HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and 1 Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum..
' N.', " ' ' ' 1 ' . ii. i.
VOL; VII. EIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, FA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1877. NO. 39.
v
tiii
2.
Jennie, the Milkmaid.
My heart 1 bo light,
I sing;day and night,
Book, Bosk,
Book.
My pail is now ready,
I carry it steady,
Moo, Boss,
Moo.
My Jamie comes whistling,
He knows I am listening,
So, Boss,
8o.
He smiles In my faoe,
And then takes my plaoe,
Stand, Boss,
Stand.
I sink right by his side,
My warm blushes to hide,
Wink, Boss,
Wink.
He looks down in my eyes,
I peep np in surprise,
Low, Boss,
Low.
"Look, Jennie, look yonder I"
I turn in great wonder,
Back, Boss,
Back.
Bound my neok his arm steals,
On the air his laugh peals,
Slow, Boss,
Blow.
On my lips, quick as light,
Ho sprigs like a wight,
Turn, Boss,
Turn.
Then away I run fast ;
He Bings out : " Caught at last."'
Bye, Boss,
Bye.
The - Burnt Letter.
It was a gossiping neighbor who had
boen spending nn hour with Mrs. Webb,
aud just before she went she had let fly
the nrrow she had kept in her quiver.
"Your son Grantley goes over tho
hill tethe Burdock's pretty often, Mrs.
Webb," said she.
"I don't know it if he does," replied
the old lady.
"Naturally he wouldn't tell you until
the lust, after old Burdock's quarrel with
his dead father," said the neighbor
" but everybody else knows. It's said
to be a settled thing. Why, Keziah saw
him kiss her at the gate one Sunday
night, and even Ann Burdock would
hardly go so far ns that unless it was
bo, eh? Well, good-bye."
She hurried off leaving her hostess
dumb and motionless at tho door.
f.t was some moments before she eve.i
thought of going in and casting herself
into her chair, but she did it at last, an;)
fell to talking to herself in this wise :
"Oh, it's worso than anything that
ever happened tome. I've had trouble,
heaven knows, but it was the kind I had
to bear if God sent it, but this doesn't
seem right. My Grantley to marry
Ktt yen Burdock s daughter, the child o'f
the very worst enemy his fath .r ever had,
a girl brought up by awomanld-'spisc!
Wall Burdock never had the ways I
liked, nor did the things I thought right
for a woman to do. Everything is to
different with the Burdocks, so strange.
Like ought to marry like, or thcre'il
never be a happy home. But that's the
way with men 1 a pretty face strikes
them and away they go, aud Grantlev is
like the rest. Why should he choose
Sarah Burdock's daughter ?"
She rocked to and fro as she spoke,
letting her neglected knitting drop into
her lap.
"There's Fanny White," she mur
mured, " a nice, thrifty girl ; and Min
nie Holm. Why, her mother is the best
friend I have. There are plenty of girls
I could have made up my mind to ;
thonghl don't know why Grantley should
mnrry any one yet. But Ann Burdock,
with her showy ways, and her airs and
graces, I never can welcome her, never,
never. I must go away and live by my
self if she comes here to lord it over the
house ; and her mother, no doubt, will
come and sit and talk in her foolish,
flighty way ; and the sisters will sit in
the parlor windows, aud take up the
table. They'll be here half the time,
and make nobody of me. I know them.
Oh 1 if my Grantley does marry Ann
Burdock. But it can't be I It can't !"
Just then n foot struck the floor of the
porch, the window raised a little, and
through the aperture came flying two
letters. One a yellow, vulgar-looking
missive, the other a little white envelope
with a monogram upon it.
The old lady looked up.
The postman, who had thus easily de
livered his letters, looked over his
shoulder, aud laughed and nodded at
her, as he hurried away with his leather
bag upon his arm, and she put on her
spectacles to read the superscriptions.
The yellow envelope held only one of
those circulars with which tradesmen of
all sorts are in the habit of flooding the
country. The white one was not ad
dressed to her, but to her son, and tha
monogram was a very pretty silver and
blue A. B.
"Ann Burdock," said the old lady.
" It's a note from her. Now, I wonder
what she has written to my boy ? I'd
like to know. It's very easy opening
these envelopes. 'Tisn't as if they were
sealed ; and what harm would it be for
a mother to read a letter to her son ?
I've half a mind to do it. Only he'd bo
angry, maybe. Well, then, I'm angry
too, and with more reason. Yes I
will."
A little old-fashionod copper kettle
simmered and bubbled upon the stove.
A little spirt of steam arose from its
spout.
The old lady looked at it. Then,
rising, she crept across the floor in a
guilty sort of fashion, and held the en
velope with its flaps downward, close to
the mouth of the spout.
She held it for a few moments, and
then softly touched it with her thumb
and finger.
It was quite damp, and one fold peeled
away from the other very easily, oud
there lay the little note in her hand.
She might have read it if she chose ;
if there were secrets in it, Mus Ann
Burdock should have secured them bet
ter than sb could with the little touoh
of mucilage the maker of those enve
lopes had bestowed on each one.
Mrs. Webb took off her glasses, wiped
them from the steam that had gathered
upon them, and, still standing, opened
the sheet of pnpojr adorned with a mono
gram like that upon the envelope, and
read as follows :
"Dear Grantlei You went away
angry with me on Sunday evening, and
said that if I would not take back what
I had said jou would never come to see
me again. And I was too proud and too
angry to say a wora to keep you. But,
Grantley. dear. I'm sorrv for it now.
You were in the right, and I was to
blame, and I take it all back every
word. I never meant it. You are so
downright you think one must mean all
one says, but indeed I never meant it
And so forgive mo and come again next
Sunday night. I find that life would
bo a very sad thing for me if we really
quarreiiea. i ours forever, Ann.
"So t" muttered Mrs. Webb, between
her teeth. " It has gone so far, then ;
nud she has been showing her temper
aud angeiiug Grantley. Well, if he has
spirit enough to stay away one week,
he'll have spirit enough to stay away al-
togeuier, pernops.
Then she gave an ongrv stamu.
"Why do I comfort myself with
that ?" she said. " I know this letter
will call him back to her, and he'll be
more in love with her than ever. Oh,
if she had not written I I know my boy
well enough to know that he would not
go book to her without that. Well, ho
hasn't seen it yet j and if I choose ho
ucver iieeu. xt is ior ms goou, J. Know.
Ann Burdock is not the girl for him.
I'll keep him from her."
She dropped Ann Burdock's letter
upon the fire. There it lay. a black and
shrivelled fold of tinder, as her son's
step sounded in the hall, and she cov
ered it from sight with the kettle.
In came Grantley, his face bright with
tne outer cold.
"Settiug yoursolf ou fire, mother?"
tie asked, "l smell something scorch
ing." " It's not my dress." she answered.
and busied herself with the teapot, aud
rang the hell for the tea things.
In jaine the girl with the tray, and
again Mrs. Webb had a little fright.
" Any letter for me ?" asked her son,
with an eager look in his face.
"No," she answered faintly. "Did
yon expect one ?"
"Not I," said he, his brows contract
ing. "But I met the postman on the
hill, and he called out to me to hurry
nome and get my love-letter, His joke,
I snppose."
" It was impudent of him," said Mrs.
Webb, not daring to meet her son's eve.
" That's n love-letter, is it ?"
She tossed him tho tradesman's circu
lur. He glanced at it and put it down.
How sad ho looked 1 What gray tints
there were about his eyes aud temples !
How much thinner ho seemed thau he
did a week or so ago 1
Was it all that quarrel with the Bur
dock girl ? Would it have been better
that he should have had that niouo
grammed note ?
The mother put the thought from
her. She spread the little store of dain
ties before her son and tried to make
him eat ; and though she had been so
frightened by his questions, she could
not help approaching the dangerous sub
ject herself.
"Are you going out to-night?" she
asked.
" No," he answered ; " I think not."
" The neighbors were telling mo you
went over the hill to the Burdock's rather
often," she went on.
" Well, if I have, mother," he answer
ed, " that is no sign I shall go again."
" Well, there are better places than
the Burdock's," said Mrs. Webb, " and
I thought you'd never think of a girl
whose father quarreled with yours, and
may have the evil temper of her mother.
She's a flirt, too, they say."
Then she bounced out of the room.
When she came back Grantley had gone
upstairs.
She heord the boards of his bed-room
floor creak as he walked up and down for
hours, but she did not see him again
that night.
Well, well," she said to herself, " he'll
get over it."
But, whatever the feeling was, love,
anger, or grief, it did not agree with
Grantley Webb. He grew thinner aud
thinner. He took less iuttrest in that
which went on around him. Ho avoided
all the other young peoploof the place,
and seemed to have neither youth nor
spirit left.
Could it be all about that girl Ann,
old Mrs. Webb asked herself, trying'.to
cheat herself into the idea that the boy
was only ill.
But in vain she made him warm possets
and bowls of herb tea. Even if he had
drunk them, which he did not, for they
all went to water the grass of the old
orchard even if he had drunk them,
they would have done him no good.
Only rne thing could help him the
only thing that seemed to him impossible
as he sat at his window, staring through
the starlit midnight at the roof of the
Burdock dwelling, never guessing that
under its eaves Ann Burdock sat, at once
angry and sorry, thinking of him and
none other.
He had not answered her note ; lie was
unforgiving; but she had vexed him. She
was partly to blame.
The old lady in the ruffled night-cap
who often started from her sleep in
in the big front bedroom of the Webb
home with a dream of letters that called
up into tinder over the red coal had ;
more on her conscience than she knew.
For though Ann grieved, she did not
wear her heart upon her sleeve, but was
outwardly gayer than ever, and flirted
as she never had before, until at last
the same neighbor who had brought the
news of Grantley's love affair to his
mother, dropping into tea, gave Mrs.
Webb and her son a bit of gossip as
they sat at the table together.
-" Ann Burdock is geing to be married
at last. It's that young man from Lon
donMr. Millet
I believe weddings when I see them
now," said Mrs. Webb.
But Mrs. Burdock herself told me"
this," said the guest. -.
When she was gone, Grantley, who
sat before the table still, with his
elbows upon it', dropped his head upon
his arms, and there ws a sound of quici
breathing. t f
For a little while his mother watched
him. Then she went close.
" Grantley," she said, in a trembling
voice, "what is it? What ails you?
Tell me 1"
" It's only that I'm a fool, mother,"
he answered.
" But Grantley, what about ?"
He lifted up his young, worn face then,
and answered :
" Mother, don't you know f It's
about Ann Burdock. It's been very
hard to bear, but if she does marry any
one else I shall kill myself, I think.
Life doesn't seem worth having."
" Life doesn't seem worth Laving, if
you can't have Ann I" the mother said,
in a puzzled sort of way. " But why,
what is there in her ?"
" What there never is in more than
one woman to any man, mother," said
Grantley.
Somehow, from the far-away years of
youth.a memory came bock to his mother
that helped her to understand him.
She felt that she had done very ill, and
if confession could do any good, she
would even confess. At least, if she
could not quite do that, she would let
him know the truth about Ann.
"Grantley, dear," she faltered, "you
you had a quarrel ?"
"Yes," he answered.
" But if she had written to beg your
pardon you'd have forgiven her ?"
She almost hoped that he would say
"No " that she need not go on.
But he answered :
" Yes but she never wrote."
" I think she did, Grantley," said the
mother. I I know she did. I I an
accident happened to the letter. It it
gotburnt;bnt I'm sure it was annpology.
Indeed, I saw a few words, but I didn't
think you cared so. You see it it fell
into the fire."
" Why did yon not tell me before ?"
cried Grantley.
" Well, I somehow didn't like," was
all the mother could say. " And why
don't you go and ask her about it, and
see what it was ?"
Poor Mrs. Webb, when her son, after
many questions, had taken her advice,
cried bitterly. She might have felt
even worse bad she heard what Ann wns
saying.
The story had been told, a reconcilia
tion effected, a declaration made to the
effect that Mr. Millet had never beeu
loved. And then Ann Burdock said,
with a laugh
"But, Grantley, your mother burnt
that letter ou purpose. Ouly a mau
could believe the story you've told me.
She did not want me for a daughter-in-law.
I owe her no grudge remember
that, and don't tell her what I say."
Grantley never did. And old Mrs.
Webb has often been heard to say that
Ann Burdock has turned out better than
could huve been expected.
A Man who Turns Copper into Gold.
The following is clipped from the Sau
Francisco Mulctin : A gentleman resid
ing in this city, who is in close corres
pondence with relatives in Santiago, the
capital of the Republic of Chili, states
that Paraf has maintained himself, des
pite tho opposition brought against him.
He has now three establishments iu op
eration, and is producing wculerful re
sults. He has organized a company
with a capital of $8,000,000, and the peo
ple ore absolutely crazy to procure stock.
Copper mines that were formerly com
paratively valueless ore now held at
exhorbitant figures, and prospecting is
active in every direction. One of the
instances of Paraf 's assays is interesting.
A ton of copper ore from the Caracoles
district was submitted to several of the
well-known assayers in the presence of a
number of citizens, Paraf also being
present. The assayers announced
the result they had obtained four
and a half per cent, of gold. There
upon Paraf suggested that there
must be more of the precious metal
in the ore. but the assayers were prevent
ed finding it on account of its being hid
den by the copper. He produced the
chemical powder, which he ca'.ls "reac
tive," and this was submitted to those
present, and in its turn analyzed, with
out detecting the presence of gold. Scat
tering this over the pulverized mass,
and allowing about half an hour for
manipulation in order to produce thor
ough incorporation with it, he asked
the metallurgists to reassay the ore,
when the astonishing result of thirty
seven and a half per cent was reached
Paraf is reported to be on the top wave
of success. He has purchased the Quin
ta, on the Canada, the principal street of
Santiago, the former residence of the
late Harry Meiggs, and which cost him
$500,000, and there receives the worship
ers of the golden calf in right royal style.
Chili is beginning to believe m him as
its financial savior, and his influence is
only limited by the credulity of the peo
ple. How to Regulate Light.
Statistics kept by oculists emploved
in infirmaries for eye diseases have shown
that the habits of some persons iu facing
u window from which the light falls di
rectly in the eye as well as ou the work,
njure their eyes in the end. The best
way is to work with a side light, or. if
the work needs a strong illumination, so
that it is necessary to have the working
table before the wiudow, the lower por
tion of the latter should be covered with
a screen, so as to have a top light alone,
which does not shine in the eyes while
the head is slightly bent over and down
ward toward the work.
In the schools in Germany this matter
has already been attended to, and the
rule adopted is to have ll the seats aud
tables so arranged that the pupil never
faces the windows, but only has the side
lights from the left ; and as a light sim
ultaneously thrown from two sides g ves
an inference of shadows, it has been
strictly forbidden to build school rooms
with windows on both sides, such illumi
nation having also proved injurious to
the eyes of the pupils. We may add
to this advice not to place the lamp in
front of yon when at work in the eve
ning, but a little on one side, and never
neglect the use of a shade so as to pro
vent the strong light shining in the eye.
This is especially to be co&jdered at th
present time with kerosene lamps, with
intensely luminoiw.fla168' Deoom'S
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.'
Improved Method of Wintering Cows.
Mr. Linus W. Miller, of Stockton, N.
Y., an experienced dairyman, advocates,
in a pamphlet entitled " Meal Feeding
and Animal Digestion," a system of feed
ing cows during winter, which involves
tho use of but three quarts of meal per
day. He asserts that this amount of
good Indian meal, fed under proper con
ditions, is more than the equivalent for
all the good hay a cow can be coaxed to
eat that the animal does not need to
have its stomach distended with a great
bulk of woody fiber, which imposes upon
the system a large amount of extra
mechanical work both in the processes
of digestion and remastication that, in
brief, bulk in food is not advantageous
but to the contrary, and that nuriment in
food governs the condition ard health of
the animal, and that condensation of
nutriment is true economy. Mr. Miller
has conducted physiological investiga
tions into the functions of the four stom
achs of the cow, whence it appears that
meal follows the same course as herb
aceous food, and stays longer in the
rumen than coarse food, while it also
digests more thoroughly than when the
energies of the stomach are divided be
tween meal and coarse herbage.
Whatever may be the correct theory
in this regard, results of actual practice
appear to bear out Mr, Miller's views.
The report of a committee, appointed to
examine into the system by the Western
New York Dairymen's Association, shows
the following facts : The examination
was conducted upon Mr. Miller's herd of
Ohatauqua county - native cows, th
average live weight of which was 900
pounds. The herd were fed exclusively
upon corn meal for seven weeks, each
animal, according to its digestive ca
pacity, making an average of about three
quarts of meal per day for each cow.
The animals did not ruminate, did not
manifest bo much desire for food as cows
fed on hay alone in the usual way, a lit
tle less than they will eat, showed no
signs of unrest or suffering ; and at the
time of going back to hay, the cows had
neither lost nor gained llesh. After re
turning to hay, their stomachs rilled and
ruminating went on normally, healthy
calves were dropped, and when turned
to grass the animals took on flesh faster
than those wintered in the usual way.
Their daily yield of milk was twenty-nine
pounds three ounces, or one pound
eleven ounces per cow more than that of
any other herd sent to the same cheese
factory.
As regards the economy of meal feed
ing, Mr. Miller points out that one
bushel of corn, ground aud tolled, will
last nn ordinary sized cow of 900 pounds
weight twelve days, and is equal to 240
Eounds of hay, . Com at e;,xty cents per
nshel is therefore the equivalent of hay
at five dollarspcr ton of 2,000 pounds,
and where it can bo had at that rate the
cost of wintering the animal will range
from seven to ten dollars, according to
cold nets and length of the foddering
season. But hay as a rule costs at least
ten dollars per ton, and frequently much
moro. Hence the estimated saving by
meal feeding is placed at from five to
twenty dollars per aciinal, according to
tho respective prices of corn and hay.
Seientijlo American.
Ornpe-Rot.
The only form of grape-rot that we
have had nr. opportunity of observing
has visited us in the last two seasons. It
appears suddenly in July. The grapes,
usually only parts of bunches, soon be
came brown and soft, like a rotten apple,
and when tho unaffected berries are ripe
they still adhere, shrivelled up, and
usually of a reddish tinge. The Wilder
(Rogers No. 4) hos been most affected,
aud the Iona, Eumelan and Clinton have
suffered partially. These sorts are of
such different characters of leaf and
berry texture, and style of growtb, that
there does not seem to be any reason ap
parent on these internal grounds for their
being subject to the visitation.
But while gathering the Clintons from
a large frame covering a lean-to green
house, and elevated three feet above its
glass, a circumstance was observed which
shed some light on the case, and shows
that the cause is to be sought in some
sudden stress upon the circulation and
leaf digestion, while very active, and
while the conditions of temperature and
moisture are inducing very free and ten
der develorcment and extension of new
growth. The rafter-like rods, to which
the canes are strictly confined, are two
feet apart, the object being to shade the
glass below without cutting off too much
light.
For the same reason all side shoots
from the cones were stopped at one or
two leaves beyond the one bunch of fruit
allowed on each. And while gathering
the very fine fruit about the middle of
October, it was noticed that although
many bunches had partially rotted where
only one leaf existed beyond the bunch,
and especially where this leaf was small
there was not a single case to be found
where there were three or four leaves, or
a continued expansion of them, after the
second or third pinching. As the pinch
ing of these canes required the use of
ladders, the whole growth was closely
pinched at each of the three or four
times of operating, from about May 20
to about the end of July. Vines else
where, more conveniently within reach.
and pinched more frequently aud more
moderately, escaped rot.
The rot is not, however, to be attrib
uted to the pinching alone. We had
warm, humid weather during July, and
very free growth, and a general and sud-
dea stopping of the points of growth
extension, either by hand or by weather.
while under such rapid headway, must
naturally be expected to cause injurious
congestion, and at such a season an em
barrassed, tender growth will quickly go
into decay. It is worthy of note that
mildew has been but little prevalent
during these two seasons. The active
leaf transpiration seems to have pre.
vented its germs from gainintr lodsa.
ment. Our Concords, thinned and very
moderately pinched, has most. -W. in
jem rorc Tribune,
Iteclpeo, :
. Suet Pudding. Two aud one-half
cupfuls flour, one teaspoonful salt, one
cup suet chopped line, two eggs, scant
pint milk, one-half teaspoonful soda,
one-half cup apples chopped fine, one
teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon,
three teaspoonfuls molasses; steam one
and three-quarter hours.
Applb Custard Pie. One pint of
sweet milk and three grated sweet apples,
two well beaten eggs, little salt, sugar,
and nutmeg to taste. Have only an nil
dercrust. Brown Bread. One pint of coin
meal, one pint of rye meal, two-thirds
cup of molasses, one large spoonful of
vinegar, one heaping teaspoonful of
saleratns, dissolved iu a little worm
water, one-half teaspoonful of salt, mix
well with warm water, quite soft, and
steam three hours. Put in the oven fif
teen minutes and brown.
Ox tail Soup. Cut the tail in seven
or eight pieces and fry brown in butter;
slice three onions, and the same of car
rots; fry them in the pan after removing
the ox-tail; place the onions and carrots,
after frying, in a cotton bag, with a
bunch of thyme; drop it into a soup pot
with the ox-tail; cut up two pounds of
lean beef, grate over it two carrots, place
it in the pot; add lour quarts of water,
some pepper and salt, boil five or six
hours, strain it; thicken with a very
little flour, boil ten minutes longer, and
serve hot.
Chicken Salad. A pair of boiled
chickens, seven or eight pounds in
weight (not old fowls), cut in small dice,
about n quarter of an inch square; two
bunches (seven or eight heads) oi celery,
the white part only; slit each head in
half, wash well, leave it iu ice water some
time to moke it crisp, drain well, cut the
size of chicken; add chicken and celery
together in a large bowl, season with
white pepper and salt to taste; use about
half this dressing; mix well, add two or
three tablespoonfuls of vinegar; dish up
in a pyramid shape, on a platter large
enough to put a border of lettuce, cut in
shreds or picked in small pieces, around
it, spread the balance of the dressing on
the top, put the lettnee and three hard
boiled eggs, cut in four pieces, length
wise around the dish, take the heart of
a head of lettuce and put in the center;
a few capers sprinkled over the dressing
is good.
Tlrld Ten-Sketch of Don, in Holland.
Says a writer iu an English magazine :
Within a few miles of Rotterdam is a
town that will thoroughly satisfy the
antiquarian. Age stares you in the face.
On all sides such an accumulation of old
and interesting houses, that in perambu
lating the street you turn your head
from side to side like a Chinese man
darin, and scarce know how to take it all
in, yet proceed. I had heard no ono m
Holland speak of Dort iu terms of praise.
Those of whom I male inquiries had
never seen it. My visit was but the re
sult of an impression that something
worthy of note would be found there.
Far short, indeed, was the expectation of
the reality not always tho rule in life.
I saw and wondered. Street after street
of ancient houses. Every possible out
line that professed anything of the pic
turesque. Few of the square, stiff,
straight buildings familiar to ordinary
experience. Not only ouaient outlines,
but houso-fronts also. No modernized
bricks and fetoue ; no window-sashes
painted white ; nt least for the most
part. Nothing could bo more pictur
esque or ancient looking, more quaint
oud interesting than one of these canals.
Every house hoary with age, varying in
shape and size ; now tall, with gabled
roof, now small oud diminutive, ns if
gradually sinking into decrepitude and
the giavo. Here and there wooden bal
conies overhung the water, covered with
creepers and flowers, that drooped in
graceful boughs and tendrils, emblems
f lifo and beauty amidst decay. The
water beneath reflected all the quaint
multitude of outlines. Above every town
iu Holland the dead cities scarce ex
cepted Dort carries you back into the
past centuries ; away from the world of
to-day into that of the Middle Ages,
No town I had visited so delighted me,
I had seen nothing like it in Holland. It
was not, as in some places, a house or a
building here and there standing out
from its neighbors to delight by its
charms ; it was the general tone and
diameter of the whole place. The mar
vol of passing from street to street, find
ing the one prevailing type of age and
beauty. So that at last one could ouly
exclaim : " And still they come 1" Anil
the wonderful old canal views were multi
plied. Many of the small side streets.
only wide enough to admit our startling
equipage, and send an nnngnted pedes
trian flying in a doorway for refuge.
whence they would peep out with wonder
in their eyes and homage in their mien ;
many of these small side streets were
full of diminutive houses dating back
three centuries nnd more, untouched
since the days of their first youth. One
of the characteristics of the place was
the remarkable manner in which many of
the houses were out of the perpendicu
lar. This is the case more or less
throughout Holland. The soil being
loose and sandy, the piles sink, the
foundations give way, and the houses nod
to each other. But in Dort the feature
was carried often to almost an alarming
point. In many instances it looked as if
a gentle push would send down an old
building crashing to the earth. More
than once it was difficult to pass a lean
ing tenement without positive fear. Not
a few were propped up with beams to
support their old age. This feature
materially added to the pictureaqueness
of the town ; increased the look and
feeling of antiquity of a lifo ended ;
seldom met with, but full of mexpres
sible charm.
Profit of Sheep Raising in California.
There is more profit on the average
in keeping sheep in this country, says
the Visalia (Cal.) Age, than in any other
country on the globe. With the excei.
tion of Holland and Belgium, the aunuul
weight in flesh of America exceeds that
of any other country. In those two
countries the average weight is sixty
pounds : in America fifty-two pounds.
But owing to the higher prico received
here lor wool the annual revenue from
each sheep here is just double that
iu Holland. The annual revenue here is
$2. 16, on the average ; Australia is next
highest, $450 ; Spaiu next, SI. 45. Only
five other countries exceed $1, and in
Russia and Greece its revenue is only 42
cents. The average weight as well as
the price will be largely increased when
the yast nooks of coarse woolen sheep in
the West have been bred up to the con
dition they undoubtedly will be in a few
years irom now.
Thirty Years Separated.
There ore some strauge features in an
action pending in the Twelfth district
court at San Francisco, for a divorco
and a division of common property.
Martha Stevens is the plaintiff and
Coleman Stevens the defendant. A
separation in fact has been in existence
between the parties for the long period
of thirty-three years, the plaintiff, ac
cording to the story, having bnrely
tasted the sweets of the honeymoon
when her husband deserted her, leaving
her almost penniless, and in a condition
which increased her troubles, .airs.
Stevens is fifty-eight years of age. She
has a certificate which shows that sue
married Coleman Stevens at New York,
on November 1, 1843, and she states
that two days after their marriage the
husband went to visit his father, some
two hundred miles distant, where he re
mained. The following March she also
went to his father's. She took this step
because she was advised that her hus
band was going after a young girl, pros
pectively rich. She found her husband
very friendly, and he frequently called
npou her, as she resided iu a neighbor
ing house. Then they both lived at his
father's house, but not as married
people. On the 15th of May, 1844, she
signed a deed for the sale of land from
Coleman to his father, and then they
started for Michigan. It was the under
standing that the money realized from
the sale of the land would be invested
land in Michigan. They arrived at
Goshen the first day, and remained
there all night. The next morning he
said he had made up his mind not to go
to Michigan, and proposed to return to
his father's house. At Charter station,
en route to his father's, her husband
jumped off the train. She looked out
of the car window and saw him running
across the fields, and that was the last
time she saw him until she met him in
San Francisco Inst year. At the time
her husband jumped the train she had
about twenty dollars iu her pocket, but
no other means of support except a little
land she owned. After doing house
work for a time at Williamsburg, she
learned the milliner's trade, and opened
a little store. Sho went to New York
once or twice a year to purchnso goods.
The winter following the close of tho
war she went with her daughter to
Camden Mills, Michigan, where she re
mained until February, 1875, when she
went to California. She states that she
never received nny support from her
husband from the time ho deserted her
until gronted alimony iu the present
divorce case. The first intimation she
had of the whereabouts of the missiug
husband was a letter from his father,
written in December, 1872, in which he
asks forgiveness for favoring Coleman.
Mending Matrimonial Chains.
A curious institution for the purpose
of matrimonial reconciliation exists in
the old provinces of Prussia, in which
the population amounts to, more thau
seventeen millions, who oro mainly Pro
testants. Tho courts hnve, of course,
the power of granting divorces ; but be
fore nny suit of divorce cau bo enter-
tamed, a very singular process must b(
gone through . Man nnd wife ore required
in the first iustcuce.to present themselves
before some clerical or lay authority for
the purpose of being, it possible, re
conciled. When tho marriages aro be
tween persons of different religions, the
magistrate may bo applied to for this
purpose. But the people of these
provinces arc, for the most port. Pro
testants, nud in the vast majority of
cases the clergyinnn is t lie leconciling
authority prescribed by the law. Tho
plaintiff in such a quarrel muht.iu the firt
instance, go to him and state his or her
grievance, nnd the clergyman must next
hear the wile or the husband, who, in the
contemplated suit, would become the
defendant. When he has heard them
separately, so as to become acquainted
with the strength and the weakness of
the case on both sides, ho then hears
them together, and exerts all his powers
ot persuasion to effect & reconciliation
If he fails in his efforts, the parties can
proceed with their suit ; but some very
interesting statistics have recently been
issued at Berlin with respect to the buo
cess of such efforts. It appeal's that in
1873 the number of married couples
who desired a separation was 7,325. Of
these, no fewer than 2,829 were recon
ciled by the intervention of clergymen.
In 603 of these cases the reconciliation
proved ineffectual ; but the general re
sult, withouttuking into account pending
cases, was that nearly one-third of tha
whole number of matrimonial disputes
were thus appeased. In 1874 the num
ber of quarreling couples and the pro
portion of those reconciled were about
the same. Even a failure in. the first in
stance does not seem to destroy the effi
cacy of the resource ; for of those who
renewed their quarrels a second time,
about a third were once more reconciled.
The success of the clergy, in fact, in this
function is so considerable, that they
have earned the honorable title of
.peacemakers."
Chloroforming a Horse.
A curious operation was performed by
Dr. Wra. Hailes, Jr., at the request of
Mr. Newton, upon a valuable trotter,
belonging to him. The Lowe is a fine
animal, with a record of 2:30; for some
time it has been noticed that when
speeding him he labors under adifllculty
in breathing.his throat appearing to be in
some manner choked up. Determined to
ascertain the cause, and, if possible,
remedy the difficulty, the owner consent
ed to an operation. It is well known
that it is a very difficult thing to cause a
horse to lie down, and iu order to obvi
ate this it was decided to nilminittT
chlcr jform while the operation was b
i ig performed. Accordingly a large
q lantity of cU'oifcorja and ether m'xed
iu equal parts, was a (ministered. The
animal objected yory strenuously to he
treatment, but was finally, ab'ou ten
minutes after the dose had been applied,
overcome and fell to tho floor. An in
oision in the vicinity of the throat
was then out, and a very careful
examination made, but nothiug could be
lound which would be likely to hinder
the breathing. It is supposed that the
trouble is in a membraneous thickening
of tho tissues of the throat, for which, or
course, nothing can done. Albany
W-H.) Journal,
items or interest
The boss team A yoke of oxen.
Two-button kids A young goat fight.
Hotel-keepers ore people we have to
"put up with."
A cony personified A bachelor editor
trying to prepare an able and judicious
article on the baby show.
Charles Barth made a treasury of his
bed in Bosoobel, Wis., nnd after his
death securities for $13,000 were found
in it.
There are over 1.900 convicts in tho
Eenitentiary at Joliet, 111., and the nnm
er is increasing at the rate of 100 a
month.
A murder iurv at Reading. Pa., offered
prayer at every meal, and petitioned the
Divine Providence to direct them in their
verdict.
The Black Hills papers soy if 1,000
women would immigrote mere iney
would at once find remunerative work
and husbands.
At midnight on a lonely road : " You
don't recognize me ? Why, you defend
ed me and got me off at the last assizes.
Thanks to you, 1 have been enabled to
resume my avocation, lour money or
your life 1"
A erub of a boring species was found
in a four-foot lath the other day, in Ber
lin, Conn., that must have been in the
wood for thirteen years nt least, it had
eaten almost the whole length of the
lath, leaving only a shell.
I was born iu Bath," said a dirty
looking customer, as he harangued a
crowd at a political meeting, ' 1 and I love
my native place." "You don't look as
if you had ever been there since," said
one of his hearers as ho proceeded to
laud an opposition candidate.
From under the bluff on which the
town of Huntsville, the capital of Madi
son county, Alabama, is situated, bursts
nn immense spring, clear aud cold, sup
plying tho whole town with water for
domestic uses, for watering the streets,
and for use by the fire department. It is
the Inrgest spring m Alabama.
If I should come to high renown,
And compass things divinely great,
And stand a pillar of the State;,
And count an empire all my own,
And miss mynolf I were a child,
That sold himself to slavcrv
In some fair castle hy the sea
That glimmered toward his mountain wild.
In Auburn (N. Y.) prison there were
recently 1,405 convict. Fifty-three of
the number were " life men,".of whom
on their entrance the oldest was fifty-
seven years old ; the youngest, hi teen.
Tho man longest in the prison was sent
there on September 25, 1858. The aver
ngo cost of supporting each convict is
$70.31 yearly ; or nineteen cents and
three mills daily. Superintendent Pils
bury is negotiating for contrncts, which,
if obtained, will give employment for
1,000 convicts. The total earnings per
convict are increasing. In 1876 they were
851.30; in 1877, 58.76.
The North Hill boys tied a sky rocket
to a dog's tail, and when it began to fizz
the dog looked at his watch, nud remark
ing that ho had just time enough to get
to the depot to catch tho train, started
off. So did the rocket. For a second ot
two it was doubtful whether the rocket
would run nway with the dog, or the dog
with tho rocket. But nt last the canine
got tho bulgCj nnd settled down to a two
minute gait, increasing the distance ond
cutting down his time every jump, while
they could hear him howling clear to
Keokuk. Tho dog passed through Win
nebago county Wednesday night, and is
supposed to have reached tho Evergreen
shore by this time. Euvlingion Hank
eye. A Thirteen Year Old Thief.
The case of Libby O'Brien, whose
singular career hast just beeu brought
to light, is another cose of youthful de
pravity, and one, unfortunutely, of on
increasing number. The defenders of
the theory that wickedness is a part of
the nature ot man will and new support
in such an illustration of their theory.
The illustration gains additional merit
from the fact that the mother of this
poor girl is an honest and industrious
woman, who was utterly ignorant of her
daughter's crimes aud degradation ; yet,
notwithstanding the evidence on this
sit'e of the question, it is probable that
Libby has been influenced by various
cirenmstauces and characters, and that
no proper restraint has been placed
upou her actions and desires. In ap
pearance she is quite prepossessing, al
though her features scarcely indicate the
possession of nerve and cunning which
sho has demonstrated in such a remark
able degree. The system of deception
that she has pursued from the beginning
of her downward career proves, how
ever, that her appearance is ns fully
deceptive as her recent existence has
been. That she has excellent traits of
character there can be no doubt, and her
yout'i may safely be brought forward in
partial extenuation of her crimes. Yet
the fact that sho is so young just thir
teen years old makes these crimes still
more horrible. What -fiendish power
has been working in the heart of this
child ? She has, it appears, committed
twelve robberies. She has, perhaps,
been the means of ruining nn mnocent
woman. When accused of having been
concerned iu a number of sneak rob
beries she made no denial, and, what is
still worse, showed no signs of trepida
tion. Outwardly she is a hardened
criminal. Yet we may be pardoned for
still entertaining the belief that Bhe is
not altogether beyond good influences.
Here is a good chance, therefore, for some
trueJphilanthropiHt. Wehoie that some
thing will be dou to save the child, not
to punish her with a ruined life. New
York 1'eleyram.
Editor and Landlord.
Landlord." Mr. E liter, I'll thank
you to say I keep the best table iu tho
city."
Editor "1,11 thank you to supply
my family with board gratis. "
Landlord " I thought yon were glad
to get something to fill up your paper. u
Editor " I thought you were g'ad to
feed men for nothing. "
It's a poor rule that won't work both
wavs.
Eit landlord iu a ruge, threatening to
lave nothing more t$ do wjlb the office,