HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. . NIL DESPERANDUM. L Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. VI. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1876. yo- 21- A Turned lnwn Page. There's a turned down page, as ome writer says, In every btrnaa life A hidden story of happier days Of pesoe amid the strifa ) A f JJel leaf that the world kn"w not A lor dream rndoly crushed t The hjM- 'fa foe that in not fori ot, Altho' the voice be huslied. The far distant sonnde of a harp's soft strings, An echo on the air ; The hidden page may be fnll of anch things, Of things that once were fair. There is a bidden page In each life, and mine A story might unfold t Bat the end was sad of the dream divine It better rests untold. THE MIDNIGHT ESCAPE. AN INCIDENT OF THE EEVOLUTION. The 6trip of ground from Broadway to Centre street, along Chambers, New York, seventy years ago, was a burial place. The part nearest Broadway was devoted to the colored people for the last resting spot of their dead, and the moiety extending to Centre street was a kind of Potter's field, and during the Revolution the spot where most of the private soldiers of the British army, who died in the city, were interred. Gallows hill, the spot where the Manhattan res ervoir is now placed, was decorated with a gallows, where all deserters and pris oners suffered death who came under the control of the infamous provost marshal, Cunningham. It was customary to execute most of the deserters who were native born at night. Ther3 was a policy in this. Puolio executions of the Americans by the royalists would have been noised abroad and the injury created thereby, through the manner ill which the Conti nentals them -elves would have ma le use of it, must have resulted in the irjury of the king's crane. These executions ouerully took place after miiluight. Tho pri-oueis condemned to death were always confined in the old jail, within a musket shot of the place of execution, and a sergeant's guard of eight men, ao eorapnnicd by the provost marshal and his deputy, generally conducted the prisoners to the gallows. it was near twelve o'clock of a night iu October, in the year 1780, that a young man was reclining among the re cent graves that raised their mounds iu the vicinity of the gibbet on Gallows hill. The hour and the pi ice were sin gular for a lone individual, like the man in question, to be reposing. I say lone, yet he whs not exietly so, if human bodies, divested of their mortality, can bo considered companions ; for nearly above his head, swaying to and fro in the night breeze, hung the remains of two soldiers of the Fifth regiment, who had been executod that morning for de sertion. The sky was obs urod with dark, murky clouds, and the moaning of the wind, as it swept around the gallows and through the trees that here and there r ared their branches amid the darkness of the night, gave a desolate and dis agreeable sound well befitting the place itself. The man scarcely moved, with the exception, now and then, of raising his head and peering cautiously above! the mound of earth, behind which he lay, toward the jail, dimly visible, with its high, massy walls, in the field be yond. At length a light glimmered, the tread of men was faintly heard, and the young man, raising himself from the spot where he lay, glided along the rude fence, which skirted the burial ground, until he stood within a few feet of the execution place. Here he paused and looked in the direction of the approach ing light. Faintly through the haze appeared two or three files of soldiers, preceded Ly a colored man who carried a lantern the only light which seemed to be in the party. Then walked a pris oner, with his arms tightly bound be hind him, and directly' after, Cunning ham, the provost marshal, and five or six soldiers with muskets on their shoul ders. "One, two, three," repeated the young man to himself, as if counting the number of the men approaching ; 'twelve in all. 'Tis a desperate under taking, but my comrade shall not die if I can save him. Now for skill and cour age. Be cool, Dick Martin I You have been on still more perilous occasions, if your commanding officers rpeak the truth." lie glided back again to his old rest ing place, wheu he stumbled in a grave that he had noticed before, just iu rear of the gallows. His first impulse was to leap ont, for the depth of tho grave did not exceed three feet : but a second thought altered his determination, and lie mnrmured : " This is the best place for me ; they certaiuly will not think of looking for a liviu'g man in the grave !" Aud he stretched himself at full length iu the " narrow houre " that he knew one day or another he should fill. They entered the burial ground, aud proceeded di r. ctly to the gallows, under which they halted. Forming a circle, the colored man, with the lantern, Cunningham, and the prisoner in the center, prepara tions were made to go through with the awful ceremony that of depriving a fellow being of lifo. The colored man looked up at the gal lows from which the bodies were haug iug, and then proceeded very deliberate ly to cut them down, observing : " These chap3 have hang long enough, I guess." The prisoner looked on with a glance of no common interest, for he felt that his soul was fluttering on the confines of eternity. The colored man bad passed a rope through the beam where, but a few moments before, hung the inanimate clods that now encumbered, as it were, the ground beneath the gallows. This done, be said: " There, Mr. Cunningham, is a rope that will bold the prisoner long enough, I reckon." As be fluished this speech, he very deliberately kicked the body of one of the dead soldiers aside, and rolled the other very coolly into the grave where lay the mnn; and the d ad rested upon the living I A shudder ran through tho frame of the youth, as be felt pressing above him the solid form of one who, but a day before, had been as fnll of life as he now was; but not a sound es caped him, for be know that sileuoe was his only preservation. " Well, rascal, you see what yon are coming to for deserting from bis majes ty's service. A halter, I suppose, is more agreeable than good treatment and a soldier's pay." Thus spoke Cunningham to tho pris oner. " I entered into the refugee corps for my own reasons. They have proved satisfactory," the prisoner said, look ing at Cunningham with a bold counte nance. " Yes, infernally satisfactory, you re bel I A spy, I s'pose 1 DeLancey's ref ugees would be a pretty set if they were all like you, rogue. No, no ; I had my eye on you when you 'listed, a month ago, and I told Colonel DeLancey what I believed you was. Not a royal refu gee, but' a rebel soonndrel. I was right, rogue, eh ?" "Yes, yon were right as to my enlist ing. As to being a rebel scoundrel, why, there is au offset you are a royal knave and a bloodthirsty villain. All the in formation I wanted to send to tho great Washington he has got before this so hang away I But I should like five min utes' communion with my God first, if you have the manliness to grant it." Astonished as Cunningham was by the boldnesR of the man's speech, he knew full well that ho himself was de tested by the English soldiery for his tyranny, and that a refusal of such ro quest, to a man on the point of execu tion, would only make him still more odious among them. With an il grace, he said : " Pray, rascal, pray I I don't wonder that a knave like you fears death. A man who betrays his king betrays his God, and it is full time that yon try to make youl peace with Him Three min utes three minutes I That's all the time you have from me. Go on your knot s at once, then. Sambo, have the halter ready. Three minutes only." The negro had placed the lantern on the ground, directly under the gallows. Its faint light gleamed upwarc, showing a dim outline of the gallows frame, and partially lighting the faces and forms of the soldiers grouped, with their muskets to au order, in a semicircle around the scene of execution. The prisoner bent down, resting his knee upon the earth thrown up arouvid the new dug grave. He hid no bopo of escape; and as he looked upward toward the heavens, although all was black with night, yet his eye pierced through the gloom, and he saw in the future redemp tion for the past I The quivering of bin lipn nhoweu his sincerity ; he was Erepared to die. Of a 6udden he bent is head. Ah 1 his prayer was beard rescue was at hand. His life oh ! glorious thought was not to set in blood through the hands of men 1 " Harry 1" said a voice, in a whisper, proceeding from the grave where the prisoner had seen a dead body tossed but a few moments before, " make no alarm. 'Tis I, your comrade, Dick Martin, of Washington's life guard, come to save yon. Make somo excuse to turn your back toward tho hole where I have hidden myself, and I will cut the rope by which your hands are tied. When this is done aud yon hear mo groau, kick over the lantern, aud make for the eat corner of tho graveyard 1 I will follow. Things are ready for our es cape. Remember, make no alarm !"' The prisoner felt ns if he had won empires upon empires. His life was then safe I " Come, rogue, your three minutes are up. Sambo, tho rope thore." The prhcuor, without risiug from his knees, turned round so that he faced the lantern, his back towards the grave. The negro advanced with tho halter, to place it aound his neck. The scene was striking. In the foreground stood the soldiers gazing with no very pleasant emotions, by the dim light, upon the poor prisoner. Cunningham was in the center, his brutal aud harsh features lighting up with a devilish expression. Just as ?'auibo got within arm's length of tho prisoner, the latter 'elt the thongs cut which bound bis arms. He was free t But why starts tho colorod man, Lis eyes protruding from their sockets, as if death was before Lim f The halter drops from his hands; he is paralyzed with fear. Slowly from the grave rises the dead bod; of tho soldier he had hirust If rolled into it ! Cauninghum beheld the sight, and so did the soldiers. The vision was awful so apparently contrary to human rea son tbat with one accord all fled, ex cepting Sambo and tho prisoner. The former rolled on tho r round in terror. Iu tho meantime, the prisoner and his comrade, who bad so opportunely res cued him from an ignominious death, hurried from tho graveyard and inado for Lipenord's woods, which then skirt ed the North river near about where Curat street ends. There they found a boat, in which Dick Martin" had crossed alone from tho Je rsey shore, six hours before, to Fave his comrade. 11 -aching tho Jersey side, just below Bull's Ferry, in an hour, they struck into the woods, and reached the camp of Washington, near West Point, ubout liight the next day. The morning after, in general orders, two now lieuten ants were commissioned in Washington's life guard, aud the reader can imagine who they were. A brief examination, perhaps, is ne cessary. It always surprised the Eng lish commanders how Washington knew so well the movements made in their lines. Washington, in many cases, made desertion a duty. He knew who among his private soldiers to ask this from, aud never, iu a single instance, was his confidence betrayed. Death upon the gallows followed the poor private often, but be never compromised bis com mander. Last News. Medium "The spirit of the late Mr. Jones is present." Jones's widow (with emotion) " I hope you are happy, Jones." Jones (raps out)" Far happier than I ever was on earth." Jones's widow "Ob, Jones, then you must be in heaven." Jones "On the contrary." OUR CENTENNIAL LETTER. The Live mock Display Revolatloaary Krllra CeaTeatloaa to bo litis In Ptalln. drlpbla. The great interest taken in the breed of live stock, and the value of this dis play, justifies me in enlarging upon its principal features iu the Exhibition, that will do a great deal to stimulate stock raising in our oonutiy. The grounds for the stock aro betwoen Bel mont aveunn and Forty-first street; ex tent thirty-five sores; a ring one third of a mile in circumference is provided, and 740 stalls. These stalls aro 14x14. After the horse show from Sept. 1 to 14, they will be divided into stalls 7x14 for cattle shown from Sept. 11 to Oct. 4. They can bo again divided 7x7 for sheep, swine and goats, which will bo exhibited from Oct. 10 to 18. The commission will furnish coops and attendance npon pay ment of $1 on eaoh bird of the gallira ooous division. The poultry will be ex hibited from Oct. 27 to Nov. 6. The cattle yards wore formerly drove yards, and hence have ample water supply, and facilities for removing manure. Offices for attendants and grain and hay bar racks will bo furnishod. Tne Centen nial commission of Canada have mado requisition for space for 150 head of cat tlo, seventy-five sheep, sovonty-five swine, 300 coops of poultry. The secretary of the treasury has amended tho late order, interdicting the importation of cattle, issued to prevent tho introduction of contagious diseases, providing that tht animals must be ex amined by a competent veterinary snr geou and certified to be free of disoase. This certificate must have the iudorse uietit of the United States consul at the port of shipment, and the animals must be intended for exhibition or breeding. The prizes are valuable, and rate first, second and third prizes, and they will bo awarded to the best of every recognized breed in each of the competing lists ; sweepstake prizes alone excepted. Cat tle, as I have stated in a previous letter, will compete in herds. This constitutes a class. There are nine recognised breeds of cattle short horns. For bulla alone thero aro three classes, viz. ; bulls three years and over, over twn years and under three, over one year and under two. As each of tho three classes has nine breeds and three prizes for each breed wo have (three times uiuo timeB three) eighty-one prizes for bulls. Of cows thero are four classes, according to age, and, there fore, 108 prizes. There aro also sweep stake prizes, both for bulls and cows. Fat and draught cattle have five classes, viz. : Tho best fatted steer and tho bct fatted cow, tho most powerful yoke of oxen and the most rapidly walking yoke of oxen; tho most thor oughly Indued yoke and the most thor- ouuhly Vifvimvl teum o f.Vll-en or ttuw. yokes of oxen. Breeding horses have hixteeu classes; speed borses.four classes; walkinghorses,one class; matched teams, five classes; asses for breeding, four classes; sheep, thirteen classes, and goats the same; swine, twelve classes; dogs, ten classes, and poultry, two classes. Tho latter are to bo exhibited iu pairs of one year and over as one class, and under one year as one class. They in cludo chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, swans, pigeons. Guineas, and ornamental birds. In this division it is easy to see that tho number of prizes will be im mense, as awards will bo made for superiority to every recognized breed. If thero are Afty breeds of chickens and two classes (over one year and under one year) and three prizes, we would have fifty (breeds) multiplied by two (classes), multiplied by three (prizes firrt, second and third), or three hundred prizes for chickens alono. The buildings are full of revolutionary relics, personal and general. Of indi vidual articles there is an immense col lection of portraits, domestic utensils, garments and valuable ornaments. In general, there aro public documents, unci trophies i f the past, that are looked upon, by those whose bumps of rever euco are prominently developed, with feelings, not of interest solely, but ven eration. "That was Washington's sword, or that Lafayette's watch." I tried on Daniel Webster's hat in the room of the historical society it fitted, and was told that but few men could wear Webster's chapeau. Felt my bead swelling with conscious pride. I can write daily on a table used by Washing ton. Everybody is bunting relics, and the streets are filled with relic mongers of cane from this old structure; medals of this or that hero. Philadelphia to day is tho Mecca, and tho shadows of the past, sure to attract the votaries of by-gone times to their shrines, who in homage pay their offerings to valor, patiiotism, honesty and virtue. How ever, let us not forget the present, an instructive teacher for the future, "and w.1 may bo happy yet." The following conventions will be held during September and October : International Medical congress, Sep tember 4. International convention of archaeologists, September 4. National Pomological society, September 11. Grand Council Improved Order Red Men of United States, September 12. National convention American Forres ters, September 18. American Forrester association, September 13. Grand Lodge of United States Independent Order Odd Fellows, September 19. Grand Lodge of United States Improved Order of Red Men, September 19. Con vention of aparians (honey men), Sep tember 23. Welsh National Eistedfodd, third week iu September. National Carriago Builders' association, third week iu September. Dedication of hall of Patriotic Order Sons of America in the first week of October. State Coun cil Order United American Mechanics, October 17. American Dairymen's as sociation, October 17. The declaration of awards will not be announced until after the close of the Exhibition, but the personal work of the judges will terminate early in July. Then the reports will be written. J. B. A New Pest. Owners of many grape vineyards complain of the depredations of small bright colored motbs which in fest the vines both above and below ground. It is suggested that poisoned molasses placed in various parts of the vineyard will attract and destroy the in sects, while the larvae deposited on the vines may be destroyed by thorough syringing. THE CHINESE QUESTION. Number of rhlnese la tbe Taltva Mates- Why tber are Opposed a Ia.aOs;raBis-.A Mrrloaa Qasstloa. The question of Mongolian immigra tion into the United States is one so seri ous that both oi the great parties have in their platforms called the attention of Congress to it. In 1870 the census sh wed that there were in the Unitjd States 63,251 Chinese. Of these 62,721 were in the Paciflo States, 220 in the Southern and 310 in all the other States. Since 1870 there has been a rnpid in crease of this class of alien immigrants. The statement of the number of Chinese arriving from 1850 to 1875, as taken from the reports of the bureau of statistics, shows that from 1851 to 1875 the total immigration was 189,966. In 1871 the number to arrive was 6,030; in 1872 it was 10.642; in 1373 it was 18, 154; in 1874 it was 16,651, and in 1875 the largest immigration took place, the number being 19,033. The six companies in San Francisco, under whose auspices these people oame, re port that they have imported 187,600. In the last five years of the Chinese arriving 2,837 were women, and there are not now in tho country over 3,600 Chinese women. At the present time there are 130,000 Chineso in California, and that Stato feels the effect more seri ously, of course, than any other. The complaint mado is that the Chinese are not an assimilative people and do not come as other aliens, to make homes iu our midst, or make this the land of their adoption, and that the presence of the Chinese in large numbers is n cause of serious discontent to the greater portion of our permanent population. The Chinese population expels all others. That to rent dwellings to them is to insure that such build ings will never be rooccupied by others. That they are filthy in their habits and surroundings beyond description ; that they herd together in suoh squalor and indulge iu such habits as make their presence in any city a sanitary offense, if not a positive danger to the balance of the community. Their habits of living and capacity for organization are such that they can de stroy all competition, and thus the; not only drive out the high priced and bomeogeueous labor of our own race and people, but they gradually monopo lize the manufacture of all light trades, as shoe and cigar making, etc., com pelling the smaller capitalists and em ployers to surrender participation there in. Their presence, in fact, is the first veritable presentation tons of a genuine proletariat population. being in debt for his passage to one of the companies which imports him, bis family is held in Chia as security lor repayment.' Hence ho docs not como to stay, and brings with him neither home life or family associations. This condition of affairs Las produced another and more terrible traffic that of Chinese females for the purposes of prostitution. Tho result of this traffic is simply horrible. It degrades the youth of our Paciflo towns, sows the vilest diseases broadcast. All attempts to break it up have been thwarted by the organized perjury and intimidation which, it is charged, is so marked a fea ture of the lower Chinese life. Gam bling is also an organized business, and tho better class of this people acknowl edge themselves as helpless as the au thorities at San Francisco are to break r.p the frightful business. Tho question is one that will continue to attract attention until it is settled. The Chances of War. We haltod and formed square in tho middle of tho plain. As wo were per forming this movement a bugler of the Fifty-first who bad been out with skir mishers aud had mistaken our square for his own, exclaimed: "Hero I am again, safe enough." The words were scarcely out of his mouth when a round shot took off his bead aud spattered the whole battalion with his brains, the col ors and the ensigns in charge of them coming in for an extra share. One of them, Charles Fraser, a fine gentleman in speech and manner, raised a laugh by drawling out: " How extremely dis gusting!" A second shot carried off six of tho men's bayonets, a third broke tho breastbone of a lance sergeant (Rob inson), whose piteous cries were any thing but encouraging to hii youthful comrades. The soldier's belief that "ev ery bullet has its billet" was strength ened by another shot strikiug Eu-ign Cooper, the shortest man in the regi ment, and in the very center of the square. These casualties were the affair of a second. Wo were now ordered to lie down. Our tquare, hardly large enough to hold us when standing up right, was too small for us in a recum bent position. Our men lay packed to gether like herrings in a barrel. Not finding a vacant spot I seated myself on a drum. Behind me was the colonel's charger, which, wilb bis head pressed against miue, was mumbling my epau lette, while I patted bis cheek. Sudden ly my drum oapsized and I was thrown p ostrate, with the feeling of a blow on the right cheek. I put my hand to my head, thinking half my face was shot away, but the skin was not even abrad ed. A piece of shell had struck the horse on the nose exactly between my hand and my head, and killed him instantly. Tho blow I received was from the em bossed crown on the horse's bit. A Billiard Story. John Seereiter used to do some fancy playing at his billiard ball. A rathei verdant looking chap came in one day and as no one else was there Seereiter obligingly offered to play a game with him. Barkis was williu', and so coats were hung up and John strung for the lead, won it and run the game out, while bis opponent looked on in a helpless sort of a way till John got through punching the balls. When the punch ing and the game were concluded the stranger put on bis coat and deliberate ly started for the door. "Hold on! Squire," said the genial John. " Guess you've forgotten some thing whose to pay for those bil liards?" " Hain't played no billiards," was the response, and when John come to think it over be hadn't. Slaving In the Streets. Officer Meehan, of New York city, charged Elizabeth Worth with abandon ing her infant son on the steps of the Roman Catholio orphan asylum. He charged John Ryan, a school teacher from Buffalo, with aiding Mrs. Worth in getting rid of her child. The officer said that he arrested Mrs. Worth just as she had left the child on the steps of the asylum, and that Ryan was around the corner watching for the polico. Mrs. Worth admitted having plaot d the child where the officer bad stated, for the pur pose of having him taken care of by the Sisters of Charity, but in connection with this admission she told such a har rowing tale of destitution and misery that it won for the woman the sympathy of the court. She said she was a native of Newark, N. J., and was the mother of two chil dren, besides the infant in her arms. She had been employed as wet nurse, but through ill health had lost her breast milk and consequently her situation. Her other two children were in tho caro of her sister, and, of ooutse, it would not be right for her also to become a burden npon her. Friends provided for her for several days, but she had not eaten any thing for two days past, and her weak and exhausted condition was sufficient evidence of her truthfulness. In fact she was barely able to remain on her feet before the judge while sho told her pitiful tale. She said she did not want her infant, who was as dear to her as her life, to perish in her arms for want of food, aud she asked the superintendent of the outdoor poor to send them both to a hospital. He said that if she wanted to go to a hospital she should part with her infant, who would be sent to Randall's island, and she bad heard such frightful stories of the cruelty to the children of that place by their nurses that she refused their offer. She then applied to the borne of the friendless for aid, but she refused to leave her child there either, because they would not promise to re turn the little one to her when sho might call for him. She had hoard so much of the kindness of the Sisters of Chari ty, being herself a Protestant, that sho determined iu her extremity to appeal to them, and for the purpose went to the Roman Catholio orphan asylum above mentioned. One of the Sinters told her that they could not receive tho child un der the circumstances, but she understood her to say that if loft on the doorstep be would be taken in and cared for in the home. She took this as a hint, and walked from West Third street, where she slept on Wednesday night, all the way up town to leave the child at the door of tho asylum. At Fifty-ninth street she became exhausted and sat down on tho sidewalk to rest. She then thought of tho ier and how cney it would be for her to close her troubled life and put an end to her sn (Tarings under its dark waters. The prisoner Ryan (who was on bis way to work, and recognizing a fellow creature in misfortune) kindly of fered bis services in helping her to reach the asylum. She had no previous ac quaintance with him. The court there upon discharged Ryan, and Officer Gemer, of the society for the prevention of cruelty to children, took the child to the New York infant asylum. Tho moth er was sent to a hospital by the court, and when she is well the child wll be restored to her. Herald. A Singular Avalanche. One of the bins of the elevator at St. Paul bursted. The bin was 20x30 feet in width, about seventy feet deep, and was filled with wheat from the bottom to the top, the amount being estimated at 24,000 bushels. About noon the discovery was made that the wheat was pushing out the side of the elevator at a distance of thirty or forty feet from the top, and that several iron stay rods which crossed the bin had snapped asunder. Efforts were promptly made to reduce the pressure by a removal of the wheat, but it was too late, for at about one o'clock the crash came, the wooden tim bers were burst asunder, the iron sheath ing was ripped off and scattered to the winds, and out rushed the wheat in a gigantic- stream twenty feet in diameter, pouring over the side of the bluff, piling upon the flat and carrying before it and crushing into fragments a shanty, situ ated on tho bottom, about fifty feet from the elevator. The inmates of the shan ty had been apprised of the danger and escaped, though they had no time to get out any of their household effects. The torrent of wheat, as it came run ning down, is said to have presented an imposing sight, and the power of the deluge was apparently irresistible. The whole amount thus discharged from the ragged bole in the elevator was various ly estimated at from seven to ten thou sand bushels, and it took but a few min utes to deposit this upon the ground at the foot of the elevator, forming a pile of about seventy-five feet square, the depth of wheat being ten or fifteen feet at the point where it struck the earth, and then tapering down to a foot or two in depth near the outer edge doposit. A Nice Legal Point, A case involving a very nice point for the consideration of the court is at pres ent receiving the attention of the surro gate of Kings county, N. Y., being no less than the decision of the question of tho inheritance of property left by Henry R. Rogers, formerly of Brooklyn, and his wife, who were burned on board the steamer City of Waco on the night of November 8, 1875, while on the pas sage from New York to Galveston, Texas. The steamer was overtaken by a severe storm, struck by lightning and burned, every toul on board perishing in the flames. The question involved is which died first, the husband or the wife? The friends of both claim $5,000 which Mrs. Rogers bad deposited in a Brooklyn savings bank, those of the bus band contending that the wife must have died first, because her husband, being the strongest of the two, would be likely to survive the longest under the circum stances, and that, therefore, they claim tne money tnrougn tne husband, who in herited it from bis wife. Further hear ing of the case was postponed. Even a banana skin will turn when trodden npon. A Large Poultry Yard. The following account of the largest poultry yard in New York State is given : It is at Greene, Chenango county, and is kept by Mr. A. B. Robeson. He has six thousand ducks, four thousand tar keys and twelve hundred hens. They consume daily sixty bushels of corn, two barrels of meal, two barrels of pota toes, and a quantity of charcoal. The meal, potatoes and charcoal are boiled together aud form a pudding, which is fed warm. Heemplorstwomeu tocookthe feed and feed them. He has twelve buildings for bis fowls, from ono hun dred to two hundred feet long, fourteen feet wide aud seven feet under the eaves, with a door in each end of them. Mr. Robeson bought most of bis ducks in the West, and had them shipped in crates three dozen in a orate. He also has an egg house, thirty-five by fifty feet, and four stories high. The outside is eighteen inches thick, and built of cut stone, laid in mortar, boarded up on the inside and filled in between the out side and inside wall with sawdust, it taking three thousand bushels. Mr. Robeson claims tbat be can keep eggs any length of time in this building. He also keeps the poultry that he ia now dressing until next May or Jnne, which be sells for eighteen to twenty-five cents per pound, and it cannot be told from fresh dressed poultry. He gets ten cents per pound for turkey's feathers, twelve for hen's and sixty-five for duck's. He says there is money in poultry, and he thinks he can make out of his six thousand ducks enongb to pay for bis egg house, which cost $7,000. He iu tends to keep a great many more next season, and has agents out all over tho country buying up poultry and eggs. Useful Notes. A new cement for uniting metallic to non-metallic substances is composed of thin made glue mixed to the consistence of thick varnish with wood ashes. The ashes should be added generally to the glue during ebullition, with constant stirring, and the cement should bo used hot. A strong mucilage capable of fasten ing wood or porcelain and glass together is made of eight and one-third ounces strong gum arabic solution, to which a solution of thirty grains sulphate of aluminum dissolved in two third ounces water is added. Oarbolio acid paper, now largely used for packing fresh meats, in order to pro serve them, is prepared by melting five parts Btearino at a gentle beat and then stirring in two parts carbolic acid, aud afterward five parts melted parafiine. The mass is well stirred until cool, and is then applied wilb a brush to. tho paper. Care should be exercised in handling carbolic acid, as in certain cases it is an active poison. A saturated solution of carbolic acid in alcohol, with an equal quantity of water, rubbed into a scratch on a cat's noso, has killed the animal almost as promptly as prussio acid would have done. A method recommended for removing moths from carpets is to pour strong alum water on the floor to a distance of half a yard around the edges before tacking down. Then occasionally spread dry salt over the carpet before sweeping. The best method of producing crys talline surfaces on tinned iron and other metals is to immerse the plates for not longer than ten seconds in a mixture of three parts hydrocblorio and one part nitric acid dilutod with au equal bulk of water. Wash the plates iu water after their immersion. Colorado and the Grasshoppers. Tho grasshoppers that pretty nearly cleaned out Colorado last year have ap peared again this spring in great swarms. A late letter thence says : The farmers are fighting them by all the means in their power. They sluice them down the ditches with water, gather them up in heaps and burn them for the water will only collect, and not drown, these very vital pests. They set cans of oil dripping slowly at the heads of their ditches, and the slightest touch of the oily Aim, floating down with the running water, destroys the young grasshopper. They drag the ground with huge har rows, covered with blazing brush, and the flame scorches its tiny millions to death. They draw papers or platforms smeared with tar along tho fields, and the iusects, trying to hopover, fall on the tar and stiok there. With all these devices they only thin out tho unwel come visitors. All Colorado is watching tne result oi these efforts with entomo logical interest. Will the farmers or the grasshoppers come out first I Will the latter fly away a soon as they develop wings; and if so, will other broods be brought in by strong prairie winds? If the crops tail again, look lor uiuo times in Deuver, which has no interests except supplying mining districts and fleecing summer visitors. War Is Threatened. Latest advices afford little hope that war will be averted between Servia and Turkey. Princo Milan left Belgrade for the army, amid cheers from the people and salutes from the batteries. The church appears to share in the popular enthusiasm, all tho bishops having gone to the frontier to bless the troops. The Russian general, Tehernaieff, who is an officer in the Servian army, recently de clared that Prince Milan Las at bis com mand 125,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 200 field guns. He predicts that the Servians will be victorious, and hopes bis countrymen will approve bis efforts to rescue the Christians of the Balkan from the degrading aud intoler able rule of the Turks. These senti ments explain, in part, the intense anxi ety of the Servians to be led against their ancient enemy. In Algeria there is a river of genuine ink. It is formed by the union of two streams, one coming from a region of ferruginous soil, and the other draining a peat swamp. The water of the former is strongly impregnated with iron, that of the other with gallio acid. When the two waters mingle the acid of tbe one unites with tbe iron of the other, form ing a true ink. BLIND TOM AT HIS MEALS. How the Musical Idiot Tears and Devours His Food. A reporter at Virginia City expressed a desire to see Tom at bis meals, and was accordingly taken to bis room. "Sit dowa here," said the agent, "and keep perfectly still. Tom detects the slightest sound, and often puts peo ple out of bis room under the impres sion that they mean to injure him." The reporter seated himself in one corner of the room, and in a few mo ments a waiter brought in Tom's meal and placed it npon a stand. Shortly afterward Tom was led in from an ad joining room and seated alongside the stand. The agent then withdrew, lcav ingTom and the reporter alone. When the blind mnsician took bis seat bis features could be studied at leisure. His head seemed to be a liter- (J al copy from the pictures of idiots ono sees in the phrenological works. There was scarcely any forehead, his nose was large and flat, tho month and jaws simply brutal. His yellow, sightless eyes rolled continually in their sockets, and the whole aspect of bis face was ferooious and animal. Immediately on seating himself ho began to drum with his hands upon the table, as if fingering the keys of a piano, at the same time humming an qir in a low tone. Next he ran the tips of bis fingers over tho stand, and touched in succession a beef steak, a dish of asparagus, a cup of tea and some bread aud potatoes. Satisfy ing himself that a grace was warrantable, ho calmly spread his hands over it and repeated a short grace in a reverential tone and very slowly. The instant the grace was said be clutched the beefsteak in both hands, and, lifting it to his mouth, tore it iu fragments between his teeth, seeming to swallow tho pieces without mastication. As soon as tho steak was disposed of ho began sweeten ing his tea with little cubes of sugar. He evidently bkes bis tea sweet, for be put s xteon ordinary cubes of sugar into his cup, and then, stirring tho mixture, drank it down with a smack of satisfac tion. When this was done he uttered a cry of delight, and, turning from the table, rubbed hi hands together in a sort of childish glee, and danced about the room. Going up to tho mantelpiece ho went through the motions of playing, taking no notice whatever of the articles which ho knocked off. Suddenly ho rushed back to the table and made a raid on the dish of asparagus, eating the stems entire, the white stringy part as well as the tender extremity. He next clutched a large potato in bis band and placed it between bis teeth, but suddenly changed his mind, and casting it down, lifted his eyes toward tho ceiling, and again plaood bis hands in a position to play. He held his head motionless for some minutes, as if en deavoring to catch some stray musical fancy which was drifting through his mind. Occasionally he made a move ment with his hands as if be were about to strike u chord, but checked himself and bit Lih lijs as if impatient. Then his face would lose its brutal expression, and, us hi t-yos turned upwrrd, seemed inspired. Finally he began beating time with his foot, a smile broke over his features, and be went through the move ment of playing a passage in a slow movement. Suddenly he begun to sing, evidently oomposing as he went along, and the melody was full of strange pathos; then starting up from the tablo ho rushed up to the door of the adjoin ing room and tried to open it. It bad been locked by the agent, for tho reason that a piano was in the next room, and when Tom takes his meals ho frequently refuses to eat unless the piano is beyond his reach. Finding it locked, be threw himself against it and tried to force it open; but it resisted all hiB efforts. Finding that be could not force tho door, be leaned against it in a sorrowful atti tude, while bis eyes moistened with tears. At this juncture the reporter made a slight movement, and Tom's attention was attracted immediately. He jerked bis bead quickly and listened. The re porter made another slight noise so slight as to be almost imperceptible and Tom's face assumed a horrible scowl, and he advanced toward the sound, rubbing bis bands together and making motions such as prize fighters go through with when a mau's head is in chancery. Not relishing the idea of a personal en counter with a man of Tom's maRsive build, tho reporter resorted to a little ruse. Throwing the stub of a lead pen oil in the air, it fell in a remote corner of the room, and Tom rushed toward the sound, but was somewhat disap pointed when be grappled a trunk. The fun now begun. The reporter, by roll ing up wads of paper and casting them about the room, had no trouble in causing the musical yjrodigy to skip about in any direction. He never came near the reporter, who sat quietly in bis chair directing the prodigy's movements. The Chinese Cues. The history of Chinese cues is told by the Rev. Julius Doolittle, a missionary iu China, as follows: The first emperor of the present dynasty, who begun to reign in 1614, having usurped the throne, determined to make tbe tonsure of Manchuria, bis native country, the token of the submission of the Chinese to bis authority. He ordered them to shave all the head excepting the crown, and allowing the hair on that part to grow long aud to dress it according to the custom of Manchuria. The Chinese bad been accustomed, under native em- Eerors, to wear long bair over the whole ead, and to arrange it in a tuft or coil. Tbe change was gradual, but finally prevailed through the empire. At first those who shaved their beads and con formed to the laws, received, it is said, a present of a tael of silver, after a while only half a tael, and then only a tenth of a tael, and afterward only an egg finally even an egg was not allowed. Tbe law requiring the people to shave their bead and braid tne one was not often rigidly enforced by tbe penalty of immediate death, but it became very manifest that those who did not conform to the wishes of the dominant dynasty would never become successful in a law suit against those wbo did conform, nor would they succeed at tbe literary examinations.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers