iifiii
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. Ntk ftfcSfrEllAlsrfttJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VIII. . RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1878. NO
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The White Czar.
The White Cum 1b Peter the. Great, Baly
ushka, Father dear, . and Gosuder, Sovereign,
Are titles the Bnssian people are fond of giving
to the Czar in their popular gongs.
Dost thou Bee on the rampart's height
That wreath of mist, in the light
Of the midnight moon ? Ob, hist 1
It 1b not a wreath of mist t
It la the Csar, the White Czar,
Batyushkal Gosudar! J
He has heard, among the dead,
The artillery roll o'erhead ;
The drums, and the tramp of feet
Of his soldier; in the street t
He is awake ! the White Czar,
Hatvnshka ! Gosudart
He has heard in the grave the cries
Of his people t " Awake ! arise 1"
He has rent the gold brocade
Whereof his shroud was made ;
He is risen ! the White Czar.
BatyUBhka 1 Gosudar t
Vi om the Volga and the Don,
He hit !ed his armies on,
Over river and morass,
Over desert and mountain pass ;
The Czar, the Orthodox Czar,
Batyushkal Gosudar!
He looks from the mountain chain
Toward the teas that cleave in twain
The continents ; his hand
roints southward o'er the land
Of Boomelee ! O Czar.
Batyushka ! Gosudar '.
And the words break from his lips
" I am the builder of sbipB,
And my ships (hall sail these seas
To the Pillars of Hercules '
I say it ; the White Czar,
Batyuehka 1 Gosudar !
"The Bosphorus sha'l be free ;
It shall make room for me ;
And the gates of its water-streets
Be unbarred before my fleets,
I Bay it ; the White Czar.
Batyushka t Gosudar !
"And the Christian shall no more
Be crushed as heretofore,
Beneath thine iron rule,
0 Sultan of Istamboul !
1 swear it ! I, the Czar,
Batyushka! Gosudar!"
Henry W. Ismgfellow, in the Atlantic Monthly,
His Landlady's Daughter.
"Yes, Mr. M'Govern, she is coming
home to-morrow."
- "No? Really ah! I mean ex
actly yes 1"
"Ah, Mr. M'Govern, if you could
know how I've toiled and slaved and
pinched that that girl could have an edi
eatton ! I never had no learning my
self. "
"Precisely just so."
"And 1 made up my mind that Annie
should be a lady, and she is, sir, she
is--"
"Certainly no doubt. Really the
fact is Would you mind ? I am vary
busy."
Now the fact was that Mr. M'Govern
was determined not to take the slightest
interest in the world in his landlady's
daughter. And at this moment he was,
also, engaged upon a piece of work that
not only absorbed all his energies, but
apparently presented difficulties that he
was not likely to overcome.
The case Iny just here. Mr. M'Gov
ern,"salesman and commercial traveler
for a large dry-goods honse, had recent
ly made the acquaintance in an adjacent
town, not as large, but fancying itself
quite as important, as New York, of a
young lady who had suddenly inspired
liim with the exaggerated sentiment we
commonly call love. At least he thought
so. Aud now the problem lay, how to
awaken a corresponding emotion in the
henrt of the fair being to whom he felt
anxious and desirous to offer the devo
tion of a lifetime. If he had been rioh,
he might have overwhelmed her with
boquets such us can only be produced
by a metropolitan florist. But he was
not rich. On the other hand, if, as he
expressed it to himself, he "had been
one of those newspaper ;chaps, who are
always saying things and writing things,
you know, and walk into a girl's heart
when they haven't even a respectable
Eair of boots, or a shilling to get their
air cut," even then he might have
done something. But, as it was, what
count ne do ?
Finally an idea occurred to him. Bril
liant in epigram he was not, and cer
tainly could never hope to be ; but some
body had surely once said that "genius
is only indomitable perseverance," and
there was the hare aud the tortoise, and
the little busy bee, and there was no
k uowing but that if he gave a month to
it he might yet manage to get np some
thing she would like to read he could
certainly write as good a business letter
as any fellow in the office. But then it
ought to be in rhyme. And here an
other difficulty presented ilself. Her
name was Arabella? Yet Petrarch had
certainly been in the same scrape ; there
isn't a word in the language that ends
like Laura.
Bo he set valiantly to work, and on the
morning when Mrs. Gibson invaded his
sanctum to announce her daughter's ex
pected return, he had got just this far :
"Midst roues fair, oh 1 lovely Arabella"
Stop there was cellar. But how to
work it in?' And here Mr. M'Govern
was met by a difficulty that has oppressed
many a great poet.
His landlady had broken the chain of
inspiration ; besides, it was nine o'olook;
be couldn't do better than go to the
office, for there was a fresh consignment
of goods that he was expeoted to dis
pose of. In the evening hewold go
out and call npoft Arabella ; which he
did, and at midnight he returned to his
grimy apartment ou Mrs. Gibson's third
floor, more in love than ever.
But on the following evening, when
he came home from the office, be remem
bered Mrs. Gibson's announcement and
at the tea table he looked for the young
lady in question. Not that he cared
what she looked like, but then-.
"Huml not a pretty girl, by any
means " but somehow he looked again
There she sat, a soft little body iu a
grey merino dress, with a pair of very
pretty hauds placidly folded in her lap.
What to the impression aha gar him ?
Ha 1 he didn't know. - Now he had it :
she seemed so very, very funny word,
wasn't it ? well, there was no harm in
thinking it clean, that was it. Perhaps
it was the awful grime of Mrs. Gibson's
front basement did it. Contrast is every
thing, you know.' But ah 1 she wasn't
like the divine, the beautiful
"Mr. M'Govern, will you have
another cup of tea ?"
My 1 what a sweet voice 1
Now what was it made the old boarding-house
day by day so much less in
tolerable than it used to be ? Perhaps
it was the dust; Somehow the universal
dust had ceased to assert itself as for
merly, and became conspicuous by its
absence. Every thing in Mr. M'Govern's
room by some magic got into its right
Slace. Inanimate things may be totally
epraved, but somehow his showed an
evidence of reform that argued the ex
istence of savins trrace somewhere.
Where on earth were the holes in his
stockings ? He missed them. Certainly
a hole in one's stocking is more honored
in the breach than ii the observance ;
dui wnat a peculiar experience for a
clerk, in a boarding-house I
One day Mr. M'Govern happened to
remember what his landlady had said to
him about her daughter's "edication."
(Poor woman! he didn't wonder some
big words bothered her; every now and
then he came across one that puzzled
him.) It might be that Annie would be
nice to talk to. But he must get a safe
subject. How would politics do ? here
ue was tolerably strong himself.
It is a humiliating confession to make
regarding one's hero, but no sooner had
Clarence M'Govern begun to talk poli
tics with Annie than he speedily made
up his mind that the administration of
our Republican government was the one
thing on earth that he knew nothing
bdoui. now nominating it was! The
same thing over again. " If you ain't a
rich man or a newspaper chap, what can
you do with a girl ? They get their
heads packed full of things at school
that a fellow who's got his living to earn
can't know anything about, and if you
haven't got any money This world's
a beastly hole 1" concluded Clarence
M'Govern; and in that statement he em
bodied the sentiments of many a wiser
man.
But in this case it was too bad. Now
with Arabella, rich, beautiful and well
born, it was different; but to be extin
guished by Mrs. Gibson's daughter! he,
Clarence M'Govern abominable! Was
he not a rising man, and were there not
indications of good birth in his every
feature and in his very name ? To be
sure, he hated to attempt tracing his
lineage; it would bolt up against a
tailor's shop in the Bowery in such an
aggravating manner. But clearly names
sprung from something. Why should
his ancestors have been named M'Govern
if they had never had anything to gov
ern? impossible ! But such a plebeian
name as Gibson bah I
But there was something very delight
ful in Annie's society when he kept out
of deep waters ; and when one day she
asked him, very sweetly : " Who is Ara
bella?" Mr. M'Govern felt that his cup
of happiness was full. With Arabella
for a sweetheart and Annie for a con
fidante, what man could want more?
The flood-gates of his soul were opened.
He certainly lacked the eloquence of that
much-to-be-envied newspaper chap ; but
Annie was sympathetic, and she got a
notion of his longings, his doubts, his
aspirations, quite as correct ns if they
had been more elegantly expressed.
Then came the story of the sonnet that
wouldn't allow itself to be written, and
the stupid, uncontrollable, contumacious
behavior of that awful pollysyllable
Arabella.
"Don't put it in at the end of a"liue,"
suggested Annie. " Get over it at once,
and have it out of the way."
"Capital!" said Mr. M'Govern.
"Could you, Miss Annie, give me an
idea, a suggestion, a line or two per
haps ?"
" What style will you have it iu ?"
" Well, something a little like Tenny
son, with a dash of Shelley, just a trifle
of Swinburne possibly." He had evi
dently been reading up.
" How would this do ?" suggested the
accommodating Annie, with a twinkle in
her eye that somehow made Mr. M'Gov
ern blush to the roots of his hair :
" Arabella, gaze upon me
With thy soft and gentle eye.,
See the wrong that thou hast done me ;
All my troubled spirit lies
Fainting with iu deep emotion,
Pulseless as a tropic ocean.
And I seem as one who uetli
Low unon his couch aud dieth."
"Beautiful! Goon."
Now the result of all this was that
within the next three weeks Miss Ara
bella received no less than nineteen love
poems, all signed " Clarence M'Govern "
in that gentleman's best style, with a
flourish underneath at least four inches
lonsr.
But somehow this partnership in
poetry did not seem to agree with An
nie, and before long she announced her
intention of visiting a friend in the
country. She "needed a change," she
said.
Curiously now, the holes in Mr.
M'Govern's stocking began to re-appear;
the dust resumed its normal sway, and
the only line of poetry the young man
could remember was -
"Thou wiltoome no more, gentle Annie."
which he whistled so lugubriously that
one morning, out of pure sympathy,
Mrs. Gibson put her head inside his
door and whispered, consolingly :
" Lor" bless you, yes, she will, Mr.
M'Govern ; she s only gone for a
month."
Then Clarence began to wonder where
his thoughts had been straying ; and as
poetical effusions were no longer pos
sibility, he resolved to see Arabella at
once, and put his fate to the touoh, and
win or lose it all.
It was a night of wind and rain and
sleet as Mr. M'Govern left the station
and approached the Lock wood mansion.
Miss Arabella would see him in a few
moments, and in the meantime would he
wait in the library ? Fancying himself
in solitude, be selected the easiest chair,
and was just composing his address to
the fa.ir objeot of his affections, when a
small voiee appealed to him pathetically:
" Pleathe, thir, tlrith ith too thick, it
won't twitht" . ,
'What is it, my child?" inquired
Clarence, affectionately, seating the email
petitions oa bit knee
"I'thmakinMamp-lighterth, Thithtel'
Bella gate me all thith white paper. I
Wanted new, but she thaid it wath good
enough for me; there wath nothing on
it but some thilly vertheth that big fool
she thaid lrith name, but I forget had
written to her. Don't pinch me tho;
I'll thcream."
Oh agonies of unrequited affection I
There, curling gracefully around a lamp
lighter, destined perhaps to light one of
his rival's cigars, were the tender lines:
" Arabella gaze upon me
With thy soft and gerdle eyes."
The rest were goue, unless they might
be discovered on the vicionB morsel of
paper that "wouldn't twitht."
In less than two minutes Mr. M'Gov
ern was in the street. Oh, the dismal,
dreary, sleeting iniquity of that night !
Where was the station ? It had disap
peared. Down in torrents came the rain,
freezing as it fell; slippery and more
slippery grew the pavement; only a cat
or some animal with claws could have
maintained a systematic perpendicular.
Suddenly down went Mr. M'Govern.
Perhaps it was a blessing, for the sud
den application of cold ice to the back
of his head restored his consciousness of
where he was, and he turned toward the
railway station, having in his excitement
wandered half a mile in the opposite
direction.
Had that partial bath suddenly cooled
his passion ? Clarence could not have
told, but somehow he did not feel as
miserable as he had expected, only very
wet, and the ride home seemed interm
inably long.
Two or three days parsed by, and even
yet Mr. M'Govern was in a remarkably
serene frame of mind for a disappointed
lover. A week passed away, when sud
denly he began to feel a serious distress
in his left ankle. This struck him at
once as peculiar, as, according to all
precedent, the anguish should have pro
ceeded direct from his heart.
But pretty soon the invisible tweezers
of a most malignant imp began to wrench
him in the knee; before long the grip
was upon his arm; ihenoe it struck to
his hip; and utterly in the power of the
enemy, Mr. M'Govern awoke one morn
ing and found himself, not like the
Philistines dead, but unable to move a
limb, and helpless before the eyes of
Kitty, the waitress, who, late in the
morning, poked her head into the room
and inquired if he were ever going to get
up
" Get up ?" no! Not for weeks upon
weeks did Mr. M'Govern rise from his
bed. They blistered him, they poulticed
him, they dosed him, they drugged him;
but all to to effect. The fever would
have its way in spite of the whole medi
pharmacopoaia. First of all, they placed
him in the charge of a monstrous male
nurse, whom Clarence, in his impotent
fury, mentally denominated a "great
hulking brute," but without whose assis
tance the unfortunate victim of his at
tentions could not even turn in bed.
How he grew to hate the horrible crea
ture who stood over him day and night !
Even Mrs. Gibson's creaking boots and
high-pitched voice became a blessing
when, in the intervals of her domestic
labors, she looked in upon the sufferer.
But Annie if he could have had Annie!
Finally, in his semi-delirium he began
to call aloud for her; and Mrs. Gibson,
whether ont of the motherliness of her
own heart, or because she had her own
ideas about Annie and this thriving
young dry-goods salesman too much
cannot be expected of landladies with
marriogeable daughters promised him
that Annie should be sent for.
At last she came; and whether the
strength of the enemy was spent, or
whether he did not dare apply his
freezing, burning implements of torture
in Annie's gentle presence, the demon
of rheumatism was exorcised and peace
begau to reign.
Mr. M'Govern began to fancy that he
had lapsed into paradise, such was the
glory of convalescence. And Annie was
everywhere. Once more the dust dis
appeared, and Clarence himself wit
nessed the magical gestures through
which it suffered annihilation; he also
saw the very process by which all holes
depart from a stocking, save the one by
which the foot enters it. Annie's fair
fingers, that only wrote poetry under
compulsion, seemed to luxuriate in the
composition of broths and soups and
jellies.
And then, while the fresh air of the
spring-time stole in through the flowers
that Annie had placed in the window,
and Mr. M'Govern lolled upon the sofa
in all the enjoyment of valetudinarian
luxury, a great strife arose in his mind.
He was thinking of Annie ? No; of
Mrs. Gibson. Could he; conld he?
the blood of the M'Governs !
But when Annie came once more, and
her little hands were busy around his
refractory pillows, he found he could;
and he did.
" Annie, Annie, I love you."
"And Arabella?"
It was a cruel blow, and the spirit of
the invalid was roused. Excitement
began to gleam in the great hollow eyes,
and he had just time to ejaculate, " Con
found her I" when Annie's hand was
over bis mouth, and Annie's soft voice
reiterated the doctor's injunction to
"keep very quiet." Then, in a meek
voioe, " Say yes; won't you, Annie?"
"I haven't been asked anything."
" Then put your arm under my head,
and let me go to sleep. If you don't, I'll
go into a rage, and moke myself sick."
Annie did as she was bid.
Some two hours afterward, when Mr.
M'Govern condescended to awake, his
first distinct articulation was, "And?
Annie, a-about your your mother ?'
Annie witnarew ner arm, and began to
look severe. " Not a word about
mother. There isn't such a cook in the
universe.
"No; that is true." And sundry
visions of the days when he had an appe
tite began to rise before Mr. M'Govern's
eyes. " Annie you are right. She shall
live with us."
And Annie, who had remembered what
she had suffered from Arabella, replac
ed her arm, and, like a true woman,
answered, " Of course." - Harper's
Weekly, ; . -
A young lady in Newtownjoounty, Go.,
is possessed by a strange monomania.
She fancies herself a baby, and has not
spoken a word in three years, although
her power of conversation used to be
of an order higher than the average.
FARtit HARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Medical Hints.
Cube for Brtiiotm Headache. Dis
solve alld drink two teaspoonfnls of fine
ly powered charcoal in one-half a tum
blerful of water; it will relieve in fifteen
minutes; take a Seidlitz powder an hour
afterward. ;
SoBOFUfcouaSoHH Eteh. The common
blue violets, which grow wild in many
places; take the top and root and wash
clean, and dvy; make a tea, and drink
Beveral times a day; wash the eyes with
it each time.
Fob Burn. Charcoal has been dis
covered to be ft cure for burns. By lay
ing a pieoe of oold charooal upon the burn
the pain subsides immediately. By leav
ing the charcoal on one hour the wound
is healed, as has been demonstrated on
several occasions.
A Head Wash. Sage tea Is one of the
very best preparations for washing and
dressing the hair. The hair should be
carefully brushed and braided in two
firm braids, and the roots rubbed with
a sponge dipped in lukewarm sage tea.
The braids can then be washed and dried
with a towel. This preserves the color
of the hair, and keeps the scalp clean.
Ctmnra Cots. Accidental cuts from
knives, cutting tools, soythes, etc, are
more likely to occur on the face and
limbs than on the body. All that is re
quisite in general to bring the parts
together as accurately as possible, and
to bind them up this is usually done by
adhesive plaster, when the out ceases to
bleed. Nothing is so good for this pur
pose as paper previously washed over on
one side with thiok gum water, and then
dried; when used it is only to be wetted
with the tongue. When the cut bleeds
but little it is well to soak the part in
warm water for a few minutes, or keep a
wet cloth on it. : This removes inflamma
tion and pain, and also a tendency to
fainting, which a cut gives some persons.
If the bleeding be too copious, dab the
part with a rag wetted with creosote.
Cracked Hoof In Horses.
The following question and answer is
from the New York Sun : I am the son
of a blacksmith, and sometimes in shoe
ing horses I find one with a cracked
hoof, and more or less lame in conse
quence. Can yon tell me what causes
these cracked hoofs, and the best method
of management in order to cure the de
fect? The causes of cracks in the hoof walls
are various ; sometimes they come from
internal fevers, founder, or neglect in
having the shoes properly adjusted.
The hair which naturally covers the
coronet, if cut away, permits the dirt
and water to get in between the flesh
and hoof, especially if there happens to
be a slight abrasion of the parts, and,
through neglect, the crack enlarges un
til it becomes a serious defect and mala
dy. When a crack is discovered on the
coronet, it should be coated with pine
tar, and a small piece of rope wound
about the top of the hoof. If the crack
has progressed downward for an inch or
more before it is observed, it should be
carefully cleaned out ; if the foot is in
flamed apply a poultice, and if the edges
of the crack can be brought together a
slender nail may be driven through the
edges and riveted. Large cracks are
sometimes filled with gutta-percha or
some similar substance that will hold
the edges immovable until the hoof
grows down, and a new and sound one
formed. For what is called quarter
crack, a bar-shoe is indispensable.sooth
ing applications should be constantly
applied, aud the crack kept free from
dirt or anything which will prevent the
rapid growth of a new hoof from above.
When the new one shows itself, keep it
well covered with a bandage, over which
pour a little melted shoemakers' wax, or
a mixture of beeswax, rosin and tallow.
Uce on Cattle.
There are several kinds of lice which
infest farm stock. Some oonfiue them
selves wholly to the horse and ass, others
to the ox and cow, while another is par
ticularly troublesome to calves. All the
kinds may be safely treated by rubbing
strong wood ashes into the hair, or with
sulphur ointment. No parasites can
withstand the fumes of sulphur, and it
is very easy to rub down a quantity of
flowers of sulphur in whale oil, or even
common lard. But killing the lice on
the animals is but a temporary relief,
unless all the buildings, sheds and yards
where the cattle sleep are also thorough
ly cleansed. Scatter wood ashes freely
about the stables in dry weather, and
use sulphur in the same way, as a few
dime's worth will cover quite a large sur
face. Stock cannot thrive when tor
mented with lice, or other parasites; but
cleanliness is a great eradicator of such
enemies.
A correspondent advises the same
method for killing lice on cattle that is
employed by florists for exterminating
bugs that infect plants, to wit: Cover
the animal with a blanket pinned close
around the nose, and smoke thoroughly
with tobacco. It will destroy the lice,
without the bad effects following the
wetting with decoctions or use of grease;
a second smoking is seldom necessary. -
Broad-Chested Horses.
"Wind," says an old horseman, "is
the grand secret of a fast horse. Good
lungs will cover a multitude of faults ;
while, on the other hand, perfection of
shape and form are useless when the
wind iB out. The chest, therefore, in
all cases, should be large and capacious.
In shape it may vary somewhat, accord
ing to the service to which the horse is
to be put. . If be is to be kept for slow
work and heavy drawing, the ohest may
be nearly circular in form, because this
shape is one for strength and bulk, to
receive and bear up against the pressure
of the collar, while at the same time
sufficient room ie secured for that expan
sion of the lungs caused by slow, regular
work. But if the chest is circular, let it
be at the same time deep, or else the
lungs may be cramped. A hoise with a
shallow ohest is worthless for any pur
pose.;. The rule, then, is this : , For a
araugnt house, a circular Dut deep chest;
but, as you pass through the different
degrees of speed, up to the racer and
trotter, the chest will increase in depth.
compared to its roundness, until, for the
highest rate of speed, you must take a
ohest as deep as a greyhound, and at the
Bftme am not lacking iu iweogttt."
The Swiss Peasantry.
One million cow inhabit Switzerland.
About three millions of people, aisoj dno
cow to three people. Each family is en
titled to free pasture lor one cow on me
parish lots. I pitt the cows and the peo
ple into this association because the cwb
are the wealth of the people, and the
word A p means high pasture. A cow
is worth here and now, a hundred dol
larsj gives thirty pounds of milk daily,
whioh produoes two hiindrediWcight of
cheese in a season. These cows are
driven up the mountains as the season
advances, and down when it is time for
them to descend, and so they get all
there is to be catenas it grows. Three
persons are assigned to every forty cows;
they milk them and make the cheese for
the whole number of owners, and when
the product is sold, the profits are div
ided among them according to the num
ber of cows of each. The term chalet
is properly applied only to the lodgings
of these . cow-keepers, but it is also
given to Swiss dwellings generally. The
small buildings scattered over the fields
are for hay, cheese, and shelter. The
cows are petted and carefully attended
to. Perhaps none of them became so
intelligent as to read their names on a
card posted at the stalls they are to en
ter, as it was jestingly affirmed of my
friend Mr. Starr's cows, at Litchfield,
Echo Farm. But each canton has his
Ranz de Vaohen, a melody that the
peasant sings on the hills and respond
from the vales, whioh is merely a cow
call; in German a Kuhreihen; "rows of
cows " in English, because they come in
a row in answer to the call. As the
making of butter and cheese is the great
business of the people, the raising of
grass for winter feed is a matter of prime
importance, and to it they bend all their
energies and ingenuity. The smallest
aud most obscure spot where grass can
be made to grow is carefully tilled, and
the produce transported on the back or
head of the peasant, man or woman.
Where we would think it unsafe to go,
they work without fear, and are satisfied
with the pittance of hay they carry to
the barn.
The Swiss women work in the fields,
but the men are not idle. They are in
genious as well as industrious, making
the works for watches by hand, carving
wood into the most fantastio as well as
useful shapes, turning out toys for for
eign children, and doing anything to earn
a little money. The time was when
Swiss men hired themselves freely to
the kings of other countries as soldiers,,
but they have censed to seek money by
such pursuits. They are wide-awake to
the education of their children, and we
meet the girls and boys going from
school with their satchels filled with
books. Many of the young men go to
foreign cities seeking their fortunes; and
the financial," scientific, " and learned
world, has often beard of their bankers,
and merchants, and scholars. The teach
ers of Switzerland have their conven
tions, and are quite as enthusiastic in
improving the modes of education as
teachers iu the United States.
Thoy take pains to make their dwel
lings comfortable, and some of them are
models of neatness as well as conven
ience. But there is the same difference
among them in this matter as in all other
countries. The thrifty people keep
things in good order ; repairing, enlarg
ing, embellishing, and making such im
provements as their taste and means per
mit. The number of new houses going
up is surprising. One would think
something had occured to give a new
start to business here, when it is de
pressed elsewhere. But the less thrifty
and more shiftless of the people have the
house, the barn, and the cattle shed all
under one roof. How is it possible for
the family to have health in such circum
stances? The women, exposed to tho
weather and many hardships, have com
plexions almost the color of leather, and
very few of the peasant women, whom
we see in the fields or the streets, are in
any sense good-looking, but, taken as a
nation, the poor people show plainly
that they are hard-worked aud ill-favored.
New York Observer.
The Man That Saved a City.
The inhabitants of Neopolis, hearing
of the approach of Timour, the Tartar,
prepared to defend themselves with
vigor, but Nasur counseled them to do
nothing of the sort, but to trust to him
alone, aud his mediation with Timour.
The people were doub'.fnl of hissuocess,
but they yielded. Before proceeding
to the camp of the besieger, Nasur, who
knew it was useless to approach the
great chief without a present, consid
ered what gift was likely to be most ac
ceptable. He resolved it should be
fruit, but he hesitated between figs and
quinces.
"I will consult with my wife," said
Nasur-ed-Deen, and he accordingly did
so.
The lady advised him to take quinces,
as the larger fruit.
" Very good," said Nasur ; " that be
ingyour opinion, I will take figs."
When he reached the foot of the throne
of Tamerlane, he announced himself as
thi ambassador from the beleaguered
citizens, and presented, as an offering
of their homage, his trumpery basket of
figs. The chief burst into rage, and
ordered them to be flung at the head of
the representative of the people of Jengi
Scheher. The courtiers pelted him with
right good will ; and each time he was
struck, Nasur, who stood patient and
immovable, gently exclaimed :
"Now, Allah be praised!" or, "Oh,
the Prophet be thanked I" or, "Oh,
admirable ! how can I be sufficiently
grateful?" . '
"What dost thou mean, fellow?"
asked Timour ; " we pelt you with figs,
and you seem to enjoy it."
" Ay, truly, great sir," replied Nasur:
" I gratefully enjoy the consequence of
my own wit, .. My wife counseled me to
bring quinces, but I chose to bring
figs ; and well that I did, for with figs
you have only bruised me, but had I
brought quinces you would have beaten
my brains out" .
The stern conqueror laughed aloud,
and declared that, for the sake of one
fool he would spare all the fools in the
City, male And female, them and their
property, i ......
" Then," cried Nasur, " the entire
population ia safe I" ana he ran home,
ward to communicate the joyful inteJU-genoe,
Curious Habits of Grasshopper 8.
Prof. Alfred Gray, secretary of the
Kansas State board of agriculture,
makes tile following interesting state
ment in reference to the habits of grass
hoppers : In mapping out the country
in Kansas and Missouri in wnicu eggs
had been laid most thickly in 1876, I
was struck with the fact that the very
counties in which the young insects had
been most numerous and disastrous in
1875, were passed by or avoided, and
hod Ho eggs of any consequence laid in
them in 18?d. . The fact was all the more
obvious, because the bisect s did much
damage to fall wheat, and laid eggs all
around those counties, to the north,
south, and west From the exhaustive
report oil the insect made by Prof. Allen
Whitman, it was also very obvious that
those portions of that State which had
been most thickly supplied with eggs in
1875, and most injured by the yonng
insects in 1876, were the freest from
eggs laid by the late swarms of the lat
ter year, notwithstanding counties all
around them were thickly supplied.
I was at first inclined to look upon
these facts a&singular coincidences only,
but instances have multiplied. A re
markable one has been furnished me by
Governor A Morris, of the Northwest
territory. You are well aware that in
1875 the locusts hatched out in immense
numbers, and utterly destroyed the
crops in the province of Manitoba.
Now, in 1876 they were very numerous
over all the third prairie steppe of Brit
sh America, and largely went to make
up the autumn swarms that came into
our country a year ago. Governor Mor
ris Btarted 'late in July of 1876 from Win
nepeg northwest to make a treaty with
certain Indians, and during the first five
or six days of August he encountered
innumerable locust swarms all the way
from the forks of the two main trails to
Fort Ellice. The wind was blowing
strong from the west all the time just
the very direction to carry the insects
straight over into Manitoba. The gov
ernor watched their movements with the
greatest anxiety, fearing that the pro
vince would again be devastated as it
bad been the previous year. Yet dur
ing all the time he was passing through
the immense swarms, they bore dog
gedly to the south and south-east, either
tacking against the wind, or keeping to
the ground when unable to do so.
Nothing was more remarkable than the
manner in which they persisted in ref us
ins? to be carried into Manitoba. A few
were blown over, but did not alight, and
the province seemed miraculously de
livered. Prf. Whitman tells me, again,
that in settling the present year the in
sects avoided those counties in Minneso
ta in whioh they had hatched most num
erously and done greatest injury, but
selected such as had not suffered for
some years past.
Fashion Notes.
Large hoop earrings are again worn.
Alsatian bows are seen on the newest
imported bonnets.
Pale blue brocaded silks are used for
full-dress bonnets.
Cuckoo feathers, tipped with jet, ore
handsome for round hats.
Shaggy benver hats ore most liked in
the Gainsborough shape.
Marble paper and envelopes are the
latest novelty in stationery.
Evening bonuets are all white with a
border of white ostrich plumes.
Among new piece-trimmings are stamp
ed velvet and tinsel galoonn.
Embossed velvets are greatly used in
combination with silk or satin.
Exquisite card-holders are iu the shape
of a shell held by a pretty little finger.
Point lace vests, with Louis XIII.
cuff's, are the new extravagances for full
dress.
New collars and cuffs have colored
embroidery in pale tints, with scalloped
edge.
New handkerchiefs have the border in
large scallops, finished with small scal
lops in colors.
Favorite scorf-pius are made of two
snakes twined together, and having bright,
enameled scales,
A New York bride's extravagance was
shown in point lace gloves and point lace
covering for her shoes.
Habit basques, shaped like gentlemens,
frock coats, are among the fresh impor
tationsfor ladies' wear.
Standing collars and narrow cuft'H are
hard to abolish; they still continue to be
favorites with many ladies.
The fashionable petticoat of the season
is perfectly flat in front and on the sides,
and with fulness behind not beginning
higher up thau below the lower edge of
the corset. It should only reach to the
knee, and the flounces are buttoned ou
to it more or less loug according to the
dress to be worn. The fan shape at the
back must be maintained.
A Cheap Smoke House.
Dig a narrow pit from twelve to
eigkteen inches deep, throwing the
earth all out on one side. From near
the bottom of this pit dig trench sufficient
length to hold one or two joints of stove
pipe, at such an angle as will bring
the end away from the pit to the sur
face of the ground. Over the end of this
pipe set a common flour barrel or large
cask, as may be needed, and, having
removed both heads, bank up around it
with a little earth so that no smoke can
escape at the bottom. Hang the hams,
eot, n it , using some round sticks to ruq
through the strings. Putting a cover on
the sticks will leave space enough for
draught to let the smoke pass freely.
Build a smoke fire of corn cobs, damp
hard wood or saw dust, in the pit, and
you will have a cheap, safe and effioient
smoke house, with very little trouble.
Life-Saving Service.
The general superintendent ot the
United StateB life-saving service has sub
mitted bis annual report of the opera
tions of that service for the last fiscal
year. The report shows that there have
been duriug the year, 134 disasters to
vessels within the limits of the opera
tions of the service. On board these
vessels there were' just 1,600 persons.
Estimated value of the vessels, $1,986,
744 ; and of the cargoes, $1,306,588.
Number of lives saved, 61,461 ; lost,
thirty-nine. Amount of property saved.
l,73,0i7 1 amount 1,679,685,
Army literature Magazines and re
views. How to find a girl out Call when sho
isn't in.
The man who wonld like to co you
The blind man.
Boston contains the only cymbal fac
tory in the land.
Do not entertain visitors with your
own domestic troubles.
nM Tflnlt " in tionfl other that Nickr.
the dangerous water-demon of Scandi
navian legend.
There is a parish in Wales, near the
famous tubular bridge, named Slanfair
p wllgwn g willgogerb wlidy sillogogo.
With all his treachery and mean
tricks, there's one thing the Indian
ought to have a little credit for. He
never steals an umbrella. Cincinnat
Breakfant Table.
Every man who makes any preten
sions to sight must have seen a snow
squall some time in his life, but show
us the individual who ever heard one
squall. Oil City Derrick.
" Surely you must bo tired, aunty.
I can't think" how it is yon are able to
work so long." "Lawks bless you,
my clear, when I onst sits down to it
like I'm just too lazy to leave off."
LIFE AND DEATH.
On parent knees a naked, new-born child
Weeping thou sat'st, while all around thee
BmiTed;
So live that, sinking in thy long last sleep,
Thou then mayest smile while all around thee
weep.
The publisher of a weekly newspaper,
in Illinois, prints in each number a
chapter of the Bible, and upon being
ridiculed for it by its contemporaries re
marks editorially: " We publish noth
ng but what is news to our readers."
Influenza affords a familiar example
of an epidemic disease, a whole com
munity being often attacked in the
course of a few hours. From this it may
be inferred that the occurrence of this
disease is connected with some particular
condition of the atmosphere, but what
that condition is, is not yet known to
science.
A distinguished politician, while
conversing with a lady the other evening,
became piqued by her attention to a
beautiful dog that was resting its head
confidingly in her lap and impatiently
asked, " How is it that a lady of your
intelligence can be so fond of a dog ?"
" Because he never talks politics," wb
the prompt reply.
Recent excavations at Big Boono
county. Ky., have brought to light an
immense number of animal remains.
Among them are immense teeth, tusks,
juws with teeth in them, ribs, spinal
columns in faat there are bones for
nearly every part of the mastodon, be
sides many that are not like any ever
Detore louna in iaai piace.
HUMILITY.
" The bird that soars on highest wing
Builds on the ground her lowly neBl ;
And she that doth munt sweetly sing,
SiDgs in the shado when all things rest
In lark and n'htingale we see
What honor hath humility.
Inquiry into the wicked ways of Phila
delphia's mock-auction men revealed
that they hired two or three women to
attend the sales, carefully inspect arti
cles that were to be sold, start the bid
ding at the article's cost price, and run
it up among themselves until an out
sider put in a bid. It was then
promptly knocked down to the out
sider. A post-office clerk iu Russia was
found to be constantly in tronble with
the stamps. The accounts would come
wrong. Sometimes there was not enough
money iu return for stamps sold, and on
other coonsions there was too much.
This made dishonesty on his part less
likely, but it was incomprehensible how
he could make the accounts so en
tangled . At length it was discovered he
was color blind, aud could not distin
guish red from green stamps.
The sea mouse is one of the prettiest
creatures that lives under water. It
sparkles liks a diamond and is radiant
with all the colors of the rainbow, al
though it lives iu mud at the bottom of
the ocean. It should not be called a
mouse, for it is larger than a big rat. It
is covered with scales that move up and
down as it breathes, and glitter like gold
shining through a fleecy down, from
which flue, silky bristles wave, that
constantly change from one brilliant tint
to another.
As William drew his Susy near,
He whisper d to his bride:
"Though queer it sounds, I love, iny dear,
To live by tittey'i sitk." Exfhangt.
When years have passed aud Hue bis head
Has clutched, as wives oft do,
Poor Wilt will wish that ho had wed
Houio other sort of bioux.
Boston Globe
Dom Pedro, while returning to Brazil
in the autumn, wrote on the steamer a
letter to an American friend, which let
ter contained this passage: "In a few
days I will see my native land, which
God has so wonderfully endowed, and I
hope that that which I have learned dur
ing my absence from her will enable me
to be useful to her. One thing I can
truly say is, that I return with earnest
longings, and with a passion stronger
than ever for progress. "
Some Busy Workers Underground.
It is not generally known to what extent
we are indebted to worms for the
productiveness of our gardens and
fields. It has been found, by a series of
experiments carried cut by a German
naturalist, that the tunnels made by
worms into the earth are frequently of
much service to plants whose roots
occupy the channels that have thus been
made. The mold of our gardens, and
fields, too, is improved to an almost
inconceivable extent by tho burrowings
of this humble insect. Each worm in
less than a . week passes through its
body its own weight in mold, and the soil
thus produced is fine and light, and ex
tremely helpful to the growth of plants.
When it is remembered that there are
in every acre some 84,000 worms, and
that..ju. addition to forming every day
about thirty-seven .pounds of fine mold,
they open up the subsoil and render it
fertile, WB shall gain some slight con
ception of our indebtedness to these
apparently insignificant and generally
untfeougbt-of little wgrk,es,