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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. .NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. V. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUESDAY, JANUAKY 27, 1876. KO. 4oT
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The Model Charcli.
. . .
Well, wife, I found the model church I I wor
shiped there to-day I
It made me think of good old times, Wore my
hair was gray;
The meetiu' house was fixed, up more than they
were years ago,
But then I felt when I went in, it wasn't built
for show. .
The sexton didn't eoat me away back by the
door; '
He knew that I wag old and deaf, as well as old
and poor;
He must have been a Christian, because he led
me through
The long isles of that crowded church to find
t a place and pew.
: I wish you'd heard the eingin'; it had the old
timo ring t
. The preacher said, with a trumpet voice, " Let
. all the people sing 1"
The tune was Coronation, and the music up
ward rolled,
Till I thought I heard the angels striking all
their harps of gold.
My deafness scorned to melt away; my spirit
caught the fire ;
I joined my feeble, trombling voice with that
melodious choir.
And sang as in my youthful days, " Let angels
prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him
. Lord of all."
I tell you, wife, it did me good to sing that
hymn once more;
I felt like sonio wrecked mariner, who gets a
glimpse of shore;
I almost wanted to lay down this weather
beaten form.
And anchor in the blossed port, forever from
'' t'ja storm.
The preaohin'? Well, I can't just tell all
that the preacher said;
I know it wasn't written; I know it wasn't
read;
lie hadn't time to read it, for the lighten' of
his eyo
Went flashiu' 'long from pew to pew, nor pass-
ed a einner by.
The sermon wasn't flowery; 'twas simple gospel
truth ;
It fitted poor old meu like mo; it fitted hopeful
youth;
'Twas full of consolation, for weary hoarls
that bloed ;
Twas full of invitations to Christ, and not to
creed.
The preacher made sin hidoousin Gentiles and
in Jews;
He shot the golden sentences down in ,-
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And though I qpu't see vory well I saw the
falling tear
That told. m( bell was someways off, and
heaven very near.
How swift the gollen momenta fled, within
that holy place ;
How brightly beamed the light of Heaven from
every happy face;
Again I longed for that sweet time, when friend
. shall meet with friend,
" When congregations ne'er break up, and
Sabbath has no end."
I hope to meet that minister that congrega
tion too
In the dear home beyond the stars that ehino
from heaven's blue;
1 doubt not I'll remember, beyond life's even
lnggray,
The happy hour of worship in that model
.". cburqh to-day.
Dear wife, the fight will soon be fought, the
victory be won;
The allium' goal is just ahead; the race is
nearly run;
O'er the river wo are nearing they are throng
ing to tbo shore,
To shout our safe arrival where the weary
weep no mora.
Autumn Blossoms.
How was it that I came to bo an old
bachelor ? Not because of hating
women, I am sure, for I liked them
very much, and never could have spoken
to one rudely or discourteously for my
life. As nearly as I know, it was in this
wise:
My father died, leaving a familv nt
children, a wife, and an old father and
mother, or whom only myself was able
to earn a shilling. He had never saved
anything.
, 8o, after the first great grief, when we
had calmed down ami were able to- look
matters quietly in the face, there was a
wretched sort of prospect for us. I was
Nonly an accountant, and had a' young
fellow's habit of wasting my small salary
in'a thousand different, ways. I had
been "paying attention," too, to Elsie
Hall; who, young and childish as she
was,' had a way that some girla do have
of leading their admirers into extrava
gance. Qf all the trials of that never-to-be-forgotten
time, I think the greatest
was appearing niggardly in those baby
blue eyes. I did not mind wearing plain
suita, discarding kid glovesand renounc
ing the opera; but not to lay those bou
quets, and. books, and musio, and dainty
bits of jewelry, and multitudinous trifles
at Elsie's feet, was a very terrible orde'al.
I passed it, though; and if ever man had
roaaon to do tnauKiui x had, lor the ac
quisitive little beauty jilted me in a
month for Tom Tandem, who.' was rich
and lavish of gifts, and who ran away
from her after a marriage of ten months.
I worked day and night, and managed
iu neejj mo won irom me door.
Sometimes I used to think how well
it was for Elsie that she had not really
loved me, for she could have had noth
ing but a dismal prospect of wearing out
her youth in a dreary, hopeless engage
went to one too poor to marry. , That
was until Tom ran off. Then I thought
it would have been even better for her
to have shared our humble home and
poor fare and the love I could have
given her than to be deserted so. And
I pitied her, as if she had not proved
herself heartless. But I never , went
near her, of course; and I never even
spoke oi her to my mother.
I grew no younger all this while, and
every year seemed to add five to my
looks. I had never been very handsome
or very merry, and soon I became con-
scions of a peculiar middle-aged look
which settlos down upon some people
very early.
Strangers, too, began to take mo for
the head of the family; and once, in a
new neighborhood, the butcher alluded
to "my wife." I found out that he
meant my mother, and only wondered
that it was not dear oia grannie.
She was eighty, graudfather ninety,
and they died one bright autumn day,
before prosperity came to us, died with'
in an hour of each other lor grannie
just said : " I think 1 11 lie down a bit,
now Jjemuel Uon t need me. 1 m very
tired.
Then she kissed me, and said
" You've been a good boy to your grand-
pa, Edward. You'll have that to think
of."
And when next we looked at her she
was dead, with her cheek upon her hand
like a Bleeping child.
So two were gone, and we were sadder
than before. And then Jean, my eldest
sister, married at sixteen a physician
who carried her off to Hindostan in her
honeymoon.
And we could none of us feel the wed
ding a hnppy thing.
But prosperity did come at last,
had worked hard for it, and anything
man makes his sole object in this life he
in very sure to attain.
Wo were comfortable easy. Ah
what a word that is after years of strng
gle 1 At last we were rich. But by that
time 1 was iive-and-forty a large, dark
J-UAVVIaU llW. 11IUU tTltlU HIUVjU IUI L U 1UWUVU
to myself in the glass as though it were
perpetually intent on figures. The girls
were married. Dick had taken to the
sea, and wo saw him once a year or so,
and Ashton was at home with mother
and myself the only really handsome
member of our family, and lust two-and-
twenty. And it was on his birthday, I
remember, that that letter came to me
from poor Hunter the letter which be
gan : "When these lines reach you, Ned
Sanford, I shall have my six feet of earth
- all 1 ever owned or would if 1 had
lived to be a hundred."
Wo had been young together, though
lie was really older than 1 ; and we had
been close friends once, but a roving
ht had seized him, and we had not met
for years. I knew he had married
young Kentish girl, and knew no more
but now he told mo that she was dead
and thai his death would leave a daugh
ter an orphan.
" She is not quite penniless," ho
wrote ; "for her mother had a little in
come, which, poor as I was, I was never
brute enough to meddle with, and it has
descended to her. But I have been a
rolling stone, gathering no moss, all my
lif-ft,iwvl we never staid long enough ia
viiu piuuo bu uwbo .uiido. Will jrnu lx
her gunrdian ? it is a dying man's last
request
And then he wrote some words,
coming from his heart, I knew, which
neing oi myseii, i cannot quote even
here I could not think that I deserved
them.
And the result of that letter, and of
another Irom the lawyer who had Annie
Hunter's little fortune in chorge, was
that one soft spring day found me on
board of a steamer which lay at rest af
ter her voyage in the protecting arms of
i-iiverpooi, with two little hands in mine,
and a pair of great brown eyes lifted to
my face, and a sweet voice choked with
sobs saying something of "poormiia.1
and of how much he had spoken of mo.
and of the lovely voyage, and the green
graves left behind ; and I, who had gone
to meet a cnud and found a woman.
looking at her and feeling toward her as
I had never looked upon nor felt to any
oilier.
Not to Elsie Hall. . It was not the
poyish love dream come again. .
Analyzing the emotion, I found only a
great longing to protect and comfort
her to guard her from every pain and
ill ; and I said to myself : " This is as a
father must feel to a daughter ; I can be
a parent to George Hunter's child uo
every truth." And I took her home to
the old house and to my old mother,
thought only of' those; somehow,
never thought of Ashton.
Shall I ever forget how she brighten
ed tho somber rooms 1 How, as her
sadness wore away, she sang to us in
me twilight How strangely a some
thing which made the return home, and
the long hours of the evening seem so
much brighter than they had ever been
before, stole into mv life ! I never went
to sieep in church now; 1 Kept awake to
look at Olive Hunter to listen to her
pure contralto as she joined in the sine
ing. Sometimes I caught her eye, her
great unfathomable brown eye. for she
had a habit of looking at me. Was she
wondering how a face could be so stern
and grim ? I used to ask myself.
Ashton used to look at her also. He
had been away when she first came to
us, and when he returned she was a
grand surprise to him.
" Uh, how lovely sho is I ho had said
to me. .
" She is very pretty," I replied.
Ashton laughed.
" May I never be au old bachelor if it
brings ma to calling such a girl very
pretty,'" he said; and I felt conscious
that my cheek flushed, aud: felt angry
that ho should have spoken of me thus,
though 1 nover cared before.
lhev liked each other verv numb
those two young things. They were
together a great deal. A pretty picture
- J mo , uuemu W1UUUW 1X1
the sunset. He a fair-headed, blue-
eyed, Saxon looking youth; she so ex
exquisitely dark and glowing. .
Every one liked her. Even my old
clerk, Stephen Hadley, used to Bay her
presence lit the office more than a dozen
lamps, the nearest approach to a poetical
speech of which old Stephen was ever
known to be guilty; and I never knew
how much she was to me until one even
ing, when, coming home earlier than
usual, I saw in that Venetian window
where Ashton and Olive had made so
many pleasant pictures for me, one that
I never forget that I never shall for
get as long as I live.'
She stood with her back to me. Ash
ton was kneeling at her feet. The sound
of the opening door dissolved the pio
ture; but I had seen it, and I stole away
to hide the etab that it had given me.
1 sat down in my own room and hid
my face in my hands, and would have
been glad to hide it beneath mv coffin-
lid. I knew now that X loved Olive
Hunter; that I loved her not as an old
man might love a child, but as a young
man might love the woman who ought
to be his wife better than I had loved
Elsie Hall; for it was not boyish pas
sion, but earnest, heartfelt love.
I in love I I arose and looked in the
mirror, and my broad-shouldered reflec
tion blushed before my gaze. The
springtime of my life had flown, and my
summer had come and gone, and in the
autumn I had dreamt of love's bud and
blossom.
I knelt beside my bed and prayed that
I might not hate my brother that I
might not even envy him. His touch
upon my door startled mo. He came in
with something in his manner not usual
to him, and sat down opposite me. For
a few moments we were silent. Then he
said, speaking rapidly and blushing like
a girl: " Ned, old fellow, you you saw
me niakiDg a fool of myself jnst now, I
suppose ?"
" I saw you on j'our knees," I said.
" And thought me a silly fellow, eh f
But you don't know, Ned. You can't
understand you've been so calm and
cool all your life through, you know.
She's driving me mad. Ned, I do be
lieve she likes me, but she won't say
yes. I'd give my right hand for her
love. I must have it, and I think you
can help me, Ned. From something
she said, I believe sho thinks you would
disapprove; perhaps you are one of those
old fellows who want every one to marry
for money. Tell her you're not. Ned
dear old fellow tell her you have no
objection, and I'll never forget it in
deed, I won't I"
" Tell her I have no objection," I re
peated, mechanically.
" You know you are master here, and
as much my father as if you really were
one instead of a brother," said Ashton.
" If I did not know how kindly you had
always felt to us both, I shouldn't con
fide in you, for it's a serious thing to be
in love, Ned, and you may thank
Heaven you know nothing about it."
Know nothing about it. Ah, if he
could have read my heart just then I
" I'll do what I can, Ashton," I said
at last. "I'll try my best."
And he flung his arm about me in his
own boyish fashion, and left me alone
alone with my own thoughts.
He had said truly; I had been like a
father to him. I was old enough to be
hers, and no one should know my silly
dream. I would hide it while I lived.
As I had said once : " I've only the old
folks and the children now, I said
then ; " I will only think of mother and
of Ashton. Let my own lif e be as noth
ing; I have lived for them if needs be.
hi will die for them."
But I would not seo pr speak to Olive
that night, nor until the next, dajr wa
quit tlonn. Then, in the twilight, I nut
beside her and took her hand.
" Olive," I said, "I think yon know
that Ashton loves you. I am sure he
has told you so. And you can you not
love him ?"
She drew her hand from mino, and
said not one word.
"I should rejoice in my brother's
happiness. I should think him happier
in having your love than auything else
could make him. I told him I would
tell you so. "
And then she spoke.
"You wish me to marry Ashton?"
Beproach was in the tone reproach
and sorrow.
" If you can love him, Olive," I
said.
She arose. She seemed to shrink
from me, though in tho dark I coiJd not
see her face.
"I do not love him," sho said.
And we were still as death. Then sud
denly Olive Hunter began to sob.
" You have been very kind to mo. I
love you all," sho said; "but I cannot
stay here now. Please to let me go
somewhere else. I must I cannot live
here."
"Go from us, Olive?" I said. " Nay.
we are not tyrants: and once assured
you do not love him, Ashton will "
" Husn !' Bhe pleaded " hush 1
Please let me go away ! Please let mo
go away !"
Tho mooa was rising. Her new-hnrn
light fell upon Olive's face. Perhaps its
whiteness made her look palo.
She leaned against the wall with lmr
little hand upon her heart, her unfath
omable eyes full of pain. How had I
hurt so ? A new thought struck me.
"Perhnrm you love some ona plan.
Olive?"
And at that she turned her face from
me, and hid it in her hands.
" loo much too much. You miVht
have saved me that," she said. "Let
me go away. I wish you had never
brought me here."
And 1 arose and went to her. I bent
over the woman I loved. I touched her
with my hand; her soft hair brushed my
cheek.
"Olive." I said. " if coming hera has
brought pain upon you, I wish I had
not. I would have died to make you
happy." '
And my voice trembled, and mv hand
shook, and she turned her face towards
me again and looked into my eyes.
What she saw in mine I do not know
the truth, I think. In hers I read this :
I was not old to her ; not too old to be
loved.
I stole my arm about her, she did not
untwine it. I uttered her name.
"Olive," huskily. Afterwards I told
herj of my.' struggle with myself, not
then. I said : " Olive, I love you, but
it cannot be that you care for me. I am
old enough to be your father."
And again I saw in her eyes the happy
truth and took her to jiy heart.
But we kept our secret for a while.
for we both loved Ashton, and both
knew that this wound was not too doeD
to find a balm ; and within a year, when
me Doy Drought home a bride, a pretty
creature whom he loved, and who loved
him, I claimed Olive.
And she is mine now : and the autumn
blossoms of my heart will only fade on
earth to bloom again through all eternity
in paradise.
Mrs. Timntbv M. Allwrv nf TTarttrwA
who has been blind for seven years. Iihh
had an operation which partially 're
stores her sight. One of the first things
that astonished har u tn haa hm iA
all her friends had grown ; the nei't was
me qneer neaa dress lasiuons of the
women.
What tlicy Wore.
Among the handsomest dresses worn
by ladies present at the leading stylish
party in New York the infant osvlmn
ball was a pearl blue silk with four
bias flounces put on lengtnwise instead
of across. The flounces were very full.
standing straight out at the back, the
skirt was pulled bacK vory tight and
covered with a long blue tulle overskirt
edged with silver fringe and adorned at
the hip with a wreath oi berries and ivy.
Pearls and coral wore the jewels worn.
Another lady wore a dress of navy blue
velvet and salmon oolored silk, with a
train composed in equal parts of velvet
and silk, and trimmed with silver and
velvtt leaves. The-sleeves were shirred
botweon bands of vclvot, and were cut
short to the elbows and trimmed with
point applique and tulle. A dress of
flesh colored silk and maroon velvet and
one of black nok over black silk, the
train inserted inW the skirt, which was
tied back very tfehtly so as to show a
little pocket, matle of moss leaves and
roses and supported by two strings of
roses, were two'ol tho Handsomest in
mo nan. Anoiner aress, wnicn was
much admired, was of white tarletau
over white glaon silk, one side very
tightly shirred, and tho other trimmed
with a number oi little flounces extend
ing back to a long train formed of four
large bouillionsof tarletau. The corsage,
out low, was primmed with Spanish
Dionae and uanasK ana blush roses,
worn in a bunth in froht. A dress,
known as a matteau de ccour, of sap
phire blue faille and velvet, trimmed
with velvet foliige and plaited tulle.
covered with a lace flounce, was worn
by a lady in rtne of the front boxes.
Most of the dresses were worn with high
necks and very long trains, the latter
thrown grac6lidly over the arm while
their wearers were dancing.
A Jfe Year's Diary.
The Detroit Frea Press says : A large
number of the Detroit young men have
purchased diaries for 1876, and have
taken up their pencils with a firm de
termination t keep track of every day
in the year, y Every young man should
keep a diary. When he is old and gray
his grandohililren will fish it out of the
rag bag and find it more valuable than
gold or silver, There is no set style of
jotting down thoughts and events, but
perhaps it zaay be well to give the
record of 1875 as taken from the pocket
diary of an average young man :
"Jannarjj 1 Wont to see my girl.
Shall leave off swearing, drinking,
euchre, smoking, chewing, being out
nights, bettifig, going to the opera, and
shall try to swe $10,000 this year."
" January T ,ert to see , my girl.
Lost a box of cigars somewhere."
"February 1 Won 825 betting on a
dog fight. Thft's the way to scoop 'em.
Am trying to get along oil fifteen cigars
per day. Weit to see my girl. She
says I shouldn't swear."
"April 20 Vent to see my girl.
Nothing new."
"July 1 Thii is the glorious Fourth. "
" September Went to see my girl."
"November 11 Glorious weather.
Went to see my girl."
"December I This is tho firet of
December."
"December 55 This is Christmas."
" December 31 This is the last day
of the year. I uust commence to-morrow
to save mony and break off my bad
habits. Went t see my girl last night,
and made her hippy by telling her that
I was going to save $10,000 next year."
A Disgusted Miner.
Frank Gobdwir, a Black Hills miner,
arrived in St. ioe, in tho condition
known among financiers as busted.
Goodwin says he left Baltimoro, Md.,
last summer and arrived in Omaha
about the first of August. From that
point, in compamy with four others,
ho set out for the Black Hills,
lured by the promise of gold held
out by that new country. From Chey
enne the party proceeded on horseback
to the hills, experiencing little or no
difficulty in runriug the gauntlet of
United States soldiers. Goodwin and
his comrades made a thorough survey of
the country, but nut with little or no
gold. At last, completely impoverished,
thoy returned to Omaha to engage in a
more legitimate pursuit of wfcalth.
Goodwin says that Omaha is crowded
with returning miners ; that there
are fully one hundred in the city at this
time. As for himself, he ia completely
disgusted with gold hunting. He says
there ia some surface gold to be found
in the Black Hills territory, but then
only in exceedingly small quantities.
Goodwin is a native of Maryland, is
about twenty-four years of age and a
painter by trade.
Leap Year Parties.
Louisiana, Mo., leads in the leap year
festivities. The young ladies of the
Harmonica club gave a centennial leap
year hop January 1st. The young gen
tlemen were invited by the ladies and
requested to assemble at a certain dry
goods store, where the girls called at the
appointed hour and escorted them in an
omnibus to the hall. Instead of gentle
men rushing around with pencil in hand
to mark engagements on the pro
grammes the order of the evening was
reversed and the fair damsels besieged
their gentlemen guests, calling for their
cards and engaging their partners for
the different dances. When the inter
mission for refreshments arrived, fair
ladies were to be seen leading brave men
to the oyster supper. Supper was served
under the hall, where the girls showed
true leap year grit by paying for the
Doys supper, xue gntiemen wore
their ooats pinned back, and were ad
dressed as "miss," while the bewitoh
ing ladies assumed the role of "mister."
It was altogether an enjoyable affair,
and conducted throughout in genuine
leap year style.
Not t i be Sold.
The Fall Mall Gazette, of London,
has a special telegram from Copenhagen
as follows : I am authorized to contra
dict the report of the proposed sale of
the island of St. Thomas, in the West
Indies, to Germany. The idea was moot
ed in 1873 of exchanging St. Thomas for
North Schleswig, but was dismissed as
impracticable.
A Colorado Zephyr.
They have some furious winds, or, as
the local papers call them, zephyrs, out
West. The Denver News tells us of ono
in Colorado that is worth an item. It
says: The heavy wind . registered on
Pike's peak the other day seems to have
struck earth about tmcharas, and judg
ing from the reports received from that
quarter it must have been a pretty se
vere zopnyr. uonsidorablo damaga was
done along its track, and all work and
business was perforce suspended during
the prevalence of the gnlo. A Cucharas
correspondent of the Chieftain relates
the following among other elleots of the
storm: "While the proprietor of the
Cucharas sample room was at breakfast
ono morning, the back door of his os
tablishmont was burst open by the force
of the wind, and his bar and bar fix
tures were carried through the front
window and scattered over the broad
pampas in wild and dire confusion,
Mr. Mitchell? one of tho leading mer
chants here, has been engaged all the
morning removing his goods from the
shelves and putting them in a place of
safety. His house sways and vibrates
so much that he fears it may go down
at any moment." Ho also relates a
touching story of a mule being blown
out of its harness, at a grading camp,
and carried away bodily. Tho same
paper also learns from a gentleman just
arrived from Waisonburg that tho most
tremendous storm of wind ever known
in that section commenced about day
light in the morning. The air was full
of flying dust, the roar of tho hurricane
was deafening, and it was almost impos
sible to stand on one's feet on account
of tho power of the storm. Houses were
unroofed, and the timely use of ropes
alone saved the xpot of tho Masonic Hall
from being carried out on the prairie.
Doors and windows were blown in in all
parts of the town, outbuildings over
turned and uuroofed, and the whole
place looks as though it had experienced
a heavy bombardment. Fortunately
during all the uproar no ono was in
jured, though the air is said at times to
have been full of flying boards, shin
gles, etc.
Stopping a Panic.
In the spring of 1864, says a writer,
we wore marching along in a broken
woody country in southern Arkansas,
southward, when one day the infantry,
about two hundred strong, acting as es
cort to my mule train of about one hun
dred and sixty wagons, was moving just
in advance of it. As they passed a
sharp turn in the road by a corner of a
field fence a strong body of the enemy
suddenly ruehad out from the timber
and brush and attacked them, killine
and wounding the officers and some
men and two of tho threo musicians.
Our escort was thrown into confusion
and ran back; so did the little drummer
boy, with hi3 drum over his shoulder.
The head of my train was just approach
ing the turn of tho road, but I had now
halted. Fivo of ua myself, clerks, and
orderly were sitting on our horses, re
volvers in hand, as the infantry came
running back toward us; but tho little
drummer boy, on arriving at the fence
corner just before me, looked up, bare
headed as ho was, and, seeing us and
the train, at onco wheeled round and be
gan beating the "long roll," which
means " fall into line.
The little black-haired fellow plaved
his level best, and the flying men hear
ing the roll call, and seeing the brave
boy beating so furiously and resolutely,
with his face to the approaching enemy,
began falling into line, and soon nearly
all of them were in battle order and
blazing away at the coming enemy. The
drum, however, could still be heard
above tho din and rattle of the mus
ketry. Wo discharged our revolvers at
the enemy across the comer of tho field
fence, and the fire of our now rallied
escort was so hot and effective that the
enemy soon n treated and ran into the
timber out of sight, leaving many dead
and wounded. I roda up to the little
drummer boy. and. patting him on his
head, told him he ought to have a cap
tain's commission, for he by his coolness
and courage had stopped the panic and
saved the train from capture. "Well,"
said he, " the long roll will stop a panic
if anything will."
That Butter Compound.
Tho butter compound man has now
turned up iu Connecticut. Ohio was
not long ago the headquarters of the
stuff, but its star, unlike that of empire,
wena us way eastward. II people
would take a commou sense view of such
things, they would not write to ask our
opinion, says tho Agricutturiat. The
circular claims that butter uudistin
guishablo from tho true article can bo
made at a cost .never exceeding four
cents per pound.' Now, if there was
any truth in this claim, do you suppose
that the makers of the compound would
send out elaborate circulars entreating
people to buy the compound, a box of
which will make one hundred pounds of
butter, ot fifty cents wholesale ? Not
much. They would make the butter
themselves. On ono hundred pounds
of butter costing four ceuts per pound,
thoy would mako from 820 to $25 at
fair market rates, while by selling the
compound, if it were all profit, they
make only fifty cents. That tub
hold water.
won t
A Tramp Turns Hangman.
Thomas Love was arrested in Worces
ter, Mass., for a peculiar crime. Love is
a vagrant, with no ostensible means of
support, and has port of the time lived
on the bounty of A. J. Duncan, who re
sides in Worcester. The other morning
Mr. Duncan went to his barn to feed his
cattle, not in the meantime seeing Love,
and, after he had finished, came down
on a ladder from the loft, going down
backwards. When Mr. Duncan had
nearly reached the foot he felt a rope
touch his head, and a slip -noose was
thrown around his neck. Mr. Duncan
turned round and found himself in the
toils of Love. Love had a long rope
and one end around the neck of Duncan.
Love pulled at the other end fiercely.
A struggle ensued which ended in the
escape of Duncan from an untimely end
and the hasty flight of Love from the
barn. Love was captured.
Living in Cities.
At the late annual meeting of the
American Social Science Convention,
the committeo on social economy in
their report made the following slate
ment:
In general terms it may be said that
mere were in 1870, when tho last na
tiona census was taken, about sixty
cities in me united Btatos witn a popu
lation exceeding 25,000, of which seven
.New York, Philadelphia. Brooklyn.
St. Louis, Chicago, Baltimoro, and Bos
ton had each a population exceeding
250,000, and seven more Cincinnati.
New Orleans, Sau Francisco, Washing
ton, Newark, Buffalo, and Louisville
had a population of more than 100,000
each, lhe aggregate population of tho
hrst-named seven, then soniowhat ex
ceeded 3,200,000, Now York alone con
taining 942,292. The aggregate popu
lation of the second group of seven cities
did not quite reach 1,000,000, Cincin
nati, the largest, containing 216,239 in
habitants. The remaining cities of the
sixty had Bn aggregate population of
about 2,000,000, so that tho wholourban
population of the United States dwelling
in towns of more than 25,000 people wns
not tar from 6,200,000, or nearly one
sixth part of the whole population"of the
United States. So rapid is the increase
or. our urban population, however, that
in the year 1875 the eight cities contain
ing more than a quarter of a million in
habitants each have an aggregate popu
lation of not less than 4,000,000; the ten
or twelve cities containing more than
100,000 inhabitants each have au aggre
gate population of more than 1,500,000,
and the seventy or eighty cities ranking
above the 25,000 standard hnve prob
ably more than 8,000,000 inhabitants, or
nearly one-fifth of the whole present
populatiou of tho United States. Ten
years hence it is probable that the Uni
ted States will have a hundred cities
larger than Boston was at the beginning
of the century, and that nearly a fourth
part of all our people will dwell in such
cilies. Hence tho great and growing
importance of the question wo are now
considering tho ownership, situation,
and quality of the homes iu which so
many millions of our pooplo aro to livo
and where their children are to be
brought up. Shall they be tenement
houses like thoso of New York and Bos
ton, in which so many of tho industrial
classes now dwell, or shall they be small
er houses in better localities owned by
the occupants, like tho hutnbla homes
of Chicago, Philadelphia, Syracuse, De
troit, Worcester, and so many of the
smaller American cities ?
How Uabbciles are Carried Out.
The New York 2V&!nehastho follow
ing : The other day in Hartford, Conn. ,
a banking house wua robbed in broad
daylight of some $4,100 in cash nnd a
large amount of valuable securities.
The sufferers kept to themselves tho fact
of the robbery, and quietly went to work
to recover so much of the stolen proper
ty as they could. It is now snid that
shortly after the robbery a well-known
attorney of New York city, of some
prominence as a politician, put himself
in communication with tho victims of
tho robbery for the purpose of negotia
ting a settlement between them and cer
tain clients of his who had possession of
the securities and the cash, tho object
being to arrange for the return of the
securities upon payment of a stipulated
sum. The negotiations ended in the
payment of $1,250 in addition to the
$4,100 cash proceeds of the robbery,
and the return to the bunk of the securi
ties stolen. So that as the mat er stands,
these clients of tho attorney, having
planned and carried out their littlo en
terprise, and found themselves in
possession, among other proceeds of the
same, of certain securities which thoy
could not use and which were of no
value except to the owner, went immedi
ately to their attorney, and informing
him of all the facts employed him to
what f Weil, to the unprofessional mind
it looks very much as though they em-
Eloycd him to finish up the work they
ad only partly done, to secure for them
not only immunity for the offense but
$1,250 additional profits from the rob
bery. That is the way it appears to the
unprofessional mind, but wo are aware
that the relation of counsel and client is
not thoroughly apprehended by the
average layman. Thoy " retained " the
legal gentleman, then as their counsel
and attorney.
Keeping up Appearances.
A touching incident is related in a
St. Louis paper of the way a little girl
in the public school attempted to " keep
up appearances. " The pupils were ac
customed to bring their luncheon, which
at noon they ate together, but ono day
the teacher noticed that this little girl
looked wistfully at her companions as
they went out with their lunch, but
never brought any herself. The child
was neatly but poorly clad, and always
attentive to her studies. On another
occasion the toacher observed that the
little thing had apparently brought her
lunch with her; but when the noon hour
came she still remained in her scat, with
the package wrapped in paper on the
desk before hr. The teacher went to
the child and asked her why she did
not go out with the rest, at the same
time putting out her hand toward the
package. Quick as thought, the little
girl clasped her hands over it, and ex
claimed, Bobbin gly : "Don't touch it,
teacher, and don t tell, please I it s
only blocks." And that was the fact.
Having no dinner too bring, and too
proud to reveal the poverty of her fami
ly, the child had carefully wrapped up
a number of small blocks in paper, and
brought the package to present the ap
pearance of a lunch.
Came Back.
Newport ia excited over a curious
matrimonial complication. Some forty
years ogo- three-day-old bride suddenly
and mysteriously disappeared. Some
time after she returned, announced that
she had obtained a divorce, and again
vanished. Nearly half a century goes
by, and the husband has now a family
and is rich. The other day, after forty
years of silence, she put in an appear
ance and asked for her husband, claim
ing that her story about a divorce was a
falsehood. The matter will probably
oome before the courts.
Items of Interest.
Seeing is not believing. There are
many men you can see, and yet cannot
believe.
A beautiful seven inch centipede will
be one of Texas' contributions to the
centennial.
" But fow men can haudlo a hot lamp
chimney, and say there is no place lik
home, ai the same time."
Louisa Alcott used to feel that it was
a mistake that she was born a girl, be
cause she did not like girls and did like
boys.
The wonderful man in Detroit who
puzzles the doctors by being able to
make his heart shift sides cau rest as
sured that he will be beautifully cut up
as soon as he dies.
Mr. Meagher, the present owner, has
offered to the Centennial commissioners
a portion of the gallows on which tho
thirty-eight Sioux Indians wero execu
ted in Mankato in 1862.
" Why," asks an exchauge, " do they
bury a Japanese with his head down
ward when ho dies?" We really don't
kno, unless it is because they think
that's the only proper time to do it.
A pauper inmato of Horsham work
house, England, died on Christmas day
from tho effects of gluttony. He attack
ed his Christmas dinner so ravenously
that in a few minutes he was choked.
Snowfalls under a cloudless sky aro
common in Virginia City, puzzling
strangeis. The snow is blown from
Mount Davidson, which is close by the
town, and is whirled through the streets
by the wind.
A Richmond paper says that in that
vicinity they no longer say " sinco the
wa" or " befo' the wa, but use the
earthquake as the marking stone for
dates, as: "That happened befo the
earthquake."
Au exchange says : The other day.
when they stopped the Columbus con
victs from making counterfeit nickels.
the said convict3 rolled up their eyes
and sighed : " How worry wirtuous they
expect a jailbird to be I"
The United States ships St. Lawrenco
and Macedonian were sold at auction at
Norfolk recently. rfThe former brought
$17,900, and tho latter $14,071. Thesi
are among the oldest ships in the navy,
and have been famous in their day.
A San Francisco saloon keeper, grate
ful for business prosperity, gave to each
patron a bottlo of whisky. Lewis Loseo
finished his bottle, went home drunk,
and whipped his wife to death, inflicting
nearly two hundred great and small
wounds.
It is said that since his release from
confinement, Brigham Young nets ns a
changod man. It is only necessary for
one of his wives to bint that the fire is
getting low, and he will trot crut to tho
woodshed as if ho was thankful for tho
exercise.
Commodore Stephon Decatur who died
lately at Boston, when three of his m igh-
bors were attacked by ship fever, and
no one dared to nurse them, tended them
through their illness, aud when they died
he dug tho graves and buried their
bodies himself, reading the funeral ser
vices over them.
You just imagino fivo big loafers
working all Saturday night and Sundtiy
to pound a safe to pieces and divide np
three cents and a bundle of Litters, and
you have a faint idea of what took
place in Iowa a few days ago. That
much hard work on a woodpile would
have returned $10 in canli.
A rhymo for " month " is now iu de
mand. Here is one that is very old, but
the best wo know of :
" I've tried a hundred times I guess,
To find a rhyme for mouth ;
I've failed a hundred times, I know,
But suoceeded the hundredth and one-th."
While service was being conducted iu
the parish church of Cherry Burton, an
English village, the other morning, the
clock weight came crashing through tho
belfry roof and alighted on a young girl,
housemaid at the rectory, who was in
jured beyond hope of recovery. A young
man sitting hy her was also hurt severe
ly. The rope on which tho weight was
hung was renewed only the week before.
The two injurod were to have been mar
ried the next day.
Mrs. Buffington was missed by her
family, in Lausiugburgh, N. Y., and,
after an absence of three days, was
found in a room of an otherwise unoccu
pied house. She was standing in a cor
ner, and sho begged to be allowed to
stay there, declaring that the Lord and
the devil hud commanded her to stand
immovable until she died. She had
nearly obeyed the imaginary injunction,
for hunger, cold, and tho fatigue of the
position had almost killed her.
Limited Assets.
The most complete failure on record
is recorded of a man in Hatfield whose
liabilities are some $21,000. Several of
his creditors proved their claims tho
other day. Tho assignee visited the
place to inventory bis property, and
found only sixteen spring chickens and
an old wagon. Fearful that the chickens
might take to thoir wings and fly away,
he at once sold them fer seventy cents
each; and being in for the whole job he
bargained the old wagon for making
total assets of $16.20 to offBet $21,000.
As the expenses of settling ?he estate
will be about $100, the remainder, be
sides the $16.20, will be assessed upon
thoso creditors who were so unfortunate
as to prove their claims.
A Court Case.
The chief justice of Cape Colony,
South Africa, has given a decision in a
law suit of an unprecedented kind. Kruger
sued Schalwyk for damages to reputa
tion. A game of forfeits was iu progress
at Schalwyk'B house, and Miss Schal
wyk, a pretty damsel, incurred the
penalty of having to kiss every man in
the room. She kissed a dozen persons,
but stopped the osculatory process when
she came to Kruger. In the very next
round of forfeit it devolved on Kruger
to kiss Miss Schalwyk. Ue refused.
The male Schalwyk then denounced
Kruger aa a drunken Hottentot. Hence
the suit, which resulted in a farthing
damages for the plaintiff.