L7
-
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VII.
MDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1877.
NO. 40.
if
n
The Man.
Is a man a whit tho better
For his riches and his gains?
For his acres and his palace
If his inmost heart is callous
In a man a whit the better ?
And if a man's no whit the better
For his coffers and bis mines,
For bis purple and fine linen,
For his vineyards and hiB wines,
Why do thousands bend the knee,
And cringe in mean servility,
If a man's no whit the bettor ?
Is a man a whit the worse
For a lowly dress of rags 1
Though he owns no lordly rental,
If his heart is kind and gentle,
Is a man a wliit the worse ?
And if a man's no whit the worse ?
For a poor and lowly stand,
For an empty, even pocket,
And a brawny, working hand,
Why do thousands pass him by,
With a prond and scornful eye,
If a man's no whit the worse?
A WHISTLING GIRL.
"'A whistling woman and a crowing
hen never come to any good end,' " said
Ben, prophetically. " That's the fourth
tnne you've whistled in the last half
hour, Lute."
Lute first finished the concluding bars
of "Kathleen Mavourneen," and then
retorted, calmly :
Thanks, for keeping count. I will
begin the fifth ob soon as I've regained
my breath."
i " You can whistle better tnau any boy
! f ' in this town," pursued Ben, in a grudg-
w ing way. "I'd be ashamed to whistle
if ' better'n a boy, if I was you."
t" I'm not as easily shamed as you, Mr.
Benjamin. Whatever I do, I like to do
it-"' " well. If I played marbles, I'd try and
t .i i n . v,,i i "
liu i u uclici lunu mij uuuj cine.
" Well," remarked Ben, with the
beautiful candor of boyhood, "all I can
say is, I hope you won't come to a bad
end. Grandpa, don't you think it's
awful for girls to whistle ?"
" That depends on the way they
whistle," said grandpa, smiling, iu h s
Blow, gentle way. " If they whistle us
well as Lutie, why, let them whistle. I'd
as soon hear her as a flute."
"Lute rhymes to flute, you know,"
observed Ben, as though that accounted
for the fact.
" I'll tell you how I learned t
whibtle," said Lute, softened by thfso
compliments. " You know when I bad
that dreadful cold, winter before last?"
" Tou ought to be more careful,
child," said grandpa, looking at her
anxiously. " You've got a bad cold now
enough to put any body else to bed.
And sitting on the steps bare-headed
this late in the evening I Come in, child,
come in."
" Oh, there ain't much the matter
with me now," said Lute, carelessly,
coming up on the porch and seating her
Belf by grandpa. "I only feel a little
hoarse morning and evenings. I forgot
what I was talking about. Oh, I rt
member about my dreadful cold. Well,
I could hardly speak above a whisper for
a month, and singing was out of the
question. You know how I love to sing,
prandpa. It seemed to me I never
thought of as many beautiful strains of
music before iu my life as I did then.
They need to buzz in my head till I
thought I should go crazy. I believe
they would have tormented me to death
if I hadn't learned to whistle. I used"
to go into the attio every day and prac
tice till I had mastered the art. You
don't know what a relief it was to me,
and is to ma yet. I feel quite independ
ent of colds;" and Miss Lute stretched
out her feet, and leaning her head
against the wall, pursed her red lips in
a preparatory way.
" If you knew what somebody thinks
your about whistling, you wouitin t be so
stuck up about it," observed Ben, with
a turned-up nose expression. It galled
the spirit of Master Ben jnuin mightily
to have a mere woman excel him in that
manly art. "I bet you'd stop it in a
jiffy'
" Who is that dreadful somebody ?"
"Guess." -
" I won't guess. I don't care to know.
"You do care. It's Cousin Reuben "
triumphantly.
" What did he Bay ?" demanded Lute,
quickly.
" Oh, I heard him and Dick Spurr
talking iu his room about you. Dick
said he didn't care how much you
whistled ; whatever you did seemed
pretty to him. I'd be ashamed to have
any fellow as spooney about me as Dick
Snurr is about you. Lute."
" I don't care if you would. What
did Cousin Reuben say ?"
" Ob, he said he thought it was un
ladylike, ill-bred, and all that sort of
thing. He said lots about it I'll be
bound you never whistle before him
again, Miss Lute"
"I'll be bound I do," cried Lute.
flushing hotly. " I don't care two figs
what he thinks. I'll begin whistling the
minute I see him, and never stop till he
goes away. There 1
" Will you whistle at meals too ?" in
quired Ben, charmed at having put his
sister in a rage. " How will you man
age about eating?"
" I wish to goodness, grandpa," she
continued, not noticing Ben's remark,
" you'd never taken him to board with
ns."
" Whv. child, he had to board some
where ; a young man like him couldn't
keep' house. Of course I couldn't let
my nephew's son board anywhere else.
I did want him to live here without pay
ing any board," pursued grandpa, in his
- slow, reflective way, " but he wouldn't
hear to it."
" I'd rather have a Hottentot in the
house than a doctor. Somebody's always
knocking him up in the middle of the
night and waking the whole house."
" Lute Farra, you know that's a fib,"
said Ben, impressively. " Cousin Reu
ben hasn't been cal'ed but twice in the
' night since he's been here. What if
you do get waked up ? Can't you go to
sleep again r
"I never could bear doctors, said
Lute, snappishly.
" It's the finest profession on earth."
retorted -Ben. "You don't know what
you do like.
" I like merchant. "
" Heaven deliver me from a counter
hopper 1" said Ben, piously. "Before
I'd make my living by skipping round a
store with a yard-stick in my hand, I'd
I'd dance the tight rope." Ben seem
ed to think he was uttering a heroio
sentiment, and put on his most virtuous
look. " But I bet I know what you like
merchants for."
Lute's only response was to purse up
her lips and elevate her chin.
" It's because Dick Spurr's in a store.
What you can see to like in that little
whipper-snapper is a mystery to me.
His beard ain't one-tenth as long as
Cousin Reuben's." Ben valued men
according to the abundance of their
beards.
"Yonder comes Beuben now," said
grandpa, looking up from his paper.
"Ana your everlasting uick. opurr
with him. If I was that fellow, I d take
up my board here at ouce. It would be
more decent than spending ball his time
here free gratis for nothing."
The two gentlemen came up to the
steps as the candid Benjamin finished
his remark. Cousin Reuben was tall
and reserved-looking. Mr. Spurr was
small and talkative. Both were mod
erately good-looking.
" Good-evening, Miss Lutie ; good
evening, Mr. Farra," cried Mr. Spurr,
in his sprightliest manner. " How are
you, Ben ? How is your cold Miss
Lutie?"
" Oh, my cold don't amount to any
thing," said Miss Lutie, smiling in his
face, and making room for him on the
seat beside her. "You all make a
mountain out of a mole-hill. You are
determined to have mc an invalid. "
" It's because we love you so much,"
said Mr. Spurr, in a tender nnder-tone,
and pulling his mustache with a senti
mental air. Mr. Spurr was much given
to tugging at his mustache, which was
weak and whitish-looking. Ben said he
pulled it to make it grow fast ; but so
far his efforts had not been crowned
with success.
Lute's only reply was another dauger-
ous smile.
Cousin Reuben, who had seated him
self off at some distance, now looked up
and said gravley : "You have a very
bad cold, ion are quite hoarse this
evening. lou must let me mix you some
medicine before you go to bed.
" Thanks, no," returned Lute, coolly.
" I prefer a bad cold to something
worse."
" You needn't fear my giving you dis
agreeable medicine, lie said, smiling.
1 wasn t alluding to any bad taste
in your medicine; I was thinking of the
effects of it; it might make me worse off
than I am now, sue said, looking stu
diously away from him, and whistling a
little under her breath.
He looked at her in surprise us he
caught the sting of her remark, and his
dark face reddened, but he answered,
quietly, "Ion will do as yon please; I
press my services on no one." .
Grandpa had fallen into one of his
reveries, and had heard nothing that
passed. Mr. bpurr was too well bred to
show any surprise at this little passage
of arms; but Ben wasn't. He stared lit
his sister for a while in a markedly a
tonished and indignant manner, and
then said, in good strong English,
J.iute, you re a brute, and deserve a
good whipping." With that, young
Master arra went his way in disgust.
"Auein i it s a very delightful eve
ning, observed Mr. Spurr, anxious to
chauge the subject, and saving the first
thing that popped into his head. " Do
you like the spring, Miss Lutie ?"
" I do," responded Miss Lutie, taking
uer eyes irom the tree at which she had
been looking and dropping them on him.
"Likewise summer, autumn and winter
1 like em all.
" Most ladies like spring," said Mr.
Spurr, gallantly. "'Tis tho season of
flowers, and budding leaves and'
and"
" Fresh onions and green peas," said
Lute, laughing. " It's a good time for
fishing, too. Do you ever go fishing,
Mr. spurr i I'm devoted to it."
"A no; Im not especially attached
to it. I believe Reuben there is. Aren't
you, doctor ?
" Yes, I like to fish when I have the
fame for it, which I never do," replied
tne doctor, coming out of a brown-study,
"isoi inai nave such an immense
practice," he continued, hastily, seeing
a slight curl on Lute's lips; " but what
leisure I have, I think I ought to devote
to study.
"I wonder yon are not studying
now," said Mr. Spurr. " I never saw
sueh an old book-worm as he is, Miss
Lutie. Ho looks as if he grudges
stopping study to talk to me when I drop
: 1.: nii, .i . , .F
if uiiui a iic uuuur urew ills
long beard up over his lips to hide the
smile on them. " I'll be bound, now,
he doesn't waste much of his precious
conversation on you all here."
"We rarely see him except at meals,"
replied Lute, indifferently. "I feel
like taking a walk. Would you like to
go, Mr. Bpurr r
"I should be delighted," responded
that gentleman, gallantly, twirling his
mustache. " You had better put some
thing arouna you, Miss Amtie."
" Bring me my shawl out of the hall.
then," said Miss Lutie, rising and shak
ing out her draperies. " Grandpa, you
had better go in now; it is getting cool
out here."
" Child, you oughtn't to go out this
late in the evening," said grandpa.
anxiously. " Reuben, it is too cool for
her to go out. is it not ?"
"Cousin Lute thinks she knows what
is best for her," said the doctor, dis
A ll . '
tunny.
" I'm going to wrap np well, grand
pa, ' Baid Lute, taking the shawl a
fleecy white thing from Mr. Spurr's
hand, and arranging it around her be
comingly. "Please let me go;", and
she kissed and hung around him in a
way that came near making Richard
Spurr crazy.
" Well, go along, then," said grandpa,
looking at her fondly. "I don't see
why she lets that young Spurr go with
her so much," he continued, as they
walked off arm in arm. I hope she
won't fall in love with him."
" I dou't see how she could," respond
ed Renbeu, watching them rather grim
ly. " She has too much sense to fall in
love with such a rattlebrain as he."
" My dear boy," said grandpa, slowly,
did you ever hear of a woman using
her sense when Bhe was in love ? The
smarter they are, the greater fools it
makes them. The loveliest woman I
ever knew made herself an idiot over an
ugly little high-tempered wretch and
married him, too. Never be surprised
at anything a woman may do when she
is in love. ' .
The doctor lighted a cigar and puffed
away in thoughtful silence. He finished
the cigar, and grandpa went in to bed,
und to sleep, and to snore ; bnt the
promenaders did not return. He tossed
the blazing stump away, with a mutter
ed something that was not exactly a
benediction, and marched off to bed
with a very resolved ur and a much
roughened forhead.
The next afternoon was so tempting
that Lute found it impossible to sit in
the house and work. It seemed a sin to
stay in-doors while there was such sun
shine and such fresh green outside, no
she put on her sun-bonnet, and with
" Endymion " in one hand and her fish
ing tackle in the other, set out for the
pond to spend the afternoon in a
way after her own heart. " Farra's
l'ond, as it was called, was the admira
tion and envy of the whole county. It
was in a deep hollow, shaded by beauti
ful trees, and was so large that strangers
often mistook it for a lake, much to old
Mr. Farra s delight. It had been dug
by the present owner's father when the
adjoining city was but a humble village.
It was a favorite resort of Lute's, partly
on account of the fine fish in which it
abounded, and partly because of its own
lovely quietness.
She went to the skiff, put her bait in,
and then got in herself, unloosed it, and
paddled out beyond the shadows of the
trees into the warm sunshine. She took
in her paddle and laid it across her lap,
baited her hook, and dropped it gently
in the water, elevated her feet on the
seat in front of h8r, aud began to enjoy
herself greatly.
Alter a while she began to read, at
first with her attention divided between
her bobbing cork and her book, but the
book soon got the best of it. The ven
turesome fish nibbled away at her bait
without her noticing it; but finally a big
fellow got the hook in his unfortunate
mouth, and gave the line snch a lerk as
to bring her bock from the classic shades
of Mount Latmos. It did not bring her
back without a stort, though, and that
start sent the paddle in her lap spinning
in the water, and came very near Bend
ing her book after it, but it fortunately
fell in the bottom of the boat instead.
Lute was too keen afisherwoman to waste
a thought on such trifling things as
paddles and books at such a moment as
this. Her whole heart was on the end
of her line. After a dozen abortive ef
forts, iu which she came near capsizing
her little skiff, she brought the fish out
or the water, panting and wriggling,
and regarded him in triumph.
" What a beauty 1" she said, disen
gaging her hook from his mouth. " He's
the biggest one I ever caught here. He
must weigh at least five pounds." Lute's
ideas of weight were defective. " Won't
Ben be jealous ? There, old fellow, lie
there. Now I must got that plagued
paddle.
But that plagued paddle was far he-
yond her reach now, and was floating
tranquilly off to shore. "It's a good
tiling there's auother in the bottom of
the boat, of I should be in a bad fix,"
soliloquized Lute, ns she threw out her
Hue again. " I'm glad mv book didn't
fall in the water. I don't think I'll read
any more now; I feel in a fishing bu
nior;" and the lately caressed book was
allowed to lie neglected in the bottom of
the boat a touching example of the
fickleness of human favor.
one nsnea on tin nearly danc ; even
then the fish were biting so well that
she could hardly prevail on herself to
stop. But the air was growing chilly.
and Bhe knew she ought to be in the
house. She resolutely drew in her line
and wrapped it nrouud the pole, lowered
her feet, reached down in the boat lor
the remaining paddle
The paddle wasn't there !
She felt nervously in every impossible
place for the missing paddle, but it was
nowhere to be found. Well, she was in
a fix ! Out in the middle of the pond.
with no possible means of getting to
and she was already shivering with cold,
Nobody at the house knew where she
was ; they would think she was in town
visiting some one.
But the house wasn't very far off
maybe they could hear her if she called
out very loud, bhe rose to her feet.und
opened her mouth to give a prodigious
yell ; but she couldn t speak above
whisper. The chill night air had brought
her cold to this climax.
Lute sat down, overwhelmed. There
was nothing she could do absolutely
nothing. She would have to stay out
there all night, and she Knew there was
no use mincing matters it would be the
death of her. She looked tragically into
the growing darkness, and thought, even
if they came there to look for her, they
couldn't see her from the shore, and she
wouldn't be able to utter a sound to let
them know she was there. She forgot
there was such a thing as a moon at night.
But stop I she could utter a sound
thank Heaven, she could whistle. Her
face brightened as she thought of this
despised accomplishment of hers. With
rising spirits, Bhe drew her overskirt
over shoulders to keep herself warmer,
and began to whistle Schubert's " Sera
nade" in her finest style. The birds
started in their nests as the strange
sweet notes floated toward them, then
dropped their drowsy little heads end
slept more soundly than ever. Music is
a good thing, but sleep is a better-rat
night.
Whistling is proverbially good for
keeping up one's courage. Lute found
her courage mightily refreshed by it.
She sat there for nearly an hour, whist
ling every thing she knew ; she even
began to enjoy herself, after a fashion,
The moon soon rose, and tilled every
place with subdued shadow or soft
light. There was a sweet stillness on
every thing. She stopped whistling
moment to enjoy it more fully. Every
now and then the lazy breeze brought
her a faint mingled odor-oi apple and
lilao blossoms. How lovely, lovely it
was ! She felt as if she was enchanted
sitting there alone at night in her little
boat. "I'm the lady in the Dismal
Swamp," she thought, smiling, " only
this place is far from dismal or swampy
either.
Just then she thought she heard dis
tant footsteps coming toward the pond.
She hastily resumed her whistling to di
rect them to her : she had no wish to
stay out-of-doors all night, no matter
how beautiful it was. The footsteps
drew nearer ; they came hurrying down
the slope, and in a few moments Cousin
Reuben stood in a narrow Btrip of moon
light on the edge of the pond.
" Good heavens I Lute," he cried, in
an agitated voice, " what are you stay
ing out on the water this late at night
for? Don't you feel how cold it is?
It is enough to kill yon."
Lute had stopped whistling abrnutlv.
and now motioned to the paddle, which
was lying near his feet. He did not un
derstand, and cried, impatiently ; "Why
don't you come to shore ? Oh, you rash
girl, to be sitting there, with your bac"
cold! Make haste, and paddle back,"
Lute kept motioning so persistently
at his feet that he looked down and saw
the paddle. He picked it up, and
asked, quickly : " Did you drop this out
of the boat? Havent you the other one
in there?"
Lute nodded to the first question and
shook her head at the last.
" Why don't you speak ? Have you
lost your voiee ?
Bhe nodded vehemently, and touched
her throat and chest.
" Good heavens I" he repeated.tearing
off his coat and overcoat, " she is so
hoarse she can't speak. Oh, child, you'll
kill yourself 1
He jerked up the paddle, and was in
the water, swimming toward her, before
she knew what he was doing. When he
came to the boat he lifted himself in
lightly, and sat with his back to her, so
his wet knees and feet would not touch
her. Lute watched him with a peculiar
look during the few minutes he was pad
ling back to shore. He did not speak
till he had fastened the boat and helped
her out. Then he took np his overcoat
and said : " You are shivering ; let me
put this around you."
" Oh, no ; yon are wet," she whisper
ed. " Yon must put it on."
" A little wettiug won't hurt me," he
said; "I'm as tough as a pine. You
must let me put it around you. Will yon
put your arms through the sleeves ?
Well there ! Don't touch me, or I'll
get yen wet."
X will touch you ; 1 don t care u luo
get wet," she said, in a sobbing whisper,
laying her hand on his dripping sleeve,
was so rude to you yesterday, you
ought to have let me staid out there all
night in the cold.
"Oh no," he said, smiling, and wrap
ping the overcoat more tightly around
her.
"And it was all about nothing, she
said. " It was all because Ben said that
yon you
' finti it , i ml I ."i t i
inat i wuai I . asuea neuoen. oena-
ing his head closer, so ""be could hear
her.
" You thought it was unladylike and
and ill-bred in me to whistle. Do you
think it is so bad ?" she asked, looking
humbly up in his face. "If you do, 1 11
never whistle ngain." Poor Lute was
completely subdued by Cousin Reuben's
returning her evil witn gooii in such a
magnanimous way. " He's not only giv
en himself an awful wetting," she
thought, remorsefully, " bnt he's spoiled
his bust business suit. His pantaloons
will never be fit for a dog to wear
agam. "
"I don t think I ever used such strong
words as ill-bred and uuladylike in re
gard to your whistling," answered the
doctor, smiling in her troubled face.
Ben exaggerated a little. But I must
confess that I used to dislike to hear a
ludy whistle, but "
'I'll never whistle again," interrupted
Lute, 'with as much decision as her
voiceless condition would allow.
"But," he contained, still smiling,
"I don't dislike it now. I love to hear
you whistle. Besides, it was your
whistling directed me to you to-night.
remaps 1 snouldn t have found you
without it. So take back your rash vow,
Cousin Lute."
" I wish you would do something to
Eunish me for my rudeness," she said,
urriedly. " Give me as much medicine
as you want; I will take a whole barrel
ful if you say so."
" But I shan't say so," he said. There
was still a smile on his lips, but none
in his eyes; they shone strangely.
"I don't know what made me so
cross," she went on. " I know I'm
spoiled and willful. I never had a
mother to show me how to be gentle and
good; but I am not often so dreadful
as I was to you yesterday. Oh, Cousin
Reuben, can you forgive me ?"
" Lute," he said, in a voice almost as
ow as hers, " look at me."
They were standing in the narrow
strip of light, and the moon lit up both
their faces. She raised her wet eyes
obediently, but the strange look in his
made her drop them suddenly, while a
startled, painful flush bathed her face.
" Shall I tell you why you were so
cross to me?" he asked.
"No, no," she murmured, hilling her
face in her hands.
" Was it because you cared for my
opinion, because you loved me ?"
His wet arms were around her now
it was well she had on his thick over
coat and were pressing her closely to
his wet breast.
"My innocent darling," he whis
pered, "you know now why you were bo
cross with me."
"How long have you known?" she
said, her voice coming smothered from
his shirt bosom.
" Know what, dear love?"
" Why I was bo cross to you."
" Not five minutes. It flashed on me
just now, while you were asking me to
punish yon."
"I'm glad," she said. "I didn't
know myself, or I should have hid it
better "
"I'd defy you td do that," he said,
with a low laugh.. "Oh, my sweet
dumb darling, look up and give me one
kiss." '
She raised her fair smooth face, and
his dark bearded one came in immediate
and close contact' with it. She mur
mured, on the divine breath of that first
kiss, "You have not said whether you
love me or not."
" Does this feel like it?" he whisper
ed, crushing her closer to him. " Oh,
niy darling, I love you I love you so
much I I have been so mad about yon
as even to be jealous of poor little Dick
Spurr. Last night I felt like killing
him when you smiled on him so."
Bhe was too happy to feel a passing
pang for poor JJick. How could she
think of any one but Beuben, with his
cheek against hers and his eyes am her?
" You told me not to touch you," she
said, presently; "don't you think you
are acting inconsistently, sir?''
" God forgive me 1 he said, loosing
her. " I am a selfish brute, to be hold
ing you against me, wet and dripping as
I am I forgot every thing but myself.
Do you feel cold ?" anxiously.
"Not a bit."
" Maybe the overcoat kept you from
getting damp. I never thought to have
hugged that old Ulster with as much
zest as I have done to-night. Come,
let's hurry home, and I'll begin giving
you that barrel of medicine yo were so
anxious to take."
"You must take part of it yourself."
she said, as they started up the slope in
double-quick time. "I'm dreadfully
afraid this wetting will make you sick.
" I'm too happy to be sick, he said,
looking at her iu a way that mode her
blush and tingle to her finger-ends.
"We'll give grandpa and Ben a double
surprise. They think you are in town
somewhere ; but I hail a presentiment
you were at the pond, bo I slipped down
there quietly, without telling anybody."
"Yes, they will be surprised at our
" And Lute stopped and reddened.
" At our what, darling r
" Oh, here we are at the house now,"
said Lute, irrelevantly.
"At our loving one another? said
Reuben, inclosing the ulster in another
rapturous hug. "Oh, my precious
flower my darling my " You may
be sure the doctor filled these blanks in
an appropriate manner.
"You're a nice doctor," said Lute,
disengaging herself, in a very rosy state,
"to be putting such cold wet arms
around a person hoarse with the cold."
" Oh, I'll soon cure you," making ns
though he would seize her again ; but
she eluded him, and fled up the steps
and into the house. Harper's Bazar.
The Spectres of Congress.
A Washington correspondent says :
The House of Representatives has its
daily habitues and noted characters
whose histories are interwoven with the
web of politics. Last year it had its
"little Miss Flite," who watched the
Eroceedings day after day with starving
opefulness until her suit was gained,
and then from her seat in the galleries she
rose in full view of all and acknowledged
the victory with pantomimic gratitude
and a stately courtesy, which the House
received with laughter and loud ap
plause. This year we have tho "Man
from Shropshire." His name is Schell ;
he is a tall, heavy man, with light gray
eyes and straw-colored whiskers. Every
day, as re. ulnrly as the House meets,
he may be seen hovering in the rear of
the seats, loitering in the lobby, or
watching for his prey, in the person of
some innocent member whom he thinks
is to procure him the position he is after.
He is a very harmless-looking individu
al, but woe unto the person who arousjs
his wrath, as his record iu that respect
is something alarming and stands thus :
One night last winter he had a little
stabbing affair with Col. Fairfax, of
Virginia, at the Ebbitt House ; another
time, when ho was custodian of the floor
of the House, he punished a saucy page
by pitching him up to the ceiliug like an
infuriated bovine would toss a dog, the
boy came down ngain considerably fright
ened out of his pertness ; another of his
exploits was an attempt to hammer a
grocer who presented his bill to him nt
the door of the House while it was in
session, but the grocer returned this
kind of payment by knocking him over
two rows of Beats and halt a dozen
Congressmen ; he also bruised a Phila
delphia reporter into a tinge of bluish
black for daring to comment on .these
stunning actions, and how he will re
buke the present writer is left to his in
genuity and the imaginations of the
reader.
Remedies for Wakefulness.
Thousands suffer from wakefulness
who are otherwise in good health.
With some of them this becomes a hab
it, and too often a growing one. Not a
few resort to soporific drugs, and the
taste for opium is thus often initiated.
Others try alcoholio liquors, and there
can be no doubt that in this way the
foundation of intemperance has been
laid. Many people, however, have
found a way of going to Bleep without
resorting to such dangerous measures.
For instance, looking at a fixed point
steadily will often succeed in inducing
sleep ; or, if it is too dark to do this,
closing the eyes and in imagination
watching attentively the stream of air
entering and leaving the nostrils. An
other plan has recently been proposed
by Dr. Cooke who tells us that in many
cases of sleeplessness it is only neces
sary to breathe very slowly and quietly
for a few minutes to secure refreshing
sleep. He thinks that most cases de
pend on hyperemia of the brain, and
that in this slow breathing the blood
supply is lessened sufficiently to make
an impression. Certainly, when the
mind is uncontrollably active, and so
prevents sleep, persons whose observa
tion was worth trusting have testified
that the breathing was quick and short,
aud they have found they became more
disposed to sleep by breathing slowly.
This supports Dr. Cooke's practice, but
at other times his plan quite failed. It
is certainly worth any one's while who is
occasionally sleepless to give it a triaL
in doing so they should breathe very
quietly, rather deeply and at long inter
vals, but not long enough to cause the
least feeling of uneasiness. In fine,
they should imitate a person sleeping,
and do it steadily for several minutes.
In no case should opiates or other drugs
be resorted to for- sleeplessness except
under the direction of a physician.
A Wayne county (N. Y.) farmer left
his vest hanging upon a chair. In one
of the pockets were about a dozen
strychnine pills. His two little children
discovered them, thought they w re
candy, and ate them. Physicians were
called and antidotes administered, but
both died within an hour,
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Household Uinta.
How to Remove Gbeasb Spots from
Brussels Cabpets. Spread on a thick
paste of potter's clay ; tack over it some
thick brown paper, and at the end of a
week brush of the clay. It may be nec
essary to repeat the process, but one ap
plication is usually sufficient. If the
grease has penetrated the floor it is best
to raise the carpet and put the clay on
the floor and scrub thoroughly.
To Properly Distribute Raisins.
After the batter is all ready for the rais
ins, cover the raisins well with sifted
flour and stir them in the batter quickly.
If currants are used they must be well
washed in several waters : place them in
a fine sieve, and while mixing the cake
let dry thoroughly on the back part of
the Btove ; then cover well with sifted
flour, and mix them in the batter at the
very last.
To Wash Gloves. Have ready a
little new milk in one saucer and a little
brown soap in another, and a clean cloth
or towel, folded three or four times. On
the cloth spread out the gloves smooth
and neat. Take a piece of flannel, dip
it in the milk, and then rub off a good
quantity of soap to the wetted flannel,
and commence to rub the glove down
ward toward the fingers, holding it firm
ly with the left hand. Continue this
process until the glove, if white, looks
of a dingy yellow, though clean ; if col
ored, till if looks dark and spoiled. Lay
it to dry, and the fair operator will be
gratified to see that her old gloves look
nearly new, They will be soft, glossy,
smooth, sharp and elastic.
To Bom Watery Potatoes. Let
the potatoes be of a size ; do not put
them in the pot until the water boils ;
when done pour off the water and re
move the cover until all the steam is
gone ; then scatter in half a teaspoonful
of salt and cover the pot with a towel.
Around the Farm.
Take good care of the implements
through the winter tuat tney may be
ready to do thorough work another sea
son.
Experiments have shown that it is
best to feed oats and carrots together to
horses rather than either alone. If you
have been in the habit of feeding either
alone try half of each at a meal and
mark the result.
Now that the year is near its close
farmers should begin to think of closing
up their running accounts. Prepare to
keep a good set of books at the begin
ning of the year.
Keep an eye on the manure pile and
seen that this bank of the farm increases
in size and quality.
Plowing under green clover is highly
beneficial to sandy soil, making it in
time rich and mould-like. On heavy
lands it loosens the soil rnsking it more
light and porous.
Push open ground work forward be
fore severe weather sets in, get every
thing in readiness for winter. "A stitch
in time saves nine."
The communications f farmers arc
always the most valuable matter in any
paper ; they deal with the practical de
tails, familiar to the man who comes
face to face with difficulties and ovei
oomes them. The editor can select huch
items of news of general iutertst as he
thinks will be interesting aud useful,
but to build up a truly usei'nl
aud practical pnper he must rely very
largely upon the asistauce of practical
men. Manaachum tts Plowman.
We have long been an advocate of the
use of Bait as a fertilizer, and have used
it upon our own promises with good
effect. It would do good to sow it broad
cast every year or two in the spring, say
about two bushels to the acre. We
should like to see some of our intelli
gent farmers giving it a fair trial, vary
ing the quantity per acre from two to
five bushels. Of course any refuse
article is good enough. Gennantown
Telegraph .
To Wluler Hons.
During the winter is when we all fail
at handling hogs. The long months with
but one kind of food, and that a kind
that makes but very little bone or mus
cle, virtually a fat produoing food only.
we ueni, muuie 10 lay uu iut with, out
1 L 1 . . .1 r I 1 1 1 ,
not the best to build up the constitution
and give health and strength. I have
this year raised an acre of niangol wurt
zel aud sugar beets, also half an acre of
turnips ; these I will put where I can get
at them in the winter, and when the
weather will permit I will feed them
freely. The swine eat them eagerly,
even now, and I feel surely that such a
change of diet occasionally in winter will
be a great benefit, I also cut a few
aores of clover second growth, cured it
carefully, salted it well, and fed during
the winter, perhaps cut snort and moist
ened. I have quite a number of late
pigs ; these I intend to feed each day,
all they will drink of warm swill made of
two parts bran, one part shorts, and one
part meal, and at night a feed of corn.
Mow, with this biil of fare and variety
of diet I hope to secure health for them
and profit to myself. Prairie Farmer.
Words of Wisdom.
Faithfulness and sincerity are the
highest things.
From the lowest depth there is a
path to the loftiest height.
It is less painful to learn in youth
than to be ignorant in old age.
Those who blow the coals of others'
strife may chance to have the sparks fly
in their own faces.
There are sixty -eight different sewing
machine stitches, and a hundred and
sixty-eight different ways of lying about
them.
We are taught to clothe our minds, as
we do our bodies, after the fashion in
vogue, and it is accounted fantastical, or
something worse, not to do so.
There is no teacher like experience
no scourge of our faults comporable to
the lash. Time places in the hands of
repentance
The world pardons its prosperous
children, and has courtly names for
their lapses from rectitude, which are
branded with strong sigqivs when low
men fall. ,
Items of Interest.
The nresentcroduotof the oil country
is estimated at over 40,000 barrels per
day.
Out of the 83,000,000 people in Great
Britain 15,000,000 live upon imported
food.-
Barbers in Denmark are compelled
to pass an examination in elementary
surgery.
At the Krnpp cannon works in Ger
many is a hundred thousand - pound
trip-hammer.
Fourteen ex-Governors in the Senate
and eight in the House; so "How do do,
Gov.," rarely strikes amiss.
It is announced that the order of Or
angemen in the United States has a mem
bership of 65,000.
The principal resemblance between a
man who stops a team on the crosswalk
of a crowded street and half a barrel of
flour is, that both make about a hundred
wait.
A Boston minister recently roused
some of his sleepy hearers by stating in
a very positive way that, notwithstand
ing the hard times, the wages of sin had
not been cut down one iota.
The problem of buying a ten-dollar "
Christmas present with seventy-five
cents available cash will present itself
for the elucidation of the brave Young-man-
who-goes-to-see-hi s-girl.
Tack black velvetine on board or paste
board, arrange white, yellow, and green
ferns upon it to your liking, fasten them
down with a drop of gum here and there,
and you will have pleosing fern pictures.
"Madam, don't you know that yonr
baby will catch its death of cold there ?"
"No, sir," she promptly responded.
" Well, it's such carelessness as that
which fills our cemetery with little
graves," he continued. " While all the
old fools continue to live," she replied.
Ann Wilson was courted twenty years
ago in Bourbon, Ky., by George M. Gil
lespie, who afterward went to California,
and she saw nothing of him again until
very recently, when he returned, with
eleven children by a wife who had died,
and renewed the courtship. Ann accept
ed him.
There is what seems a preposterous
rule in the Turkish army, according to
which a Turkish soldier s limb cannot
be removed by a surgeo-i without the
sanctiou of the authorities at Constanti
ple, whose decisions are oftentimes de
layed for weeks, and the poor fellows
will lie day after day in agony, awaiting
their fate without a murmur.
Allegheny's talk is about the attempt
ed elopement of a pair of lovers whe be
longed to the wealthiest families in the
city. The respective parents were as
f nil of hatred as the Capuleta and Mon
tagues, and would not sanction a mar
riage. Romeo went at night underneath
Juliet's window. She let down a string,
to which he attached a rope ladder,
w hich was theu speedily placed in posi
tion. Juliet descended, and had barely
reached the ground when her father
popped his head out of the window. He
climbed down the ladder as fust as he
could, and caught her. Then there was
a struggle between the father and the
lover for possession of the girl, who, of
course, fainted. The father was the
victor, and she is now under close guard.
A Cure for Intemperance.
It was sugggested some years ago that
the use of cod-liver oil would have a
teudency to promote a distaste for alco
holic stimulants. According to thesime
authority many people had found they
could take wine with animal food, but
not with farinaceous or anvyraceous
nutriment. A well - known man of
science, Mr. Charles Napier, has under
taken to test these assertions, and the
resnlts of his experiments ore set forth
in a paper read before the physiological
section of the British Association, and
which has attracted much attention in
England.
The experience of Mr. Napier's own
family hod furnished a seeming proof of
tho accuracy of Liebig's statement. They
had for two years adopted a vegetarian
diet, and although brought up in the
moderate use of alcoholio liquors, now
felt no inclination for them. More
decisive evidence, however, was supplied
by the application of the theory to
twenty-seven cases, one of the more
striking of which may be briefly cited.
The case is that of a military officer,
sixly-one years old, of an aristocratic
Scottish family, who had contracted
habits of excessive whisky drinking
while n service with his regiment in
India. We are told that his custom was
! to eat hardly any bread, fat, or vege
tables, his breakfast consisting mostly
of salt fish, and his dinner almost wholly
of ronBt meat. During the day he con
sumed from a pint to a quart of whisky,
and was not sober more than half his
time. By Napier's advice he wus in
duced to return to the breakfast of oat
meal porridge on which he had been
brought up, and to adopt a dinner of
which peas and beans formed important
ingredients. He does not seem to have
liked the change at first, and made the
significant complaint that he could not
" enjoy his whisky " ns much ns formerly.
About this time there was a pauio among
flesh eaters iu England, owing to the
cattle plague, and, consequently, the
whole family was put on a vegetarian
diet. For some weeks the husband
grumbled very much, but his taste for
whisky gradually disappeared, and in
two months from the time he became an
eulnre vegetarian he relinquished aloo.
holio stimulants, and, according to Mr.
Napier, has not since returned to either
flesh or alcohol. Ntw York Sun.
(Jan Write but not Read.
The Raliegh (N. C.) Observer says ;
There is a man that resides in Buokhoin
Township, this county, who has until
recently been a county official for thirty
years. He is an illiterate man, cannot
read a line of print or manuscript, but
can write page after page as smoothly
and correctly as any bookkeeper in the
oity. He is very fond of writing, es
pecially if any one dictates, and then
when the manuscript is completed, ho
knows no more about it than a hog docs
of Greek. He bought a common cedar -pen
staff and holder thirty years ago,
and has used no other since. These
facts can be vouched for by a number of
reliable citizens of this city.
V
1