if -(::; Cf ENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDTJMi Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. VII. RIDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1877. NO. 37. V Living on a Farm. How brightly through the mist of years, My quiet country home appears t My father, busy all the day In plowing corn, or raking hay j x My mother, moving with delight Among her milk-pans, silver bright ) We children just from school set free, Filling the garden with our glee ! The blood of life was flowing warm When I was living on a farm. I heard the sweet church-going bell As o'er the fields its music fell. I see the oomitry neighbors round Gathering 'neath the pleasant sound They stop awhile beside the door, To talk the homely matters o'or The springing corn, the ripening grain And " how we need a little rain." " A little sun would do no harm, We want good weather for the farm.' When autumn came, what joy to see The gathering of the husking bee, To hear the voices keeping tune, Of girls and boys beneath the moon, To make the golden corn-ears bright, More golden in the yellow light ! Since 1 have learned the ways of men, I often turn to these again, And feel life wore its highest charm, When I was living on a farm. MISS DABNEY. It bad been universally conceded among Louise Dabney's friends that she was not a favorite with gentlemen that fortune so essential to feminine well-being. Whether it was from lack of beauty (though about that there were diversi ties of opinion), or because of a cold and critical manner, a certain reserve, irre sponsive to the masculine touchstone, an innate detestation of flirtation, of making an effort to please one sex more thau another, who could say ? Louise was herself aware that she inspired the masculine heart with no serious senti- ment3,andhe may have wondered secret ly by what spells other girls who were not bo well bred nor so intelligent,and cer tain y no fairer, gathered groups of loverB about them, while she stood by, alone and uncared for not that she coveted a plurality but what charm had they to which she could not aspire? Every woman loves admiration, and it is not to be supposed that Louise Dabney was superior to this amiable weakness. " Louise has never had a flirtatiou, a love affair or a proposal," her friends would have told you ; but they were not quite correct in their verdict. She had had "an interest," to put it mildly, ever since that dreadful night on the Continent when her uucle had been brought lifeless into the little out-of-the-way place among ... the mountains, and had left her aloue among people speaking an unfamiliar jargon, with the sea rolling between herself and home; and Loriug Northcote - had come to her aid, though a totid strange'-, had taken her burdens upon . himself, aud had been like a shadow in ' a weary land to the desolate girl, aud had finally escorted her home across the sea, with his widowed sister as chaperon. Since that period there had been more or less intercourse between them, to be sure, but the half-tender regard he had manifested toward her had seemed to crystalize, without developing into any thing more personal and particular. " It is only his way with all women," she said, and excused him in her heart. And when she had thanked him for all his kindness, and suid : " How can I ever reward you ?" " By always com ing to me when yon need kindness," he had answered, but he thought : . "She is less emotional that a sphinx." And though Louise had more than half ex pected that their relations would grow closer as time sped, had, perhaps, some' right to expect it,- yefcMf.: Northcote had never advance aP "-xunearer ; and "I if she had nbandou&j tfhe flame still smouldered, reacty i Rekindled by a word, a touchy qfoody the wiser, not even the interJfrimd8, who thought Louise neglected her op portunities ; that any other girl would have had an offer, at least, under the circumstances. It was the following season, which she spent at the fine old mansion of a friend, when, seeing the company dispersing day after day Ivy twos, she resolved to amuse herself like the rest to do as the Romans. Every woman likes to believe that she has her own little attractions', and how was she to make sure of it if she attracted nobody? Besides there was nothing else to do. To abstain from the popular amusement seemed like reproaching those who engage in it. Mr. Leroy appeared to adopt her views. If she walked, he followed like her shadow; if the river allured, his boat was at hand ; if driving were iu order, he handled the reins like a Jehu. Their acquaintance had begun, moreover, under the most favorable auspices, to take a romantic view of it. She had dis covered that ber pocket had been picked on the cars of both money and tickets. A handsome stranger steps forward to the relief of the distressed damsel ; grati tude on one hand, gallantry on the other; he has established a claim to conversation, and discovers that they are both bound for the same hospitable roof at Valley Farm. Could a flirtation be ushered in more propitiously ? "Really," whispered Mrs. Furniss, a fornight later, sitting on the veranda and looking toward Louise, who sat iu the hammock which Leroy was lazily swinging, "I believe Miss Dabuey has made an impression." "Who is Mr. Leroy ?" asked the gen tleman to whom she spoke, and who had just arrived in the last train. "A capital catch. " Alliterative at leat. And has Miss Dabney landed him V" " She could if she would. It isn't bis fault if she hasn't." "I shouldn't say that Miss Dabney was susceptible." "How did you find that out, Mr. - Northcote ?" laughed the hostess. "By natural processes, I believe." "I'm told she isn't a favorite with your sex; but exceptions prove the rule. I never knew her to have a flirtation before, I confoes." " Is this a flirtation ?" " On her side, yes, It's her very in difference that attracts Leroy. He's used to being made much of, and to have the girls thrown at his bead, so to speak. As she doesn't want to marry him, she can afford to be audacious." " I didn't think she would condescend to flirt." " Yon seem to have made a study of Miss Dabney. I think she didn't wish to be left out in the cold. All my guests seem to be paired off this season. You will have to devote yourself to me, Mr. Northcote, unless I import another blessed damosel.'" " Don't, I beg ; I am content with the blessings the gods have provided." " You might dispute Louise with Mr. Leroy, to be sure. " True. Let us begin by interrupting the tete-a-tete." " Mr. Northcote," said Louise, " this is a pleasure for which Mrs. Furniss had not prepared us." " Excuse mo, but your friond doesn't look as if he regarded it in that light," said Northcote, aside. " I hope I am not de trap." " I didn't know that such humility as that hopo suggests was a trait of your sex." "Shall I go away again?" "Why, certainly not, immediately; it would look as if I had snubbed you." " And I'm not sure but you have." It was doubtless pleasant to have a spectator witness her refutation of the popular prejudices respecting her want of attraction, and that the spectator should be Mr. Northcote added piquancy to the affair. " At leat he will see that somebody finds me worth cultivating," she reflected . But in spite of this she found herself incapable of entering into the spirit of flirtatiou with the same un concern after Northcote's arrival. She felt a perpetual insane desire tD shorten the walks and drives, that she might hasten back to his neighborhood, and know just how he was passing the time, that she might see his face and hear his voice. But the further sho withdrew, the closer Leroy pursued, the old adage that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush not holding good in love affairs. The family had been picnicking in the woods one ofternoou, where the pine needles made a carpet, and a frolicsome brook capered and bubbled down from its mountain source. Leroy and Louise had wandered away to collect brush wood to boil the tea-kettle, but had gathered flowers instead; and when the sunset had begun to fade, and warned them to return to their party, they found it was something more easily said than done. After some time spent in a vain search for the right path, they seated hemselves on a mossy log till Louise should recover breath and strength, and studied such fragments of constellations as peered through the branches over head, and listened to the lonely pathos of the whip-poor-will, and made the place ring with their chorus, not much daunted by the situation, Leroy happv enough in .'lie protracted seclusion which bad be I callen Jura. .Later ho had waxed senti mental uud poetical, and she had laughed at and interrupted his loftiest flights. "Were you ever in love, Mis Dab uey?" he asked. " Scores of times ; from the age of six. Isn't that everybody's experience ?" " Not mine," he returned. " I was never in love but once. " " And who was the happy creatnre ?" she asked, recklessly, thinking he re ferred to some hobbledehoy era. "Who was she ? Why do you speak in the sad imperfect ?" " You don't mean to say " " I mean to say that the only woman I ever loved, or shall love, is " "Oh, hark!" cried Louise, rising. " I hear footsteps pardon the digres sion. ' Lo, the conquering hero comes !' " she sang. "Oh, Mr. Northcote, how glad I am to see yon ! I didn't know as weshoul get home till morning," as that ger .jman waved the brand he had stolen Jm their gypsy fire and shouted, "EiuWal" "I didn't know but I was dc trop again, when I found yon and Leroy tak iug it so cozily," said Northcote, 'later, as he opened Mrs. Furniss' garden gate for Louise to enter, Leroy having been already captured by the hostess. "I feared 1 had mistaken my vocation, and had not been cut out for a discoverer." "Indeed, I was never so glad to see you in my life." " Really ? Was it so bad as that ? " We were so hungry." "I thonght Leroy looked as if be would like to eat me." " I doubt if you would be tender." " I could be, Miss Dabney, depend on it both tender and true. There, don't start. ion thought you had os- i caped Charybdis only to fall upon Seylla. I Upon my word, I was afraid you would have accepted Leroy before I could find you." "Yon thought I was to be had for the asking." " I feared you were not to be had at all." "But why should yon have cared if I had accepted forty Mr. Leroys ? "Because, in the first place, it would be a little unusual, and because I thought you might do better." " Thank yoH. I will go iu now. Were there any letters to-night, Mm. Fur niss?" " Hera are two for Mr. Loring North cote, ditto for Miss Mellish, and one yes, one for Miss Dabney," replied that lady. " I don't know the hand," said Louise, turning it over and studying the post mark. . " Fairfield. I never heard of the place before. Some mistake, I fear. " " Fairfield," repeated Leroy, catching the word, and speaking on the impulse, with a heightened color. "It's anew summer resort. There's some sort of water there good for blues and bilious ness." - Louise opened the letter. "Miss Dabney" (it began), "You may think it an intrusion for me to ad dress you, but I hear that you are staying at Valley Farm.under the same roof with Mr. Leroy, and that he is falling a victim to your cruel spell. I beg you send him back to me. He is mine ; be is all I have. I can not live without him. Be fore be met yon, he was all my own. Have mercy, and send him back to me heart-whole I What will it signify to you ? only one conquest the lees among your Bcores. while it will mean either life long misery or happiness, as you may cuoose, to JjIzettb IjAYton. The gentlemen bad gone to the smoking-room, and the ladies of the house were chatting merrily about her as she read. Mr. Leroy had been trembling on the brink of a proposal that very night, and yet he was engaged to be married, now dared he mention love to her t But had she been blameless? Hadn't she flirted deliberately with another girl's lover? What disaster bad she not wrought in her mod pursuit of an ad miration which she did not value 1 What should she say to him ? How could she send him back ? At what expense had her vanity been flattered ? Just to prove that she was attractive like other women, she had worked this wrong. To be sure, she had bad no experience to guide ber. She had supposed that the boundaries of flirtation and love-making were more clearly defined. She had never meant to make Leroy love her ; but, whatever she had meant, it was all one to his poor foolish Lizette. Her regrets and self accusations beset her so sorely that she was obliged to leave the gay raillery about her and take refuge upon the ver anda, where the shadows hid ber ; and leaning ber bead against the lattice, where the dew-drenched passion-flowers shook out their sweetness, the hot tears filled and overflowed her eyes, and sobs seemed to tear her heart asunder. " 'Tears, idle, tears,' Louise," whis pered some one whose neighborhood she had not beedfd. "Can I belr you I Shall I stay and try ?" " Nobody can help mo, Mr. North cote I have done such a dreadful thing I I have yes, I have been flirting with another woman's lover. She has written to tell me bo to beg I will send him back to her. He is all she has, she says. And I I don't care a fig for him ; and what' shall I do if he asks me to marry him, as he may, you know ?" "As he would have done, if I hadn't arrived in the nick of time, to-night." " What shall I do ? How shall I send him back heart-whole ?" " You would avoid the dreaded ques tion, I fancy, if he were to hear to-morrow that that -,yon belonged to some body else ; that some one had stolen a march on him if be were to hear that you belonged- -to me. " " Oh, Mr. Northcote, to you I You don't want to own such a mischief maker." "I want to own you, Louise." Mr. Leroy, strolling out from the smoking-room, was petrified by the shadow of a pair of embracing lovers, cast by the late rising moon. " Check mated, by Jove !" he muttered, reflec tively. " No fun hanging about here ony longer. I had better go bock to Lizette." Harper's Jiazar. An Editor's Sanctum A few mornings ago, just after we had swept up and made our bed look as plump as a soda biscuit, we were sur prised at hearing a modest rap ot the door. Callers seldom rap they usually kick. When wn answered the summons we found two ladies awoiting entrance. They told us they'd always had a curios ity to see how an editor's sanctum looked aud begged the privilege of entering and looking 'round. They spent the next half hour in extravagant praise of our furniture, etc. " How spotlessly clean he keeps his Brussels carpet it looks as fresli and bright as it' it had just come from the loom," said one ; and the other chimed in with " Yea, and do look how sweetly that bed is made up. Those pillows look like snow heaps and the symmetrical plumpness of the bed is something wonderful." And thus they went on, now bestowing the most extrav agant laudations upon our statuary and oil paintings, and then going into ecsta cies over the diamond studded chandelier. They looked with udmiration upon our gold-mounted spittous and wondered were we got the enchanted soap with which our towel had been washed. They fairly shrieked their appreciation of our beautiful lace curtains and stared-iu mute admiration before our golden-framed full-length mirror. " Is this indeed an editor's quarters, or are we in fairy land?" one of them gasped, and the other, sinking on the luxurious sofa, sobbed, "I do not know I am be wildered by the magnificence around me. Heigho ! The above, alas, is merely a fable. It is true that we were called upon by two ladies, but ye gods ! what a spectacle met their gaze. When they entered we crawled under the bed among the old boots and sardine cans and re mained there till they left. Their de risive laughter still rings iu our ears Their sarcastic remarks still lacerate our bosom. lYanfrtin (A't.) Patriot. A Brave Russian (icneral's Origin. The Skobeleffs have a singular origin In 1839 the Emperor Nicholas, while at a review of his whole army, ordered a General Skobeleff to select the finest men in the army to form iuto a body of imperial guards. In the first regiment examined, the general came across a stalwart young soldier, who far surpassed his comrades in appearance. The soldier said that his name was Kobeleff, and that he came from a village in the province of Novgorod. The general, upon hear ing this reply to an inquiry he had made, seemed greatly interested, and being told that it was only tho youth of Kobe leffs that had hindered his advancement from the ranks, at once gave orders that he should be made a non-commissioned officer. That evening General Skobeleff, at a dinner given to the officers of the regiment to which Kobeleff belonged, told an anecdote. He said that many years before, when he was a private soldier, be was on guard one day at the Winter Palace. While keeping guard the empress passed by, and, after looking at him a few moments, asked him bis name. He replied that it was Kobeleff. " Kobeleff," said the empress; " I don't like the sound of that name ; for the future you are to be called Skob eleff." From that time the empress took an iaterest in his welfare, aud eventually, through her favor, he be came aide-de-camp to the czar. " I have only one more remark to make," said the general, "and that is that the young fellow whom I raised to be an officer to day is the son of the brother I left at home to look after our village home stead." The nephew took his nncle's name, and subsequently himself be came a general. It is his son, " Skob eleff the younger," who has just dis tinguished himself before Plevna. Abontthe most uncomfortable seat a man can have, in- the long run, is self FARM, GARDEN ASD HOUSEHOLD. The Crop mt Potatoes. Many farmers have large crops of potatoes that cannot be sold readily. Now, what is it best to do with them ? Shall they be sold for what they will bring, or is it best to put them in the cellars? Or in the absence of cellar room, is it best to cover them in the field ? When they can be sold at a fair profit, my advice is to sell them in the fall ; but if they cannot be thus sold, either store them in your cellor or bury them in the field, and trust to your chances to be able to Bell them during the winter around home, or to forward them to a market early in the spring, where there is transportation by water in April. Canals are of little benefit to pota toes growers except in the fall, as they are not open early enough in the spring. A great many potatoes can be sold in villages and large towns during the mild weather, and they must be sold before they sprout much, Potatoes are worth twenty-five cents a bushel to feed to stock raw to cows and horses and cooked with meal for swine. To buy potatoes in the field, seleot a J dace a little elevated and dig down as ow as you can drain the excavation. It may be two feet, one foot, or but a few inches, according to the drain that will command it. Suppose that you have 200 or 300 bushels to bury, the bed should be made abcut eight feet wide and as long as necessary, with the pota toes four or five feet deep in the center. When all are in position take long rye straw and set it against the two sides of the heap thick enough to shed rain. Then throw earth against the sides of the pile six or eight inches thick, but none at the top where the straw meets, as an air hole must be left open here till about the time when the ground may be ex pected to freeze, when a thick covering of earth all over must be applied. In cold climates, as in the Northern States, this covering should be from fifteen to eighteen inches thick ; and if the straw is wifl applied, the potatoes will stand any weather that may be expected. This system is better than to put them into deep pits, as was the custom fifty years ago. T. li. Miner. A Valuable Table for Farmer. The following table contains the number of pounds in a bushel of the different articles named : Of Bran 12 lbs. Blue grass 14 " Shorts 18 " Dried apples 25 " OaU 32 " Dried peaches 33 " Hemp seed 41 " Timothy seed 45 " Castor beans 46 " Barley , 48 " Flax seed 66 " live 58 " Shelled corn 615 " Onions 07 " Wheat 60 " Clover seed 60 " Mineral coal 70 " Bait 75 " Corn on cob 75 " Norway Women and Weddings. The womeu on holidays turn out in the old Norse costume, the chief feature of which is the bodice, which ia often made of some bright-colored velvet, turned down in front with white silk,and laced before and behind, according to our author, " with several yards of fine silver chain, each chain ending in a silver bodkin, in order that they may be the better threaded through double rows of eyes (in themselves strikingly pretty articles of silver), that run in four lines up the bock and front of this showy piece of Scandinavian haberdashery." Both men and women are very fond of largo bright buttons and of silver or plated ornaments. A Norse wedding is always preceded by a series of presents from the bridegroom to the bride. First, there are about two dozen meal- tubs of various sizes, elaborately painted ; aud last and crownmg glory of the trous seau, there is a wonderful clothes-press, Inside, as far as regards drawers large and small, and brass pegs and racks for crockery, it is a marvel of ingenuity ; while outside it is a perfect triumph of art. The ground tint is a warm bright vermilion, painted all over with green and yellow scrolls, enlivened with wreaths of gorgeous flowers, and piles of bril liantly hued fruit, pleasingly interspersed with quaint lover s knots and bleeding hearts transfixed upon Cupid's darts, in the midst of which are the names and birth-dates of the liberal donor and blissful recipient of this magnificent wedding-gift. A Norwegian maiden. who is generally as sober as a linnet in lier ordinary att ire, appears on her bridal day glittering in all the colors of the rainbow. On her long fair hair is Bet an antique crown of silver gilt ; and her bodice, stin as a cuirass, is thickly studaeu witn beads, suver-gut brooches, and small mirrors. This bridal adorn ment is too valuable to be the individual nronertv of anv Norse belle, but belontrn to the district, and is hired out for the day. About Thiers. The prints abound now with pen sketches of Thiers. A writer in Apple ton's Journal says of him : To us he appeared a short, thick-set, square headed, bristling-haired, pugnacious lit tle mun, with a good deal of sparkle and good deal of obstinacy, brimming with ironv and " fight :" nervous, petulent. uneasy, and charged throughout bis diminutive body with a seemingly inex haustible vitality and force a physical trait well fitted to his strong, determined and bellicose character. Rather German than Frenoh in physiognomy, be was all Gallio and Marseillaise in his impetuous vivacity and demonstrative manner, Most engaging, no doubt, in conversa tion, and when talking in the social cir ole showing at once his brightest and his most amiable Bide, it was evident that he best enjoyed politioal life, especially when that life was freely checkered by a pandemonium of strifes of the forum. To see him in the tribune, with bis oup of coffee or bis class of claret by his side. his handkerchief in his hand, and his coal-black eyes glaring out from beneath the bier, sauare spectacles which he al ways affected, was to see him when his fullest force and genius were in play. He was a good hater, and probably never an orator lived who felt more keenlylhe luxury of forensic combat than Thiers did in his old-time contests with the prim and austere uuuui, A TERRIBLE ENCOUNTER. The Political Meeting that Ended In a Horrl. fylnn Combat Between an ex-l'nlted Ntates Minister and a Mall Aftent. A writer in a Western paper, giving some reminescences of Cassins M. Clay, once United States Minister to Russia, tells the following story of an appalling incident in his career : Mr. Clay's duel with Robert Wickliffe, Jr., grew out of some remarks made by the latter in a public speech when they were running for the Legislature in Fayette county, Ky. They fought on Mr. Clay's challenge, near Louisville, May 15, 1341, shots be ing exchanged without effect, owing, Mr. Clay has always bold (since both were dead shots), to the inferior quality of the powder employed. His seconds, one of whom was Albert Sidney Johnston, re fused to countenance Clay's deuiaud for another fire, and the tduel ended thus, but without a reconciliation, Three years later, when Garrett Davis was run ning (in the Whig interest) against Wickliffe for Congress, Mr. Clay warmly opposed Wickliffe, and followed him through the canvass, making a habit of publicly contradicting Wickliffe when he spoke. Wickliffe declared that he did not notice these interruptions because he thought Clay wanted to fasten another quarrel on him. Clay declares that Wickliffe's friends conspired to provoke him into a brawl at Russell's Cave, where a political meeting was to be held, An- gust 1, 181.4, a mail agent, Samuel JU. Brown, being summoned to Kentucky to do the work. The meeting was held ; Wickliffe spoke, and Clay interrupted his statement with a denial, pulling a paper from his pocket and announcing that he was prepared to prove his words. Brown then called him a liar and struck at him with an umbrella, Clay retorting with the butt-end of his whip. Suspect ing a concerted attack, Mr. Clay at tempted to draw his knife, but was seized and dragged a distance of fifteen feet. Releasing himself he heard Brown cry out, " Clear the way," and a line was immediately .opened between them, Brown with a cocked pistol in his hand taking deliberate aim at him. Clay ad vanced upon him with his knife. Brown waited until they were within four feet of each other, and fired. The bullet struck the silver mounting on the scab bard of Clay s knife, du-ectly over his heart. He was staggered by the shot, but reached Brown, and dealt him a ter rible blow directly on the top of his head, laying the skull open and exposing the brain. The friends of Brown again seized Clay, and caught his arms just above the elbows, which interfered with his handling his weapon, but in spite of it he continued hacking away at Brown's head and face, inflicting horrible injuries. tie cut out one of his eyes, split his nose, cut off an ear and sliced his face in a dozen pl-ices, so disfiguring him that his most intimate mends subsequently failed to recognize him. Clay himself was struck with chairs, canes ard fists by outsiders to make him desist, but with out effect, owing to his prodigious strength, until finally it was found necessary to throw Brown over an adjoin ing fence to prevent his being killed out right. The last blow Clay aimed at him struck the top of the fence, aud the mark remained there for many a vear. When the combat was over Clay raised his bloody knife aloft and cried out : "I reiterate my statement, aud defy anyone in this crowd to dispute it." No one. however, cared to challenge the accuracy ot Lis luiormatiou under the cirenni stances. For the offense of mayhem Mr. Clay was subsequently put on his trial, but Hx'owus evidence was so straightforward and truthful that it ac quitted him. Mr. Clay, impressed with his adversary's manliness, sought a re conciliation, but Brown rejected all his overtures. In October, 1845, Brown was killed in a fearful steamboat ex plosion ; ins son afterwards was an officer under Clay in the Mexican war and his warm friend. The Diamonds of Burundi. I lie indiau princes and nobles are greedy of diamonds beyond all people, and there is but one country in the world in which any product of nature is held more precious than this wonderful combustible gem, whose nature, indeed, we Know, but whose genesis is still a mooted question for science. That coun try is Burmah, the land of the white elephant, where the finest rubies shel tered in the earth s breast are found, and are rated far above diamonds. As the King of Siam prizes his cats. Bo the King of Burmah prizes the rubies of his country, jealously prohibiting the expoit oi them, so that the beautilul aluminous stones which do but clow with a clearer aud richer color when ex posed to a fire in. which the diamond would be consumed and disappear can only be procured by stealth or favor of private individuals. No European has ever been permitted to see the king's wonderful ruby "the size of a pigeon s egg, and. of extraor dinary quality;" and the sale of the two magnificent rubies which were brought to .England in 1B7S the finest ever known in Europe caused such excite ment that a military guard bad to escort the persons conveying the package to the ship. Five days' journey southeast of Ava lies the home of the blood-red gems, the jealous earth in which the people believe that they ripen, becoming from their original colorlessness yellow, green, blue and last of all, the matchless ruby-red. Next to these rank the rubies which are foriTWi in tliA Tftrfnr urilrla nf RnrlaVclinm and which the people there believe are always found in pairs. When one of the seekers has discovered one he will frequently hide it antil its mate be found. Oat of the World. Some half-dozen Scotchmen passed through Duluth. Minn., reoentfv. on thei" way from McKensie's river, which is 1,300 miles to the northwest from Duluth, and which rnns to the Arctic ocean. They went to that barren coun try some ten years ago from the islands to the north of Scotland by ship direct to Hudson's bay, and until they got to Fisher's Landing, on the St Paul & Pacifio railroad, on the'r return, they iiad never seen a railroad. They knew nothing abont the Franco-Prussian war, in fact they had been practically out of we woria. A DESPERATE DEFENSE. Thrlllluc Htory of the Mh of a Russian Fort la Asia Minor, a. Told by One of the Harrison. One of the most remarkable episodes of the present war, which, however, has not as yet received all the attention it deserves, is the defense of the fort of Bayezid in Armenia by a Russian gar rison, 3,000 strong, against a Turkish army numbering 20,000 men. The Mos cow Oazelte gives the following interest ing extracts from the private journal of one of the officers of the garrison : "June 10. The enemy has blockaded us on all sides, and intercepted the aque ducts. One cistern and a few bags of biscuits is all we have to live on. At night, by the light of the burning town beneath us, we saw the atrocities perpetrated by the Kurds on the help less inhabitants. It was horrible beyond description. Women and children were thrust alive into the flames and carried about the streets on lances, horribly mutilated and shrieking with anguish. Tho sight was so sickening that one of our officers was quite overcome by it and had an attack of brain fever that night. June 18. General assault of the Turk ish forces, which we succeeded iu repuls ing towards nightfall. Our rations have been reduced to half a pound of biscuit and one glass of water per diem. June 20. A parlimentary came with a sum mons for . us to surrender. Uur com mander answered that being so much stronger, the Turks could well try and take the citadel by storm. June 26. Our ration has been further diminished to a quarter of a pound of biscuit and two spoonfuls of stagnant, rotten water. We suffer terribly from hunger and thirst. After a day's hard fighting I am utterly prostrate and scarcely able to write these few Words. June 28. For two days and two nights we have been exposed to a terrific can nonade. On the 29th a general assault, which wo repulsed, followed by repeated injunctions to surrender, to which our answer was the same as before. July 1. -Our ration to-day is one-eighth pound of biscuit and one spoonful of water. Starvation is approaching rapidly. I have seen some of our men cut out slices of flesh from the half-putrified carcass of a horse and eat theni. July -Again a summons to surrender, this time written in Russian by a Pole in the Turkish service, Colonel Komaroff. Of course our answer remained unaltered. July 7. We have repulsed one more as sault. It is the last one. We cannot hold out much longer. Mines are laid out to blow up the citadel and the gar rison. It is better so than starve. July 10. The cannon I Never has any musio sounded so sweet to eur ears. It is General Tergukassoff, who comes to save us. I am so weak that I feel utterly un able to write or move a finger. But we are saved. After the siege had bees raised there remained of the garrison about 2,000 men, who were mostly so utterly worn out that they had to be carried out of the citadel. The name of the gallant commander of this equally gallant gar- lson is Captain btoekvitch. A War Romiiuce. The war correspondent of the Loudon Times relates this incident of the battle of Rasgrad : As the Russians began to waver and their lire to slacken as the Turks were pressing forward with in creased vigor, a young Russian ollicer was seen standing just behind one of their batteries waving his sword and boldly encouraging his men to stand their ground. Over and over again he rallied the troopB who were pouring out of tho trench, but it was of no use ; it was not in his power olono to stem the tide of victory. His men, animated by ms example, turned and held their own for a few minutes, but the fire was too heavy for any human thing to utay and live. They conld not bear it. They fell on their Knees and entreated him to fly, but not an inch would be stir, aud at last he stood for more than a minute ab solutely alone, save for the dying and the deiul piled in heaps around him. it could only end one way amid the storm of bullets which were raining around him thick as hail : one at last found its way to that noble heart, and he fell dead. As the Turks swept over the iiarapet and dashed past the spot where lie lay, the colonel, struck by the boy's extraordinary courage and devotion, gave orders that he should be decently buried. In the evening he reported to the com-mauder-in-chief that the body was that of a girl. I give this most astounding declaration of the colonel upon the au thority of one of the English officers of the serdar's staff, who tells mo that he was really present when it was mode. It seems almost incredible ; but, true or false, no braver heart ever beat than now sleeps in that little grave on the sunny .. 1 e I , tuupe ui xvuueij-BVU. More Telephonic Discoveries. Still another development of the pow ers of the telephone has been made. An experiment in New York demonstrated that the current of one telephone would divide itself into numerous smaller cur rents, sufficiently strong for at least six telephones, a discovery unparalleled in the science of telegraphy. Connections were made between the central office and six other places in the city, and a cornet played in the central office was distinctly heard in the other six offices. A rather embarrassing discovery was inada the other day. Whilst putting up a new line, the person engaged in the work accidentally dropped the wire of a line between a business establishment and the residence of one of the proprie tors, and overheard a conversation be tween an employee, at the place of busi ness, and the wife of the proprietor, at home. Fortunately no dangerous secrets were betrayed. Thirty one miles from Colorado Springs, starting out by the grand Uta pass road, is to be found one of the greatest curiosities ot the continent a grove of mammoth trees in stone, the re mains of some extinct forest of primeval times. These trees lie just on the edge of the South park, and are accessible by good roads. The group first discovered and best known is a natural grove of im mense trees, from fifteen to seventeen feet in diameter and forty to fifty feet in circumference, An Expeditions Poet. At a social party In Virginia City, Nev., says the Gold Hill Newt, Bam Davis bet an oyster supper with one of the gentlemen that Capt. Jack Crawford could, in less thon four minutes, write acrostics on the first names of any four ladies in the room. The four names were selected and banded to the poet scout, and in twelve minutes and nine seconds the following productions were finished Esteemed and most bewitching little creature Truth and honesty I see in every trace ; 'Tis sweet to watch the sunshine in each feature And say, may heaven bless your pretty face Louise, I scarce know what to say, Or how to write fair girl of you Unknown by me until to-day, I'm sure I can't tell what to do, Bo strange we meet, so strange we part, 'E'en as heart oft speaks to heart. Bone, sweet Rose ! Fairest of your sex ! Oh, how sparkle those blue eyes of thine ; Bweet your face, without one care to vex ; Esteemed by all the good and most divine. Henrietta, fair, bewitching ! Ever bright be thy sweet face ; Never may thy life be clouded, Radiant beams life's pathway trace. In the f uture may with gladness Ever be thy prospects bright, Till the traces of all sadness Turn and leave your heart to-night Anxious, waiting heart, good-night. Items of Interest. A difficult lock to pick One from a bald bead, A woman in Ohio recently married her eighth husband. Kansas is almost exactly in the center of the United States. A householder advertises rooms to let to gentlemen furnished with gas. The Forty-fifth Congress contains one hundred and seventy-five lawyers. In Los Antreles. Col., they mash grapes and feed them out to the bees. That's only a wedding trip, said the groom, as ho stumbled over the bride s trail. About thirty-three millions of dollars of fractional silver have gone into circu lation. At San Antonio, Texas, the citizens have requested the mayor to allow bull fighting. A woman in Polo Pinto, Texas, gave birth to a child on a Thuisday.and on the following Saturday gave birth to two more. When a man and woman are made one, the question is : " Which one?" Some limes there is a long struggle between them before the matter is settled. Iu many parts of Australia the gradual disappearance of the natives and their dogs has led to an immense increase in the herds of kangaroos. A grave old man told bis son that if he did not grow less dissipated he would shorten his days. "Then, dad," eaid the boy, " I shall lengthen my nights." It is estimated that over 150,000 per sons in this country are engaged in the keeping of bees. This includes farmers and others who make the production of honey a portion of their occupation. The Boston common council recently resolved, by a vote of thirty-six to nine teen, that no wines, cigars, lager, cider or minoral water should be furnished at entertainments or with refreshments paid for by tho city. San Francisco has the first and the only endless wire-rope street railways. The cars stop and start easily, and run more rapidly than horse-cars. In east ern cities the frost and snow of winter would render them useless, but in San Francisco they promise to entirely su persede horse cava. 8bo sat upon the parlor lounge, And William, he sat by her, And neither spoke a single word, But both eazed in the fire. At last he clasped her dimpled hand, And told her of his love, And swore be would be true to her, By moon and stars above. He eaid he could not live without Before he could say more Her dad came in, and with a club Enticed him out the door. A California paper describes " the latest thing out " as a new horse-shoe made out of three thicknesses of raw hide, compressed together by heavy pre&sura. It is said to last longer, weighs only one-fourth as much as the common shoes, never splits the hoof, and has no bad influence on the foot. It is so elastio that the horse's step is never uncertain. This will remind the farmers who drove catMe and horses across the plains in early days of the fact, now almost forgottten. that this is Juo new invention, for the cattle, and T 1 , a, 1 1 , 1 1 Horses, loo, were oneu buou wiin snoes made out of buffalo hide, cut from the neck, where the 6kin is almost an inch thick. Stanley's White Companions. The two companions selected by Mr. Stanley to accompany him on his long and adventurous journey through Africa were two young Englishmen, brothers, named Francis and Edward Poooek, and Frederick Barker. In all his letters from tho interior Stanley writes of these in the warmest terms of friendship ; and a perusal of the letters of the Poco?ks shows clearly that this feeling was re ciprocated heartily by them. The melancholy fate of these brave English men, so far from their homes and family, cafcts a shadow over the bright ness of Stanley's success. All three have fallen victims to duty, and their young lives have been tributes to the cause of Boience, which their country men cannot fail to remember. Two lie in their lonely graves near the south shore of the Victoria Nyanza, and the other in the depths of Congo, in which river he was lost by being swept over the falls of the Massaea on the 3d of J une. Though separated in body by the broad plains ana forests of Africa, brave spirits such as theirs must dwell in happy union ia the other life. Their letters from Africa first from the two brothers, and then from the survivor have attracted considerable attention on "account of the unaffected honesty of style and filial piety that characterized them, V
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers