iiifi HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. , ".V VV .'. , , , H NIL DESPEEANDUM. , w, " , , . Two Dollars, per Annum. , VOL. YI. RIDGTVVAY, ELK COUNTY, J. A., THURSDAY, JULY ' 27, 1876. NO. 23. t Si 1 , PutlY I . her U I does,! Childless. My neighbor's hotwe ii not to high Nor hair ro ulce as mine i I often nee the blinds tjar. And though the cu'UIti'b fine, ' It's only nmilin, atid tun utt , Are not. of stone at all And yet I long for her cm-JI home To give mine all In all. Her 'vn is nevsr left to groT The childien tread it down, And when the father oomes at night, I hear them olatter down The gravel walk i and such a noise Comes to my quiet ears, As my sad heart's been waiting for So many silent years. Sometimes 1 peep to see them seize Hi coat and hand and knees All three so anxious to be first ; And hear her call : " Don't tease Tapa "the baby springs And then the low brown door Shnta ont their happiness, and I Sit wishing as before That my neighbor's little oottage And the jewels of her crown Had been my own ; my mansion With its frontof granite brown, It's damask, and its Honiton It's lawn so green and bright How gladly would I give them For her motherhood to-night. WHO WAS THE THIEF. It wa9 not because Ilhoda Chauncey was not exceedingly pretty that Mrs. Havers objected to her mamnge with her son Allen, nor because she was notau exceed ingly nice aud accomplished person, and all that a mother might winli her son's wife to be, but simply becanse she was what Mrs. Havers called a nobody, and that family poteutate felt the necessity of nlliaiico with somebody. Ilhoda Cbauncry was eimr.lv the friend and companion of Mrs. King ; an adopted child, without any of the irivi h'ges of adoption, iih you might s.ay that is, comfortable in the present, aud unpiovidud for in the future. " J shall tell her plainly what sho may expect if sho accepts yon," said Mr. Havers to her sou one day. '" Your father and I diard you on that day." " Oh, pshaw! What nonsense 1" " Nonsense or not, yon will find to your cost, if yon try. We have reached our position by bitter effort. We can not give ov.r consent to being pulled down from the height we havo struggled ro hard to gain for the mere whim of a love-siak boy. If I must have a rival with ray son," cried Mrs. Havers, the fire of her anger dryiu her sparkling tears before thy fell, ' let it be some body who will bring some sort of com pensation with her. Khoda Channcey a beauty, maybe ; I never saw Hny beauty in her ; but a begger, certainly. No. You sh-dl have the money to g abroad and forget her ; yoa cannot have it to marry her. Your father and I are of one mind there. You have p'.rts. Yon can do better, yon fool !" That was the way in which Mrs. Havers talked to her son Allen on occa sion, when chance and courage served ; nud that was the meaning of the more stilted wny in which she talked to Mrf. King at the dinner given by the latter to young Governor Armisted, of whom Mrs. navers had spoken to her son, as the two ladies stood side by side at the firo a few moments, after they had left the table, while Rhoda sung and yourjg Havers turned the music, and a general hum of low voices filled the air of the lovely room at any pause. " You know, my dear Mrs. King," she said, the color burning on her cheek as the firelight burned upon the purplo luster of her velvet robe, " that a young man has heights to ascend, and mnt-t not overweight himself. It is not what his father hus made him, but what he makes himself, that counts. If he has ambi tions, he is foolish to marry at nil till he can, as dealers say, command the mar ket ; if he does a arry, he must marry to help, not hinder. . To start on a race handicapped," said Mrs. Havers, assur ing herself with her white hand that her splendid diamond stones were still in their nest of lace on her breast, " that explains the failure of so many careers that looked so brilliant at the outset." Wo should scarcely agree with you here," said Mrs. King, smiling ; " we think that a good wife is the best start in life a young man can have." But Mrs. Havers was already listen ing to the remark of some other joining the group. It was a few moments later that she beckoned the passing Ilhoda to her side on the deep lounge, where she had ensconced herself luxuriously. Never anybody was more aptly named than this sweet girl, for she was always blushing like a rose. But of conrso Mrs. Havers could only think it the guilty blush of the one who had en trapped her bod, and could not look his mother iu the eye. She was not the per- to appreciate the lovely, lofty mno- nce of that snowy brow, that violet that dewy lip. Ilhoda came obedi- , and sat by Mrs. Havers, doing est, as any raemi-er of a family to entertain a guest; and they of one indifferent thing and an- till, in a momeut of comparative Alleu's laugh was heard ringing nother part of the houso. ' PoVr boy 1" said Mrs. Havers, look ing in his direction "poor boy I ion can harTJy tell how a mother feels, Miss Ilhoda," vnd she paused witu emotion, " when I ear my by laugh so gayly," she said, and think of the sad way lying boforl every aspiring youth ; i.nd Allen is so imbitiousl" "Sad, Mr Havers f" "Ah, yesisad indeed, when, as a rule, he mustVurrender either his am bition or his lxappiness that is, sur render what he calls happiness now. I suppose Allen would regard it, as all young men do, happiness now to marry a penniless girl, if he Bhould think that he loved her. Twenty years from now he would find it the misfortune of his life, of his whole life, and the one thing that had rained his career. Do you un derstand me, my dear Miss Ohaunoey I" 'Not at all," answered Ilhoda, calmly, "I think if he loved a girl, however penniless, he would be better to marry her, and have her comfort on his way. otheM f (mm at Mrs. Havers' face grow white, aud then grow purplo, with her suppressed vituperation. "But it would be an out rage. I" she exclaimed, unable to keep silence wholly. "It would be his death blow, his ruin in more ways than one. For if it were my son, I would never forgive him. My doors should be shut upon him. Do you hear, Miss Ohaun oey ?" Miss Ohauncey did not reply. Young Governor ArroisW was stooping to speak with her ju t then, and takipg his arm, sh rather abruptly left Mrs. Havers, and Mrs. Havers presently rather abruptly left the house. It was on the next morning that Mrs. Havers appeared at Mrs. King's door, and on meeting the lady of the house, declared that she must excuse her for the early intrusion, but she was really in great distress, for she had lost last night the central diamond from her brooch; and she begged that the rooms might be examined, to see if by any chance it had been dropped there. Of course the household was instantly in commotion. Everybody remembered that diamond yon were not likely to forget it, once having seen it, especially on Mrs. Havers' person a very uncom mon stoue, worth, perhaps, a couple of thousand dollars; everybody was upon the search for it, in all disinterested eagerness; aud in less than five minutes Miss Cbauncey had espied it where it had been flung by Mrs. Havers in the sudden movements of her anger on the night before, and had given it to Mrs. King, who placed it in Mrs. Havers' de lighted and grateful hand a plump, fair hand it was, but it closed over that stone, nevertheless, much as the crooked talons of some old Hindostanee trader in diamonds would have done. "My dear madam," said the jeweler, as Mrs. Ilavens took from her porte monnuie, on entering his shop shortly afterward, the little roll of silver paper iu which she had wrapped tho loose stone, and then passed it over to him, " do you mean that you wish me to take the diamond out of the brooch I told you, ana Buostitute mis tor it i "Jtis out already, and l wish you to put it back again," said Mrs. Havers. " 1 lost it, aud came directly here with it when found." "This?" said tbe jeweler, holding it op contemptuously between his thumb and finger. "You have made a curious mistake, Mrs. Havers, permit me to say." ' A mistake f I have brought you the stone exactly as it was picked up." " Indeed I Then some one has prac ticed a great knavery upon you. This is a very prettily cut piece of glass." " Glass 1" " May I ask where the rest of the pin is!" "It i at home," whispered Mrs. Havers, with white lips. " Let me drive home with you, Mrs. Havers. I should like to look into this matter a little. Some thief has your diamond." The color came back to Mrs. Havers' lips; her eyes Hashed; her whole soul lightened with a new idea. She directed tho coachman to drive to the central police station, aud from there she sent an order to her husband to deliver her diamonds to the detective, who was to bring them to Mrs. King's. " Drive to the Kings'!" she cried to tbe coachman; and lost in triumphant thought, she did not utier a word to the jeweler till they arrived at the latter place. Then she sprung from tho carriage. " Come !" sLo said; and she was in Mrs. King's drawing-room before the astonished footman could read her card. She was walking up aud down the floor in a kind of glad fury when Mrs. King came in; the k?s of that diamond was clear gain. ' You have a thief in your house, Mrs. Kitigl" she cried. " Tha peibon who gave me a bit of glass for my great dia mond I" " Mrs. Havers !" "I repeat it, Mrs. King. Where is Miss Cbauncey? I demand to see her ! My Allen and that girl, indeed 1" Her euruged face glowed with a strange eud den smile of exultation. "What an es cape!" she cried. "To think of it a thief!" "Mrs. Havers I" cried Mrs. King again ; "are you beside yourself? 1 will not listen to such language I ' "You will have listen to a great deal more of it, Mrs. King. I have a detective coming directly, who will speak to some purpose, and with the music of hand cuffs. Let me confront her first I" ex churned Mrs. Havers, clasping her hands as if she longed to lay them on the cul prit. " Let me see this thief meet him 1 " Aud she laughed a laugh of vindictive malice. "What will Allen say when I tell him?" ehe cried. "Why, if I had known she was to have been bought off, I would have paid her tho price of the diamond, and welcome, and she would have spared herself this disgrace. Buj now I shall not rest till I see her head shaved and her prison gown on. Of all things, a thief the most loathly 1 pris on worms themselves are not so foul to me. Yes, Miss Khoda Chaunoey, you will not soon again defy me when I tell you my determination I Much comfort cm his way would such as you be 1 I wisdi Allen were here ; you would see love turn into scorn on his fjee like a transformation. If you robbed me be fore you married my son, what in tho world could I expect after?" Bhe paused, because just then Ilhoda ectert d tbe room, aud stood before her white aud radiant, all Ler rosy blushes gone, but her face shining in wrathful tire. She had come down just as she was, her splendid hair flowing loose over her long white dressing gown like a veil an apparition of magnificent beauty and indignation. Mrs. Havers looked her over from head to foot with a horrid insolence, and burst into a shocking Jangh. "It is innooenoe itself I" she cried. " How well dressed, how well posed, how well acted ! Aha, miss, you will look just as innocent in a blue jean prison gown, wit'i your hair cropped I You marry my boy, witii your ways ana wiiesi " What is this, my dear ?" and Mr, King came into the room, and a tall form followed behind him that of young Armisted. " It is a crazy woman, William. " Crazy !" oried Mrs. Havers. " That girl may well wish I were 1 This is what it is, Mr. King : I drop a diamond from my pin in this room. A person anas it, keeps it, gives me in its place a cun ningly out bit of glass. What does such a person deserve? Tho State prison. And here oomes the officer to see that she has her deserts." It was the detective whom James won deringly admitted, and who, murmuring a swift apology to Mr. King, stepped to Mrs. Havers side, and in a few words gave her to understand that she was a little premature, and had perhaps better first go home. " Premature I" cried she. " When I lone a diamond, and that girl gives me a bit of glass, it it premature for me to say so I No ? Do your duty, officer, and arrest the thief at once I Have you been at my house ? Have you brought me the pin ?" "Yes, Mrs. Havers." "You ought to, have, brought my son." "That is true." "Let me have it I" she cried, step ping forward imperiously and taking it. "There I Doyouseo? That is tho vacant place of the missing stono, and here is the piece of glass. Will you let me have it, Mr. Dimitry ? This is tho pin you sold mo, is it fiot ? And this is the glass she gave me." " This is the setting of the pin," said tho jeweler, gravely, " for there is your own name upon it in my own marking j but these are not tho stones I sold you. They al?o are glass four pieces of glass. The stone that yon lost lost night was undoubtedly glass also, and that is it. You were robbed, hot last nigh', but long ago, Mrs. Havers." "It is impossible 1" gasped Mrs. Havers, her face darkening and darken ing with her feeling. "I was robbed last iiigbt, and I domand the arrest here nud now. No paltering because it is iu thin hou,se and in this company. Here nnd now do your duty, or I will see to it that you are removed from your post." "You force me to bo very explicit, Mrs. Havers, ' exclaimed the officer, reddening. "And since you want an arrest, you shall have it if you still say so. Lust March, when you wore ill, your pin was taken from your bouse to a certain pawnbroker's, the stones were removed nnd sold, the crystals w.-re put in their place, the pin was taken back and put in your jewel box by the only person who knew whore its key was to bo found. We have long been cognizant of all the facts, nnd waiting on your movements. Tho money was spent in riotous living. The thief, Mrs. Havers, was nobody that you suspect. I grieve to sa-, it was your son." My sou?" she shrieked. "Your son. It remains with you to say whether or not the arrest shall take place." "It is false I" she cried. "It is fall o t it is false I I am in the midst of a conspiracy I Take mo home, oh, take me homo I Oh, Allen, Allen, Allen 1" And as she cried the name her wonder ful face seemed to grow older by years, aud she (daggered and groped with out stretched hands as she walked. But as the jeweler handed her out, she turned her head as if for somt malediction, and the last thing she saw was Rhoda, her face hidden in his breast, clasped in the arms of young Armisted. Asiatic Cholera. Dr. Bonnafont, in a communication upon the Asiatic cholera, read before the Academy of Medicine of Paris, enunciates the following general propo sitions: First, this disease cannot orig inate spontnneouMy in any other coun try than India, but must reach other regions by transportation or by germs of tho disease, atmospheric currents, or some other vehicle; second, all hygienic methods to avert this plague must be in itiated aud maintained in the country of its origin; third, that it is not the dead bodies of animals abandoned on the soil by caravans of pilgrims nor the num ber of human bodies thrown into tho Ganges, that produce tho eruptions of Asiatic cholera, as these practices have prevailed for ages, while appearances of epidemic or Asiatic cholera in Europe, Africa aud America dates only from the beginning of the present century; fourth, other causes, therefore, must exist for the frequent movements of this disease, and it is in India that these are to be investigated; fifth, secondary epi demics may perhaps he developed in points already infected; but with very rare exceptions tbey never assume the exact features of genuine cholera, and they will generally fado out and disap pear until re-enforced by a new eruption from tho original starting point. There fore the special points to be considered aro questions why cholera has remained for centuries in an epidemic and station ary condition iu India, and why it has recently emerged, though the atmos pherio conditions aud the manners and customs of the Hindoos and pilgrims apparently remain unchanged. A Live Gorilla. A live gorilla has beeu brought to London from Africa. This is the sec ond specimen tha1, has reached that country, the first dying a few months after its arrival. A correspondent thus speaks of it: I found the creature romp ing and rolling in full liberty about the private drawing-room, now looking out of the window with all becoming gravi ty aud sedateness as though interested, but not disconcerted, Dy tne busy mul titude and novelty without, then bound ing rapidly along on knuckles and feet to examine and poke fun at some new comer; playfully mumbling at his calves, pulling at his beard (a special delight), clinging to his arms, examin ing his bat (not at all to its improve ment), curiously inquisitive as to his umbrella, aud bo on with visitor after visitor. If he becomes over-excited by the fun, a gentle box on the ear would briug him to order like a child, like a child only to be on the romp again im mediately. He points with the index finger, claps with his hands, pouts out his tongue, faeds on a mixed diet, de cidedly prefers roast meats to boiled, eats strawberries, as I saw, with delicate appreciativeness, is exquisitely cleau aud mannerly; The palms of his hands and feet are beautifully plump, soft, and black as jet He has been eight months and a half, in the possession oi tne ex pedition, has grown somo six inches in that time, and is supposed to be between two and three years old. Custer and Kosser. ! Tho Alexandria Sentinel, in publish ing some incidents in the life of Custer, says: Grant's cavalry had been thor oughly reorganized, . under Sheridan, with such lieutenants as Custer, ' Tor bert and Wilson. The Confederate cavnlry, too, was in the flower of its strength and confidence. Each was feeling for the enemy's lines in the dense forests of Spotsylvania, and fre quently sudden encounters were the re sult. In one of these a regiment of Rosser's command became suddenly en gflged with a portion of that of Custer, at very close qnnrters, necessitating a charge through a narrow open space, up to tho edge of a wood in which Custer's men were posted, and from which, being partly protected by a fence, they deliv ered a destructive fire, which, with their visible knowledge of tbe enemy's supe rior position and strength, made the Virginians falter, Rosser, as was his wont, dashed into the opon field to rally them. Of commanding and strik ing figure, ho did not dream that over that line of foes, directing and con trolling their fire, flashed an eye like Mars to command, but impressive as a womau's to tho 'claims of friendship, and which, even in tbe moment of bloody strife, recognized him as an old friend of West Point, was beamingupon him in kindness and love. There was many a horseman who wondered that day why tho enemy's fire so suddenly ceased, when Rosser, recognizing the uselessness of a further attack, withdrew his men. But the next day, as they kept moving by the flank, following the Federal cavalry, and. the line of the " swing," a fanner whose house they passed handed a Confederate trooper a note addressed to General T. L. Rosser, which had been left with him by a Fed oral officer. Tho note was delivered as addressed, and read somewhat thus: Dear : The name used was the old familiar nicknamo of West Point, not now remembered by this writer. You expose yourself too much on the field, old follow. I reoognized you yesterday, aud with difficulty saved your life by stopping my fire. Don't do so again, but live to laugh over old times nl'terthe war with your friend, G. A. Custeh. As Rosser rode along, at the head of his column of bold riders in gray, his dark face lighted-with a pleasant smile as ho road the letter, and he broke into a hearty laugh, remarking that "Fanny" (tbe nickname giveu to Custer by his comrades for tia fair complexion and waving blonde lair) always was a good fellow, but a Utile too fond of bragging. An Experience with Fleas. . A fair correspondent thus describes her experience among the fleas in Cali fornia : For the first few days after I first landed in Santa Barbara I was sur prised to see ladies with whom I was conversing excuse themselves every few moments to rush into an adjoining room. I was all the time suffering ngouies from the bites of myriads of fleas, but I supposed the usages of po lite society made it nccosrary for me to present a smiling front to my callers in other words, to grin and bear it until I should be nlon . But I soon learned that it was the custom, in this strange town, immediately upon the first warn ing bite, to retire pell-mell from the eye of tho world, aud, eren in the midst of a sentence, dispose of the flea before finishing conversation. It is astonishing what practice will enablo one to do in the way of flea killing. Their bodies, viewed through the microscope, are wonderfully and fearfully made, covered with plate-like armor, oue scale lapping over tho other, and presenting burnish ed and impervious covering; out of their thorny helmet, their eyes gleam roguishly, aud they are as cunning as muy be. After becoming acquainted through the aid of a glass, I felt some compunctions of conscience ubout de capitating the wonderful creature., aud I compromised by stringing them on a thread, after the manner of buttons on a charm string. A fine cambrio needle and silk thread huug by my bureau, and at intervals of lrom ten to twenty min utes a fresh flea was impaled on this thread, until the number becoming con siderable, I folt au interest in collecting as large a number as possiblo, and I now have a string several feet in length. Why She Planted Roses. A blacksmith had in his possession, but under mortgage, a house and piece of land. Like many others, he was at one time fond of the social glass, but was happily induced by a friend to join the temperance society. About three months after he observed his wife one morning busily engaged in planting rosebushes aud fruit trees. "Mary,"said he, " I have owued this lot for five jears, and yet I have never known you to care to improve it iu this manner." " Indeed," replied the smiling wife. " I had no heart to do it until you gave up drink. I bad often thought oi it rtefore, but I was persuaded that should I do it some stranger would pluck the roses and eat the fruit. Now, with God's blessings this cot will be ours, and we aud our children may expect to enjoy the produce. We shall pluck tho roses aud eat the fruit." And they did. Their cottage was knowu as the prettiest in the neighborhood. Wanted to Sign tbe Declaration. A well dressed and respectablo look ing man entered Independence HaJl in Philadelphia, and made a determined effort to enroll his name, that of B. M, Sullivan, with the patriots aud the founuers of the country on the original Declaration of Independence. By force he wai ejected from the room where this sacred document is kept, and was no more allowed to enter. Then he went into Independence square aud scaled up a lightning rod and reached the roof of the sheriff's office. Infused with patriotio feeling, he succeeded in reaching the steeplo in some way aud began to ring the new bell with vigor nd violence. This led to his1 arrest, and he spent the night iu a cell at the central fa Cation. Sullivan resides in New York, and he said he came over to see th Centennial and to eiga the J Declaration of Independence. Fashion Soft s. Beaded laies are seen .on important dresseo. Tbe success of the scarf as a wrapping is assured. Foulards and louisincs are muoh used for children's dresses. , Tho increasing furor for red is especi ally noticeable in Paris. Gay Scotch tartans are seen in cos tumes for seaside resorts. ' Misses prefer the jaunty and becom ing toque for a summer hat. Comparatively few overskirts aro seen to the suits for little misses. The fashion of fastening ladies' dresses at the back is but little used. ' For home wear there are loose flow ing morning or breakfast dresses. -Velvet striped grenadines are at pres ent in higher favor than the damassee. ' As the season advances, the tints iu gloves become more and more delicate. The popular braid for the "coaching hat " is the rough aud ready American. White linen lawn dresses are now w rn iu the house by ladies in mourning. 1 Ruches of cream or white tulle are still very fashionable, worn around the throat. Imported fcilk half handkerchiefs ate taking the place of the black laue scarfs formerly worn. In place of ribbon bows lophophore wings will by worn by thoss who can afford them. Recent importations in children's clothing are in buff, navy blue and brown glazed linen. The newest linen collars are high at the back, flaring in front, and have wide round-cornered ends. Canvass grenadies of silk in every fashionable shade aro very generally used for elegant summer dresses. New models of bonnets have ribbon strings forming a strap under tho chin, and a bow with no ends at the side. Corsages, cut heart-shape in the neck, both back and front, are intended to wear over a chemisette of white muslin or nainsook. Byculla cloth is a lacelike texture, closely resembling plaiu Portuguese em broidery. It comes iu white, und striped in blue and bull. The Baronness Rothschild lately ap peared in a toilet of black and white checked glace Bilk, with a lace mantilla and a wreath of china-asters by way of a bonnet. A Charge Similar to Custer's. A letter is published here in regard to Gen. Custer from Gen. A. F. McRey hulda, n captain of the Muiicau war und a general commanding Michigan troops iu the lato civil war. Tho letter is to Gen. Rosser, and is as follows: "Gon. Custer may have been too im pulsive, but after all the great forte of cavalry is reckless dash. Custer's only fault, if fault it may be termed, cousists in failure. If it had been a success, as doubtless he had every reason to antici pate, imperishable laurels would have crowned his brow. His charge on the Indians could not possibly have been more reckless than the chargo made by Kearney and myself at the gates of Mex ico, where, with 100 dragoons, we charged" 3,000 infantry and 1,000 caval ry, covered by a battery, with Santa Anna at their head, and drove them into the city, with a loss of more than our en'ire number. Our charge chanced to be a success, the Mexicaus having been demoralized, and on a retreat from their terrible slaughter aud defeat at the battle of Cherubusoo. For this charge Kearney and myself each received tho brevet ranK of major, whereas, n it naci beeu a failure, and we escaped tho Mex icans, wo would doubtless have been court-martialed, and perhaps dismissed the service, if nothing worse. Would it nolrbe a grand opportunity for you to rally around you a mounted force of Minnesota men accustomed to tne horse and the rifle, which you oould readily do, and tender your services to the gov ernment to avenge the death of the brave boys of the Seventh cavalry who fell so bravely on tne neid oi dutyr Uon. Rosser. wno was formerly a uon federate general, and afterward engineer of the Northern Pacifio railroad, and who was with Custer on his Yellowstone expedition, replies as follows: "I should like to be commissioned by my country to avenge the death of my gallant friend and old enemy, but to do so I should like to go back to old Vir ginia aud get my division, who once so fiercely fought him, and who, like my self, have learned to respect, honor aud appreciate tha high soldierly qualities and exalted manhood of Gen. Custer." A Woman's Ingenuity. A Dublin chambermaid is said to have got twelve commercial travelers into eleven bedrooms, and yet to have given each a separate room. Here we have eleven separate bedrooms : 1234567891011 "Now," says she, "if two of you gentlemen will go into No. 1 bedroom aud wait a few minutes I'll find a spare room for you as soon as I have shown the others to their rooms." Well, now, having thus bestowed two gentlemen in No. 1, she puts the third in No. 2, the fourth in No. 3, the fifth iu No. 4, the sixth in No. 5, the seventh in Not 6, the eighth in No. 7, the ninth in No. 8, the tenth in No. 9, tha eleventh in No. 10. She then came back to No. 1, where you will remember she left the twelfth gen tleman alone with the first, and said " I've accommodated all the rest and have still a room to spare, so if one of you will step into No. 11 you will find ft empty." FThus the twelfth man got in the saucepan somewhere, but we leave the reader to determine exactly whore the fallacy is, with just a warning to think twice before declaring as to which, if any, of the travelers was the " odd man out.' The medical examiner of a prominent life insurance company says lie has to turn away three-fourths of his applicants who excel in athletic exercises, because they have dangerously strained the or gans of the heart. Why Should Cinder bo Centred. The more the evidence in relation to the movement oi General Custer comes to light the more we are convinced that in all respects this gallant and gifted of ficer did h'.s duty. It is clear tliat he was sent off on an independent com mand that his duty was to fight the In dians. If he saw no evidence of their presence he was to return to the point of junction agreed upon with Terry. If he did find the Indians it was his duty to follow up the trail and attack them. This is shown by the censure visited upon Major Reno'by Gen. Terry for not pursuing the trail which he found, and which led to the sceno of the late mas sacre. We see nothing either in tho or ders of Terry to Custer, or in tbe corres pondence which we have published di rect from the expedition, and which re flected the intentions and the opinions of Custer and his command, to show that it was tho purpose of Terry to sim ply reconnoiter tho Indians. This is what Reno did, and for doing this Terry censured him. Custer was sent with orders to fight, and theso orders ho obeyed. Let us suppose that Custer had dis covered the trail, had advanced to where he oould see the Indian village and had returned to the rendezvous to wait for Terry's infantry. What would have been tho opinion of the army? Terry might well have said: "You have done sim ply what Reno has done. You tell mo Indians are on the Rosebud, and that I knew. You came back for infantry, and you know that my infantry can never come within fifty miles of the Indians." General Sheridan himself would have said the same, and, much as he loved and honored Cus'er, would never have allowed him to ride at tho head of an other cavalry regiment. If Sheridan had found this Indian trail, as Custer did, he would have pursued it. He would have ridden night aud dsy, as Custer rode. If he had found the vil lage he would have attacked it as Custer did. He would have been justified i'.t doing bo by every law of Indian warfar? iVei; York Herald. The Professional. The Now York Herald says : The most debasino creature i3 tho sioual -Irishmau and the professional German, the professional Catholic aud the professional Orangemen. By this we mean a representative of that class, who only prefers a certain faith nnd avers a certain nationality lor political ends. Whenever we henr a man asking office because he is a German or a Cath olic, or opposing tho election of some other candidate because he is au Irish man or an Orangemou, we feel that it is an impertinence. Iu this country we are all Americans. Let our race bo what it may, let us worship God as we please, we aro American in our citizeusmp uuu only Americans. We do not elect men to office because they are German or Irish, but because they are honest, capa ble men. This business, which comes with every canvass, of scheming poli ticians arranging to transfer tho Irish or the German vote, is an offense to all honest Germans or Irishmen. It sup poses that thev are like cattle, to be driven and bought aud sold, and not conscientious, reflecting citizens. The whole business is quackery. The Ger man vote and Irish vote will go, like the American vote, wherever the wisdom of the voter wills it. Whoever claims to deal with it ty wholesale, to deliver it to one candidate or withdraw it from an other, is an impostor. Let us therefore hear no moro of the "irisn vote or the "German vote." Furnace foi Burning Hay, Straw, etc, Thenecossity for somo practical device whereby vegetable refuse of various kinds, such as straw, hay, dry leaves, sea weed, etc., may be conveniently utilized as fuel in those regions wnere coal is expensive and timber senrco, has long been recoguized, nud several nt tcniitsto solve the problem have been made. The following w a description of oue of the most piomising inventions for this purpose. It consists of a box of stove sheet iron in which is a heavy press follower, which by a simple mechanism can be moved up and down, aud thus arranged to maintain a steady pressure upon the hay, or similar mate rial, placed in the fire-chamber. The supply of fuel is regulated by a feeder, aud a suitable attachment adjusts the grate relatively to the follower, accord ing to the quantity of material placed betveen them. The inventor claims that by this arrangement, the fuel being uudor pressure, combustion cau go ou only around the sides to which the heat and air have access; the consumption of fuel is, therefore, very slow, and can readily be graduated to the draft sup plied. One hundred pounds of hay or straw, it is claimed, will be sufficient to supply the stove during the coldest weather, and ix or seven tons will suf fice for an entire winter. How Indians Carry News. The St. Paul Pioneer says: During tho war we used to hear a great deal of the grapevine telegraph by which col ored people of the South heard the news in advance of everybody else, particu larly of victories aud defeats; and the Indians have some way of communica tion that is equally difficult of explana tion. On Wednesday, at midnight, we had the first news by telegraph of Cus ter's defeat, but we are informed on the be3t authority that during that day sev eral Indians, loafing about fur stores in this city, made anxious inquiries if such news had been reoeived, and voluntarily "aie ue wu ?n4Uh ate,,?h, "i" stated the substance of what came fit fearing that exoited publio sentiment would make of them au expiatory sacri fice for the Custer disaster. Why." said Mr. Dorkins to his wife, "why, if ali the lotters of the alphabet were to mu a race, and you should bet on O and lose, would it be like the re turn of your servant with Cavendish tobacco when you bad sent for Lone Jack?" "Bakes alive, I don't know." " Because," said Mr. Dorkins, triumph antly, " it would bo wrong tobacco." Banjo Ben's Last Walk. The St. Paul Pioneer says : The fol lowingbrief paragraph appeared in these oolumxs : - - - - " Bnujo Bon announces that he will walk tho tiller ropo of tho suspension bridge at three o'olock this afternoon.' Ben further intimates that he would like to see a crowd present, so that the hat may be profitably passed at the close of the performance." True to his promise, "Banjo Ben," as he has been familiarly known at St. Paul and Minneapolis, walked down to the new suspension bridge towers a lit tle beforo three o'clock, and viith a fool- hardiness born of insanity or strong drink, and with tho ngility of a cat, clambered up to the working cable stretohed over the east and west piers of the uncompleted structure. This " ca ble " is a bunch of wire not moro thau one inch throush, over ore hundred feet above tho ground, and stretching like a thread between tho liver banks. Had Ben's past career been of such a nature as to create a presumption that ho was iu earnest concerning his rope walking venture, or had any CRtimate been pi iced on the value of his life, it is probable that the authorities would havo pro vented the "exhibition." But Ben was queer, and maty thoughtlessly gathered at the suspension bridge at three o'clock, the majority believing, after looking up to the thread swinging et its dizzy height, that Ben would back out. But the venturesome or insane Ben, wearing a pair of dirty white e.ottou gloves and old rubber shoes, clambered up to tho cable and promptly begun crawling down the slender wire, hand over hand, and with his rubbered feet crossing it. Tbe crowd begun to sus pect that a sickening sight was near them, but they continued to gaze at the dark objecthigh overhead. Ben crawled down the slope for a distance of perhaps fifty feet, when it became evident tho cable was hurting his feet. As if to rest them, he swung his feet from tho wire nnd sustained the weight of his body with his hands alone for several minutes, and then begun to stvue-gle as if trying to raise himself up to the wire again. But his strength or courage had doserted him, and, after a few more ineffectual efforts to regain his position on tho ca ble, his hands lost their cunning, and tho crowd suddenly had its surfeit of tragio horror. Ben'B hold was broken, the cable gave a perceptible bound upward, and a hu man body shot down to tho earth with the speed of n rocket, alighting with a sickening "thud" on the sloping bank of the river, about twenty feet from the water. In the frightful descent the body had partially turned, so that it fell sii'c ways on the hard ground, and the spne.tflfora rushed to ilio Msoioaoo o iU mortally 'wounded street musician and amateur rope walker. Dr. Elliot was summoned, nnd found Ben breathing when he came, but pro nounced the injury fatal, and iu a few minutes Banjo Ben had breathed his last, some of thoso near him averring that, iu his unconsoious state, he faintly murmured the words ho had often spokeu in his life : " Guilty, your honor." Behold the King! In the " Life of Dr. Norman Mac leod," the following narrative occurs : Tom Baird, tho carter, tho beadle of my workingman's church, was as noble a fellow ss ever l.ved God fearing, true, unselfish. I shall never forget what he said when I asked him to ctand at tho door of tho workuigmau'a con gregation, nnd when I thought he was unable to do so iu his working clothes. "If." said I, "you don't like to do it, Tom ; if you are nshamed " . . . .... , , - i i Ashamed 1 no exciaimeu, as no turned round upon me. "I'm innir ashamed o' yer.sel', hir. Div ye think that I believe, as ye ken I do, that Jtsus Christ, who died fcr me, was stripped o' his raiment on tho cross, and that I Na, na, I'm prood to s'and at the door." Dear, good fellow I There he f-tood for Beven winters, without a sixpence of pay, all from love, though at my request the working congregation gave him a silver watch. When he was dying from smallpox, tho same unselfish nature appeared. When asked if they would let mo know, he replied : " There's nae man leeviu' I like as I do him. I know he would come. But he should na come on account of his wife aud bairns, and ye mauuna' tell him r I never saw him in his illness, never hearing of his danger till it was too lute. A Sad Story. An unhappy mother was found by a funeral party at Greenwood cemetery, Brooklyn, lying with her four littlo chil dren huddled about her, on tho grave of her husband. They were all quiet y dy ing thero of starvation amid the costly monuments reared by civilized opulence. The poor creatures had been turned out of their apartments in New York, and they found no room left for them any-where among the living iu the metropolis of the great ropublio. We chronicled but the other day the appalling fact that in London nearly fifty human beings annu ally die of absoluto starvation, in epit-3 of all the miracles which steam and elec tricity have wrought to better human life since Wordsworth wrote his unfor gettable lines: " Homeless near a thousund home I stood, And near a thousand tables pined aud want ed food.'' This miserable story of the day in New York, following upon half a dozen oth ers of the same sort dnring the present summer, is a terrible aud snrdonio com mentary upon our own proud centennial boasts of the superiority of our own so cial aud politu-al systems to those of the old world. A Self-Married Couple Indicted. Mr. Leo Hunter and Miss Mattie Strickland, daughter of a former mem ber of Congress from Michigan, have been indicted by the grand jury of Da kota county. The question will doubt less bo determined whether their mutual agreement, in tho presence of witnesses, to live together as husband and wife, is anything less than a convenient arrange ment for adulterous intercourse.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers