iiiiii
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPEHANDDMi
Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VI.
Iler Treasures.
I keep tbem In the old, old bos
That Willie gave me yean ago,
The time we parted on the rocks .
His ship lay swinging to and fro,
it watting in the lower bay.
I thought my heart would break that day I
The picture with the pensive ya
la Willie's? No, dear, that's young Blake,
n no ook tne west Point highest prize i
He went half orasy for my sake.
Hero are a lot of rhymes he wrote.
And here's a bntton off his coat.
Is this the ring ? My dearest May,
l never took a ring fiom him I
Shis was a gift from Ho word Clr,
Host see the pearls are getting dim.
bey say t'iat pearls are tears what stuff
Isetting looks a little rough.
vas as handsome as a prince
y Jealous 1 But be went to Borne
. fall. He's nevtr written since.
. tised to visit st h's borne
. lovely place beyond Fort Lee i
His mother thought the world of me I
Oh, no I I sent bis letters back,
These oarae to me from Washington.
But look, what a tremendous paok I
He always wrote me three for one.
I know I used to treat him 111
Poor Jaok 1 he fell at CUancellorsville.
The vignettes all that lot are scalps
I took in Iiondon, Naples, Nioe,
At Paris, and among the Alps ;
. Ihoso foreign lovers act like geese.
But, do,r. they are such handsome meu.
We go to France ntxt year, again I
This is the doctor's signet ring.
These faded flowers ? Oh, let me see j
Why, what a very curious thing 1
Who could have sent these flowers to me r
Ah I now I have it Count de Twirl ;
He married tliat fat Crosbio girt
Uis huir waj red. You need not look
So sadiy at that raven tress.
You fcnoar the head that lock forsook ;
You know bnt yen could never gueBS !
Nor would I tell you for the world
About whose brow that ringlet ourled.
Why won't I tell ? Well, partly, child,
Became you like the msn yourself ;
i4lat mostly because don't pet so wild 1
I have not laid him or, the shelf
He'd nut a bypone. In a year
I'.l tell you all about him, dear.
Scribner.
THE MINISTER of MONTCLAIR
It was no use ; the letters danced be
fore Lis eyes, the wholo world seemec
wavering and uncertain in those days.
He laid his book down, and began tt
think of the grout trouble which wa
shut! ins? Lim i-j. When tli i.Ik.l-
Fpeeka first begun to dance between
UimVind the paper, months ago, he had
not thought about the matter. It was
annoying, to be sure, but he most have
taxed his tyes too severely. He would
work a littl.i less by lamplight ppare
them a little and he fhould bo all
right. So ho had spared them mon
nnd more, and yet the specks kept or.
their elfin dance ; and now for weeks
the conviction had been growing on Lira
slowly that he was going vo be blind.
He had not. told his wife yet, nor could
he bear to lay on her shoulders the bur
den of hia awful calamity. Oh, it wab
iuu narei i
And yet was it too hard ? Dared he
fay bo he, God s minister who had
told other sufferers so many times that
' their ahastenings were dealt out to them
by their kind Father's hand, and that
tuey snouid count all that brought them
near Him as joyous, not crievoiis ?
Yet, speaking after the manner of this
world, his burden seemed greater than
he could bear. What could he do a
blind, helpless man f He must give up
his work in life let another take his
ministry sit helpless in the darkness,
Heaven only knew how loi:g. Could he
be thus resigned ?
. Then, suddenly a flash of hope'kindled
his sky, there might be help for him.
This gathering darkness might be some
thing which science could remove. He
would be sure of that, at least, before he
io:u juary. Ana men lie became fever
ishly impatient. He must know at onoe,
it seemed to him he could not wait,
1 iie called ms wife, and told her with.
manner which he tried hard to make
, calm, that he was going out of town the
next morning on a little business. She
wondered that he was so uncommunica
tive it was not like him but she would
not trouble him with any questions.
She should understand it all some time.
she knew, still she thought there was
Bometmug strange m his way of speak
ing.
Ihe minister strove hard for the mas
tery of his own spirit, as the cars
whirled him along the next morning to
ward the tribunal at which he was to
receive ms sentence, tie tried to think
of something else, but found the effort
vain; so he said over aud over, as sim
ply as a cniid, one form of words:
" Father, whichever way it turns, oh,
give me strength to bear it."
Holding fast to this prayer, as to an
anohor, he got out of the cars and went
into the streets. What a curious mist
Feemed to surround all things I The
houses looked spectral through it; the
very people ne met seemed like ghosts,
lie had not realized his defective vision
so much at home where it had come
upon him gradually; and all objects
wore so lamiuur. . Dim, witn au effort,
he could see the signs on the street cor
ners and find his way.
lie leached at last the rest da ce of
tne distinguished enlist for whose ver
dict he had come. He found the parlor
half filled with people waiting like him
self. He was asked for his name, r nd
sent in a card on which was written :
"Rev. Wm. Spencer, Montclair." Then
he waited his turn. He dared not think
kow long the time was, or what sus
pense be was in. He just kept his sim
ple child's prayer iu his heart, and
steadied himself with it.
The time came for him at last, and he
followed the boy who summoned him
into a little room, shaded with green,
with green furniture, and on a table a
vase of flowers. The stillness and the
cool soented air refreshed him. He saw
dimly, as he saw everything that morn
ing, a tall, slight man, with a kind face
and quiet manners, who addressed him
by name, invited him to sit down, and
then inquired into his symptoms with
fitch tact and sympathy that ne felt as if
he were talking with a friend. At last
the doctor asked him to take a seat by
the window and have his eyes examined,
His heart beat chokingly, and he whis-
pered under his breath :
"Thy will, oh, God, be done; only
- . 1 1 i
give me suengtn.
Dr. . Gordon was silent for a moment
or two it seemed ages to Mr. Spencer.
I hen he said, with the tenderest and
saddest voice, as if he felt to the utter
most the rain he was inflicting :
" I cannot give you any hope. The
mnlaily is incurable. You will not lose
your sigut entirely, just yet ; but it
must come.
The minister tried to ask how long it
wonta ne oejore ne snouid be blind
but his tongue seemed to cleave to the
roof of his mouth, and he could only
gasp.
Dr. Gordon understood ; and answer-
ed very kindly that it might be a month,
possibly two.
He stood up, then, to go. He knew
all hope was over. He paid his fee and
went out of the room, and out of the
house. It seemed to him things bad
grown darker since he went in. He
hardly kmew how be found his way to
tne cars, it was two nours past hi
dinner time, and ho was faint for lack
of food, but he did not know it. He
got to the station somehow, and waited
lor the train tostart for Montclair.
All the way home he kept whispering to
nimsuji : "uno montn, possibly two
as if it were a lesson on the getting
by heart cf which his life depended.
He henrd the conductor call out Mont
clair, at last, and got out of the car
mechanically. His wife stood there
waittijg for him. She had been anxious
about him all day.
" Oh, William I" sho cried, and then
she saw his luce and stopped. There
was a look on it fi one over whom some
awful doom is pending ; a white fixed
look that chilled. Sb e took his arm and
they walked on silently, through the
summer afternoon. When they reached
nonie, ana sue naa taken on her bonnet
be spoke at last
" Mary, come here and let me look at
yon. I want to learn your face by
heart."
She came and knelt by him. while he
roott ner checks between his hauds and
turned every lineament,
' Aro you going away ?" she asked.
amr awmie, lor ms nxed, silent, mys
tenons gsz ? ucgnn to torture ner,
it s, ci-ar, i am come : coiner into
the dark "
" To die?" she easped.
" Yes, to die to evt rything that make
iip a man s life in this world, he an
swered, b-.tterly.
"Mary, I am going blind. Thirh
what llmt means. After a few more
weeks I shall never see vou acain. or our
children, or this dear beautiful world
where we have lived aud loved each
otaer. lho whole creation is only an
empty sound forevermore 1 Oh, God !
now can i bear ltr
"la there no hope ?" she asked, witl
a curious calmntss, at which Ehe herself
was r. mazed.
'A one. It was my errand to town
to-day to hnd out. I have felt it comitc
on lor months, bnt I hoped aguintit
hope, and now I know, Oh, Mary, to
Bii in me aai'Eness until my death day,
i-triving for a sight of your dear face
It is too bitter; and vet what am I sav
ing ? Shall my Father not choose His
own way lo bring i::e to the light oi
neavenr x must say, 1 will say, His
will be done."
Just then tha children came rutmkj
in; boyish, romping Wili; shy, yet mer
ry little May.
' Hush, dears," tho mother caid. noft-
ly; "papa's tired. You had better rnn
out again."
"No, Mary, let them stay," inter-
Eosed he; and then he said so low that
is wife's ears just caught the whisper:
' I cannot see them too much in this
little while."
"Oh. how tho days went on after
that 1 Every day the world looked dim
uu'r to the minister's darkened eyes.
He spent almost all of his time trying
to fix the things he so loved in his
momory.
It was pitiful to 6ee him going round
over escu well known, well loved scene,
noting anxiously just how those tree
boughs stood out against the sky, or how
that hill climbed toward the sunset. He
studied every little flower, every fern
thechildre gathered; for all creation
seemed to take for him a new beauty
and worth. Most of all he studied their
dear home faces. His wife grew used
to the dim, wistful eyes following her eo
constantly; but the children wondered
why papa liked so well to keep them iu
sight; why he did not read or study any
more.
There came a time at last, one Sunday
morning, when the brilliant summer
biinshine dawned for him in vain.
"Is it a bright day. dear?" he asked.
hearing his wife moving about the
room.
' ' Very bright, William. "
" Open the blinds, nlease. and let the
sunshine in at the east windows."
Mary Spencer s heart stood still with.
in her; but she commanded her voice
and answered steadily :
iney are open-, William. The whole
room is full of light."
' Mary, l cannot see; the time's
come; 1 am alone in the darkness."
" Not alone, my love," she cried, in a
passion of grief and pity and tender
ness, Theu she went and sat down be
side him on the bed, and drew his head
to her bosom, and comforted him just
as she was wont to comfort her children.
After a time her tender caresses, her
soothing tones, seemed to have healed
his bruised, tortured heart He lifted
np his head and kissed her, his first
from out the darkness in which he mnst
abide, and then sent her away. I think
every soul standing face to face with au
untried calamity longs to be for a space
alone with its God.
Three hours after that the church
bells rung, and as usual, the minister
and his wife walked out of their dwell
ing, save that now he leaned upon her
arm. In that hour of seclusion he had
made up hia mind what to do. Tuey
walked up the familiar way; and she
eft him at the foot of the pulpit stairs'
RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER
and went back to hef pew in front. He
groped up the stairs; and then, rising in
his place, he spoke to the wondering
congregation !
V Brethren, I stand before vou us on
on whom the Father's hand has fallen
heavily. I am blind. I shall never see
kyou again in this world you, my chil-
dren for whose souls I have striven so
long. I have looked my last on your
kird, familiar faces on this earth see to
it that I miss none of you when my
eyes are unsealed again in heaven,
Grant, Father, that of those whom
Thou host given mo, I may lo6e none."
There was not a toarless face among
those which were lifted toward him, a
he stood there with his sightless eyes
raised to heaven, his hands outstretched,
as li to bring down upon them the bless
ing for which ho prayed. Some of tho
women sobbed audibly, but tho minister
was cttim. After a moment he said :
My brethren, as far as possible, the
tsurvices win proceed as usual.
Then in a clear voice, in which there
seemed to his listeners ears some un
earthly sweetuess, he recited the
ono
hundred and thirteenth Psalm,
mencing ;
com
" Out of the deep I have called upon
Thee, oh, Lord; Lord, hear my voice."
Afterward he gave out the first line of
a hymn, which the congregation sung,
I hen he prayed, and some said, who
heard him, the eyes closed on earth were
surely beholding the beautiful vision
for he spoke as a son beloved, whoso
very soul wrs full of the glory of tho
The sermon which followed was such
a one as they had never heard before
from his lips. There was power in it,
fervor, a tenderness which no words of
mine can describe. It was the testi
mony of a living witness, who found the
Liord a very present help in the time of
trouble.
When all was over, and he came down
tho pulpit stairs, his wife stood again at
the foot, and he took her arm and went
out silently. He seemed to the waiting
congregation as one set apart and conse
crated by the anointing of a siecial sor
row, n:id Uiey dared not break the holy
silenco around him with common
speech.
The next afternoou a committee from
the church went to the parsonase. Mrs.
Spencer saw them coming, and told her
nusbund.
" It niu&t be," said he to her, " to ask
my advice m the choice of my succes
sor.
"I think thev niiffhl hnvn nniterl ntu,
ii"T, r-lie cried, with a woman s linua
-c
tienco of nny seeming forgetfulncss of
the claims given him by his vears oi
faithful service.
The delegation had reached tha donr
by that time, and tho minister did not
answer her. She waited on Ihe men
into the study, and left them there, go
mg about her usual task, with a heart
full of bitterness. It was natural, ner
haps, that they should not want a blind
minister, but to tell him so now, to
make the very first waucr of his sorrow
sharper by their unthankfulness, it was
too niucn.
An hour passed before they went
away, and then she heard her husband's
voice calling her, and went into the
study prepared to sympathize with his
sorrow, t ne found him sitting where
sho had left him, with such a look of
joy and peace and thankfumess upon
ms lace as she had never expected to
see it wear ogain.
luary. ue saia. " mere are some
kind hearts in this world. My parish
warns 10 mo to stay witn theni. and in
sist on raising my salary a hundred dol
lars a vear."
" Want you to stay with them ?" she
cried, naruiy understanding his words.
V Yes, I told them that I could not do
them juntice, but they would'not listen;
they believe that my very affliction will
give me new power over the hearts of
me l ; that I can do as much as ever.
They would not wait a day, you see,
ies wo Buouiu oe anxious about our
future.
"And I thought thev were eomino- in
indecent haste, to give you notice to
go. jurs. openoer cried, penitently.
'How I misiudeed them 1 Shall I
learn Uhnstian chanty I"
So it was settled that the minister of
JSiontclair should abido with his neonlo.
T' il , . ---
- or mree years more ms persuasive
voice called them to choose the better
way; and then hia own summons came
to go np higher. In those three years
be had sown more seed and reaped more
narvests tnan some men in a lonsr life
time. He did his work faithfully, and
was retdy when the hour came for him
go Home. Just at the last, when
those who loved him best stood weeping
round his bedside, they caught upon
his face the radiance of a licht not ct
this world. He put out his hands with
glad cry:
"I See. I see 1 Out of the dark intn
light I"
And before they could look with awe
and wonder into each other's eyes, the
glory had begun to fade, the outstretch
ed hands fell heavily, and thev knew
that the blind minister was gone, " past
night, past day," where for him there
would be no more darkness.
Facts About Lunatics.
Some of the minor statistics in Dr.
Parsons' eleventh annual report are not
without interest. Of the 412 women ad
mitted to the New York city lunatic
asylum last year, eighteen were under
twenty years, 132 between twenty and
thirty, 119 between thirty and forty,
seventy-two between forty and fifty,
forty between fifty and sixty, eleven be
tween sixty and seventy, eight between
seventy and eighty, two between eighty
and ninety. Of the 412, 193 were mar
ried, 147 unmarried, fifty-eight widows,
one divorced, thirteen "unknown;"' 137
had blue eyes, 103 gray, ninety-one
brown, sixty two hazel, seventeen black,
two "dark;'' 241 had brown hair of dif
ferent shades, sixty-two black, fifty six
gray, only seventeen red. As to previ
ous religious belief, 249 were Catholics,
115 Protestants, twenty-five Hebrews,
twenty oue unknown, while two were
of no religion. As to previous station
in life, fix were farmers' wives, forty
farmers' daughters, twenty wives or
daughters of carpenters, twenty-three of
tailors, fif y four of laborers, sine of
butchers, six of shoemakers, twelve of
merchants, fifteen were domestics.
norrible Cruelty.
The Toronto Telegram says : John
O Shanghnessy was a convict of about
twenty-five years of age, who hailed
f ron. Kingston. On the twenty-seventh of
April, 1875, lie was confined in the
" dark cell for some trivial act of in
subordination, forced upon him by the
exasperating Stedman, who tantalized
the fellow into making some offensive
retort to the taunts of the deputy. For
this trifling offense the unfortunate n an
was chained up in a standing posture
for five days and five nights, his feet and
hands painfully shackled to rings in the
wiin, only to be relieved for short inter
vals to enable Lim to partake of the
meager allowance of bread and water
allotted to him three times in each
twenty-four hours. His toes had been
rendered powerless before his entrance
into the prison, and the result of this
was that his torture was rendered more
intense, owing to the fact that he had,
lor trie greater part of the time, to sup
port hinirolf by his wrists, as encircle-d
in tne cruel r m ps in the wall. All tLe
Eower was gone from his toes, and as he
ad to stand on them in order to relieve
tho torturing strain on his wrists, it may
be imagined what crucial anguish the
poor victim endured during these one
hundred and twenty hours of chafing
nignt and day. A moro galling or fret
ting process of raokiDg. torture it is
hardly possible to imagine. The writh
ings of the pitiful convict, as he vainly
endeavored to mollify his sngnish by
shifting about as well as his manacles
would permit, have been described as
heartrending. Each new change of
position only brought a keener agony.
and there was an indescribable depth of
suffering expressed in his oft-repeated
expression, as the hours dragged their
slow length along : "Thank God, there's
another hour gone." When finally be
was released from his torture his wrists
and ankles were terribly swollen and he
was wholly unable to walk. Had he not
been a man of splendid constitution he
could not have survived so exhausting
an oraeai. A more brutal or inhuman
device for inflicting agony on human
flesh and blood it is impossible to con
ceive. When an appeal was made to
Stedman to put a termination to the suf
ferings of this man, and it was repre
sented to him that the convict was in
danger of dying from his extreme suffer
ing, the unrelenting, unfeeling official
replied : " Let him die I"
An Ancient Civilization.
Explorations by scientific meu in Ten
nessee have discovered facts of thrilling
interest, which prove that in the State
are to be found the evidences of the
most advanced civilization -which ob
tained in the Mississippi valley. The
skeletons of tho aboriginal raco ore found
in caves and iu stone graves. The cave,
of the limestone retrions were used bv
the aborigines as receptacles for the
deud. When one died, the body Who
usually doubled up, the knees touching
tho chin, and wranued in skius and
mats, the number and fineness depend
ing undoubtedly upon the wealth and
importance of tho deceased. In one
instance the skeleton of a mau was fonnd
wrappeel in fourteen deerskins, over
which were blankets of bark. In some
awes tuey were Kbrouded in a cunons
cloth made of bast fiber, into which
feathers were twisted, so as to give the
appearance of a variegated silk mantle.
Uver three were coarser wraprjines :
but the order in whi h I hey wero laid
on was by no means uniform. The
body, with its coverings, was often
placed iu a wicker basket, pvramidal in
foim, aud small in the top. Sometimes
tho basket was covered ; at other times
the head protruded irom an opening.
uwing to tne niter in the soil ot the
caves, tho corpeeshave not altogether de
cayed, the flesh being dried up and tho
hair turned red or yellow. The work
ing of the caves for saltpeter during
the last century has-nearly destroyed
these witnesses of ancient civilization :
so we turn from them, with their cliff
paintings and scattered relics, to the
better preserved testimony of the stono
graves.
Scarlet Fever.
The Lancet calls attention to the im
portance, as a safeguard to the public
health, of securing the early detection
of cases of scarlet, fever, it be
ing of . incalculable conaequonce not
only to the patient bnt to the com
munity, in order that timely measures
may be taken to prevent the spread of
the disease. The Lancet save that the
throat symptoms are the most trust
worthy for the purpose cf diacnosis in
the initial stage of scarlet fever; the
soft part of the palate is- extensively
reddened, and not merely the tonsils, as
is the first instance in ordinary sore
throat. When this condition is met
with, accompanied by a very hot skin
and a very quick pulse, attended or pre
ceded by sickness", with a thickly furred
tongue, red borders, and prominent
papilles, a case of scarlet fever may be
prepared for. In most cases, adds this
journal, sickness occurs within some
twenty-four hours after the commence
ment of the attack indotd, it is well
known to all observers that, iu the large
proportion of "cases, eickneEs occurs
within twenty-one or eighteen hours.
California's Gold Held.
The gold yield of California this year,
local authority says, will probably be
about $20,000,000, or as much as it was
in 1875. Of this, two-thirds may come
from placer claims, and the remainder
from quarlz. The greater part of the
plaoer gold is obtained by bvdraulio
claims in the channels of dead rivers.
with deposits of auriferous gravel sev
eral hundred feet deep and a quarter or
a half milo wide. Although many acres
of deep gravel beds have been washed
away to the bed rock, large areas re
main, and promise to yield a good pro-
fit for many years to come, though the
product will doubtless decrease gradual
ly. The placer mining camps which
have no hydraulic washings are steadily
declining, if they have not already dis
appeared, or if they have not sonio
other resource. The placer workings of
Yuba, Shasta, Tuolumne and Mariposa
counties amount now to little; in
Plumas they are nearly as productive as
ever.
A CO-OPERATITE STORE.
An
iDteresllasr Deaerlptlaa of the Leeds
(Bnalaad) Co-operative OocletT.
Co-operative stores in England are
more of a success than such institutions
are In this country, and they are evi
dently managed there with great care.
Some of these stores are immense in
size, and contain beneath their roofs and
in their different departments any arti
cle that the workingmen who patronize
them desire. A writer in Scribner's
Monthly describes one of these stores
as follows :
Here ia a tangible expression of York
shire common sense a handsome four
story block of store, splendid in plato
glass, carved stonework and architectural
display the stores of the "Leeds In
dustrial Co-operative Society, Limited,"
Albion street, Leeds. It may be Satur
day afternoon a half holiday in the
mills and the streets swarm with work
people of every age and condition.
Albion street is none too wide for the
traffic that pours along its sidewalks and
roadway, and gathers about the open
doors of the " Leeds Industrial," actu
ally struggling in and out, and pressing
thickly up to the counters. One door
leads to a grocery store, the next to a
drapery store, another door leads up
stairs to the house furnishing ware
rooms, the outfitting department, and
the boot and shoe store. There is no
eliplay in the windows (after the co
operative manner), and we may follow
the multitude inside to watch the aotive
trade. Plain, hard-working people, per
haps grimy from their toil, press up to
the connters, cash in hand, ready to
buy. The salesmen have evidently pre
pared for a good demand, and the staple
goods, already put np in convenient pack
ages, aro piled iu enormous heaps on
the counters. They deal out bundles
with wonderful speed, take the money,
make a note in a bock, tear off the vouch
er (or half-leaf), and give it with the
change to the customer. Each one
takes his or her goods and moves away
as quickly as possible to make room ior
others. Near tho door, in a tin'ytffice,
such as is sometimes used for the
cashier iu American stores, sits a young
girl. Eich one presents the fly-leaf to
ner, aua receives a tin or brass token
representing the amount of the purchase.
id is is tne evidenoo of trade at the so
ciety s stores, and will be a guide in
estimating the allocation of profits next
dividend day. For every baar of flour
tho member may buy he will receive
nacK a bonus or dividend of two shill
ings and sixpence. On all other goods
tne bonus will be two shillings and two
pence in every pound these tokens
represent. This is the key to this
active trade ; this explains this eager
ness to buy ; this is the " excuse for be
ing " that the society can show.
The shops seem to be eaual to the
best of their class iu London or New
York. The stock is very large, of ap
parently tne iect onajity. and is admir
ably put up, ready for immediate sale.
Going up stairs, we find the building
blockaded with people intent on trade.
A woman coming down stairs, her three
boys making much clatterwith their new
wooden shoes, brushes past a man with
a wicker baby carriage -under one arm
and a mop broom under the other.
Ihere is plenty of roughness, broad
Yorkshire dialect, toil stained clothing,
and good English push and scramble;
every man for himself; but, with all,
there is a fetsling for order and honest
good nature. Above stairs, there are
balls and corridors packed from floor to
ceiling with boots and shoes, brushes,
kitchen ware, household goods and
ready-made clothing. The people
swarm into every nook and corner, be
siege the salesmen, and drive a lively
trade. These busy shoppers and anx
ious buyers are the members of the
Leeds Industrial a few of the sixteen
thousand shareholders, the legal owners
of this building, the thirty branch
stores, the shoe manufactory and the
great flour mill at Marshall street in the
Holbeck district. Every man and
woman in this company has five or
more shares in the society, or has paid
down good shillings to let them earn
the shares. Each oue of these people
participated iu that handsome dividend
of 16,506 17s. 8d. that was paid last
quarter day. That is more than two
pounds a year apiece, or two shillings
and a trifle over iu every two hundred
and forty pennies they spent at the
stores, besides the interest at five per
cent a year on their united share capital
of 122,332 17s. lljd.
Headache from Eye Strain.
Dr. Weir Mitchell has been investi
gating the causes of headache, and,
among other conclusions, presents the
following, viz. : That there are many
headaches which are due indirectly to
disorders of the refractive or accommo
dative apparatus cf the ayes; that in
these instances tho brain symptom is
often the most and sometimes the sole
prominent symptom of the eye trouble,
so that while there may be no pain or
sense of fatigue iu the eye, the etraiu
with which it is used may be interpreted
solely by occipital or frontal headache;
that tbe long continuance of eye trouble
may be the unsuspected cause of in
somnia, vertigo, nausea, and general
failure of health: and that in manv
cases the eye trouble becomes suddenly
mischievoun, owing to some failure of
the general health, or to increased sen
sitiveness of the brain from moral or
mental causes. Cases are cited bv Dr.
Mitchell in support of his theory ou this
subject.
now Totes Were Lost
The Eureka (Nevada) Sentinel saysr
A certain candidate has lost thirteen
votes through making a rash promise to
his wife. He had promised that in the
event of his election he would buy her a
sealskin cloak and a pair of navy blue
stockings, and she couldn't rest till she
told thirteen lady friends all about it
The ladies expressed themselves as
"awful glad" to hear it, but threatened
their husbands with a suit of divorce if
they dared to vote for this particular
candidate, " That old thing would look
nioe in a sealskin cloak and navy blue
stockings, wouldn't she?" is the way
they expressed themselves in speaking
of the candidate's wife. Who says that
women have no political influence f
30, 1870.
The Sentence of J'tronsberg.
The cable announces that Dr. Strous
berg's sestenoe was perpetual banish
ment from Russia, and considering the
troubles he has got into by going there,
together with the fact that he is not a
native of the country, we may presume,
says the New York Time, that the sen
tence is not one that will particularly
distress him. Dr. Strousberg, who was
born at Neidenbnrg, Prussia, is now only
fifty-three, and there are hot many men
who have put more life iiito as many
years. Losing his father when a boy.
he joined some unoles, who had settled
in London as commission agent", tfd
soon after brcirne a member. His
fxmily were Trnelities, nf the churoti of
England. He did all in his power to
improve his education, and at an early
age became associated with some news
papers in London. When twenty-five.
hecime out to the United States and
gave German lessons. It might have
been supposed that he would have found
this a fair field for carrying his vast con
ceptions into execution, but this country
was not at that period the place for sueii
a man as it was to become later. So
Stronsbersr, having realized some'money
by selling at a heavy profit a cargo of
aamnged goods, resolved to return to
London. Thoro he invested his money
in ft newspaper, and then went to lier
I n as agent for an insurance company.
Un to this time he hnd sriven no sicn
of tho magnitude of bis future opera
tions, but in lobi, having become ac
quainted with some English capitalists,
he renolveei to become a railroad con
tractor, and within six years was at work
ou a dozen liueis. His operations now
begun to assume colossal proportions.
He had large factories in various plaocs,
and employed at ono time over a hun-
area mousana men. lie bought a
whole county iu Poland, and an estate
ror which ho paid 84,000,000, in Bo
hemia. He had a great mansion in
iiondon, and his house in the aristo
cratic Wilhelmstrasse at Berlin' was the
wonder of the Prussian capital. His
charities fully kept pace with his other
expenditures.
The glories of this marvelous mau
culminated some six years ogo, when a
grand fete was given in his Berlin home
to celebrate his silver wedding. Just as
tho creme de la creme of Loudon once
thronged Hudson's saloons ot Albert
Gate now the French embassy, while
Strousberg's mansiou in Berlin has been
secured for the English so all the ce
lobrites of Berlin flocked to the million
aire of the day with their congratula
tions. But presently came the war of
1870, and found him up to his ears in
costly enterprises. The price of money
rose, and he had to pay rates for it
which ale up all his profits. It is now
said that if he could only have com
pleted his Bohemian iron works the
greatest on the continent ho might
have pulled through, heavily weighted
as he was, and it was with this end in
view that he persisted in carrying on,
and thus gave dire offense to many of
his creditors. There appears now to
have set in a considerable sympathy for
this very gifted man, whose crime in
Russia seems to have been one in which
no cognizance would have been taken in
another country the borrowing from a
Moscow joint stock bank on inadequate
security, whereas tho directors, who
have endeavored to make him their
Rcapegoat, were really the persons to
blame.
With more moderation, Dr. Strous
berg might have been a F.econd Brassey.
And here is where the latter showed
himself so remarkable. " I never," said
a friend, "saw Brassey thoroughly
wretched exoept on oue occasion, when
Mrs. Brassey had sot her heart on a
house near Lady Palmerston's, in Pica
dilly." So hateful to him was auything
approaching to elisplay or ostentation.
Yet at this time Brassey, paying a rout
of 84,000 a year, was worth 825,000,000,
and conld havo bonght up the street.
It may bo hoped that Dr. Strousberg
may ultimately secure a solid and com
fortable independence &ftni hia
sharp experience. His wife is said to
nave signed away to the creditors al
most all that had been seonred to her.
and sold her magnificent jewels for their
Mummies Converted into Paint.
FeW PeTRnnfl ATA a wav a flint vanf.M,
Egyptian mummies nra crnnnrl mi intn
paints. But in this country and in Eu
rope mummies are used for this purpose
the asphaltnm 1Vlf.fl urli inli thaw n tz
impregnated being of a quality superior
u mm wmuu can eisewnere be obtain
ed, and producing a peonliar brownish
tint when made into paint, which is
prized by distinguished artists both of
this and other countries. The ancient
Egyptians, when thev
dead, wrapped in clothes saturated with
fpuBjium, ouiidea, as it were, better
than thev knew, an it nnnl1
realized the fact that ages after they had
been laid in the tombs and pyramids
along the Nile their duet would be used
in painting pictures in a world then un
discovered, and by artists whose lan
guages were to them unknown. That a
portion of one of the Pharaohs, or a
Potinhar. or vn nf tlm VWot
Potiphar, may even now be on the can-
,o u ciut-t, n iiLiiituu, or a uuurcn,
who may question f
Difficulties of a Doctor.
Miss Alley, a missionary fi nm TnrKn
tells this Btorv : A Mohammedan nf
high rank had several wives. One of
tnem, more beautiful than all the rest,
was seriously ilL It seemed that she
must die. and her hnshand Hnt fnr Tir
Batcheldor, who accompanied the mis
sionaries, in India a wife is permitted
to see do other men than her husband
aud her brothers. Therefore the doctor
was told that he could not see the sick
woman. Her attendants described her
condition, but this wonlil nnt. nnffloB o,i,l
the doctor said that he could do nothing
uniess ne was admitted. A white oloth
had been spread over the woman, and
a hole had been out in it sn timt. uha
might extend her Land and permit the
uocior to ieei tier pulse. Thin would
not do. The doctor must see her tongue
and eyes. Theu holes were out near her
mouth and her eves. and. the dnntnr
prescribed for her. She was cured. .
Men no longer reap as they sow. They
sow by band and reap with a machine.
NO. 41.
Items of Interest.
Of the 159 239 inhabitants of Rhode
Island 135,093 we re born in the State,
and 61,600 ate rmtives of the United
States.
A justico of tbe peace in Baltimore
swore a Chinaman on a tea chest the
other day in default of the writings of
Confacius.
Of five robust young servant girls who
slept in a room in Antwerp where the
gas escnped, four died and one was saved
with difficulty,
Put oway the little uniform, lay the
toroh upon the shelf, pay your election
i.'ts np promptly, you've a realizing
sense how 'tis yourself.
This election excitement ban caused
the "oldest inhabitant" to forret the
usual proclamation that wo are to Lave
an unusually severe winter.
"Did you do nothing to resuscitate
the body ?" was recently asked of a wit
ness at a coroner's inquest. "Yes, sir;
we searched the pockets," was the reply.
Milliners in Faris who furnish ladies
out of town with their hats senel for
their photograph before they .make
the selection of shape and color of trim
mings, According to the German philosopher,
Adelnay, the number of lnngnsges
spoken in Europe is 587, in Asi3 937. in
Africa 276. and in Americal,2G4, making
a total of 3,064.
Tho cost of sending a soldier to Cuba
is officially stated iu a Spanish journal
to be 183 pesetas or francs. Each soldier
receives a cash bounty of $50 ; a substi
tute receives 8100 extra.
It is roughly estimated that 5,000
Western girls have taken husbands this
year for the only earthly reason that
they were thereby enabled to visit the
Centennial at somebody else's expense.
The builder of a church now in course
of construction, when the toast of his
health was given, rather enigmatically
replied that he was " moro fitted for
the scaffold than for public speaking."
Dynasties may crumble, planets may
be blotted cut, George Washington
body servant may eventually die, but it
is feared the idiots who make wheelbar
row bets on the election will exist for
ever. Wood fires ore becoming fashional le
again. The blessed wood fire! The
happiest moments we hove ever known
wero when sitting before one, with a
blanket wrnppcd around us, trying to
get warm.
"Lenny," eaid her maiden aunt,
"you should eat the barley that is in
your soup, or you'll never get a man."
Lenny, looking up innocently, in
quired: "Is that what you cat it for,
aunty?"
The Corliss engine flywheel made
2,355,300 revolutions during the Exhibi
tion. The wheel is thirty feet in diame
ter, and any one point on its periphery
traveled during the period stated 40,
147 miles, or a little over 260 miles each
day.
The fall title of Miss Edith Pechey,
who was reoently confirmed as a physi
cian in Dublin, will bo "L. K. Q. O. P.
I., if she passes the examination. 'Ihe
London Telegraph thinks that the idea
of rolling so much of the alphabet npou
an unprotected female is revolting.
A young lawyer wrote to an old limb
of the law a letter, which read thus:
"la there an opening iu your part of
the country which I can get into V
Answer " There is an opening in my
back yard about thirty feet deep ; no
curb around it. If it will suit, come
ou 1"
An exchange says that a society hns
been formed in Siberia which compels
ail males to marry when of age, and
makes the wife the head of the family,
and the husband a marked subordinate.
There are a good many families in this
country that are run on the Siberian
plan.
According to the reports of the city
fumigators, the Chinese laundries in San
Francisco aro a fruitful cause of the
spread of smallpox, as largo quantities
of clothing taken from bodies of people
who have died of the disease have been
washed in them and then exposed for
sale.
A Georgia colored debating society
was lately discussing : "Which is the
best for the laboring man, to work tor
wages or part of the crop?" An old
"uncle" spoke the sense of the meeting
when he thought " bofe was de best, if
dey could only be brung togedder some
how."
A person complained to Dr. Franklin
of having been insulted by one who call
ed him a scoundrel. "Ah!" replied
tho doctor, "and what did you call
him?" "Why," said he, "I called
him a scoundrel, too." "Well," re
sumed Franklin, "I presume you both
spoke the truth."
A man in Philadelphia wanted to be
excused from serving on a jury on tbe
ground that " he was a saved sinner and
could not sit iu judgment on bis fellow
men." The judge thought such an ex
hibition of moral courage would fail of
its effects nowhere except before the
practitioners of that city.
Truffles are found by swine. The
trnflle hunter goes out with his trained
hog and a pocketful of acorns, and tbe
beast roots the ground for the truffle.
Aa soon as it appears in sight the vigi
lant hunter raps the hog on the snout
and secures the prize, rewarding the
disappointed porker by an acorn.
Some curious statistics, just published,
show that out of a population of more
than 86,000,000 in France there are 37,
927 bjind and 29,512 deaf and I'nmb ;
so that in 950 inhabitants there is one
blind, and iu 1,220 there is one deaf and
dumb person. In Faris alone tlire are
7.333 mad people, while in all France
there are 18,123 male and 14,964 feme la
lunatics.
The little daughter of a noted politi
cian, who likes to travel on his war
reoord, the other day unwittingly fur
nished the "opposition" with a good
joke on her papa. A one armed soldier
came to tbe house begging assistance,
and the liitle girl, in condoling with
bim, said, lispingly: "My father wath
a tholdler, but he didn't get huit Hej
wath a prudent tholdler."