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