7 - : en HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. nil desperandtjm; Two Dollars per Annum. NO. 50. VOL. V. 1IIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1870. jUL i A I To a Friend. By every hope my life hath e'er betn weaving, By all the fulure bolus in Btoro for mo, By every heartless method of deceiving, By all we trnet our lives are yet to bo I'll not forget thee. When solemn prayer, npon the soft air breath ing. Wakes every holy impulse of the sonl, When friends my brow with garlands bright are wreathing, -Or sorrow's tempests fiercely o'er me roll I'll not forgot thee. And when in chains bright deep has softly bound me, And dreams of friends flit through my rest lug mind, And guardian angels hover close around me, To bring me thoughts of oue forever kind I'll not forget thee. And oh, should some, their truth to me repent ing, Take bock from me the treasure of their love, Aud some dark angel stand a cup presenting To drown my faith iu Him who rules above I'll not forget thee. Should ornel fate keep us forever parted, Till lifo's bright lamp is burning dim and low, Aud eaih shall think of eaoh as one departed, To clasp the hand of love no more below I'll ne'er forget thee. SALLY WATSON'S RIDi!, "Sally, can't you go over to Uncle Eben's this afternoon and bring home thone pigs? There are seven in the litter ho promised mo, and they are get ting quite large. I must finish getting the wheat iu, and he does not want to feed them auy longer. The pen is ready. Sully, a bright looking girl of about foiirtt'.ois, raised herself from the tub over which r-ho leaued, and said, as she wiped down her arms with her hands : "How, father?" . Mr. Watson had coma in for his ton o'clock snack after his early breakfast. Ho stood in the tniddlo-of the kitchen floor, a bowl of cofPn iu one hand, and a huge piece of apple pie in the other. He took a bito of the latter, and a drink of coffee before ho answered. "In the little light wagon. I stopped at Eben's yesterday asl came from meet ing, and he sai l he would put them up securely in a couple of old coops that would stand in the back of the wagon. You can have Dolly ; we are not using her. . What do you say, mother ; can you spare her I . " Ynfl, said. Mis. Watson, a lieat. iiTiskiiUI'O.WiVjii'B, who esrae in, banket in hand, from hanging up the clothes "tho wash will bo all out by noon, and I will clean up." 'Can't I have ono of the pigs for go ing for them, father I You said yon only wautcd a half-dozen ; and there are seven." " Yes, and you can buy your Suuday suit next fall with tlio money it brings, He pulled her ear when ho went out again to his work. "My !" Sally gave a little nod of her head as she bogau briskly rubbing her ear. " I'm sure I'll make it fat. Jane Burns got sixteen dollars for the one her father gave her last year. Mother, can't I take Lot and Polly ; it is such a long, lonesome way to go by one's self?" Mrs. Watson assented, adding : "Dol ly is such a fast trotter you can stay tuere a while, and get home before dark. Be sure you stop at the post-office, and go to the store and gut me some but tons.'' There wa.s a great deal to do; dinner was lato, and the afternoon had quite set in when Sally started. Her way was through the village a half nine oit, aud then nearly live miles beyond. It was tho first week iu October, the day was warm and soft, and tho souulry bounti ful. The road lay through the woods, steep in places, running up hills and down iigaiu in little valleys, through which many a creek babbled; it was not fenced en, and the wild grape and paw paw were almost within reach, aa they rode along. The trees had just begun to turn. The sugar maple swayed gent ly to the light bret-zo, scattering a crim son cloud to the earth; the Virginia creeper embraced the huge trunks, or flung out long, graceful branches of purple, and brown, and scarlet ; the pawpaw was flaming in golden yellow; the haw, with its red berries, dotted the roadside, while hero and there, brilliant with tho hue of royalty's self, great clusters of iron-weed towered in au- tumn light, and from the branches of the butternut, hickory and walnut, the occasional sound of dropping nuts was Jieard. Dolly trotted along briskly, and the children talked of the wonderful animals they had seen the Saturday before for a traveling menagerie had halted on some fields near tho village, aud the wholo population for miles around had turned out to visit it. Lot, who was a hoy of eight, had been most impressed by the bears, but Patty, who was young er, seemed to have been most fascinated with the big snake. Then they full to talking " sposeus," what they would do if a bear or snake was to attack them there in the woods. Lot was extremely valiant; he thrust about with a stick, showing how he would put him to flight, and iu the midst of their talk they reached their uncle's house, having met but one per son on the road. They made but a short stay, aa it was getting late, and, with the pigs cooped and stowed in the back of the wagon, , which had no top and was open all around, started for home. Seated on the floor, Lot and Patty poked bits of apples through the slats of the coop to the young porkers, specu lating upon their appearance and advis ing Sally which to take for her own. Lot would have the blank one if he were she, because it was the biggest, but Patty thought the little spotted one was "so cunning." They were about a mile from the vil lage at the top of a long hill, when Lot, who bad exhausted his supply of apple bits, and for the last fifteen minutes had been poking the pigs, delighted to hear them squeal, suddenly gave them such a thrust that Sally bade him stop the noise, and corno imd sit beside her on tho seat. He arose to do as k-i was bidden, and as ho did bo, stood for a moment with his back to her, still poking the viun. Just then the wagon jolted over a large stone, ho was thrown on the coop, i he stick was punched violottly into a pig's side, it squealed, iiot screamed and Pat ty began to cry. Considerably out of patience, Sally leaned back, and, catching him by the arm, was about to Boat him rather vio lently beside her, when she was arrested by his exclaiming : "Seol see! Sally, look I look I what an awful bear 1 The tone of his voice more than his words for he was a sensational child, nud was constantly seeing wonderful things caused Sally to turn her eyes in the direction indicated by his frightened gesture. Tho wood was open at this spot, and there were no large trees near ; but at some distance, almost alone, stood a great sycamore, the branches of which were nearly bare; between tho tree and the road the ground was thickly covered with blackberry, pawpaw and other bushes. As she glanced quickly toward the great sycamore, a something huge, she could not tell what, leaped from the tree to the ground, and she could hear the underbrush crack beneath it. She knew there were no ferocious wild animals in Ohio, nothing in the forests to harm her, and had not been for many years, but her face blanched with fear. "Lie down," she said, in a tone which both terrified and quieted the children, as she thrust Lot to the bottom of the wagon and tore the stick from his hands, laying it quickly and foroibly on Dolly's back. Tho horse sprung forward in a gallop, reaching the foot of the hill in a few mo ments and clattering over the few boards thrown across the creek for a bridge. Now Sally ventured to look back. The huge thing was on their track, coining along in great leaps, which would soon bring him up to them. " Don t raise your heads, she said to the ohildren, who were so alarmed they lay perfectly still. Then she leaned forward and with all her strength be labored the horse. There was a long level piece of road now, but the nearest house was a mile off. Poor Dolly was speeding over the ground, intensely roused and excited by this unusual treat ment, and seemed to feel there was dan gor, for her cars stood erect. Sally turned again to look. There was nothing now to intercept her vie-v, and uhe saw the terrible animal not far behind, amid the cloud of dust their progress made, coming on on I Frantically she struck poor Dolly. "Is the bear coming? Will he eat us?" came in smothered aooents from the bottom of the wagon, where the chil dren lay with their laces pressed close to the boards. Sally did not reply. She gave another look, saw that the thing gained on them, and exerting all her strength in giving Dolly a last blow, which sent her bound ing forward, she got over the seat over the children, unheeding their questions, and seizing one of tlie coops threw it over the tail-board out in the road. The pigs squealed as it touched the earth, aud the noise added to Dolly's terror, which was now so intense she was entire ly beyond Sally's control. " Are we goiug to be eateu up ?" Lot whimpered, in almost a whisper. "Hush," she ausvered, "hush." She let tho horse take its way, and placed herself on her knees between tho children and the other coop. Th e terrible creature had stopped. S' io could see it strike the coop with its paw, and see the pieces fly as ho touched it. How long would it keep him, she thought ; and there came a throb of re lief as she saw that meantime they were speeding further and further nway. She looked round in vain ; there was no one iu sight, the faunhoiiHo was still a quarter of a mile ahead, aud tho ani mal she feared was becoming only a black spot iu tho distance ; but as she gazed with fixed eyes, she saw the dust rise again. J.t was moving. They reached the farmhouse gate. It was closed. Sho could not stop Dolly now, and, even if bho could, she had not tho courage to get down and open it, and drive 'o the house some distance up the lano. She cillod aloud, but uo one hoard. There were turns in the road several ; she could not see tho animal coming. This was worse than watching its approach. She threw the other coop out, then stretched herself between the children, closed her oves, and drew her arm tightly around each. As she lay thus clasping them, she felt Dolly's space slacken. She kept still, feeling that if she moved some thing would spring upon her. . The horse was evidently wearying gradually her gait became slower ; they must be near the village. With a groat effort she raised herself, and saw the houses only a little distance in advance. She crawled over the child ren and the sent, and gathered up the reins. Dolly gave a start as she did so, but in a moment subsided got into her usual pace, and dropped that for a walk. In a few moments she was in the street of the village, and at tho store. Clamber ing out of the wagon, Sally tried to tell Mr. Jones her utory, but burst into tears, aud was unable to speak. The children, who had followed her, now found their voices, and eagerly told of the bear, and how sho had thrown them the pigs. " Bless my soul, what is this ?" asked Mr. Jones, in excitement. Then Sally recovered, and informed him of what had happened to them. Why why," he muttered, in agita tation, "it's the panther that escaped last night from the menagerie at W. There is the handbill put up about au hour ago, offering a reward for it. You're you're lucky he did not ma make a meal of you instead Of the pigs." Patty shook her head: "Thi poor things hollered so." A crowd soon gathered in the store, eager to hear all Sally had to tell ; then the men of the village armed themselves to go in search of the animal. Sally was still trembling, and poor Dolly, wet as though she had been through the river, was shivering and panting at the same time. The half- mile of road they had to pass over to reach homo after leaving the village ran for the better part through a wood. Sally was too alarmed to venture there alone, and ft couple of men, who hnd nastily seized some weapon, accom panied her. So excite I were they that every cracking noiso in the trees put them on tho alert; and once they ex claimed: xnere he is l" throwing the poor children into now alarm. Mr. Watson was incroduloUH when Lot burst out with: "Oh, father, we have been chased by a bear no, not a bear a dreadful wild thing I" and he would have thought Sally tho victim of her own fears, had they not told him a panther had escaped from the menage rie; then he was most thankful for their deliverance. Dolly was blanketed and cared for, and they went to supper, Lot's tongue going all the time about " the bear. Sally could not eat, she was still nn nerved, and Patty could only pity tho poor little pigs. For a long time Sally had an unoom fortablo feeling in the woods, although the panther was caught on the next day and returned to its cage. Nicholas. How it Would Work. A gray haired impostor, who has been in the house of correction time and again for drunkenness, and who has no kin in Detroit, entered a store on Grand River street and said to the proprietor : " Have you a boy ?" " Yes, sir," was the answer. "Did ho get anything iu his stock ing?" "Test" " And was he glad ?" "He was." "I also have a boy," continued the old man iu a broken voice, "but ho didn't get anything in his stocking. I am poor, and many times we haven't bread in fhe house, to say nothing of Christmas presents. " "1 can t help that, as I see ! said the merchant. "Say, see hero," whimpered the old man, bending forward, " give me a quarter anil I'll buy n tin horse and a monkey and a Noah's ark, and the night before New Year's I'll slip 'em into the boy's stocking. He'll ask me : ' Father, whose liberality of heart brought me those beautiful things?' And I will answer : Air. So-aud-Bo, on - Orand River street.'" "I can't do it," replied the merchant. " Aud the boy will say : 1 God bless Mr. So-and-So forever.'" "No can't do it." "And I will add: Yes, God bless him for his big heart, and may his trade amount to $10,01)0 per day.' " "I can't give you anything nonie, clear out," said tho annoyed merchant. " It would work splendidly," whisper ed the old man. " I say no 1" shouted the merchant. " All right for you 1" said the old man, as he got hold of the door kuob. " Your conduct has alienated all my af fections in one minnit, and I'll never buy a yard of cloth of you in my lifo I I was going to ask the price of that yarn there, but now I won't !" Propagation of Disease. There are few more mysterious travel ers than tunes aud diseases. A new tune comes out, and six weeks later it may be heard whistled by boys in some obscure and distant village, to which it has found its way in some manner best known to itself. It is the same with dis eases, which creep over the country silently, swiftly and surely, although their means of transit baffle tho skill of the most intelligent members .. of tho medical profession to divine. A new theory has now been startod, that tho foot-and-mouth disease, which is so prevalent amongcattle, is conveyed from oue district to another, notwithstanding all the precautions taken against its spread, by birds. A wood pigeon has, according to the Elgin Courant, been lately phot neur Elgin which has been declared by veterinary surgeons and competent medical authorities to have been evidently uffected by foot-aud- ino.dh disease at the time of its death. The body of the unfortunate bird has, it is stated, been sent to an hospital, and may throw new light 'on the subject. Another disagreeable notion has also arisen that soap is an active agent in the propagation of disease. The New York I physicians have arrived at the conclusion that a terrible amount of illness is oc casioned by the impurities contained iu soap, especially in scented soap. Idiocy iu the United State-. The number of idiots in the fjnited States, according to the census of 1870, was 24,527, of whom 14,485 were males and 10,042 females ; 3,188 were colored, and 1,645 foreign born. But the number and their proportion to the population cannot be ascertained with any satisfac tory degree of accuracy. The census statistics are untrustworthy, both from the different standards adopted by enumerators, and from the difficulty in persuading parents, from whom the re turns are usually obtained, that their children are idiots. Some of the worst cases iu idiot asylums were brought there by their friends, not as idiots, but as being a little peculiar in their habits. The effort has been made in several States to obtain returns from physicians, clergymen and town officers, but with very moderate success. So far as these returns go, however, they show a much greater prevalence of idiocy than has been commonly supposed; and it is now generally conceded by competent judges that the number of idiots is greater than that of the deaf and dumb or the blind, and as great as that of the insane, the proportion being not less than one in 1,000 of the population. Assuming this ratio, tho number of idiots in the Uni ted States would be more than 88,000. Canon Girdlestone writes : During my ten years' residence in Devonshire I induced many farmers, much to their own advantage as well as to the advan tage of their men, to adopt, whenever it was possible, a system of piece work. By this, as well as by migration and other means, the condition of the Devonshire peasant has been much improved." Hot Springs on Monnt Slinsln.' A very romarkrtble feature of Mount Shasta, California, is the collection of hot pprings two hundred feet below tho top. The extromo summit is a steep ridge not more than two hundred or three hundred feet through on a level with the springs, and composed of shat tered lavn, which looks as though any water falling in rain or formed by melt ing snows upon it would immediately run out through the crooks. There is in . tho material nothing which, when brought in contact with the air or mois ture, would cause heat by chemical ao tion. Yet at the bottom of the steep ridge, which at the foot is not more than two hundred yards through, there is a little flat of half an aore, full of hot springs, most of them very small, and the largest not more than three feet aoross. They have a temperature of one hundred degrees, aud their water is strong with sulphur and various miner als. :... In some the water bubbles up violent ly, aud there are openings iu the earth from which hot steam rushes out with great force and considerable noise. One of these vents sends out a jet of steam two feet in diameter. These springs and the earth around them retain their heat through winter as well as summer, not withstanding tho severe cold that may prevail there. Ou the first of October the thermometer was below the freezing point at both sunrise and sunset, and the temperature of the year there is prob ably for we have no long series of ob servations not higher than thirty de grees, possibly below that figure. Im mense masses of snow lie on the south ern side of the mountain through the summer, and on the northern side there is a glacier. Notwithstanding the al most constant cold resulting from the snow, ice and high elevation, the great heat supplied from the heart of the mountain does not give way. The wa ters of these springs must be forced up by a power, which, although small in comparison, still suggests the mighty forces that piled up this cono to a height of eight thousand feet above the adja cent ridges, and from its now extinct craters poured out the lava that covered hundreds of square miles with desola tion. Fashion otes. . For trimming evening and silk dresses. a fashion journal says, point duchesse and line Valencenne3 are ' in great de mand; indeed it is difficult to decide which has the preference. - . 1" ancy aprons for home morning toilet are again popular. They are made in a variety of ways and of a variety of. ma terials. Among the more desirable ones are counted those of Swiss nuslin, made svttn. pullliig or Hm. Lidnti ri'barv . and finished with side plaitings ' and fluted ruffles edged with lace, aud black silk ones trimmed with velvet and French lace. Solid colors are preferred to stripes in hosiery. Black merino and black silk stockings are fashionable, aud wliite and unbleached ones continue to find a good ly number of wearers. Undressed kid gloves retain their old favor, coming for neglige wear in pearl, gray, wood and buff colors. White ones are being introduced for more dressy occasions, aud are occasionally worn for evening. Black silk suits are more worn this season than they otherwise would be with so many new fabrics in the market because of the low prices of silk. Two dollars and twenty-five cents and $2.50 per yard will now purchase a fine close grained pure silk, which quality other seasons has sold for $3 and $4. Very tolerable qualities once costing $2 anil $2.50 are now offered at $1.50 and $1.75. Ready-made black silk costumes, trim med with handsome tassel lrir.go with netted heading, or with plaitings, etc, are offered for $80, $90 and $100. These dresses are often made with velvet sleeves and velvet trimmings when not worn over the velvet skirt. Black cashmere overdresses, with silk skirts, are considered very desirable and convenient dresses, and iu consequence there has been a great improvement in the oolor and texture of cashmere. These are made with the cuirasse basque aud overskirt, or after some of the many models of the popular pol onaise. Stout ladies find the latter best suited to their wants, while those with trim figures can wear either with equal fitness. A Steam Horse. An ingenious Californian has invented a new method of employing steam as the motive power of street cars. The task which he proposed to himself in mak ing this invention was a simple one, in asmuch as he did not intend to do away with railway tracks nor to change the pattern of the street cars now in use. What he tried to do was to devise a lo comotive which would not frighten horses, and he fancies that he has fully accomplished his purpose by building a locomotive in what he regards as the likeness of a horse. The new steam horse resembles the ordinary style of animal so for as its head and shoulders are concerned. There, however, its resemblance abruptly ends. The iron animal is devoid of legs, for which are substituted wheels, just visible at the foot of an iron petticoat. Where the hind quarters of a well con structed horse ought to be, the inventive Californian has placed a cab, reminding one by its appearance of a sedan chair. The steam horse is harnessed with a cow catcher, a headlight, and a bell, but be ing built with immovable ears, and no tuil whatever, it is unable to express its emotions except by the unequine process of whistling. A 5ew Swindle. A new swindle, extensively practiced through the country, is the sale of al most worthless dry goods by trickery. A peddler calls upon a farmer and shows a large bundle of assorted cloth, and represents himself as ' the agent of a bankrupt firm in England. He says that, under a special provision of the revenue laws, remnants in packages of not less worth than $150 each may be imported free of duty, thus saving about seventy per cent. The purchaser of a lot really pays double instead of half the value of the goods. SAVED BY A DRUMMER. Winning a Bride from the Cirnnp of n .Mid- night Uolibcr. A representative of oue of tho bnsi ncss houses of Nashville, Tonn. , had an unexpected and thrilling adventure at a residence within two hundred miles of Nashville, A few night ago. Overtaken by darkness, and being alone in a lo cality which had been the scene of soy eral deeds of horror in days gone by, he was naturally very anxious to reach some shelter from the fury of the storm. After riding rapidly for an hour, he de tected a light gleaming from a farmhouse a few rods distant. His approach being heralded by a watchful dog, a man came to the door, and after our commercial friend had explained the cause of his visit, the servant conducted him to the door of the parlor, aud knocking at it, returned and took the horse to the stable. The rap at the door was answered by a young lady, to whom the Nashville young mau related his mission, and was invitod in. The lady explained the reason of her being alone by saying that her parents had been summoned to tho bedside of a sick neighbor, aud she was left to take care of the house. The hours swiftly glided by, and the young man was shown to a room by the servant who had cared for his weary steed. Taking a seat beside the cheerful fire he sat until after " the witching time of night," thinking of home, but prin cipally of his new female friend, and listening to the deep mutterings of the distant thunder, and the beating of the rain against tho window. In tho midst of his meditations he was startled by a scream, which seemingly proceeded from the parlor down stairs. Hastily grasp ing Lis revolver, he dashed down stairs and sprang into the parlor, just as a bul let whizzed past his head. By the re flection of the fire he observed the lady struggling with the man who had met him at the door upon his arrival at the houso. With a well directed blow he hurled him across the room, aud as the assailant sprang through the door, sev eral leaden missiles followed him in quick succession. Turning his attention to the young lady, he discovered that sho had fainted. Wat er was applied to her lips, aud he was soon very much gratified to see her open her eyes. In a few moments she had fully recovered, and after thanking him for his opportune aid, related her story. She had fallen asleep and slumbered until she suddenly awoke and saw the servant endeavoring to open her father's desk, in which a large sum of money was kept. Being of a timid nature, she liad placed a pistol under her pillow when she retired; and grasping this she i-.x. M-t-ia dcfr.c so mada i clicki !ini. The burglar turned around, and when she saw him draw a glittering knife from his belt, she screamed. He sprang to ward her, but she eluded him mid ran around the room, the u an following. He finally caught her, and as the young men entered the door she fired at her assailant, but missed him. It is perhaps needless to say that the young couple chatted away until the return of the parents in the morn ing. They had been compelled to re main at their neighbor's houso all night on account of the storm, aud when their daughter recounted her adventure, it was no wonder that the old folks were very grateful to her deliverer. Iu compliance with the request of tho trio, the young man remained much longer than ho at first intended. But before he left ho obtiuned the promise of the lady to devote the life ho had saved to making him happy as long as he lives. Family Hill of Fare. The Housekeeper says the following bill of fare is that actually used in a family of nine persons, at a weekly out lay of $25: Kl'NDAT. Breakfast. Tea or coffee, beefsteak, fried manlied potatoes, fried hominy, French rolls aud toast. Dinner. Turkey, cranberry, stewed toma toes, ma- bed potatoes. Tea. Toast, proseives, cheese, cake, tea and coffee. MONDAY. Breakfast. Tea or coffee, mutton chops friod, potatoes, boiled oat meal, French rolls and toast Lunch. Cold turkey, bakol apples, baked potatoes, tea aud rolls. Dinner. Roast beef, mashed turnips, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, tea aud cake. TUESDAY. Breakfast. Pork steak, boiled hominy, fried potatoes, rolls aud toat, ooffee or tea. Iunch. Hcranibled egns, baked potatoes, apple sauce, tea, French rolls. Dinner. Cold roast beef, clam fritters, potatoes, tomatoes, tea aud crullers. . WEDNESDAY. Brfakfa8t. Beefsteak, mashed potatoes, fried hominy, tea and coffee, buckwheatcakes, rolls. Lcncb. Soup made from roast meat bones, baked potatoes, baked apples, rolls and tea. Dinner. Boiled mutton with parsley in butter, maehed turnips, mashed potatoes, roast apples, rice padding. THURSDAY. Breakfast. Mutton chop, potatoes out up and stowed in milk, boiled oat meal, rolls and tjast, tea and coffee. Lunch. Stewed muttou, baked potatoes, apple sauoe, tea and rolls. Dinneb. Chickens, baked apples, mashed potatoes, fried parsnips, tea and cake. fiuday. Breakfast. Codfish cakes, eggs boiled, potatoes, boiled hominy, buckwheat cakes, tea and coffee. Lunch. Cold obioken, potatoes, baked apples, tea and rolls. Dinner. Bluefish, tomatoes, potatoes, baked apple? , tea and cake. ' ' SATURDAY. . Breakfast. Beefsteak, potatoes fried, fried hominy, rolls and toast, tea and coffee. Lunch. btewed oysters, baked potatoes, rolls aud tea, apple eauce, . Dinner. Corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, tea and apple pie. The San Francisco Chronicle described a performance by child acrobots, in which boys, aged respectively five and seven years, were cruelly compelled to accomplish difficult feats. The lazv loafer who lives by their exertions wrote a letter to say that the frequent falls of the boys, in the course of the feats, were intentional, and calculated to heignten me interest oi me spectators. A report ar, however, found by investigation that tnose i alls bad covered the children with bruises, and that whippings were the in centive to exertion. JANUARY, 177G, Its Kesrniblnnne In Jnnnary of this Yer The Opening of the Revolntlonnrv Cnm. PRlan.l It is remarkable that the first month of this centennial year closely resem bled that of 1776. The journals of that year speak of the unusual mildness of the season. It was even said that the lack of tho usual ice iu Boston harbor prevented Washington from crossing his forces and attempting a surprise on the oity, and the Americans were enabled to continually send forth vessels from all ports of the harbor to the West Indies for munitions of war. The mild season enabled Gen. Schuyler, in these first first days of January, to dispatch his well-planned little . expedition up the Mohawk valley to surprise tho High landers, under Johnson. This officer, oue of the ablest in our history, was then exceedingly popular, but a com bination of unlucky circumstances and of sectional prejudice deprived him subsequently of the glory, wliich was entirely his, of the first great victory of the war. The first of January, 177C, had beeu signalized by the barbarous burning of an old historic colonial town, Norfolk, in Virgina, by Lord Dnumore. This had only intensified the bitterness of tho feelings of the citizens against the British government. All parts of tho country wero in much the same state of feeling toward the royal administration which the border States were iu hero toward the central government in 1801. Many of the conservative and the loyal dreaded to break the old ties with the parent country. The interests of law and order seemed to many on the side of the crown. The sentiments, from long tradition and from family and historical connection with the old country, bound tnem to tuo royal party, f amilies like the Delanceys and the Phillipses, iu Now York State, the latter of whom owned land almost from Yonkers to tho Highlands, feared to risk their largo property interests in a rebellion which seemod to have ;io chance of success. In New York city many of the wealthy families stood by the crown; Queons county remained loyal; the old Dutch families around the city were often averse to joining the revolutionary movement of the men of Now England. Even in New England itself, one town, Portsmouth, N. II., refused to join the popular movement, and set up a gov ernment of its own. It looked at one time as if tho future of the republic, which should declare itself independent of Great Britain, would consist of New England; and Franklin even had the oottrage to write that, if New England formed a separate confederation against the crown, he would throw in his for- taneawith her.t New York, during this . nrst winter ot tne century, remained in a condition of semi-neutrality, the Brit ish ships lying in the harbor without molesting the city, and tho Americans sending out, uuimpedod, their small craft to obtain supplies from the West indies. The more revolutionary spirits of New England were indignant at this apathy, aud Leo, with one of his rattle-brained expeditions from Connecticut to New lork city, came very near exposing the town to the horrors of battle. The his toric names of tho State begin already to appear on the side of tho most deter mined revolutionists tho Jays, Living stons, Van lleussclaers, Schuylers, Ham iltons, aud others; and as a general thing those with the largest interest in the country were found ready to risk the most. It was in these January days that the letters of tho time relate tho incident of a farce played by the British officers in Boston, called " Forcing the Blockade," wherein Washington was pictured in a ludicrous garb, but which was suddenly interrupted by the hurried announce ment by the sergeant that the "rebels wore fortifying tho hills around the city !" This was supposed by the audi ence to bo a well-acted part of the farce, and it was only the confusion and de parture of the actors which showed that the play had become a reality. Well ington, during that January, managed to disguise tho smallness of his army so well that his 9,000 was amplified, in popular belief, to 20,000, and this im pression, though ho was utterly desti tute of ammunition, with his masterly occupation of Dorchester heights, com pelled, a little later, the evacuation of the city. It was in January, if we are not mistaken, that the new flag of thir teen stripes of red and white, but with out the stars, was first unfurled in the Continental army, near Boston. The winter was full, to the colonies, of anxiety, excitement, and danger. It was evidently the opening of a great war, and a great change in tho world's his tory. Few could predict whether disas ter or success would be the result. Santa C'lnus Appears. The Louisville Courier-Journal tells this touching little Christmas story : Two little twin girls living on Center street, wan with hunger and suffering with the cold and damp of a dreary, dis mal day, begged their mother for bread. Ihe poor mother looked sorrowfully upon her little darlings and told them there was not a morsel in the house, not even so much as a crust of bread. But she told them that if the ragman would oome she would sell " the bag of rags," aud that would buy tffem something to eat. Encouraged with this conditional promise, the little girls ceased crying and said they would watch for the rag man. Accordingly they went out doors aud sat for an hour upon the cold steps watching for the little wagon which chil dren know so well. The little girls were just large enough to go to Sunday school, and had learned a few verses of some songs, which they sang together, as they sat in the cold, until finally the wagon and the man who cries out : " Rags ole iarn," came in sight, when they ran to their mother and repeated the fact with asmuoh joy in their counte nances as though a fortune had dropped down into their midst. The mother sold the rags and the little family had a com fortable dinner that day. The Mobile Register has made an hon orary subscriber of the man who has read that paper for fifty years. Item of Interest. He has a good memory who at this season remembers the poor. Scotch saying a doar plant wi' a men's naam on's a vaorygoad thing, but a dinner platt wi a inon's dinner ou 'is a better. Many folks are so anxious for sorrow that they are not only willing to hold their own nose to the grindstone of life, but are willing to turn the menu thing besides. The laws are generally equal to all cir cumstances. In order to get jurymen whose minds have not been mado up, men are selocted with very little mind to make up. A Nevada Chinaman cut down six tele graph poles for firewood and used the wire to make fox traps. He was last seen going up a hill. There was a man after him. We hear of a merchant who rejoices that this is centennial year, for he says that he has a number of customers who settle their accounts only once in a hun red years. Isn't it a little odd that while all de cent men are horrified when they hear of a wife being whipped, they should do nothing but laugh at a husband who is whipped by his wife ? Of the one hundred and seventy-eight Congregational clergymen who died last year, eight were over eighty years old, aud only six under forty. The average ago was over sixty-four years. Some time in October last the Missis sippi river began eating into the Illinois shore, two or throe miles above Cairo, and the process has continued until the city is threatened with serious danger. A paper tells about a youngster, aged six, who went to a neighbor's house and remarked : "Will you please letmesee your parlor carpet, for auntie says it makes her most sick every time she comes herel" 'lhate anything that occupies more space than it is worth, says William Hazhtt : " I hate to see a load of band boxes go along the street, and I hate to see a parcel of big words without any thing in them." Tho Courier-Journal properly ranks Mr. Fruits and Mrs. Fruits, of Indiana, among the first Fruits of the earth, the one being 113 and the other 111 years old. The old gontloman neither smokes nor chews, of course. Women, so amiable in themselves, ore never so amiable as when they are use ful; and as for beauty, though men may fall in love with girls at play, there ia nothing to make them stand to their love -like seeing them at work. ( . ' ' , Savs the Detroit Free Press: On the. third of January Michigan f armefff were plowing their nelds.a On the tenth of January they were using crowbars to dig the plows out of the furrows. Is it auy wonder that we all love America ? . M. Dumas, in advisiDg that a young girl should be taught what dangers snr round her, says : She would know, it is trne, what a young girl ought not to be told, but, on tho other hand, sho should know what a young girl ought not to uo. A Portland (Me.) Irish boy has just come into a fortune oi $uu,uuu,. being the value of some property in Dublin unrightfully occupied by an undo. Loftt year, before his departure for Ireland, the heir was arrosted for au assault on his sister with a hatchet. At a late prayer meeting one of the brethren directed attention to a stranger who was sitting by himself near tho door, and asked why he wasn't invited to pray. "Because," reprovingly ob served a deacon, "this ain't no place for practical jokes. That man's the presi dent of a gas company." A romarkablo incident is reported from England. Tho ltev. Isaac Hanks, for many years minister of an indepen dent chapel in Mahuesbury, fell down dead in his pulpit just as he had given out his text, which was: "But mau dioth and wastcth away ; yea, mau giv eth np the ghost, and where is he ?" A number of years ago a young Iowa farmer dislocated liis limb, which was not properly reduced, and left his leg two inches short, which was lengthened out with cork solo and heel. A few days ago a wagon ran against him, the wheel hub striking him on the defective hip, and knocking him over. When ho arose his leg was two inches too long, and he was obliged to remove his cork exten sion. He walked home immediately. In a Boarding House Somebody who knows gives this pic ture of a boarding house : When a new boarder comes into the house, be it a gentleman or lady, that person is regard ed with great suspicion, and for a few days, at any rate, all the old boarders keep close together, get uncommonly intimate, and conspire, by rude staring and stage whispering, to make the new comer as uncomfortable as possible. The landlady introduces her new guest to all the others on the first opportunity, taking occasion to accompany each in troduction with a brief biography of the person introduced. - This she often supplements afterwards with mysterious hints as to the family connections and business prospects of her guests, which leaves the stranger in a moro uncomfortable condition than ever, until by companionship' and that close intimacy which is the most ob jectionable feature of boarding houso life, he gets to know everybody's busi-, ness and everybody gets to know his, and mutual regard or mutual contempt is engendered, when everything goes on as usual. Eats in the Somersetshire Floods. During the recent heavy floods that laid under water an area of land in Somersetshire, England, twenty miles across, the rats were driven from their haunts iu 'vast numbers. Some of them found refuge on the trees and others . took possession of deserted bouses. One instance is recorded where a laborer had occasion to visit his cot tage to rescue some property left be hind. He moored his boat to the cham ber window, and was about to enter, when he found the room filled with a swarm of rats, which were so ravenous with hunger that they were like a pack of wolves. - Their savage demonstrations compelled the man to beat a hasty re treat to save himself from being eaten alive.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers