X
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPEEANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VII.
EIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUKSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1877.
NO. 43.
' 1 -.
The Husband's Happy New Year.
Bright and fresh, if a trifle too frosty
For eoeut were we after the hare,
The morning is splendidly bracing,
The country delightful, though bare. ,
1 he sky is a turquoise in color,
The son, while it dazzles the eyes,
Warms the skaters, bnt six solid inohes
The ice on the brook-water lies
The wood in the. distance is purple,
With .barely a loaf, green or sere i
It is surely a day of good omen
That brings in a Happy New Year.
What, darling, astir, and so early?
Tour hands, both your hands, within mine)
Your f aoe is as fresh as the morning,
Your eyes with its happiness shine ;
The Bun turns yonr hair to its color,
There's nothing in Nature so bright (
Forgive if my wordB seem to flatter,
They only express my delight.
My heart like a bubble is floating,
Bo buoyant, and yet so sincere,
As, with all its intenest devotion,
I wish you a Happy New Year I
All that happiness means I desire yon,
All that Heaven bestows on its own,
May it be without bounds, or its limits
Be set by yonr wishes alone ;
Life is chequcr'd, but then the pure metal
Is lightened, you know, by alloy,
And life sometimes gives by its sorrow
The zest that we find in its joy.
But there, rim growing didactic
And wrongly detaining you here,
Hand in hand, while I only intended
To wish you a Happy New Year !
Ttoe EeiariallG CMsis Days.
CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE TIGRIS.
I bad been for Rome time residing at
Bagdad, in 183-. Curiosity to visits city
rendered so famous by the "Arabian
Nights' Entertainments" led me from
India first to visit Bassoria, the Bal
sorah of the Thousand and One Nights,
and then the city of the Caliph, whose
fame has supplied the title to a pretty
opera now rarely performed. And when
I had supped sufficiently full of all the
attractions of the quaint old oity, which
had not then involved its Turkish aspect
in dark-blue woolen vestment and the
scarlet fez, I made preparations for a
journey across the desert to Damascus,
for the Holy Land was the ultimate ob
ject of my trovels. To effect this in
safety, it was necessary to don the gar
ment of an Arab to allow the beard a few
weeks' growth, and to study the phrases
which would be requisite to help me on
my perilous journey. My previous resi
dence in ludia facilitated the acquisition
of the accent, and I could soon pro
nounce the Salaam Alee Koum with
orthodox accuracy. The science of eat
ing a pilaw with roy fingers, and tearing
away pieces of roost lamb as if I had
never known the use of knife and fork,
was acquired after a little greasy prac
tice. At length, having negotiated the
hire of a horse and camel with the chiei
of a cafilah (caravan), and paid in ad
vance for protection, I bode adieu to my
old friend, Colonel Taylor, the British
agent and resident, and set forth with
some fifty companions, viz., three mer
chants, two moollahm, a special tatar,
my servant, a sheikh, and forty-two
thieves under the denomination of pil
grims, returning from Mecca and acting
as guards of the merchandise. We had
made a four days' journey, and had halt
ed for the night in the desert at a spot
where the camel-thorn was tolerably
abundant. It was Christmas Eve. I
hod eaten a good supper of lamb, stewed
in dried apricots, preparatory to a
snooze, when my attention was attracted
to a wailing cry in another part of the
bivouac. I listened ; gradually this was
followed by a murmur, and then another
cry, and soon the whole party was in a
state of excitement very uuusual among
sober Mussulmans. 1 told my servant,
Hummud, to go quietly and asoertain
the cause. lie was not long gone when
he hurried back with tottering steps to
tell me that the plague had broken out
in the caravan, and not a soul was safe.
Two men were dying, one had died j
others were sick, and all were appre
hensive. I knew that the fatal disease
of Asiatio cholera had appeared in the
city just as we were leaving. Taking
counsel with Hummud, I removed my
rug and saddle-bags to some distance to
windward of the whole party, and pon
dered the wisest course. It would never
do to co on in fellowship with fell dis.
ease, and perhaps be left a corpse iu the
middle of the desert. It might be
equally fatal to return. Before midnight,
however, I resolved on the latter course,
and saddling my horse I was soon on the
way back alone, bidding Hummud fol-
1 low on the camel. A few hours sufficed
to accomplish, at a trot and a gallop,
the distance whioh, walking with a coro-
-van, required nearly four days (abso
lutely forty-eight hours of locomotion)
to master.
Arrived at the principal gate of the
city of Bagdad, horse and man equally
jaded, I was about to eDter, when I
found my ingress barred. The gate was
closed, and from a wicket I was informed
that the plague was in town, and no one
was permitted to enter until he had
served twenty days' quarantine I Here
was a situation and on Christmas Day,
too ! It was in vain that I protested I
was a friend of the resident's. Colonel
Taylor had fled with his family to Bus
sorah, and the Armenian substitute did
not know me. I offered money I made
promises all in vain. I was doomed to
hold high festival in the desert with the
hungry vultures hovering above me,
rather offering them a scanty meal than
getting one myself. As evening ap
proached (for I had arrived at the west
ern gate in the middle of the day) I be
gan to feel very nervous and somewhat
faint. No one went into the city, and
those whe came out bore with them the
dead, all recent victims of the terrible
visitation. It was clear I could have no
hope of ingress, even if it were safe to
be in the infected place. I at once re
solved to abandon the poor camel, and
Sutting my servant behind me, we rode
own to the banks of the river (Tigris)
and sought a boat. Not one was to be
seen ! The people had fled to Bussorah
in every available vessel. There were
however, we were told, some boats a few
miles lower down the steam. We set off
for the locality, but had not gone far
before we came upon an encampment of
Bedouins thieves and murderers of the
worst dye. With the keenness and rap
idity of' vultures, three or four of them,
lance iu rest, rushed out to stop, and of
course to rob me. Resistance, I knew,
would be futile. There was only one
escape : I turned my horse's head to the
stream, then a few yards off, and putting
spurs to his flanks, leaped in, and was
soon floating down with the rapid cur
rent, which the Arabs appropriately
enough call the 'Djcer, or javelin. The
leap dislodged the faithful Hummud,
and deposited him on the bank. Nar
rowly escaping the random Bbota of the
Bedouins, and keeping close to the bank
for an hour and a half, I was carried
down to a little cane-built village, where
my horse Was bronght up (nothiug else
could have stopped the poor wretch) by
a cluster of boats. We got on to the
bank, and were hospitably treated ; and
I then made arrangements for a trip to
BnRsorah, after spending my Christmas
holiday in the Tigris.
CHRISTMAS DAI IN A LAZARETTO.
In the winter of 183 , I had arrived
at Odessa from Asiatio Turkey. The
unlucky yellow flag, hoisted by com
mand of the visiting surgeon of the port
compelled the brig I was in to toss about
in the roadstead for a week before it was
admitted to the mole, or quarantine har
bor. .Then I was required to send my,
clothes for fumigation, and at the end
of another week the authorities per
mitted me to land and take up my
quarters in the lazaretto for fourteen
clays more, " on suspicion of plague."
The Odessa lazaretto is built in the
form of a quadrangle Each room is
separated from its neighbor by a double
wall, between whicb a sentinel takes tits
station to see that neighbors hold no
communication with each other. There
is a small court-yard in front of each
room, anct a double iron grating one
row of grating a few feet before the
other keeps the prisoners from any per
sonal tact with the outer world, repre
sented by the restaurateur and his aids.
the surgeon aud the chaplain. In the
room adjoining mine were confined
a Greek and a young woman, who
passed a portion of their time in singing
to the music of a guitar and occasionally
a tambourine. Mucli of the rest was
spent iu eating, drinking aud sleeping,
to judge from the long intervals of
silence. But there were noisy episodes,
which conveyed strong proofs that the
lady could scold as well as sing, and
sometimes the quarrels rose to a terrible
pitch, a thump, followed by a scream,
furnishing the climax.
It was Christmas Day. The snow fell
heavily, deadening the sound of the
church bells, which, through a broken
pane, reminded me of the holy festival.
I expected to hear my neighbors- sing
hymns. My own time was devoted to
my books the only relief to an enforced
solitude. Towards evening, while the
guard slept, I distinctly heard the voice
of the man Greek. He seemed to be
growling rather than speaking, and in
the intervals of his silence I heard the
female sob. Not a very ' merry Christ
mas," thought I. Sometimes one
voice rose above the other the one was
hhrill, the other loud and angry. Then
there was a souffle, then all was tranquil.
Night liad fallen, and I had hoped the
parties had gone to sleep. But again
the murmurs, the expostulations, the
outbursts, disturbed my quiet. And
now the woman became vol liable, and
spasmodic bursts of grief alone inter
rupted the torrent of her eloquence.
Ever and anon the man called out what
appeared to be " Silence 1" adding a few
words (none of which were distinct
enough fobs caught) iu a minatory tone.
Then came another struggle, words
bitter words stifled cries, a heavy fall,
a scream silence again.
I could not sleep ; what had been the
issue of the last quarrel? Had the
' peace and good will ' taught by the Re
deemer, whose natal day the outer
Christian world was celebrating, ulti
mately prevailed ; and were the recent
antagonists illustrating the Horatian
maxim, that the falling out of lovers is
the renewal of love? Or had the last
fall so stunned the feebler of the two in
dividuals as to render the revival of
either love or anger temporarily impos
sible? I was not long in doubt. It was past
midnight, when I was awakened by
dolorous cries and heavy sobs, vehement
protestations and earnest apostrophes
m the voice of the man. I knocked
loudly at the wall to suggest silence.
He evidently did not heed the knocking.
I called out in good Italian, ' Be quiet ;'
it was no avail. I roused up the guard,
and asked him what was the matter with
the gentleman. My custodian suggested
he waa drunk. I could not, however,
divest my mind of the idea that a deed
of darknsss hod been perpetrated.
The night wore away. I could not
sleep. I no longer heard the voice of
the woman even the man's voice was
hushed ; but.instead of the usual sounds,
my ear was assailed with knockings on
the floor, and a noise as of a saw or file
at work. When the restaurateur came
round in the morning to take orders for
breakfast, I told him what I had heard,
and suggested that the lady might be
ill, and need medical aid. He went next
door, but was sent away with the intima
tion that nothing was wanted. Two or
three more days elapsed ; the time had
arrived for my release. On the very day,
indeed, when I was to be emancipated
my neighbors were also to bo freed. I
heard the officers arrive next door.
Some words were uttered, followed by
an altercation ; then the man cried bit
terly. What could be the matter?
More offloers came ; the man waa fet
teied and taken away. Where was the
woman? He had stabbed her in his
anger ; and, under some absurd notion
tnat her existence would be forgotten by
the authorities, he had taken np two
planks, and deposited the dead body of
the poor girl beneath them. This ex
plained the operations which followed
upon the silence. When I was released,
I saw my quondam neighbor sitting in a
verandah of the place where I went to
reclaim my fumigated apparel, guarded
by two soldiers. He was a little, old
man of malignant aspect 1 remem
bered having seen him on the mole with
a haadaome young Greek whom I sup
posed to be his child. No one knew
exactly what their relative position was.
It waa enough that he had shed her
blood on Christmas night
A CHRISTMAS OALF,
It was in the African summer of 1820.
We were rounding the Cape of Good
Hope in the good ship "Nancy Lee,"
whereof James M'Culloch waa master,
on our voyage from Bombay to Liver
pool. 1 was the only passenger. The
vognge had been tedious, for the bottom
of the vessel was covered with barnacles,
and the captain was not a very enter
taining or instructive mariner. He had
one mate, Smith by name, whose only
diversion during the watch below was a
daring attempt to conquor " Life let us
cherish " on a one-keyed flute. I was
consequently cast upon my own resour
ces. The table was not very luxuriant
ly supplied, but there was always a suffi
ciency ; and on Christmas day we had
an extra feast We dined at three
o'clock. The weather was" beautiful ;
all sail was set, and we were congratu
lating ourselves upon so propitious a
"double" of the terrible Cape of
Storms. We were not very sensible of
a sudden change in the motion of the
vessel until a heavy lurch to larboard
sent bottles and glasses on to the deck
of the cuddy. The captain looked up
at the barometer over his head, turned
deadly pale, and staggered out on the
quarter-deck. Mr. Smith was asleep on
the poop ; the crew, with the exception
of one siok man, were drunk and quar
reling. The position was perilous, in
the extreme. Crack 1 and the main
royal with its yard and sail flapped
against the top-gallant. The captain
staggered to the halyards and called
out, as loud as he could: "Let go
everything 1" The wind became fiercer
each moment ; the jib was torn to shreds;
the mizen-royal went ; the vessel was
almost on her beam ends. I rushed
out, and aided the captain in "letting
go, to urge them to reef and furl and
get down the. shattered masts all to no
purpose. Only one or two were .Burn.
ciently in their senses to make an' effort
to do their duty. I jumped upon the
Soop, and shook Smith out of his lethargy,
e stared, bewildered for some mo
ments ; and when he seemed to realize
the condition of things, he began to
brawl and use his whistle (for he was
bos'n as well as mate), and wondered
that no notice was taken of it. The sea
had now risen conniderably, and every
now and then heavy seas dashed against
the " Nancy Lee," or swept clenn over
her. liy great eilorts the " letting go
had been accomplished, and every yard
being loosened, the sails flopped about
tremendously, breaking from their luts
and braces. The man at the helm, who
ought to have beeu relieved two hours
previously, now declared he could hold
on no longer the pressure upon the
rudder was beyond his powers. He
called for some comrade to take his
place ; he was unheeded. So, . in his
desperation, he made the wheel fast.
aud went forward only to drink his
share of the liquor, which had been put
into his keg for him. The captain whs
frenzied ho stamped, swore, prayed,
invoked, ordered all to no nnroose.
Out of a crew of fourteen, only four per
sons, myself included, were fit to do any
thing. The elements took advantage
of our helplessness, and made terrible
havoo with everything on and above
deck. " Happily, the hatches were
hermetically closed, to protect thev car
go. The foretopmast, unable to bear
the strain, now ' went, and in its fall
killed a sailor, who bore the rather in
appropriate soubriquet ' of " Happy
Jack. The men became frantio. One
went up aloft to cut loose the main-royal.
which still hung by some cordage to the
lower stem. He got up with difficulty,
and affected his purpose. The mast fell
on the deck, and struck Mr. Smith ; he
staggered towards the gangway, and fell
overboard. I screamed with affright
and rushed to the side. A rope that
hung below the main-chains had caught
him as the vessel heeled over ; but in
stead of proving his salvation it aided
his destruction, for I saw his poor body
swinging to and fro, striking the ship's
side with force enough to kill him if he
had ten lives. To shorten the story,
the gale slackened at midnight, and
dead calm rapidly ensued. We had
then nothing but the rolling of the help
less ship to trouble, us. But to what a
miserable wreck was the full moon wit
ness ! Every effort was now made to
repair damages, but although two
months more elapsed before we entered
the Mersey, our condition was so dilap y
fiuuju, mm, iu spue oi me euurcs inuue ui
the skipper to tell a good story to his own.
ers, they mulct him and the crew of all
that waa due, and resolved that, in
future, no more such " merry Christmas
es " should be passed by poor M'Cul
loch in their servioe.
A Lady's Long Trance.
The Des Moines (Iowa) Register of
recent issue, says : Yesterday evening
there stopped at the uiven House Mr,
and Mrs. bhadle, of Uuthne county, ac
oompanied by some-attendants. They
are escorting to Mount Pleasant Mrs,
Shadle, who has been in an almost con
tinual tronoe ever since last June. Some
time last March, without any premoni
tory symptoms, the lady became insane,
wild at first, and finally violent She
was visiting a sister near her own resi
denoe. Soon after her arrival there she
began to talk strangely, and a few days
later was raving with insanity.oud at times
very violent On the 12th of June Mrs.
Shadle had a spasm, from which she
passed off into a comatose state, which
continued without intermission until
October 1, when she awakened and con
versed, although incoherently. The
next day she again fell asleep and has
not since been awake. She is fed by
forcing her mouth open and placing the
food inside. Her respiration is regular,
but a little more frequent than that of
most people of her age, which is twenty
nine. She has one child, a boy of four
years. The first evidence of wakefulness
she has exhibited since the 2d of October
was the day before yesterday, when she
was carried from her home to a vehiole
to be transferred to the cars. The
little boy climbed into the wagon
and placing his arms abont 'his
mother's neck, kissed her. Tears im
mediately rolled from the closed eyes,
but they remained closed, and there was
no other sign of waking. She is to be
taken to the asylum for the insane at
Fort Madison.
. When a man is "rooted to the spot ,
by fear, does he branch out before he
leaves? '
A YICTIK OP EARTHQUAKES.
An Aceonnt f the Earthquakes' that have
Vlalf ed Mutton, I he Fortncnese Capital.
Tt is or a citv aarainst which the internal
forces of nature have conspired with un
paralleled frequency and fury that Lis
bon is popularly tnown in other coun
tries. With the memory of previous
disasters from the same cause, extending
back more than eight hundred years, it
was hardly to be expected that the re
cent shocks would not excite considera
ble alarm among the population. Be
tween the years 1009 and 1146 three
cases of earthquake occurred In 1366
the visitation was repeated with in
creased severity. In 1537 the earth was
convulsed at intervals of three successive
days, when twenty-five hundred houses
were destroyed, and thirty thousand
persons perished. In 1679 three streets
were destroyed, aiid in 1699 and 1722
the earthquakes were marked by peculiar
violence. But it was on the 1st of No
vember, 1655, at ten o'clock in the morn
ing, the weather being bright and
serene, that the capital, then in the
height of its splendor, was overwhelmed,
in less than a quarter of an hour, by the
most stupendous catastrophe recorded
in human annals. First there was a
tremulous motion, to slight as hardly to
attract attention. Iu two minutes after
ward the earth shook with such violence
that the houses were split in every
direction, and the snu was obscured by
the clouds of dust which arose. At
length the third and most disastrous
shock succeeded, whloh laid the city in
ruins in a moment. Au eye-witness re
lates "the screams of the living, the
groans of the dying, and the profound
darkness increased' the horror." In
twenty minutes the silence of the grave
reigned over a locality which had shortly
before been a scene ci cheerful activity.
But the havoc had not yet reached its
height Fires broke out in various
quarters of the city, and were fanned by
a strong wind. So intent were the hap
less survivors on saving their lives that
they left the spreading flames to take
ineir course, ua me morning oi we iui
of the same month, at five o'clock, all
the terrors of the previous week were
repeated uuder greatly aggravated cir
cumstances. The sea rose nine feet
"higher than the greatest recorded river
flood which has ever inundated Portugal.
The affrighted crowd congregated on
the banks of the Tagufl were overtaken
by a monstrous wave, and. with bouses
and streets, were overwhelmed in the act
of endeavoring to escape. A vast
throng of . persons fled for refuge from
the falling ruins to the marble quay now
known as the Praca. de Uommercio,
which suddenly sank with the dense liv.
ing mass collected upon it, and not one
l the bodies ever rose to the surface,
Boats and vessels crowded with wretched
fugitives were s wept down by a whirlpool,
and no trace of them was ever found
The results of this abnormal movement
of nature oonld not be confined within
the limits of the locality in which it pro.
duced the .greatest ' devastation. - It ex
tended to Morocco ; and one-half of Fez,
includiBg twelve thousand Arabs, was
destroyed. Its influence was felt as far
north as the Orkney Islands, and ships
in mid-Atlantic were tossed by the fear
ful agitation of the elements it had gen
erated. The number of victims to which
the disaster proved fatal is estimated at
fifty thousand, ond the value of the
property sacrificed at 8100,000,000. So
crushing was the effect of this misfor
tune, with its attendant consequences, to
the court, that the question was gravely
debated whether the seat of government
should not be removed to Brazil. But
the ill-fated capital gradually emerged
from its ruins, and, though severe shocks
have ooonrred since the great earth
quakes in the years 1761, 1796 and 1807,
no visitation has been so serious as to
interrupt the growth of the city. Indeed,
by a sort of poetic law of compensation,
the most handsome portion of it to-day is
in the valley created by the earthquake.
through the collapse of the hill on which
the principal section of the old city stood,
As the visitor crosses the Black Horse
square, and wends his way to the Praca
de JJom Pedro IV. and the public gar.
dens, it requires a strong effort of fancy
to realize that any such occurrence as we
have described could have taken place
on tuat spot.
That Colorado Stone Man.
A Denver assayer gives this account
of the origin of the Colorado stone man
with a tail: In August, 1875, five of us
were prospecting in the vicinity of
Pueblo. Iu coming upon a sandstone
quarry, ono of the party observed a sort
of likeness of a man drawn upon the
rock. The incident occasioned a deal of
talk about ancient creations, and the
idea of getting up a second Cardiff
giant was then favorably discussed,
The party agreed to undertake the task
aud a stonecutter named Saunders, who
had been working in the vicinity and
known to be a clever band at modeling.
was at once sought out and an agree.
ment made for the figure. While the
plan was in progress one of the party,
iu a joking way, said the thing ought to
have a tail, as in ancient times men had
tails six or seven inches long. It was
decided amongst the party that the figure
should be known as a petrified Aztec
Indian, and they would resurrect him
after six months and impose him on the
public as such. . The stonecutter, not
seeing the joke, set to work and made
the figure, with tail appended. The
pnee paid the artisan was $135, and after
he had completed the figure it was buned,
The " Muldoon " was made out of sand
stone aud dried by the cabin fire, whioh
partly accounts for the little moles on
the surface. After the burial two feet
from the surface of the ground the
purtywent on their way to await the
resurrection. A few of the prospectors
had got wind of the proceedings and
were keeping an eye on the party, and
so tney dispersed in different directions.
Finally they became scattered, some in
Now York fnd the remainder in different
portions of the country. ' I had for
gotten nearly about ; the matter when
the discovery was 'chronicled in th
papers. -
A youui man. who is paying his ad
dresses to a lady-love, stayed so. late a
few eveninira ainxa that thn familv were
wtinpelied to whitewash ,tht wall next
ruoiuiug, to obliterate hi shadow.
Fashion Notes
Amber jewelry is revied.
Pleated waists are fashionable.
Arabesque galloons are very fashion
able.
Plnsh is used for collars and cuffs of
cloaks.
A new 'color in artificial flowers is
French pink.
Ribbons with fringed edges are com
ing in vogue.
Satin ribbon is very fashionable for
bonnet trimming.
Silk and feather boas are among this
season's novelties.
Double breasted sacks and cutaway
coats are both worn.
Bonnet strings are fashionable for
even very young ladies.
In spite of all that is said against high
heels, they are still worn.
Yellow kolinsky, a dyed sable, is seen
among the novelties in furs.
Egyptian types fer jewelry and fancy
articles is a fashion of the passing mo-
moment.
Cocks' plumes and cocks' feather
ruches are favorite trimmings for felt
hats. .
Cut steel buckles on velvet bows are
used on Louis XIV. and Louis XVI.
slippers.
Princess dresses and princess polo
naises take the lead as fashionable gar
ments. Bonnets are more fashionable than
hats for young ladies as well as for
matrons.
Black silk and black velvet continues
to be the favorite combination costume
of American women.
Moonlight pearl beads and variegated
pearl beads take the place of moonlight
jet for evening toilet.
Among novelties are earrings of silve-
enamelled with small shells, a pearl ex
uding from each shell.
A new lace for flannel skirts is knitted
in a variety of patterns of Saxony yarn
the color of the skirt.
Four or five bows are used on each
slipper, fastening high on the instep by
means of kid or elastic straps.
Light cashmeres in the evening colors
are combined with gros grain Bilks of
the some shade for evening dresses,
Stanley neckties and standing collars
are affected by fashionable young ladies
with the waistcoat and jacket.
Uncut figured velvet having a white
ground, with the figures in colored de
signs, is exquisite for ladies' waistcoats.
Grecian bodices and yolk waists, with
gathered or pleated backs and fronts,
are among the late imported dresses,
Fur and feather tippets, with long
tabs down the front n tue style of the
A ictorines of tlm-ty years ago, are com.
ing in vogue.
Large Russian collars and cuffs of fnr,
and lapels of fur on the pockets, are the
only trimmings seen on some of the most
fashionable cloaks.
Among boudoir novelties are elegant
work boxes with slanting sides, suspend'
ed upon crossed ebony sticks, so that
they must always maintain an upright
position.
The most fashionable way of arrang-
ing the hair is a braid fastened low in
the neck, running upon the head, the
fastening on the crown hidden by two or
three puns, or a comb.
Gold threads in all the tints of the
rainbow are used for embroideries on
evening costumes and opera bonnets by
those who object to the weight of moon
lght and variegated beads.
The passementeries an 1 braid trim.
mings, which come especially for cloaks
ore of such elegant designs and richness
of material as to give the effect of lavish
costliness to the plainest shaped gar
ments.
Among fashionable trimmings are
pleats, gatherings, shirrings, galloons,
ribbed beiges or corduroys, variegated
bean, silk and chenille fringes, silk
variegated gold, silk and beaded em.
broidery, feather bands, bands of fur,
velvet and brocade.
Habit basques of velvet, shaped very
much like a gentleman's swallow-tailed
coat, with the masculine effect modified
by a profusion of bows, pleatings and
other trimmings, are worn over princess
trained skuts, or skirts and tunics
faille.
of
Stories of Children.
A pair of twins about a month old
were dropped on a street corner in Chi
cago one mom ing recently, and the
mother, being in haste, did not retur
for the basket A policeman took the
little fellows to the .Foundlings Home,
where they received the names of Lin
soott Rutherford Hayes and Martin
Burchard Hayes.
Four little boys in Sacramento, Gal,
have built a little cabin close to the old
chain-gang yard, and there they live by
themselves, scorning the homes which
their fathers offer them. They have no
stove, but do their scanty cooking on
brick fire-place, while a plentiful supply
of blankets keeps them comfortable at
night, They earn a tew pennies by run
ning on errands and doing odd lobs.
A lad returned from school in War.
rensburg, New York, one noon not long
ago, to tell his mother that he was going
to drown himself in ochroon itiver,
She screamed as he set out as fast as he
eould run, but before she could overtake
him he threw himself into the water and
was drowned.
A bright little urchin ran away from
the Soldier s Orphan Home, at Normal.
Illinois, the other day, and went to Chi,
cago, as he said, to see some big ships.
He walked the greater part of the way.
occasionally stealing a ride on a freight
train. Wheu he was rescued bv the
police his face was disfigured by
scratches,, which he. bad received m en
counters with farmers' boys and, as he
said, "with a crowd of fellers on the
river." The young tramp was Bent
bn0r trt alionl. -
lA tliree-yeajr-old in Orange, New Jer
seys when his grandfather aays grace at
tabled jexplains in a patronizing aside to
the ciynpariy, ''It's grandpa's; litrje
prayer p i . -
Tho Valley of the Jordan.
The Jordan Valley, from Lake Tiber
ias to the Dead Hen, is about seventy
miles in length. Three miles is its
average breadth, although it widens at
places into plains ten miles broad. These
plains are beautiful oases, which fact
will remove tho impression,now popular,
that the whole region is a sterile desert.
There ore many streams running out oi
the mountains on either Bide, and in
every case, where the river leaves the
foot of the hills, there is a ruined village.
There is little difficulty iu picking out
among these many of the localities men
tioned in the Bible. Along the course
of the Jordan we find ruins of many of
the bridges built by the Romans. One
of these, just below Lake Tiberias, con
sists of ten huge arches, and must have
been a handsome structure. By irriga
tion the valley of the Jordan, embracing
200 square miles, may be made as fertile
as the Nile, and will support half a mil
lion of people. The expense would be
trifling, and anything that grows in the
hot-beds of the world can be produced in
the Jordan Valley. The mlley- and ad
joining ones have numerous hot sulphur
springs. Some miles east of the Jordan,
just below Lake Tiberias, is a small
basin containing a large hot spring and
some rums which indicate that it was at
one time a popular resort. There are
remains of a large theater and many
houses that must have been magnificent
in their day. The whole country is filled
with ruins.
There are popular traditions that
Sodom, - Gomorrah and other wicked
cities of the plain are submerged. The
belief is erroneous, and tue ueai aea
has never exceeded its borders. These
cities must have existed at the northern
end of this body of water. Every link
in the chain of evidence leads to this be
lief. On the plain at the northern eud
of the sea are some rebuilt cities, exactly
corresponding in number and position
to the cities of the plain that were des
troyed by the great conflagration men
tioned in the Bible. At one place are
three cities, above ground, in " layers."
First are the mud houses of tlie Arabs ;
next under these is a city built by the
Romans ; still under that is a Hebrew
city, and still lower down, where men
have turned up the earth thirty or forty
deep, there are the ruins of still another
"ge-
In ancient times, there cannot be the
slightest doubt, this land was densely
populated by a wealthy people. The
ruins which dot the country and the
fact that the Romans thought it worthy
of conquest prove the assertion. There
are to be seen still, among other things,
the remnants of more than five hundred
miles built by the Romans. The work
manship was superb, and even at this
day the drives are frequently well pre
served. These, too, go to show the
former importance of the country, which
demanded such a costly means of in
ternal intercourse. The valley is inter
sected with irrigating canals, built by
the ancients, showing that they bad
more intelligence than any that have
lived there since.
Home-Mmle Christmas Gifts.
A WALL LETTER-HOLDER,
This is something which quite a
little boy could make. Cut out three
ieces of thin wood, a foot loug by six
inches wide ; smooth and sand-paper
two of them, bore a hole iu eacli corner
and m the middle of one side, and
fasten them together with fine wire,
cord, ribbon, or the small brass pius
which are used tor holding mauusenpts.
The pieces shonld be held a little apart.
Cut one end of the third piece into
some ornamental shape, glue it firmly to
the back of one of the others, and sus
pend it from the wall by a hole bored
in the top. It will be found a useful
thine to hold letters or pamphlets. A
clever boy could make this much hand
somer by cutting a pattern over the
front, or an initial, or a monogram, or
name in the middle. The wood should
be oiled or shellaced.
SHOE CASES.
These cases are meant to take the
plaoe of paper when shoes are to be
wrapped up in a trunk. They are made
of brown crash, bound with red worsted
braid. One end is pointed so as to turn
over and button down, or the top has
strings over the braid to tie the mouth
up. There should be three or four made
at a time, as each case holds but one
pair of shoes ; and you will find that
mamma or your unmarried aunts will
like them very much.
A NEW KIND OF CHRISTMAS-PIE
Nothing can be droller than to hang
up one's stockings, and nothing prettier
or more full of meaning than a Christ
mas free. .But for some of you who may
like to make a novelty in these time.
honored ways, we will just mention that
it is good fun to make a " Christmas
pie " in an enormous tin dish-pan, with
a make-believe crust of yellow cartridge
paper, ornamented with twirls and
flourishes of the same, held down with
pins, and have it served on Christmas
jjve, full of pretty things and sugar
plums, lokes and lolly little rhymes
fastened to the parcels. The cutting
should be done beforehand, and hidden
by the twirls of paper : but the carver
can pretend to use his knife and fork,
and spooning out the packages will in
sure a merry time lor all at the tame,
Aud one more suggestion. Little articles
wrapped in white paber. can be put
inside cokes, baked and iced, and tnus
furnish another amusing surprise for
the "pie" or the Christmas tree. &'(,
Xicholai Magazine.
Journalistic Ingenuity.
Everybody knows that newspapers
keep biographies of most living celebri
ties ready in type, so that when one of
them happens to die his career is in the
bands of the public an hour or so alter
his last trasu. The other day. however,
the sudden death of M. Theirs caught
an Italian journal napping, and this is
how its editor filled up the void till the
literary notice of the dead man was
written : " The sorrow witu wnieu we
are so suddenly overwhelmed entirely
prevents lis from saying anything about
this illustrious statesman; but wliu
our tears cease to flow to-morrow
bhall giyp an accouut of hi life," ( '
The Reason Why.
You wonder at the change, you say,
And can't you guess the reason why
What bnngs the brightness of the day .
What gives the color to the sky?
Just light and sunshine. Even so. .
The brooding shadows of the night,
With all the olonds that come and go,
Are lost forever In the light.
What then ? The old, old smile j
Tho sun is shining In my sky
And if you see a change in me,
Oh, love, you know the reason why.
Items of interest
The population of Richmond, Va.,
has doubled since the war.
Nevada enjoys the luxury of publicly
thrashing its convicted wife-beaters.
Mrs. Lou. J. Jennings has presented
her husband with seven daughters in
eight years.
They are called " Indian supply con
tracts " because the supplies always con
tract before they reach the Indians.
A poper says of a very prominent
militia general that " his sword was
never drawn but once, and then in a
raffle."
Three drunken young men, with pistols
in their hands, recently dispersed the
congregation from a church in Pulaski
Qounty, Ky.
The man who owns a 320,000 cow oan
drink milk costing him eighty-four cents
a quart. That's all the advantage he has
over the rest of us.
One dollar put at compound-interest
upon the day. Columbus discovered
America would amount, in 1879, to the
paltry sum of $6,240,000,000.
A man in Newburyport, Mass., is
fattening for his table five hundred
frogs. He keeps them in a barrel and
feeds them upon Indian meal.
Mr. Coolbaugh, the wealthy Chicago
banker who recently committed suicide,
is said, by'the Advance, to have been led
to the deed by intemperance.
The St. Louis Journal of Agriculture
says: "Farms can be bought in any
county of the United States to-day, for
less than the improvements cost."
A French gentleman has left 80,000
as a prize to bo awarded to any person
discovering either a cure for Asiatic
cholera or the cause of the disease.
There is a female blacksmith in tho
suburbs of Pittsburg, Pa. She is about
forty, a Gorman by birth, and for nine
years past has worked at the trade as a
helper to her husband.
A Shaker community at PleaRant Hill,
TTr Viagra lml a HPricR of matrimonial
misfortunes- recently which threatened
to destroy the society. First, a young
man and a young woman eloped, then
an old man and old woman traveled the
same road; and within a month nine
more marriages have taken place.
L1FK.
A baby on her mother's knee,
A child at play ;
A man with pulHes bounding free,
A voiceless clay
And life has passed beyond the Went !
The weary tread
Goes out to boundless fluid of rest
O bleuHod dead !
' Pilloried anil Flogged.
A recent dispatch from Wilmington
Del., savs : This morning, at a few
minutes past ten o'clock, in a cold, driz
zling easterly rain storm, the first of
the culprits to be flogged as a punish
ment for felony in this county at new-
castle was marched into the jail yard,
attended by the warden and shenfl.
Mounting a rickety old ladder, two
prisoners were promptly pilloried. For
au hour they stood there in the face of
the few spectators who ensconced them-
selves in corners oi tue jau yuru iu uo
Kheltered from the rain which pelted
pittiiessly upon the victims of the pil
lory. At the expiration oi on nour mey
were released. One retired.
The other, William Barry, a hardened
criminal, by the way, who boasted that
lie had been in thirty-six different jails
in the country, was strapped to tne
whipping post, stripped bare to the
waist, and received quite a severe flog
ging. He felt the punishment severely,
and looked imploringly at the sheriff as
the lash descended twenty times on nis
bartf back.
A lad named McGuire, evidently of
delicate organization, was next stripped
and tied to the post. He was very anx
ious and frightened. The sheriff dealt
mercifully with him, and the twenty
lashf s did not much mere than welt red
den his back.
The next was Monk Austin, who was
convicted of a petty larceny, and al
though he shivered and was much affect
ed by the cold rain on his naked skin,
he bore his punishment with nonchal
ance. A young fellow named Kiefly,
tho companion of Austin, stepped up to
the post, threw his coat on juuuuiy ana
received his twenty lashes with indiffer-
received his twenty
cuoe.
The next three were colored men ; one
convicted for larceny, the other two for
felonious assault. They each received
the usual twenty lashes and wnggled and
roared under the infliction.
How the Texas Cow-Boy Lives.
A letter from San Antonio, Texas, to
the New Orleans Democrat, says : One
of the distinctive features of Western
Texas is the cow-boy, so-called. Hereto
fore there have beeu but few inclosed
pastures. The cattle and horses have
wnged at will over the prairies, and
when a northor prevails they become
widely scattered. When the spring of
the year returns, then a dozen or more of
the youug men of a neighborhood monu t
their mustangs, taking each a spare
horse, the company having several
sumpter horses, and scour the prairies
for many miles, some times fifty or sixty
n one direction. These excursions last
about ten days or two weeks. They
bivouac at night, co jk their own meals,
seldom enter a house, drink quantities of
black coffee, generally without sugar, '
kill a yearling when they need meat and
nre truty rough and ready riders, This
kind of life seems to have an inexpressi
ble charm for the young men. It is au
exciting scene to see them in full chaee,
with their lariats whirling over their
Leads, their mustangs as much excited
by the race as themselves. From this
school comes the noted Texas ranger,
and it would be hard to find a better
tuinjpg for a cavalry soldier, - .
. -
K