ftfiili' mi fill HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. YTT. HI DG WAY. ELK COUNTY, 1A THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1877. yo- 21 r Arier Marriage. We used to walk together In the twilight, He whispering tender words so sweet and low, As down the green lanei when the dow wag falling, And through the woodlands where the birds were calling, We wandered in those hours so long ago. Bnt now no more we walk In purple gloaming Adown the lanes my love and I ah, me ; The tit.. - ; r..,i for such romantic roaming He holds the babr while I'm getting tea. We used to sit, with lamp turned low, together) And talk of lore and it divine elTocts, When nights were long and wintry was the weather Far noblor he than knight with knightly feather, And I to him the loveliest of my sex. Now, oft when wintry winds howl round the gable, Immersed in smoke, he pores o'er gold and stocks, The fact ignored that Just across the table The loveliest of her sex sits darning socks. Oft when arrayed to suit my hero's fancy, I tripped to meet him at his welcome call," IIo looked unutterable things his dark eye glowing In fond approval at my outward showing Hi taste in luces, drosses, jowols all ! Now if perchance we leave the honse together, When friends invite or prima donna sings, He scans my robes, bought new for the occa sion, And foots the bills and looks unutterable things ! Oh, bygone days ! when seventeen and single, He called me angel as lie pressed my hand ! Oh, present time! wherein that self-same fellow So that same angel, grown a trifle yellow. Calls out : " Matilda, do you understand?" Ah, yes ! 1 understand, one thing for certain, Love after marriage is a beauteous myth, Which they who once have passed behind the curtain, Turn up their noses disenchanted with ! MAKE YOUK OWN WAY. David Rpeerswas tnking his afternoon smoke. Ferhaps the long clay pipe looked a little in congruous with the handsomely furnished room and the massive silver plate on the mah igany side-board. But. for that matter, he was an incongruity a little, common-looking man, not very well dressed. Certainly a very wide con trast to the liaudsome, stylish-looking young fellow who interrupted his reverio lv a very frank and noi-v: Good-pvcmng, uncle. Can I talk awhile with von V" "That depends, Robin, on what you're gaun to talk aboot." " You know, uncle, that Aleck Lang and I have long boon friends." I have heard bo; I don't know it." ' Well, ho have. To-day Aleck Ciime to tell me that bo is going into the carpet-weaving business in Kilniarn nek. He intends to buy Thomns Blaoliie ont." " He'll need some bawbees for that." " His father will help, and he asked me to Join him. What do yon think about it?" ' Ffovr long have you been wi' Hastie?-' " Five years." " Vii'l ho.v much have yon saved?" " Well, to tell the truth, uncle, nothing at all. Wli it with Jessie marrviiig last year and I'-sa this, ami the presents I had to give, and other tneni i, my savings all went away." " Humph "I tlio i'lit, perhaps, that as the busiuess was su ih an old one, and as both the Langs would be interested in it. you would lend mo two thousand pounds for such a wonderfully good chance." " I have made it a rule never to lend"money to yonng men." " A vt rv nnliind mlo when it touches me, unele. You were never unkind to me before." " 1 nm not unkind to you now either.Robiu." "Oulv two thousand, uncle! And such a chance ! ' " Guid heavens, hear the lad! 'Only twa thousand !' Did ye ever earn twa thousand pounds? Did ye ever save twa thousand pounds? When ye have, Robin, come to me. and I'll talk wi' ye about lending ye ;hat sum." " But, uncle, the thing is not a new venture! it is sure to pay." " It is gaun to have new masters; an' men at sixty are na sae sure about things 'paying' as lads of flve-au'-twenty are." So the young man ' went away much disap pointed and not a little angry; but other friends looked more favorably on the plan. The A'2.000 were borrowed, and Robert Rae and Aleck Lang bought the old-established carpet-weaving house. Tho fir t year the concern, in spite of falling prices, did very well. Robert's share of profits not only gave him a good living, but paid his iuterest. and allowed him to lay by nearly 100 toward clearing off his borrowed capital and the next year tilings were still brighter. In the fourth year of the enterprise Robert I! ic called again on his uncle. ' (iuod-eveiiing, nnele." " Good-evening. Robin. How's business ?" " l'ust-rato. I don't come to-night about business." " What for, thon?" " I am going to be married. I wanted to tell you about it." That's a mair kittle risk than Blackie's business, Robin. ' " I think not. nnele." ' Wlia's the lassie ?" "Jessie Lorimer." " What fortune has she?" " Just her beauty and her noble nature; she is of good family, too, and has had the best of In "ntiotis. Why, undo, she can do 'most a o Uiing ; aiuts, draws, plays the harp, sings 5i'.:: an angel and" " I'm fared pue'U be a kind o' matrimonial' luxury, Robin. But she's a bonuie lassie ; I ha'e seen her. Yet I doubt if she's fit for a puir man s wife." " You'll come to the wedding, uncle?" " Surely, surely." It was a very grand wedding, and David Kpcers made quite a sensation by giving the bride a check for 500. Indeed, Jessie seemed to have quite captivated the old bachelor, and he soon began to spend a great many of his evenings in her pretty home. Three ears passed happily away. In Robert's home there had been tome Cleasant changes; and his uncle danced a pretty aby Jessie occasionally on his knee, or looked admiringly and wonderiugly at his own jree namesake" iu the cradle, Down at the mill tilings were apparently equally prosperous. All the looms wore at work, and the very wel fare of Kilmarnook as a community-was s nsi bly connected with the business of " Lang A Rae's Carpet Mill." But a great doal of this success was only apparent, for it hung upon chances entirely beyond the control of the yonng partners in it. They had been compelled to borrow largely, and had big interest accounts to meet, and a great deal of their paper being from houses unknown to local bankers, had to be cashed at very heavy discounts. All these things were much against tlicni, yet so great was their in dustry and eneriry that they might have turned them all into " happy circumstanoes," and won in spite of the odds against them, if yarns had not suddenly taken a tremendous and quite uulooked for fall. This, of oourse, was followed by a number of failures, in most of which they Buttered. Not all their efforts could now gather together their numerous lines of enterprise, and they found it equally iuipossib'e to curtail them, and so, after a few months of desperate, anxious struggle, the firm becamo bankrupt. Old David had lo-g foreseen, and resolutely refused to meddle iu the inat'er. A coolness had, therefore, grown up between uncle and uephew, and when the end came David was uot among thoia who offered hoLwt and Aleck I advice and svmnathv. Tlie vonnir mpti twttmvnfl j well. They "surrendered everything, but credi iors am not tail to stigmatise as msbonnratilo and unhuainess-like and speculative and rirky the nature of the trade done by the broken firm. Aleck at once sailed for Sydney, where he had a brother, and Robert took' his wife and children to her father's, whilo he endeavored to find a situation. But week after week passed, another winter waB approaching, and nothing had been done. Once again David was interrupted. This timo it was his pretty niece Jessie. His face softened wonderfully when he met her large, tearful eyes. " Oh. uncle," she said, " we have sorb need of yon." "My puir little woman, sit down and tell Davie what he can do for you." Jussio's tfllo was soon told her tears told it best. Robert's heart bad quite failed him ; they were almost penniless, and they had worn their welcome out at her father's. " Then you'll come here, yon and Robert, and Jessie, and wee Davie ; au' we'll see what your man is tit for. If he canna find his feet wi' a wife like you, I'm sorry for him." Ho the next day the family moved, with their small belongings, to David's' house, very mneh to the annoyance of Mistress Janet, David's housckoepcr. This lady, indeed, soon made things so unpleasant that it vyvs evident to all parties there could be no delav in a decision, and Robert, almost in desperation, eBolved on trying hiB fortune in the new world. David, Iiressed by his housekeeper's grumbling and y his affection for his nephew, knew only of one other way he could advance Robert money for a new effort. " But it would be the ruin V tho lad," he said, thoughtfullv. "I'm doubting if he's learned his lesson yet ; he e'en go to school again." So he praised Robert's Buggostion, and offered to pay the passage of the whole family and give him 4)100 to start life with. The offer was accepted, and iu a few days they were on the ocean, not one of them aware of the real interest and affection which followed them. "But they'll write to me," said David to himself. " They'll write, for they ken I ha'e plenty o' siller." Once on a new track, all Robert's energy re turned. Provided with a letter to the pro prietors of the Mattatoot Carpet Mills, he found his way there, and readily obtained work. A part of his hundred pounds was used in fur nishing a little cottage, at d Robert enjoyed a degree of peaco and comfort to which he had long been a stranger. The next spring a lucky event gave him a special prominence. A large mill in the neighborhood" imported some ma chinery for weaving a peculiar kind of rug, and no one" could be fonnd in the locality able to make it run smoothly. Robert beard of the dilemma and offered his help. The loom was familiar to him, his suc cess easy. Ho had fonnd his place, and he knew it. Day by day he mado bis skill and energy felt. He rose to be overseer business manager partner. Still be varied very little the quiet simplicity of his home. Jessie and he had found how little they really needed for happiness, and so, vear bv vear, whatever thev saved was invested in land which grew in value while they slept and worked at other things, and ten years after Robert's first investment lie found himself, by the simple growth of tho village, a very rich man. Jut about this time David sent them a very urgent request to come and see him, and as he offered to pay all ex penses, it was accepted. The old man was now Hearing eighty, yet he was wonderfully hale md bright, and met them at the steamer, np oarently little older for the ten years that had .ilapsed since he bid thein "good-bye" on the verv same spot. Ho liked Robert's way at the first glance. " He has the look of a man wi' siller, an he bears himsel' well." Another thing made a still more favorable impression on David. Robert was not anxious to speak on business. Indeed, David had at last to speak bluntly : " You'll ha'e done weel, I suppose?" "Very well." "You'll no be needing ony help now? I have money Iving idle." "Thank you, uncle ; but I have tlO.000 Ivingidle myself. I thought of investing it here, it I can rind just the machinery I want." " Y'ou're going to manufactuiing again?" " Yes ; I know all the his and outs of the trade there is a good opening iu our town. Yes, I am thinking about it." " You'll no be wautiug a partner, eh?" " If I can get the right kind." "Would I do?" "You. Uncle." " Well, yes, laddie ; an' you needn't scorn at me. I'll put a hundred thousand to vour fifty, an' we'll ca' the firm ' Rae & Hpeers.' ' " Y'ou could not leave Scotland, uncle." " Was I thinking o' sio a daft thing ? I'll trust my interests i' you hands. I'll ha'e my full rights, mind ; an' you shall ha'e a fair allowance for doing my wark as well as your ain. We'll put everything on paper, and I'll hold you strictly to the bargain." The proposal, made half iu barter, finally assumed a very real shape, and it was agreed that when Robert returned to America, ho should start a now manufacturing firm under very different auspices to bis first venture. But the past was only onco alluded to, and then David introduced the subject. "You'll bo thinking, Roluu, very likely, o' the day when I wouldua lend you tho thou sand pounds." "Y'ou were quite right, uncle ; no man ought toborrov money until he knows the difficulty of making it and of saving it ; young men can't know these thii.gs ; they belong to ex perience. " "Y'ou had that lesson to learn then, Robin, an' I thought ye might as weel learn it o' itber folk as o' me. One fool whiles teaches anither fool, an' both grow wise thegither. Sandy McClure lent ye that twa thousand, and lie was nane the wnur o' the lessons ye gave him. There would be fewer young fools if-there were mair wiso ciders." Bo Robert s visit was a great success, and the old man shed the last tears he ever shed on earth when ho bid the children good-bye. " Yon take care o' wee Davie for my sake, Robin," he said, tenderly, holding the lad proudly by tiie hand, " for when I'm no longer to the fore, you'll let my name stand i' the firm, till he's ready to take my place; so then I bo hundred thousand will aye be in David Npeeis' name." And to-day the house grows and prospers, though old David has long been gathered to his fathers. Robert's early failure has brought forth a late and splendid success. On the Rampage. There was a great big woman who came into a business office in Baltimore recently and asked for a geutlemau whom she presumed held out there. He was in, aud after a few words had p:vssed be tween the pair she thought she would whip him anyway, aud forthwith she be gan to carry out her avowed intention. Off came her bracelets, then her earrings aud breastpin, and she pronounced herself ready, like Pelhnm, for " either issue. " Then she pranced around lively. Over went the table, and a chair was thrown against the washstaud with damaging effect, by which time the object of her wrath had made his escape, and she pro ceeded forthwith to demolish another occupant of the office, but he, with Fal staff, agreed witli himself that the better part of valor i discretion, nnd lied. Then the woman g.it mad. Furniture, bo rm mid ink stands and such trifles, in one confused muss did not appease her wrath, and she sailed iu to take the win dow glass out of the sash, which she did with tine dramatic) effect, produced and aided by oaths quite loud aud shrill, which woke the neighborhood to wild excitement aud brought the police to the rescue. A hack was called, and tho irate female having been bestowed within, started homeward with the avowed inten tion of knocking seven kinds of grace "ont'n" her lniaband, and. the end is uot yet. Kwnrs at the St. John Fire. The second day of the fire which partially destroyed St. John, N. B., the firemen were so exhausted and food and drink bo scarce, that they asked for nourishment at any door they chanced to pass, Hour after hour went by and yet no nrtntement of the fury of the fire fiend. The revivals of the infernal regions seemed to have been visited upon this un fortunate city. Human power was un availing to stay the awful doom that swept from houre to house, laying one homo niter another to ashes, driving families of little children into the streets. The sick, the aged and infirm were obliged to seek refuge in parks or any open space that was considered reason ably safe by those who kindly assisted them out of the burning buildings. A panic seized the people. No spot seemed safe from the infectious foe. Men reeled in the streets who were known to be of temperate habits, and followed the crowd even to the verge of scorching, eager to see whose house would be the next to go. Food was not to be had for the poor outcasts. Even the pantries of the few rich whose houses were spared, were soon emptied for those who came to their doors to be fed. It seemed as if the elements had leagued with the fire fiend to prolong the torture until the city lay in ashes. The wind tore the dust from the streets into the air. and combined with hot smoke to blind the multitude, who waited in agony for the flames to spend their fury. There was a great deal of intoxication. Men drank to sustain their strength and to drown their Buf ferings. Along the principal business streets, a crowd of loafers, or human vultures, would pour into liquor and cigar stores to help themselves. Those in charge who were trying to save tho property, would throw out box after box of cigars, aud bottle after bottle of liquor to them, and beg them to go away and make room for them to work. When the jail became in danger, the prisoners were all in the main corridor wnitiiiff to know their doom. A young man called there to speak with a prisoner on busiuess. He was not permitted to enter ; but spoke through the bars. Ellis, the forger, asked him " if they would be allowed to roast alive." The jailor stood waiting orders, and when one end of the jail caught fire it was reported that a number were set free. This ter rible suspense must have been a sore reminder of their offenses and possible penalties. They acted like a lot of caged animals, so this gentlerrnn said. (Jil l Graduates' Frocks. Margaret E. Sangslee, in the CliHstian fittelligencc, tells the school girls what they should wear, as follows: Now, we are not in sympathy with that rigid economy which would impose ott girlu the wearing of calico on com mencement day. Calico is too plebeian to suit our ideas of the fitness of things, in that relation. It is suitable for the laundry, the kitchen, and the every day business of the household. She who sweeps, she who bakes, she who goes to a picuic, she who sits on the verauda with her mending of a summer morning, is neatly and appropriately dressed in a calico gown. Elaine, in her faded silk, was not so pretty or so picturesque os some lily maids we know when they came down to breakfast on a blithe Juno clay, arrayed iu graceful prints, with bows of ribbon at their neck nnd a spot less apron tied around the waist. But the prints aud the apron would not please us if worn to church or to an evening company, or on the crowning day of a young girl's hopes, at the recep tion of her diploma. Something more is needed, then, to meet tho require ments of fastidious fancy. That some thing is not far to seek. A white dress of plain muslin, simply trimmed, is within the reach of every school girl, and rich in her youth and beauty she needs nothing more elaborate. The stu dents of the most conspicuous and influ ential seminaries should set the fashion in this particular. Words of Wisdom. He who talks only of himBelf is soon left without an audience. Resist it as firmly, despise it as proudly as we may, all studied unkindness, no matter how contemptible it may be, has a stinging power in it which reaches to the quick. The silence of a person who loves to praise is a censure sufficiently severe. Adapt your food to your constitution and employment. A passionate temper renders a man unfit for advice, deprives him of his reasou, robs him of all that is great aud noble in his notuve, makes him unfit for con versation, destroys friendship, changes justice into cruelty, aud turns all order iuto confusion. The man who is trne to himself will be true to tho rest of mankind. The man who is taught in the school of experience will never forget the les sons learned there. Whenever the wandering demon of drunkedness finds a ship adrift he steps cm board, takes the helm aud steers straight for the maelstrom. Fruit Protectors, The cheapest and best of these I ever employed was a tame hawk, says a cor respondent. The summer before last it was tethered by the leg in the strawber ry quarter, with a large 6tone for a perch, and neither nryself nor others ever saw a bird near the fruit. The black birds nnd thrushes got so accustomed to the s'ght of him that they perched on the wall a bit off, flapping their wings, and uttering that peculiar 'to-whip" which they often give iu the presence of dan ger' ; but they ventured no nearer. The hawk was tam but never familiar with any one, except ft black cat which had been brought up in the same basket with it. It was fed with birds caught in the net on the gooseberry quarter, and it uiade nucomniouly short work of them, but did not deign to pick the bones which the cat, in a general way, polished off. Tho hawk which was singularly timid when it got dark, was last winter killed by a rat, during the night, in one of the greenhouses where it took shelter, TIIE ORIGIN OP MONTENEGRO. Karly History of the Hrnve Herbs Who Kc Tolled front the Turks nnd Curried a. I'rlntlnn Press Into the JHonnlnln with Them. It is sometimes said in relation to in dividuals that the world does not know its greatest men. It might at least as safely be averred, in speaking of large numbers, that Christendom does not know its most extraordinary people. The name of Montenegro until the last two years was, perhaps, less familiar to the European public) than that of Mexi- eo, and little more than that of San Marino. Aud yet it would long ere this have risen to world-wide fame had there been a Scott to tell tho marvels of its history or a Byron to spend and be spent on its behalf. For want of the vatea sacer it has remained in the mute, in glorious condition of Agamemnon's pre decessors. I hope that an interpreter between Montenegro and the world has at length been found in the person of my friend Mi. Tennyson, aud I gladly accept the honor of haviug been invited to supply a commentary to his text. In attempting it I nm sensible of this disad vantage that it is impossible to set out the plain facts of the history of Monte negro (or Tsernagora in its otfn Sclav onic tongue) without begetting in the mind of any reader strange and nearly all are strange to the snbject a restless suspicion'of exaggeration or of fable. The vast cyclone of Ottoman conquest, the most formidable that the world has ever seen, having crossed the narrow sea from Asia in the fourteenth century, made rapid advances westward and blast ed, by its successive acquisitions, the fortunes of countries the cliief part of which were then among the most civi lized, Italy alone being excepted, of all Efirope. I shall not here deal with the Hellenic lands. It is enough to say that Bulgaria, Serbia fas now known), Bos nia, Herzegovinia, Albania gradually gave way. Amoug the Serbian lands was the flourishing principality of Zeta. It took its name from the stream that flows southward from the mountain citadel toward the lake of Scutari. It comprised tho territory know as Montenegro or Tsernagora, together with the 6eaward frontier, of which a niggnrdly and un worthy jealousy had not then deprived it, and with the rich and fair plaius encir oliug tiie irregular outline of the inhos pitable mountain. Land after laud had given way; but Zeta ever stood firm under the Baiculd family. At last, in 1478, Scutari was taken on the south, and in 1483 the ancestors of the still brave population of "Herzegovina on the north submitted.to the Ottomans Ivan Tcheruoiveitch, the Montenegrin hero of the day, hard pressed on all sides, ap plied to the Venetians for the aid he had often given, and he was refused. There upon he, and his people with him, quit ted, in 1484, the Bnnny tracts in which they had basked for some seven hundred years, and sought, on the rocks and amidst the precipices, surety for the two gifts, by far tho most precious to man kind their faith and their freedom. To them, as to the pomaks of Bulge ria aud the Bosnian Begs, it was open to pur chase by conformity a debasing peace. Before them, as before others, lay the trinoda ncccasita the alternatives of death, slavery or the Koran. They were not to cue, lor tney had a work to uo, To the Koran or to slavery thev pre ferrcd a life of cold, want, hardship and perpetual peril. Such is their Magna Uiiurta; ami, without reproach to others. it is, as far as I know, the noblest in the world. To become a center for his mountain home Ivan had built a monastery at Cittinje, and declared the place to be the metropolis of Zeta. What i3 most of all remarkable in tho whole transaction is that ho carried with him into the hills a printing press. This" was in 1484, in a petty principality; they were men worst ed m war and flying for their lives. Again, it was only "seven years after the earliest volume had been printed bv Caxton in the rich and populous metro polis of England, and when there was no printing press iu Oxford or in Cam bridge or in Edinburgh. It was only sixteen years after the first printing press had been established (1468) iu Borne, tho capital of Christendom; only twenty-eight years after the appearance (1456) of the earliest printed book, the nrst born of the great discovery. Then aud there they voted unani mously their fundamental law, that in time of war against the Turk no sou 6f Tsernagora could quit the field without the order of his chief; that a runaway snouid ue torever ttisgraced ana ban ished from his people; that he should be dressed in woman's clothes and pre sented with a distaff; and that the women, striking hTln with their distaffs, should hunt the coward away from tho sanctuary of freedom. Mr. O'ladxtone, in the London Nineteenth Century. The Flag. On the occasion of the celebration of the " Centennial of the Flog" by the New York Historical Society, an interesting paper concerning the origin of the flag was read bv General Hamilton Schuyler. Among other reminiscences, it was men tioned that the stars and stripes, as a flag, was first displayed iu battle by Col. Peter GansevoortatFortStanwich, since Fort Schuyler, near the city of Rome, m New lork, when besieged by St. Leger and attacked on the ninth of Au gust 1777. The blue of the union of the flag was made out of Captain Swartwout's clouk, and the white stars aud stripes out of pieces of his shirt 6ewed together, aud the red stripes were furnished by the scarlet cloak of one of the women of the beleaguered garrison, such cloaks being much worn at that time in this country. Paul Jones, in command of the Banger, demanded aud received from the French admiral iu Quiberon bay, coast of Brittany, tho first salute to the titars and stripes ns adopted 100 years ago, gun for gun, it having beeu before that event the usage of Europe t j salute the flag of a republic with four guns less than were fired to salute the flag of a crowned potentate. When the flag was first adopted by Congress iu 1777, it was the design to add a new star and stripe whenever a now State was admitted to the Union. But iu 1818 Congress de cided that only a star be added. There are now thirty-eight, including one for Colorado recently admitted to the Union, The Mosques of Constantinople. There are mnnnnes in Stamboul that rival St. Sophia in magnitude and splen dor. The Mosque of Suleiman is con sidered one of the most glorious monu ments of Osmanli architecture. The court facing the entrance is surmounted on three sides with colonnades, which are covered with twenty-three domes, A fonntain with a cupola stands in the center of the court ; the minarets spring from the four corners of an outer cjTirt. The effect is very striking and elegant. Attached to this mosque are numerous endowments three schools, four acade mies for the four sects of tho faithful, aud another for the reading of the Koran, a school of medicine, a hospital, a kitchen for the poor, a resting place for travel ers, a library, a fountain, a house of refuge for strangers aud a mausoleum. Several of the imperial mosques are as richly endowed. Mohammedan charity begins at mosque, and all good Mussul mans are very much at home in their houses of prayer. The fourteen great mosques aro built upon the self same plan. Tho mosques measure 225x205 feet, and are inclosed on the entrance side by a forecourt, aud iu the rear by a garden or cemetery. Besides these imperial mosques there are about 220 others, built by individuals of inferior rank, and 300 or more chapels, some of which are chiefly frequented by women. The Doves' Mosque, or the Mosque of Bajazct II., in Stamboul, has a special charm. Tho building was completed in 1505. The court is exceedingly beauti ful. You enter by gates elaborately decorated in arabesque ; the cloister that surrounds the court is inclosed by a range of columns of porphyry nnd verde antique, with capitals of white marble ornamented in arabesque. In the center of the court is a marble fountain under a canopy, and sheltered by a cluster of fine trees. As you enter the court, you hear the roar of wings, and for a moment the air is darkened with the sudden flight of myriads of doves. These birds the offspring of a pair purchased from a poor woman by Sultan Bnjnzet, aud presented to the mosque are as sacred as was the ibis of old. A grave and reverend fellow, with a huge turban, sits .under the cloister and sells grain to the faithful and the fickle. The former feed the doves for charity ; tho latter for fun. While the fountain is knee-deep with swarming birds and the trees clogged with them, and all the eaves of the cloister lined, and even the high galleries of the slender minarets not unvisited by these feathered der vishes, you throw a handful of wheat into the court, and, like a thundercloud, the whole tribe swoops upon you with tho .rush and the roar of a Btorm. They crowd one another, and heap them selves together and stand on their heads in their eagerness" to get a morsel of grain. In a moment some one enters the court, and the birds take flight, stirring the wind in the cloister a ad filling the air with soft, floating down. The Digestion or au Ostrich. All our fond old beliefs are disappear ing one after the other. Nero was, it now appears, a rather estimable monarch than otherwise; Bichard tho Third had a great number of good points in his character, and now we are informed that the digestion of the ostrich is by no means what people imagined. The bird is generally considered capable of enjoy ing life heartily on a diet of tenpenny nails and copper bolts. Ia fact he is supposed to possess tho happy faculty of assimilating any substance, whether hard or sott, without the trouble of mastica tion. Whether this theory holds true or not in regard to metals and stones, it now appeal's to be a complete delusion in respect to the bird's digestion of flimsy TT' A- , nines, nis interior economy may oe capable, perhaps, of con knockers into food, but it converting uoor- is altogether non-enechve with lace and hue linen, This novel fact iu natural history is es- tablished by a correspondent of Land and Water, who, about eight months ago, brought home au ostrich from Bueuos Ayres. The interesting pet was duly established in a garden, where he had the run of everything, including tho green crops and wall nails. Perhaps these supplies fell short for a time, or the bird may have wished to vary his diet. At all events, he began to commit depredations on whatever garments were placed out to dry on washing days in the garden. The cook's Sunday cap was the first article missing; afterward other ar ticles vanished, the final theft being that of three lace collars. Soon after partak ing of this light meal that feathered yournet began to show signs of indispo sition, and, iu spite of the best medical advice, he gradually wasted away, until death relieved from fiu'ther suffering. On a post mortem being held, it was discovered that the lace collars, coupled with two baked potatoes, had proved too much for the bird's digestive power. His death was thus duo like many hu man misfortunes to the love of dainty dress. Iu a primitive state of society, such as ostriches are accustomed to, strings of beads generally fulfill the purposes of lace collars, and beads are digestible enough by ostriches. How, then, was tho poor bird to have known that the means which serve civilized belles for the enslavement of nieu are not equally innocuous ? For the future, when it is said of any man that " he has the digestion of an ostrich," it will be necessary to understand that the simile only holds good in regard to substantial articles of dietary. i . . 3 ;.';':' 1 . -: A School Girl's Fate.v Mary Ella Harrington, a Boston school girl, went to visit a friend iu Newton, and her family never saw her afterward. Her movements after sho lwted from the Newton friend could not be trace I A few days after hpr disappearance her mother received this note, written in a masculine hand : " I send you this so that you needn't worry for me. I havo found a friend and I am never corning back any more, at least for a good long while. My friend is writing this because I have burned my hand." The police searched thoroughly for the girl, "but did not find her. This was last fall, oud public interest in the case was thorough ly aroused. Her body was found in tho river at Lowell, the other day, and the truth seems to be that she was murdered by the man who sent the note, whoever tie is, ABOUT SLEEP. How Many Hours ore Needful In Different ('uses. It is often said, " better wear out than rust out." Very true, if one were com pelled to choose between the two; but what necessity is there for doing either ? Our Americau people are certainly in little danger of "rusting out," and such a nervous, wiry, restless people may be too tough to wear out easily. The num ber of long-lived persons to be found in almost every town would indicate that, as a people, we are hord to kill. But it is not the loss of life that is to be appre hended from the hurried, energetic way in which our countrymen rush into and dash through everything they undertake as the wear and tear of the nervous system. Too little sleep is an evil injurious to old and young which is little noticed by those who should have carefully guarded the health of those under their influence. Those who frequent places of fashionable amusements parties, balls, theaters or concerts are invariably kept up late, aud on reaching home are wakeful from the unnatural excitement, the miserable practice of late suppers, and the tea and coffee, if nothing stronger, that is pro vided. But, though they seek the bed at most unseasonable hours, if they are people of business or compelled to attend to household cares they canuot afford to regain lost sleep by late rising; or if young, and with no cares that are impe rious, a long sleep after the sun is up is not half so refreshing or healthful as if it was secured iu the night the natural time for sleep. Some foolish king once said; "Six hours are enough for a man, seven for a woman, eight for a fool." How many mothers with young children obtain seven hours of quiet sleep ? If by chance they and many others could secure eight hours they ought not to be charged with folly. The amount of sleep supposed to be necessary to secure good health and steady nerves depends mucn upon tue nature of the occupation through the .lay, but still more upon the constitu tion. Some are so nervously active that they consider a few hours' rest sufficient; ami even iu sleep they find no respite in their dreams. If one expostulates with them for giving too few hours to rest and sleep they will assure you that they need no more, and that they are as fresh aud bright iu the early morning and through the day as they would be if they had "wasted" double the time in bed. Such people are sure to pay heavily in later years for the rest of which they robbed their youth. A sleep which is but a pretense half sleeping half waking is iudicative if some unnatural strain upon the nerves. A healthy, sound sleep, which gives per-' leer rest to all the functions 01 the brain and the entire nervous system, will re store the vigor used up through a -day of active mental or physical labor, and mind and body thus refreshed and strengthened during the hours of dark ness will spring up elastic with the first blush of morning light eager for renewed work, which after such a healthful sleep becomes a pleasure. Infants need a 1 the sleep they can be induced to take. Sleeping anil eating are nil that can be expected of them. Their rapidly developing bodies demand this and if healthy will secure it, and oil the way up from infancy, through child hood, there is littlo fear of their sleeping too much. Hut when the body is fully matured, from seven to eight hours, ac cording to the nature of the daily avoca tions, is a fair supply for good health if taken at the proper hours for sleep. after the " early to bed, early to rise " rote. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, occasionally, after some season of great excitement or exhaustion, such as cannot always be avoided. Mental labor demands more sleep than physical lahor; but from mature youth to past middle age more than eight hours iu bed is debilitating. If some peculiar temperaments and some avocations re quire more than that amount of sleep, better a half hour or an hour even in the middle of the day. When old age draws uear more sleep will bo required, of course. As a general rule if the body and miud have full exercise through the day, if the supper is light, aud the evening is spent iu a happy, quiet and sensible manner; if one retires to a well-ventilated cham ber, and keeps it so through the night. a sound and healthy sleep will be the natural result almost as soon as the head touches the pillow; on the contrary, if the evenings are spent in work or amuse ments that require late hours, the same excitement which compels that will fol low one to the bed, aud fevered, fitful dreams will be the result, from which one rises more languid and weary thau when he retired. Voonsockct Patriot. The Great M'all or China. Kalgan commands one of the passes through tho great wall of China. It is there built of large stone, cemented to gether with mortar. It tapers toward the top, being twenty-one feet high and twenty-eight feet wide at the foundation. At the most important points, less than a mile apart, square towers are erected, built of bricks. It winds over the crest of the mountains, crossing tho valleys at right angles, blocking them with fortifi cations. The Chiue.se estimate its length to be about three thousand three hundred miles, but iu parts more remote from Pekin the wall is of inferior con struction. There is nothing but a dilapi dated mud rampart, as Colonel Preje valsky saw it on the borders of Ala-slum and Kansu. It is said to have been built upward of two centuries before Christ, to protect the empire against the in roads of the neighboring nomads ; but the periodical irruptions of the barba rians were never checked by this artifi cial barrier. Never Despair. One of the Scotch judges rather noted for his light treat ment of serious punishments had once sentenced a man, convicted of sheep stealing, to be hanged on the 28th of the then onrrent month. The prisoner when being conducted out of the dock, turned round to the judge, who was buBy ar ranging his papers previous to leaving the court, aud cried out : "My lord, my lord, I haena got justice here the day !" The judge looking up from his occupa? tion with a twinkle of grim fuu ia his eye, consolingly answered 1 "Weel, weel. my man, ye'U get it on the 28th." Familiar Voiced. Down in the deep, tip in the sky, 1 see them always, far or nigh. And I shall see them till I die The old familiar faces. They have long forgotten mine But 1 remember every lino, The old familiar faces, Ah 1 nothing e'er replaces The old familiar faces. And all day long, so close and neAr, As in a mystic dream I hear Their gentle accents kind and dear The old familiar voices. They have no Bound that I can roach Bnt silence sweeter is than speech ; The old familiar voices ! Nothing my heart rejoices Like the old familiar voices. Items of Interest. Slaves of the ring Engaged maidens. A beastly storm 'When it rains cats and dogs. Ho that would put money in his fob, must do the work or boss the job. Nevada's the place to live iu everybody mines his own business out there. Crockery dealers alwayB delight In seeing other people do a smashing business. Thus far In 1877 thirtv-seven persons havu been executed in the United States for murder ! The mind wakes from its ambrosial dreamsof flowers and spicy zephyrs and noetic Bunsots to the consciousness of a first boil. A New Englander writes homo from tho Black Hills that there are as many wise men going out every day as there are fools coming in. If any potato bug believed that the fashion able color thiB year was to be yellow, he hnB been badly disappointed. It is green paris green. After a boy is tired -out hoeing potatoes, nothing seems to rest him more than to dig over a few square rods of green sward in search of bait. A politician who was a great stickler for equality in all things, perceiving two crows fly ing side bi side, exolaimed: "Aye, that is just as it should be ; I hate to see one crow over another." The longest sentence on record was con structed bv a Western udi;e. He sentenced a murderer "for life, and afterward slapped two more years to the sentence because the prisoner called" him "no gentleman." " It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back," as the fellow murmured when his girl said she would have cake with her ice cream, and the consciousness dawned upon him that he had only twenty cents in his pocket. At tliia uptiann nf the vear there is something discouraging to the heaven born genius which despises conventionalities, in the spectacle of a man who wears a winter hat and endeavors to secure the recognition of his friends. An Irish gentleman parting with a lazy servant woman was asked, with respect to her industry, whether she was what is termed afraid of work. "Oh! not at all," said he ; "not at all; she'll frequently lie down and fall asleep by the very side of it.1' Now is the time for lovers to get spoony over ice cream, she taking a few pretty dabs at his vanilla, and he borrowing a taste of her cho colate. This process inspires confidence in the day when they will be throwing corned beef aud cabbages across the table. The song of the jail bird is in many bars. Herald P. I. Man. 80 is the song of the soap maker. Detroit Free Pre. So is the Bong of the toper. Socfwuter Democrat. 80 is the song of the Mississippi pilot. -A'cmi 1'orA; traphic. So is the song of the mosquito. During a late storm 0110 of Burlington's best young men was struck by lightning. Bnt fortunately escaped serious injury. The bolt struck one of the points of his standing collar, hut long before it could get down to the young man's neck the electric fluid cave it up and curled up exhausted, about half way down the collar, used up. Musings by the Blue Danube. A war correspondent writes: Notwith standing the fatigue of the day, I have sat quite late in my solitary room writ ing this letter. There is no postal ser vice between here and Constantinople. All letters are sent privately to the Brit ish consul at Varna, who forwards them to the English postmaster at Pera. It is a beautiful moonlight night, and there is a hush everywhere like that which precedes the storm. From my window I can hear the low, sullen swash of the swollen Danube, and can see the dull outlines of the Turkish gun-boat lying above the town. Anon it will move down to where its mate is patrolling for Russian pontooniers, and will steam back before daybreak. I am told that the Turks have thirty thousand troops here, armed mostly with Henry-Martini rifles. They all appear to be good sol diers. I saw one of the best regiments this evening that I have seen in Turkey. It was composed of stalwart fellows with thei r heads sluived in the Mussulman style, with the tuft of hair on the apex for the an gels to seize them by aud lift them from tho battle-field to Paradise. There is a strangeness in my situation, which I can not help realizing. It is indeed odd, that I have traveled seven thousand miles, to sleep here to-night in this his toric spot the advance position and cen tral point of the great war, and under the very nose of a Russian battery. I am the only bona fide American news paper correspondent lying on this edge of the Danube to-night, and that is something. I shall sleep some, I know, for I am tired and well nigh worn out with sight-seeing and excitement. But it will not be the sleep of one who gath ers the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams, for I can't dismiss the unpleasant reflection, that at least two of those somber guns in that Russian battery over the river are pointing toward the second story of the Hotel Islah-hane. Possibly a Good Speculation. A California millionaire, whose daugh ter will shortly marry a French count, is to pay the groom $100,000 cash down, before the ceremony takes place, that being the price demanded by the conde scending foreigner for consenting to share his title with an American born young woman. The figure seems high, but the investment may uot prove to be such a bad speculation after all. A good mauy of these European couuts turn out to bo very clever cooks or stylish hair-dressers, aud should the ambitious papa's mine incontinently peter out , or he get swamped at tho stock board, a first class foreign artist in victuals or hair will be found mighty handy to have about the house. Such fellows com mand fabulous salaries in San Francisco when times are flush, and they are al. ways able to make a pretty good living when they are willing to set about it. They are a little - too "much given to, beating their wives, however, when the day of adversity comes, to make desira bio sons-in-law as genera rule,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers