, who seemed to be
growing siok, whispered to her husband,
and the husband, in thy politest manner
possible, asked the stranger if he would
not throw away his cigar, as tho smoke
greatly discommoded his wife. With
an impudent, swaggering stare tho fellow
replied, interlarding his speech with
several oaths: '",.!.
"I reckon I've paid my place. I'll
smoke as much as I please. I'd like to
see somebody stop me !" .
He looked very dangerous as he
glared arouud, and it was very evident
that he was used to- quarrel and strife,
and, furthermore, a . struggle -with him
might have beei) fi deadly one. The
young man wno nau spoiten 10 mm
shrank baok, and was stent, ine lady
lowered the sash by her side for a breath
of fresh air.
Mr. Clay felt ever gallant instinct of
his soul aroused. He considered for a
moment whether lie should interfere,
and found himself . reluctant to draw
UDOii his own head tho brutal violence
of the gigantic ruffian. - In that 'theu
lawless countryhe km w that nis mo
1 i - Jaj. l .. 1 IT..
miguD us. sudctmueiij ''eiiviciA.
knew himself to be physically "unequal
to tho contest, and ho thought, after all,
it was not his business to risk his life in
so Quixotic a manner.
Clay was settling back, with pity lor
the insulted aud disgust for tho iusulter,
when, sudden! v. but very quietly, the
cloaked figure in the oorner assumed an
upright position, suffering tne lurred
mantle to fall back without a particle of
excitement, thereby revealing the small,
but well-knit, muscular frame of a man
plainly dressed in a closely buttoned
frock coat, with a face rather pale, and a
pair of bright gray eyes that gleamed
like polished steel and those strange
eyes quickly attracted the attention of
the ferocious Kentuckiau.
With a terriblo calmuess this quiet
man passed his hand under his coll.u- at
the back of his neck, and deliberately
drew forth a loug, glittering and ugly
looking kuife from its sheath in that sin
gular place.
" Stranger," he said, "my name is
Colonel James Bowie, well known in
Texas and Arkansaw. If you do not
put that cigar out of the window iu less
thau fifteen seconds, I'll put this
knife through your heart, as sure a
death !"
Clay said that ho could never forget
tho expression of the colonel's eyes at
that moment. They told, as unmistaka
bly as signs can tell, that the threat
wonld certainly be fulfilled; aud tbis
conviction ovideutly impressed itself
upon tho mind of the offender. During
a very few neconds his eyes met thjse of
Bowie. With all his bruto strength he
was tho weaker man, and ho quailed.
With a muttered curse he threw the
cigar away, upon which Col. Bowie
coolly retun.ed his knife to iU sheath,
and without another look or word re
folded his cloak about him and lay back
as before. At the next stopping place
the Kentu' kiau got out and took a seat
with the driver.
Sta'e Legislatures.
The following table givos the number
of representatives in the Suiiate and
Assembly of each State Legislature:
Sen.lt.
Alabama S3
Arkauisas 24
California 40
Connecticut 21
Delaware 9
Florida 24
Georgia 41
Ilhuoia 25
Iowa...,, 40
Indiana 60
Kansas. 25
Kentucky 88
Louisiana 30
Maine ill
Maryland 24
Maseaohuaetts 40
Michigan 32
Minnesota 22
Mississippi 84
Mifsoan 84
Hnust. Total,
100 133
82 106
80 120
241 2G2
21 80
63 77
175 219
90 115
100 140
98 148
75 100
100 138
101 137
161 182
80 110
240 280
100 132
47 69
112 146
200 234
89 62
38 65
841 353
60 84
128 ICO
120 . 170
105 141
34 60
100 " 133
72 108
124 . 157
75 100
60 -90
241 271
132 175
65 89
i 100 . 133
Nebraska 13
Nevada Vi
New Hamp&hire 12
New Jersey , 21
New York 82
North Carolina 50
Ohio 88
Oregon 16
Pennsylvania 83
Rhode eland 36
South Croliua., ...... 83
Tenneaoue. ...... , 25
Texas , 30
Vermont.... 80
Virginia 43
West Virginia 24
Wisoonsin . . . . , 83
Tf. hnft liAAn AxutvwaraA that tha RAmA
kind of coloring matter which poisons
the etrioed stockincs is also used to
color bad whisky. In both oases it goes
to the legs and ruins the understanding
Tho t'ptowu Schoolmaster.
At a social sit-down, following, and
attendant upon, a teachers convention in
Carroll county, N. H., sn old clergyman,
who had beon a pedagogue in his young
er days, related an anecdote, for the
truth of which he said he could per
sonally vouch.
It was in t8e times wnen, in me
country, large girls, and larger boys,
attended tho district school. In fact, it
was no unusual thing for boys to attend
the winter term until they were twenty
one, and tho girls until they were
eighteen. And iu those days, be it re
membered, flagellations were more com
mon than they are now. The armament
of the rod and ferule was the teacher's
Bine qua non.
In a certain school in JNew mmpsuu-e
one of the oldest, largest, plumpest, and
fairest givls happened to violate one of
the teacher's rules. She was one of
thoso laughter loving, irrepressible
damsels so thorning to the pedagogue
always good natnred. and nover at home
under the restraint of tho school-room.
The master, a prompt, energetic, power
ful young man of two-aud-tweuty, sum
moned the fair delinquent into tho
middle of the floor, and, as was usual,
in such cases, the attention of tho whole
school was called from the lessons to the
scene on the floor, it being expected that
the girl would receive a severe punish
ment.
After a brief but severe harangue, the
master took from his desk a huge ferule,
such as is seldom seen nowadays, and
told tho damsel to hold out her hand.
She hesitated, and hung her bead. With
an angry stamp of the foot tho master
cried out :
'Will yom give me your hand?"
Yes. sir." she promptly though
somewhat shyly replied, looking up, not
frightened, but with a twinkling smile
playing around tho dimples of her face;
'audmv heart with it I at tne same
time holding out her plump hand.
A dead silenco roigned lor a lew mo
ments in the school-room. The mastor s
face flushed, and a moist light was in his
eyes. Finally the ferule was laid back,
unused, upon the desk, and the now
blushing damsel was told that she might
take her seat, but to remain after school
was dismissed.
That schoolmaster lived in another
town, and when ho went away that girl
went with him as his wife; and after tuo
lapso of many years, he had never had
occasion to regret his acceptance of the
hand so quaintly given him.
Funny Incidents in the Pulpit.
At a clerical dinner party some time
ago, says Appleton s Journal, tne ques
tion went round to each, as follows :
Were vou ever so placed in publio in
the performance of a service as to lose
all sense of the solemnity of the occasion
and be compelled to laugh in spite of
your move senilis self?" and the follow
ing are some of the replies that were
made : A very solemn clergyman and
his assistant were disturbed in their
chancel by a miserable looking street
at, which had come iu in some unknown
way and was rubbing itself up againt
their legs, 'me-ow-ing piteously. The
ecior beckoned to tho assistant to put
the cat out, which he did, but iu a few
moments sho was back again. Upon
this the very solemn rector placed tho
poor creature under one of the heavy
box stools iu the chancel, and, placing
his foot on tho improvised kennel, gave
out the hymu beginning : " A charge to
keep I have."
The last experience mentioned was
that of a clergyman nt his first baptism
of infants. He was then very young in
ears, and had never before held a baby
that ho could remember of, much less
hold a baby and a book iu the presenco
if a church full of people. The first
infant given into his arms was a big,
l rmiue bov of thirteen months, who
uimodiately began to corkscrew his way
through clothes and wrappings. The
minister held ou bravely, but in a few
moments the child's face disappeared in
tho wraps and his dangling legs beneath
were worming their way to the floor.
Seized with the horrible impression that
tho child was tunneling his way through
his clothes and would soon bo on the
floor in a state of nature, he clutched the
clothes violently by tho sash band, and,
straddling the child upon the chancel
ail, said to the mother : " If you don t
hold that baby he will certainly be
through his clothes and I shall have
nothing left but the dress to baptize."
The Average Parlor,
There are parlors belonging to rich
men who are the sons of ncu men, who
have been educated carefully, and who
have traveled and seen all that there is
to bo seen of splendid aud beautiful,
and yet, though their rooms are full of
the external evidences of wealth and
travel, the things seem unhappy; the
colors all " swear at one another, as
tho French artistio slang has it; the
chairs and tables, like people too early
at a country party, are waiting for an in
troduction, and tne taste, u taste it may
be called, in tho pictures and bric-a-
brao, is so discordant, that if tho owner
really likes one-half of them wo cannot
understand how he should be able to
tolerate the other. Of course, it is not
fair always to judge tho owner of one
of these multifarious drawing-rooms by
what he puts forward as his own taste.
In nine cases out of ten it is not his
taste at all, but the taste of tho town,
and he has meekly put himself into the
hands of the fashionable furnisher, we
might as well lay the charge of tho the
atrical vulgar paraphernalia of a mod
ern firbt-clasH funeral at the door of the
dead man upon whose unresisting body
all these hideous "floral emblems." are
piled. The fashionable undertaker sits,
on him when dead, as the fashionable
furnisher sat on him when alive. We
cannot judge of his taste until he shows
it; until he takes lua House into ma own
hands, and makes it to his mind. It is
to persuade people to do this that these
papers are written, but the writer is not
very hopeful of persuading any but
young people and those who have a na
tural independence. Bich people are
for the most part bo bullied by their
money, "they dou't dare do what they
would like. And people who are well
on iu life do not, as a rule, take enough
interest in the subject. They find the
old shoes easier to the feet. S'eri6ner
or January. ,
0, 187C.
THE CATACOMBS OF PAUIS.
Uritee reenwd Tells as all About Thrm
In the Moat Interoatlng manner.
The famous catacombs of Paris will
always be a subject of interest. In a
letter to the New York Times, Graoo
Greenwood tells us about them as fol
lows : Our party entered the catacombs
at tho old Jiarriere d' Enfen. At this
point each visitor, after being provided
with a caudle, descends nearly one hun
dred steps of a dark winding stairway
to a narrow passage, damp, and of course
utterly dork. From hero we walked
through a perfect labyrinth or other
narrow passages, all doubly somber
from tbe heavy coating of caudle smoke
on the rock overhead walked for nearly
half an hour before coming to the great
depository of bones. On each side, all
the way through the old quarries, opened
other arched passages, leading off into
awful distance and darkuejs wavs
barred by chains or marked "danger
ous." Wo passed caverns liko "drifts"
in minos, and once we came upon a rail-
luor surrounding a pit, whose gloomy
depths we vainly sought to sound with
the trembling lights oi our candies, to
those in the rear the effects of tho long
line of lights flickering, waving, passing
in and out of the dark arches, winding
aud doubling, was sometimes strangely
weird and awful. All felt oppressed by
tho great darkness aud silence which we
were so boldly invading. For our part,
we were inchnod to speak low, and to
watch anxiously each her bit of caudle,
for no frieudly echoes of our voices came
hack from the gloomy passages, only
a dull, warning roar, aud the heavy
night, beateu back for a little space by
our tapers, seemed about to rush upon
and overwhelm them nnd us. Surely
there is a difference between tho dark
ness of ever so somber a spot which
at some time has known daylight and
that of a plaoa which no ray of miushine
has ever reached. The darkuecs hero
was of the kind which " cau bo felt"
something menacing, sullen, almost
savage a hopeless, blind night, which
never dreauiod of the day. Wo somber
and solitary, so unearthly, though
earthy, was all this weary, winding way,
bordered with gloom and mystery, that
it was a positive relief when we readied
the ossuary.
Here, at least, were the represeiitat ves
of what had once been life; for iu these
long, wide gallerios, these subterranean
streets . and courts are gathered tho
boues of 3,000,000 humau- beings the
yellow harvest of time, of pestilence,
and of revolution. In these dismal
coulisses stand silent at last the actors
of many a fearful tragedy of French his
tory; but out of those eyeless sockets
stiu-es such a strange look of watching
and waiting aud fellowship that it al
most seems as though thty are ready to
rush back on the stormy scene and take
up again the roles of tho conspirator
aud the revolutionist. This" gigantio
Golgotha, this mighty magazine of
death, is arranged with frightful regu
larity aud system. It seems to me that
it forms a sort of ghastly complement to
the city ovorhead. The great passages
are named after the streets and boule
vards whoso course they follow, and
suggest, by the contrasts of stillness,
darkness, and immutability, tho uproar,
the brightness aud the ruth of the busy
day above. They suggest, with more
overpowering force, the great, the dread
mystery of death which forever under
lies oiuj life. Here, beneath beautiful
churches, fragrant with iuceuie, gor
geous with pictures and marbles, bo
ueath altars bright with tapers, and
gleaming with golden vessels aud cruci
fixes, aro chapel-like chambers, cut in
the rock, whoso air is heavy with the
o.ior of mortality, whoso ceilings are
darkly frescoed with smoke, on whosa
rough columns are solemn inscriptions
in black lettering, whose walls be.tr
crosses of skulls, set in mosaics of boner!.
There is even shown here a singular col
lection, arranged by a celebrated sur
geon, of diseased bones a sort of
osseous hospital.
The catacombs were consecrated as a
burial place beforo the first revolution,
but the bones brought from the various
cemeteries by night in funeral cars, with
religious rites were shot down a shaft
and left in a mighty indistinguishable
liuap. it was not till the time ot JSiwo
leou the man of men to bring order
out of chaos and to discipline even death
that the present system was adopted
and the mass of commgleu mortal re-
mains ranged into ranks. Sinco then
inscriptions have been placed over every
new section, telling when aud from what
cemetery they wore removed. This is
all the distinction now. Here only is
real equality and fraternity. Here, side
by side, are heads which once toiled at
the great problems of science and hu
manity, and heads that once plotted
small thefts aud assassinations; heads
that once wore coronets, heads that fell
under the knife of the guillotine, beads
once pillowed on tho breasts of princes,
heads that have lain on the black slab
of the morgue. Hero are skeleton
hands that were once soft and fair aud
gUtteriug with jewels; strong hands,
once dripping with blood; cunning
hands of musicians, rude hands of exe
cutioueers; feet which marched in all
the campaigns of Napoleon, feet that
tramped tho weary ways of want, foet
that have gone on pious pilgrimages, feet
that have danced at the Mabille. Pom
padour may here have mingled her bones
with those of some gentle sister of
mercy.
A Western Joke.
There is nothing half so funny as a
practical joke, aud this, as told by an
Eastern paper, is a regular rib-tickler ;
"Frederick Walker aud Peter Kohler,
of Guttenburg, N. J., stuffed an old
suit and placed it against a lamp-post,
About midnight they begau an imagin
ary quarrel iu a loud tone, and continu
ed it until a number of the people were
aroused from their beds. Then they
shot tho imaginary man. The body fell
down, and the young menrauaway. .The
neighbors thinking mnrder had been
committed, chased the young men, and
Kohler was shot in the leg lie tore the de
oeption was explained." Think what
solid enjoyment Mr. Kohler will have
laughing at that for six weeks while he
nurses his leg ; aud what a screaming
farce it wonld have been for hia wholu
family if he had been shot iu the head.
NO. 40.
Eva's Ejps.
Oh, fair and stately maid, whose eyes .
Were kindled in the upper skies
At the same teroh that lighted mine ;
For so I must interpret still
Tby sweet dominion o'er my will,
A sympathy divine.
Still let me blameless gaze ripen
Featnres that seem at heart my own i
Nor fear Miobo wato'-ful soutiuels,
Who charm the more their glanoo forhidi".
Chaste glowing undeinc-ath their lids,
With firo that draws while it repels.
Ralph Waldo Ewfrton.
Items of Interest.
The current estimato of tha cotton
crop of 1875-0 is 4,100,000 bales.
Buirinns snvs that the most thorough
way of keeping a. he use warm is to board
your mother-in-law.
Waiuwright's execution was fixed for
Tuesday instead of Monday "in oiver
to allow people compelled to como from
a difctaneo an unbroken Sabbath."
As old Mr. heaved the la.-t scuttle
of four tons of coal into his cellar, be
was heard to remark : "If they had
been boys instead of girls, it wouldn t
have been thus. One ton would last all
winter."
General Sutter, ou whose laud in
California gold was first discovered, 13
eighty years old, aud lives iu a poor
cottage 'at Litiz, Pa., where ho is edu
cating his grandchildren iu a German
school.
To he resigned when illn betide.
Patient when favorB are denied.
Aud pleased with favors given ;
Mofct snrely tbU U wisdom's port,
This is that inconee of tho heart,
Whose frajjranoe shells to heaven.
A man lias solved Mis. Liverino'Vs
query: What, snail we ao wun our
daughters?" He has purchased two
washing machines and will take in wash
ing. His wife and sever, daughters are
aro to do tho work, aud ho will superin
tend the biismeps.
Yes. women are unreasonable, and
you may havo remarked that when one
of them sits dowu in a new. silk dress on
a chair whero a little boy has carelessly
deposited two cents' worth of taffy, she
will go on about it just as bad as if it
were two dollars' worth.
The mercurv stood five degrees below
zero outside when Jones feelingly re-,
marked: " 1 wouldn't turn a dog away
to-night. Brown. Would you ?" "W
well, no," replied Brown, hesitatingly.
At least not if lie wa5 worm any
thing."
That th'o French are determined to
have every available man nuder arms is
shown by Gen. Cissey's last order, re-
. . -i. . - t :i : t
qainug tne registration, ior umuuij
purposes, of nil males born between
January 1, 1835, and December 31, 1871,
Defaulters will incur a lino varying in
amount from sixteen to two hundred
francs, besides imprisonment from
fifteen days to three months.
At tho annual Christmas salo of fat
stock belonging to Queen Victoria there
was a large attendance ot tiuyers. J lie
sale consisted of forty-two very fino
shorthorn aud polled Scotch oxen and
heifers, which realized from 30 to 53;
four hundred fine wether sheep, tno
South Downs fetching from 3 lis. to
5 4s., tho Cheviots 2 19. to 3 7s.,
and lambs 2 19s. to 5 2s. 6J.; and
fifty bacon hogs aud porkers, tho white
Princo Consort's breed bringing 11 5s.
to 15, and tho bacon hogs 5 to 15 53.
How to Calculate Interest.
The following rules aro so simple aud
so true, according to all business usages,
that every banker, broker, merchant or
clerk should post them up for reference.
There being no such thing as a fractiou
iu it, there is scarcely any liability to
error or mistake. By no other arith
metical process can tho desired informa
tion be obtained by so few figures :
Six per Cent. Multiply any given
number of dollars by the number of days
of interest dosired ; separate the right
hand figure and divide by six ; the result
is the true interest on Buoh sum fosnch
number of days at six per cent.
Eight per Cent. - Multiply any given
amount for the number of days upou
which it is desired to ascertain tho in
terest, an I divide by forty-five, nnd the
result will bo the interest of such sum
for tho timo required, at eight per cent.
Ten per Cent. Multiply the same as
above, and divide by thirty-six, and the
result will be the amount of interest at
ten per cent.
What it will do. If a mechanic or
clerk saves only two and three-fourth
cents per day. from tho time ho is twen
ty-one uutil he is threescore and ten,
the aggregate, with interest, will amount
to 82,900 ; and a daily saving of twenty
seven aud one-half cents reaches the im
portant sum of $29,000. A sixpenco
saved daily will provide a fund of 87,000
suflicieut to purchase a good farm.
There are few employees who cannot
save daily, by abstaiuiug from the use of
cigars, tobacco, liquor, etc., twice or teu
times the amount ot the six cent piece.
Every person should provide for old age,
and the man in business who can lay by
a dollar a day will eventually hud him
self possessed of over $100,000.
Wood Men Wanted.
The country has fallen into a most un
fortunate condition as regards our publio
offices, says the New York Ledytr.
Frauds have become so common as ap
parently to be no longer tho exception,
but the rule. The consequence is, tliut
the mere holding of public office has
come to be regarded as a ground ot sus
picion, and good men are unwilling to
accept any appointment on account of
the odium to which it subjects them.
Thus when the important office of com
missioner of Indian aflairs became va
cant recently, it was found almost im
possible to fill it by any fit man.
This is very unfortunate for publio
interests. Bad and incompetent men
stand ready, by the hundred, to rush
into every vacant place ; but they only
tend to degrade office lower and lower.
It will be well for the' country if, in
some way, the higher standard of the
olden time can be restored, and the very
beat men in the land shall once more es
teem it an honor to fill its publio places.
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