The Elk County advocate. (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, March 02, 1876, Image 1

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    ilk
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher
VOL. YI.
NILT DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
IUDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, MAIICH 2, 187G.
NO. 2.
The CloKliiff Scone.
Within the sober realm of leafless trees,
The russet year inhaled the dreamy air
Like some tanned re aper. io his hour of ease,
When all the fields are lying brown and bare.
The gray turns looking from their hazy hills,
O'er the dnn waters widening in the vales,
Bent down tho air a greeting to the mills,
On the dull thu ider of alternate flails.
ill sights wore mellowed and all sounds sub-
dufd,
The hills seemed further and the streams
sang low,
As In a droam the distant woodman hewed
His winter lig with many a muffled blow.
The embattled forests, erewhile armed with
gold,
The bannrr bright with every martial hue,
Now stood like some sad beaten host of old,
Withdrawn afar in time's remotest blue.
On sonibo wings the rulturo tried his flight ;
The dove scarce heard his sighing mate's
complaint ;
And, like a star, blow drowning in the light,
Ibe Tillage church vur.o seemed to pale and
faint.
The sentinel cock up in the hillside crew
Crew thrico and all was stiller than before ;
Silent, till pome replying warden blew
His alien horn, and then was heard no more.
Where erst the jay, within the elm's tall crest,
Made garrulous tronble round her unfledged
young,
And when the oriole swung her Bwaying nest,
By every light wind like a censer swung.
When sang the noisy martins of the eaves,
Tne bny swallow, circling ever near
Foreboding, as the rustic mind believes,
An early harvest and a plenteous year.
Whore every bird that waked the venial feast
Shook the sweet slumber from its wings at
morj,
To warn the reaper of tho rosy East
And now was sunless, empty and forlorn.
Alone, from out the stubble, piped the quail,
And croakod the crow through all the dreary
gloim )
Alone the pheasant, drumming in the vale,
Hade 00U0 iu the distance to the cottage
loom.
There was no bud, no bloom upon the bowors,
The spiders moved their thin shrouds night
by night,
The thistle down, the only ghost of flowers,
Sailed slowly by paeeed noiselessly out of
sight.
Amid a'l this, in this most dreary air,
And where the woodbine shads upon the
tor.jh
Its crimson leaves, as if the year stood there,
Firing tio floor with its inverted torch ;
Amu nil mis, tho oentorof the soene,
The white-haired matron, with monotonous
tread,
Tiied the swift wheel, and with her Joyous
mien
Sat like fate and watched the flying thread.
Sbe had kuowu sorrow. He had walked with
her ;
Oft supped and broke with her the ashen
eras,
And in the dead leavos rhe still beard the stir
Of his thick mantle trailing (n the dust.
While yet her cheek was bright with summer
bloom,
Her country stimmonod and she gave her all ;
And t-vico war boned to her his uable plume
Kegave the sword to rest upon the wall.
Ho gave the sword, but not the hand that
drew
And struck for liberty the dying blow.
Nor him. who to his sire and oountry true,
Fell mid tiie rank of tho invading foo.
Long, but not loud, the droning wheel went on,
Like tho low murrrur of a hive at noon ;
L' up, but net loud, the memory of the gone
Breathed through hor lips a sad and tremu
lous tone.
At last the thread was snapped, her head was
bowed ;
Life dropped the distaff throngh her hands
sorcne ;
Ai;d loviuj neighbors soothed her careful
shroud,
While death and winter olosed the autumn
scene.
T. B. Head.
THE LITTLE APPLE WOMAN.
Tilly was up that morning as soon as
the earliest sunbeam set tbe church spire
over the way into a twinkle, and danced
down stairs, singing as gayly as a lark;
for that day she was to have a holiday,
nud holidays didn't come very often to
her. Mies Snip, the milliner, with
whom she lived for Tilly had neither
father or motherwas kind to hor in
her way, and gave her plenty to eat and
think, a oomfortablo little room enough
tosdeep in, and drossed her in quite a
dainty fashion by altering her own
finery for her wear.
You would really have imagined her
to be a petted inmate of one of those
great houses in the park, if you could
have seen her tripping along past them,
with her bright holiday face and grace
ful little figure. Miss Snip had told her
that she might go just where she wish-,
ed, and do just what she pleased for all
day, and she felt as light and free as the
air, her arms unencumbered by any bur
Meusome bandboxes, and her brain un
encumbered by any perplexing mes
sages. Then she had a good many
bright pennies iu her pocket, given her
by Miss Snip's customers, who were
pleased with her obligiug ways and
sweet face; and she could ride into the
oountry, if she liked, where the yellow
stars in the grass were as thick as if it
had rained dandelions all night, and the
sparrows made everybody glad with
their gladness. She had a great mind
to do this, for it was a warm, fragrant,
though damp and cloudy, April day,
aud 'ho hadu't been out of the old sea
port town for so long a time; but the
wharves, and the ships, and the water
had a greater charm for her, after all;
so she gave up her idea of a oountry
ride, and bent her steps towards the
water.
Every spare hour she could get she
spent upon the wharves, listening to
tho quaint Pongs of tho sailors, wntoh
ing eagorly the ships that snil'-d in and
sailed away, and scanning every bronzed
face that appeared upon thoir docks; for
Tilly had a half-brother who was a Bail
or. To be sure, he had sailed away
years and years ago, and everybody
thought that he, with the ship he sailed
in, must have been lost, for they had
never been heard from since. But Tilly
couldn't help hoping that he was still
alive, and would some time come back
to her again. She could remember him
distinctly, though she was a very wee
thing when he went away. She could
remember that he was very tall and very
brown, and used to take her on his
knee, and tell her funny stories and sing
her funny songs. Her poor mother
broke her heart about him, almost; and
they scarcely saw a happy day after ho
went away, for her father died long be
fore, when Tilly was only a few months
old, and they were all alone in the
world.
Tilly was sure that she should know
him if she were to meet him anywhere.
for she had his picture. He had it
takeu just before he went away, for his
mother, and before she died she gave it
to Tilly, and told hor never to part with
it; and then if Jim, who would not know
where to find her, should ever como
back, she might moet him and know
him by his resemblance to the picture.
There were more pails than common,
she thought, flapping like white wings
in the frolicsome spring wind, as she
hurried down the long street that led to
the water, but there were cloud 1 in tho
sky, that looked very much like a show
er. While she was stopping to consider
whether she should go or not, she no
ticed an old apple woman, seated before
her stand over the way, in evident dis
tress. Her face was all screwed up as
if she were iu pain, and she kept rub
bing one of her shoulders with her hand.
Tilly's tender little heart was touched iu
an instant, and, crossing over to the old
woman's side, she purchased a few ap
ples, and then ventured to ask her what
was tho matter.
Oh, it's only my rhenmatiz, bless
ye," said the old woman. " It twinges
in my shoulder dreadful this damp
weather. It 'pears now as if I should
hev to give up business for to-day, but
if I did Heaveu knows where Jinnie aud
I'd got our dinner and supper. I paid
the last shilling I had for rent last night.
Jinnie, my daughter, is a poor, sick crea
ture, and can't do nothiu'."
" Let mo take your place," said
Tilly, eagerly; 'twould be real fun for
me, aud I know that I should sell quan
tities of apples. It's going to rain you
know, and that will make your rheuma
tism worse."
Tho old woman looked nt her with
surprise, and shook her head; but Tilly
was not to be put off in that way.
" So you are afraid to trust me with
your apples," said she, looking up into
the old woman's face with hor winning
smile.
" Bless your heart ! No, dear," said
the old woman; "I wouldn't be afraid
to trust anybody that had a face like
yours. But what would your 'ma say ?
It isn't the place for a little lady like
you."
"I haven't any mother," said Tilly.
"I live with Miss Snip, and she doesn't
care what I do; and, if you please, I'm
not n little lady. I'm only an errand
girl; but to-day I'm going to have to
myself a whole holiday, i wish you'd
let me take charge of your apple staud.
1 understand trading. Miss Snip lets
me wait ou her customers sometimes,
and I'd like to sit. here all day, because
I could look at tho water and the ships
all the time." .
But you'd spile yoiu- pretty clothes,
and may be get ill yourself, sitting out
here this showery day.
"Oh, no, indeed, 1 shouldn't ! Your
gieat umbrella would cover me till up,
and it will only rain a little while at a
time, anyway. The suu is trying to
como out now."
The old woman rubbed her aching
shoulder, and remained silent a few mo
ments, apparently considering what it
was best to do.
" Well, dear," sho said, ut last,
" since you are so kiud I don't know but
I shall hev to give up my business to
yoa, for my shoulder is powerful bail,
and if I should git cold now I "should be
laid up for weeks, p'raps, and Heaven
ouly knows whae would become of Jin
nie and me. But you'll get tired out
before long, I know, and when you do
jest beckon to me. I live up in tho
fourth story of this buildin'," pointing
tc a dingy row of houses opposite,
"and I'll see you aud come down."
And, after enlightening Tilly with
regard to prices, with many thanks and
blessiugs, she hobbled away and left the
little girl a one in her new dignity.
Tilly liked it. It wasn't a very nice
place to stay in, to bo sure, but rather
dirty and dark, with great shipping
stores and wharves on every hand; but
she had a view of the watr where she
sat, and a great many sailors were pass
ing up and down the street. She put
on a dignified, business air, and sat up
very erect and prim, ready to receive
customers. And plenty of customers
she had, I assure you; the sailors, espe
cially, seemed to be highly pleased with
tho daiuty little apple woman; and busi
ness men made the purchase of her pip
pin' an excuse to speak to her, it was so
out of the common course of things to
such a delicate, fairylike little girl pre
siding over au apple stand.
Before noon she had sold out nearly
all her little stock; and, taking what
few she had left with her, she went in
search of the apple woman, to make
her eyes glad with the great heap of
pennies that had accumulated in her
box, and urge her to replenish the stock
for the afternoon's sale. But the old
woman wasn't able to go out and pur
chase any more apples, and was willing
to leave everything to Tilly, who was
highly pleased with her commission. So
she made a nice bargain with a fruit
dealer up the street, and by one o'clock
established herself again as an apple
vender at tho old stand.
The sun came out in the afternoon,
and business was even more brisk than
in the morning. It was growing late iu
the afternoon, and Tilly's stock was al
most exhausted again, and she sat look
ing somewhat weary, her head on her
hand, when some one came up on the
other- side and said: "Business has
been good to-day, hasn't it, my little
woman t I see you are nearly sold out."
Tilly looked up, and saw a tall man,
with a brown face and pleasant brown
eyec, scanning her closely a gentle
manly looking sort of man, who looked
as if he might be the captain of a ship.
Tilly's heart gave a creat bound, for
the gentleman's face seemed very
familiar to her, some way, aud her first
thought was that it might be Jim. But
no ; Jim wasn't nearly as old as that
gentleman looked, and his features in
the picture, though there might be a
little likeness iu them to his, were dif
ferent ; and then Jim didn't have those
great whisker., aud that fierce looking
mustache. Any way, Tilly, couldn't
keep her eyes away from him, or find
her senses long enough to heed what he
was saying to her.
So she Kept looking at him, and he,
surprised that she should look at him so
fixedly, looked back at her without say
ing a word. But at last he smiled, nud
said, laughingly, as he fumbled in his
pocket for some change: "Do you
like my looks so very much, yon little
bluebird?"
Tilly dropped her eyes, ond blushed
scarlet, faltering out, timidly : "I
thought that you looked like my brother
Jim."
"Indeed 1" said the gentleman, the
expression of his face changing sudden
ly. " Where is your brother Jim ?"'
" I don't know, sir," said Tilly ; "but
I fear that he is dead."
"You don't know, then, whether he
is alive or not? I snpposo you haven't
seen him for some time then?"
"Oh, no," said Tilly, "not since I
was four years old; but I have his pic
ture, and look at it every duy. Ho was
a sailor, and sailod away on a foreign
voyage, aud I have nover heard from
him siuco."
"What is your name, my dear?"
questioned the gentleman, lifting Tilly's
surprised little face iu both his hands,
that ha might have a bhtter view of it.
But ho did not wait for hor to tell
him the name, but snatched her up in
his arms aud hold her close to his heart,
cidling her his own little sister Tilly.
" Are you really Jim ?" said Tilly,
when she could recover her breath.
" Are you really Tilly ?" said he, hug
ging hrr cloaer and closer.
"But why didn't you come home?"
she asked, looking up shyly into his
face. ,
" Tho ship I sailed in was wrecked,"
said he, "aud all on board, save the
second mate aud myself, were lost. We
succeeded in clinging to some floating
spars, until another ship came up and
took us in. That ship was bound to
China, and so to China I was obliged to
g'i, of course. Then wheu wo arrived
there, I w is violently taken ill of a fever,
aud was uot suiliciontly recovered, when
the ship was ready to sail again, to go
with her; and when at last, after nearly
three .years' absence,' I did touch my
native shore again, I found the old
house empty, and learned that our
mother had died. Where you were,
Tilly, no one could tell. All the old
neighbors seemed to have moved away,
and though I searched everywhere, I
was unable to find the least clew to you,
and ut List concluded that you must
have died, also. Thoroughly disheart
ened, I sailed again as captain of the
Swallow, and have never been in this
port since, until yesterday."
Tho old apple woman "was almost as
glad as Tilly herself to hear of the lit
tle girl's good fortune, and Jim, who
felt that she had something to do with
bringing about this strango meeting,
gave her enough mouey to support her
self through a good many rainy days
without risking her poor old rheumatic
shoulder out of doors. Miss Suip was
glad, too, though she hated to part with
Tillv. Aud Tillv thontrht that there
could not be another such a happy girl
in the whole world as she was to have
such a handsome brother to care for her,
aud to bo able to go to school every
day, and wear pretty dresses all the
time, for she did this after Jim came
home you, may be sure.
Saving the Dust.
Tbe siftings and small coal t the
mouth of coalpits and in coal yards havo
now, owing to the enhanced cost of
fuel, a positive commercial value, being
more and more largely iv ed for making
patent or artificial fuel. The method,
most generally iu vogue is to mingle it
with some adhesive and combustible
substance, bike bitumen, pitch, tar, or
rosin, and then mold it into cakes by
pressure. In Belgium, where this in
dustry has attained a great success and
importance, the coaldust is agglomerated
into blocks by adding eight or ten per
cent, of coal tar, and some hundreds of
thousands of tons are used annually for
ueating locomotives.
These blocks are very nearly of the
same density and weight as solid coal,
and burn without presenting any ob
stacle to the circulation of air through
the . grate. It was nearly twenty years
ago that the advantages were pointed
out of blowing cot.1 dust into a chamner
lined with fire brick, so that it might be
ignited on coming in contact with red
hot furnaces, after having been mingled
with the quantity of air necessary for
combustion. Many of the largest manu
factories in the United States have for
some time past used pulverized fuel for
furnaces and boilers. Coaldust has also
other uses; among these may be men
tioned its employment in, foundries for
molds,' and its use as a building ma
terial mixed with one-sixth part of ce
ment A Funny Petition.
United States Senator Howe, of Wis
consin, presented a petition which he
said purported to be signed by citizens
of Wisconsin, asking the passage of a
law requiring the treasurer of the United
States to pay to every man, woman and
child residing in the country, without dis
tinction on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude, the sum
of $10 a week, such sum to be paid every
Saturday night at the post-office nearest
the residence of every such person. He
said there was no limitation as to time,
but to prevent any undue expansion of
the currency the petitioners thought no
more that five billion dollars should be
issued in any one year. He was not en
tirely certain that this was a wise meas
use. It was referred, amid much
laughter, to the committee on finance.
ZACK CHANDLER'S HEROISM.
How be Knved the Life of M Mule Dinah,
tor, and whnt fc Hollered In Conse.
qiienre.
Robert Creighton, a personal friend
of Secretary Chandlor, of the United
States Interior department, gives, in a
letter to the Danbury Neivs, this inter
esting account of an incident in the life
of the latter whioh explains the sanguine
hue of h;s face :
Perhaps you would like to know some
thing of Zack Chandler. . -Yon and I
have heard and read a great deal about
him, and it's time we knew something
of him. He is a great big man, over six
feet eight, and about tixty years old.
He and Horace Greeley were born with
in a cat-call of each other, and still no
single man did as much as Zach Chand
ler to defeat the phSosopher for the
Presidency. He has a lambering, heavy
walk, of certain stride and steady gait.
He carries au alternate white and red
face in front and hig'a, a cane in one
hand and a bundle of ptpor in the other.
He never walks for pleisnre. He is al
ways on business. He spits every eight
minutes always to the left, seldom
straight, and with the same regularity
that punctuates his evety action. High
and in fjront, like tho figurehead on a
great ship, he carries his great, broad
head and variegated iace. Ou a cold
day his countenance teams almost like
the red glare of a locomotive headlight.
Ninety nine men who pass him on a
frosty morning make ninety-nine re
marks freighted with the information
that "Old Zach has had his bitters."
But how this world is given to lying I
This red face has a history, this crooked
spitting has a reason, tnd I will give you
both.
It is now seventeen years since Zach
ariah Chandier,being remarkably success
ful in business, built for his family a
new and elegant house in Detroit. When
nearly finished he moved into it. Ou
the first evening, immediately after the
gas was turned on and lit, the smell of
tho escaping gas aroused the family and
servants, and search was made for the
leak. The daughter, now Mrs, Hale,
thou a child, with a lighted candle, de
tected it iu a closet off tho back parlor.
Tho father knowing the danger of an ex
plosion, hurried to the closet with a ser
vant, took the candle from the daugh
er's hands and shielded her just in time
to receive the full blast himself, burning
his head, neck and hands almost to a
crisp. The nose, ears, eyes, lips, and
flesh of the face were so completely
cooked that old Zach embraced the op
portunity aud murmured through his
blistered lips : "Bring on your canni
bals. I'm cooked." A physician was
immediately sent for, who after a few
moments' examination shook his head iu
the most unhopeful manner. With a
fortitude which characterizes Mr. Chand
ler to thiB day, ho submitted to tho ex
amination, and at the close demauded to
kuow the worst. The physician, Dr.
Clark, wisely endeavored to postpone
the giviug of his opinion until the next
day, but Mr. Chandler insisting, the
doctor reluctantly answered his ques
tions. " Well, doctor, my nose feels bad.
How about it ?"
" Mr. Chaudler, you'll lose your
nose."
" And my ear?, I suppose, too ?"
"I am sorry to say, yes; they are
completely cooked through."
" My forehead how about that ?"
" Well, I don't see how the skin will
ever grow there again."
"My lips?"
" The upper lip, Mr. Chaudler, I
shall have to take almost completely
off."
" That's bad, for a man to lose his
upper lip. Won't the tinder one do?"
"I am sorry to say, I shall havo to
remove a portion of that also."
"Eh! Well, goon."
" There, that will do. I'll know bet
ter in the morning."
" You can't leave me until I know all.
Go on, doctor, anything else ?"
The doctor hesitated.
" Go on, doctor, my eyes f "
"Your eyes?"
" Yes. Go on."
" Mr. Chandlor, you will lose the
sight of both eyes."
" mat s enough, doctor, you can go
now."
Nearly a year passed before Zachoriah
Chandler was seen on the streets of De
troit again. No one could recognize him
except by his voice and immense frame.
iiis race, once round, lull ana muscular,
was shriveled and muscleless. His
heavy jaw, indicative of firmness of
purpose, was almost without a shred of
flesh. And as he said himself, he was
the most thin-skiuned man in the
whole Northwest."
Such is the history and the reason of
his red face and crooked spitting.
A Venerable Tree.
The historio and renowned old elm on
Boston common, which sheltered Miles
Standish aud the Winslows, beneath
whose boughs Benjamin Fraukhn playod
vhen he was a baby, and which was so
old in 1776 that Israel Putnam and
George Washington, when they assumed
their military commands, were afraid it
would fall down and kill somebody, was
prostrated and destroyed by the gale
lately. There is a sort of centennial
propriety iu the fall, and relio hunters
spent the night in an affectionate scram
ble for bits of its boughs. It was one
of the oldest trees known in this oountry,
aud probably older than the Stuyvesant
pear tree in New York. The limb blown
off in the gale of 1860 plainly disclosed
more than two hundred rings.
A Sea Captain's Reward,
Capt. Cloos lives at Valley Stream,
Tinner Tnlnnrf anil Aninvfl an innnmAAam.
Oil liw liia tintnonjta A mimtui. rt
years ago he commanded a merchant-
.V.UUU., null ItUUD CKw O A.UOIJUA
jjuj naw a omaii j uuui, wnu two men in
it, capsize He sent a boat and rescued
the men. One proved to be a young
Russian graud duke, who, with a friend,
was on a sailing excursion. . The Rus
sian government bestowed a pension
upon Cloos of $250 a year for life, with
reversion to his children.
MYSTERIES OF HOTELS.
Whnt ll Take to It tin One for n Yenr.
This is not a romance. No allusion
is intended to croton bugs in the larder,
nor to the polite clerk's stony stare, nor
his well parted hair. On the contrary,
it is a peep into the commissarit depart
ment, whioh we are perfectly entitled to
class among the mysteries of hotels.
Bishop Colenso fancied himself fully
justified in questioning the Pentateuch
because Moses (iocs not explain about
the supplies during the fortv years of
Israel in the waste of Sinai; and the
Hellenist w o will satisfy the learned
world how the great gathering during
the Olympio games were provisioned,
will solve a conundrum of classical pro
portions. Here is the year's bill of
fare of a large and popular Western
hotel, which ventures to call itself
" metropolitan," and which really does
entertain a large number of wayfarers.
The hotel is kept by a oolonol, need
less to say, and, among the commercial
travelers who chiefly frequent the
place, is thought to bo of tho very
strain of Amphitryon "a born hotel
keeper."
The first thing that strikes one, says
the New York World, from which we
copy, seems to account at once for the
prevalent dyspepsia of the Western
people. Here are 100,228 pounds of
beef, and a tale of lamb, mutton, pork,
sausage, fish, ham, bacon, poultry, veni
son, game, etc., amounting in all to
188,000 pounds of solid meats, against a
total of 80,108 pounds of flour aud fari
naceous substances of all sorts down to
barley, vermicelli and corn starch. Two
and a quarter pounds of meat to each
pound of bread is liko Falstaff s crown's
worth of capon and anchovies to a ha
ponny of bread. Tho barbarous condi
tion of the Western stomach may furth
er be gathered from the fact that while
it took our Amphitryon's 100, 000 pounds
of beef .to feed his flock, they let hiuioff
with 215 pounds of lamb. But, en re
vanchc, the mint sauce must have been
abundant, for there is account takeu of
388 bunches of mint. The bill is heavy
in the way of sugars and sweetmeats,
but extremely light in respect of salads.
This hotel only required 470 dozen let
tuce aud seventy-six dozen cucumbers,
against 1,570 pounds of mincemeat, sev
eral thousand pounds of dried fruits and
conserves, 450 gallons of molasses and
25,000 pounds of sugar. The guests
only ate 264 pounds of macaroni, but
they consumed 125 gallons of pickles,
667 gallons vinegar, seventy-five gallons
Worcestershire sauce aud three and one
half barrels of sauerkraut. They used
17,000 gallonsof milk and 18,000 pounds
of butter, but only 668 pounds of
cheeso. No walnuts and only sixteen
bottles of olives, but 210 pounds of pe
cans. Only 180 pounds of raisins, but
8,161 pounds of grapes. Green corn
was the favorite vegetable and straw
bonics the favorite fruit, far above
peaches and melons.
All that beef, one would think, would
have called for more than 142 bunches
of celery; but apparently they preferred
mustard and horseradish with it. Tho
surprising figures of 444 pounds of co
coannt, show a truly Western proclivity
for pio aud pudding, and the immouse
quantity of dessert in that form may be
gathered from the fact that the cuisine
demanded two barrels of cider, thirty
nine and one-half gallons of rum, seventy-four
gallons cooking wine ond
fifty-four gallons of cooking braudy.
One hundred aud twenty-six dozen ducks
required 440 ponuds of jelly; but there
were ouly used thirty bottles of capers,
against 930 pounds of prunes. Lobster
iu cans was eaten to the extent of
twelve dozen, but we only see sixteen
dozen prairie hens charged, though this
hotel is situated in the heart of that
bird's habitat.
Of toothpicks the supply was 172
boxes, each probably containing a gross
of packages, and 11,000 pieces of soap
would seem to be ample eveu for tho
needs of the commercial traveler. Tho
guests only consumed 660 pounds of
tea, to 5,200 pounds of coffeo, but they
required thirty-two barrels and 1,656
buuehes of onions. They drauk ninety
seven pounds of chocolate and ate 1,400
bushels of potatoes, and in one way or
another consumed 340,000 pounds of
ice.
This is Leap Year.
The Sparta (Tenn.) Index has the fol
lowing item : Married On Wednesday,
at the residence of Mr. Wayman Clark,
by E. A. Williams, Esq., Mrs. Peggy
Glover to Tommy Barret. Growing
weary of sin gle blessedness, she set out one
Sunday morning on a leap year courting
excursion. After visiting several eligiblo
single men, and having to take " No "
for au answer, she at last called at the
house of Mrs. Barret, mother of her in
tended victim. He is nineteen years
old, and has lived in this vricked world
long enough to experience all the incon
venience and desolation of the boy who
is too big for his mammy to spank, aud
yet has no one to sew on his buttous.
She made her proposal with true bissex
tile boldness, and ho, overcome with
modesty and confusion, at first blushed,
sighed and hung down his head. But,
after tantalizing hor for some time with
his coyness, he finally sank upon her
breast, and was inclosed in her loving
arms. You may guess the rest.
Freaks of Juries,
The Dublin Standard gives this de
scription of the proceedings of a jury in
Ireland which may possibly throw some
light on those of other juries : A young
man was on trial at ihe quarter sessions
at Tralee for embezzlement. The jury
acquitted him, " believing he had com
mitted a mistake." The chairman asked
for an explanation. " We believe," said
the foreman, " it was all a mistake of
the poor man, your worship." "But,"
said the chairman, " the case was fully
proved, gentlemen." "It was," re
marked one of the jurors, "his first
offense of the kind, your worship."
" We did not like to be hard upon the
poor fellow," added another juror.
" But," replied the chairman ; " that
will not do for the administration of jus
tice." " Oh, sir," exolaimed a third
juror, do let the poor fellow go." Of
course, nnder these circumstances, the
further detention of the prisoner was
impossible, and the "poor fellow " was
accordingly " let go."
How they Hot Again.
Among the various regiments reoruitod
in central New York during the late
war, says the Rochester Express, was
the 160th, which was sent to the depart
ment of the gulf, and attached to tho
army nnder the command of Gen.
Banks. This regiment took an active
part in the operations against Port Hud
son, and was one of the first to enter
that place at the time of its surrender,
July 9, 1863. It was one of the regi
ments of Weitzel's brigade, and the fol
lowing year took part iu au expedition
to Sabine pass, between Louisiana and
Texas, where a largo amount of Con
federate stores were destroyed. One of
the companies belonging to the 160th
was raised in Palmyra, N. Y.,and among
its tnembers was Mr. O. S. Stevens,
who served its full time, was discharged
at its disbandment, and is now a mer
chant at Palmyra.
A few days since Mr. Stevens had oc
casion to go to Hartford, Conn., und
left home on the five p. h. train ou tho
Central railroad. After becoming well
settled in one of the sleeping cars, ho
discovered a tall, sandy complcxioned
man in the opposite section, who, though
a perfect stranger, had a large Roman
nose which Stevens thought he had seen
before, but failiug'to recall any remem
brance of such a face, he gave no atten
tion to it until the train reached Syra
cuse, when a long arm reached across
the aisle, and a brawny hand touched
him on the shoulder, the stranger at the
same time asking if they stopped there
for supper. To this Stevens answered
in the affirmative, telling him that if he
would go along, he would show him
whore to get a good lunch. At that
they passed out together, and after sup
per the stranger offered Stevens a
cigar, and they went into the smoking
car, where the following conversation
ensued :
" Well, stranger, I reckon you live
somewhere in these parts?"
" Yes, I live in Palmyra," said Ste
vens. "And I live way down iu Texas; I
was what you used to call a Johnny Reb
during tho war. "
" Ah, what part of the South did you
serve in ?" asked Stevens.
Thrusting his long legs under the seat
iu front, and turning part way around,
he said :
"I was at Port Hudson until your
army nearly starved us out, and we'had
to surreud. r. After I was exchanged I
was a Texas ranger, and finally got re
constructed." "And you were a prisoner at Port
Hudson ? Do you remember seeing thu
160th New York volunteers th re?" said
Stevens.
"I think Ido," said the Texan; " and,
if I'm not mistaken, that was the very
regiment our bojs first met."
"And do yon remember trading can
teens with one of them ?"
" Yes; and I got a tin canteen with
the initials O. S. S. on it."
"And I got a woodon one with J. T.
P. on it," said Stevens.
"That was mine," said the Texan;
" my name is John T. Pond. By
George 1 we have drank from tho same
canteen, old friend; give me your hand
for life," and he brought a tremendous
squeeze on Stevens' hand, which fairly
brought the tears to his eyes.
If the conversation had been lively
boforp, it was doubly so then, Mr. Pond
going into a full detail of his history be
fore and after the war. He had left Con
necticut twenty-two years ago, had set
tled at Sabine puss, and was part owner
or a large miu, which, btevens com
mand had destroyed the yeat following
the surrender of Port Hndson. He was
now on his way to New Haven to visit a
sister he had not seen in all these years.
He said that be returned to Sabine after
the war, rebuilt the mill, was successful,
and now had secured a competence that
enabled him once more to visit his
friends at the North. Stevens gave him
an accurate account of tho destruction
of his mill, the first he had ever ob
tained, and the two sat up and conversed
through'ut the entire night, while the
sleeping car conductor wondered why
they did not return to occupy their
berths. The next morning they parted
at Hartford, and though their first
meeting had been as enemies, they bid
each other good-bye with many re
grets, such as tho best of friends only
know.
Singular Funeral Rites.
The funeral rites of kings and their
wives in somo parts of Augola, Africa,
are peculiar. A shallow pit is dug iu
the floor of the hut iu which he or she
died, just deep enough to contain the
body. This is placed naked in the
trench on its back, and then covered
with a thiu layer of earth. On this
three fives are lighted and kept burning
a whole moon or month, the hot ashes
being constantly spread over th" whole
grave. At the end of this time the body
is usually sufficiently baked or dried ; it
is then taken out and placed on its back
on an open framework of sticks, and
fires kept burning under it till the body
is thoroughly smoke dried. During the
whole time the body is being dried, the
hut in which the operation is performed
is full of people, the women keeping up
a dismal crying day and night, particu
larly tho latter. When the body is com
pletely desiccated it is wrapped iu cloth
and stuok upright in a corner of the
tent, where it remains until it is buried,
sometimes two years after. The reason
for this is that all the relations of the
deceased must be present at the burial
ceremony, when the body is wrapped in
as many yards of cloth as they can possi
bly afford, some of the kings being
roneu m several nundred yards or dif
ferent cloth. At the close of the burial,
a wake or feast, consisting of dancing,
with firing of gnus and consumption of
rum, roast pig and other food, is held
for the whole night. It is believed that
the spirit of the dead person will haunt
the town where ho died, aud commit
mischief, if the wake is not held.
The Los Angeles (Gal.) Herald says
that at the present rata of increase it is
estimated mere will be in lour years
one muiion stands oi bees in Ojos An
geles, Santa Barbara and San Bernar
diuo counties, which will produce an.
nnally honey worth $20,000,000, whioh is
more than the value of the sugar and
molasses crop of Louisiana, Texas and
i londa combined.
Items of Interest.
James Parton is the only n an in
Massachusetts who ever hold tho situa
tion of husband to his mothcr-in-Iaw.
On dit that a party of English swells
have chartered the steamship Scotia, of
the Cunard line, and, nnder tho com
mand of the veteran Captain Judkins,
will visit Philadelphia in June.
Fitzhugh Lee, George B. McClellan
and Ambrose B. Burnside will probably
be the respective field officers of the
Southern, Middle States, and New Eng
land battalions of the Centennial le
gion. Mr. Colfax tells a good story of Presi
dent Lincoln, that when he was attacked
with smallpox, he said to his attend
ants : " Send up all the office seekers,
and tell them I've got something I can
give each of them."
Some one, some time ago, seeing two
or three eminent lawyers gathered to
gether on a spot supposed to be likely
to be chosen as the site of a new law
court, said that they had met there to
view the ground where they must shortly
lie.
" The excuse of the third man," said
Mr. Moody, illustrating the parable of
the guests who were backward incoming
forward, " was more absurd than any
I have married a wife, and therefore I
cannot come.' Now, why didn't he take
his wife along with him?"
Mrs. Bump resides iu Bloom towu
ship, Clearfield county, Pa., and sho hr.s
a potato which has been carried as a
guard against rheumatism by her grand
father, father aud herself since 1792.
This once esculent root is now not larger
than a Lima bean aud as hard as a
stone.
Over three hundred trees and more
than eight hundred woody species of
plants are believed to be embraced in
the flora of the United States, and of
the trees two hundred and fifty species
are tolerably abundant in one region or
another, one hundred and twenty of
them growing to a large size.
Dr. Talmoge says: "When we find
a man contemptuous of labor, and acting
as though he never worked at all, and as
though his ancestors had never worked,
we make up our mind that if yon go n
little further back in that man's ances
tral lino you will run against a scaven
ger's cart or upset a soop boiler's kettle."
A Tin Bonanza.
The Los Angeles (Gal.) Exprcus says:
The Temescal tin mines are located
twonty-four miles southeast of Pomora,
iu San Bernardino county,- and are
among the richest tin mines in the world.
For the past ten years these mines have
been but little worked, because of the
almost endless litigation arising from a
disputed title to so valuable a property.
A wealthy Amsterdam company, that
has been and is now engaged in import
ing tin into the United States, to tbe
extent of $14,000,000 worth per yenr,
has recently bonded the Temescal tin
mines from the various claimants to the
amount of $80,000, and on the first day
of May, 1876, the money is to be paid
and tho various titles will be passed
to and vested in tho Amsterdam com
pany. These are the only tin mines yet dis
covered in the United States, and are
very rich, assaying as high as eighteen
per cent., while nany mines in Europe
are worked to profit that yield but four
per cent, of metal.
Arrangements are being made for
commencing active operations on a grand
scale at au early day. As soon as prac
ticable after the hrst of May a force o;
five hundred miners will be put to won.
developing the mine and taking out the
ore. The wagon road between Temescal
and Pomona, which is now in good con
dition, will be improved, thus making
au easy outlet for the ore inlet for sup
plies. The agent of the company has
already applied to the Pomona land
company for land on which to build
their extensive warehouses, to which
the railroad company will build side
tracks.
A Long Road.
A claim agent lately applied fox a
pension for the widow of a soldier. Tlv
clerk demanded proof of marriage. This .
. ... i ni i 1 " 1 1 '
was iurnisned. mere oeing a uuuu m
the case, he was required to bring proof
of its birth by a witness present at the
time of birth. This was done. But the
child died, and the persistent clerk de
manded of the persistent agent proot oi
its demise. The testimony of a woman
who saw it die and of the sexton who
buried it was added. On the presenta
tion of the last proof the agent pro
posed, if more testimony was needed, to
bring tue screws Irem tue cotnn mi,
The pension was granted, and then the
clerk was brought to judgment for over
stepping the bounds of his duty.
Would Not Go.
Those who have affected to believe
that the affection of the dog was for
persons and of the cat for place to con
sider the fact that the Pawnees, who re
cently left their reservation in Nebraska
for one in the Indian Territory, were
unable to induce their dogs to accom
pany them. It was very reluctantly that
the Indians parted with their pets, but
the dogs would follow but a short
distance and then return to the old
camp. People from the reservation re
port that hundreds of howling, yelping
curs are running around the old camp
ing grounds, hunting for something to'
eat.
A Good Do;,'.
As the morning
train over the
Rochester road was nearing Alfred,
near in g
Maine, the engineer discovered a large
Newfoundland dog on the track. He
blew the whistle, but the dog stood his
ground, and thinking something was
wrong, the engineer whistled down
brakes, and the locomotive stopped
within a few feet of tbe dog. A four-ox
load of logs had attempted to cross the
track, but the sled caught on the rails.
The driver heard the train approaching
round a curve, and rushed down the
track to stop it His dog took in the
I and stopped the train.