HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM., . Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VIII. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1878. NO. 27.
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8
it
To-Pay and To-Morrow.
When thou art by,
I know not why,
I love thee, bnt I love thee not bo deeply)
Bnt when thou'rt gone,
And I'm alone,
I marvel that I held tbee then m ohaaply.
Thy imile and talk,
Thy glanoe, thy walk,
In Tain regret I picture and remember;
At well I might
Booall the light
Of June amid the darkness of Deoember.
Ah, crnel fate !
That all too late
We lesrn the goldtn value of onr pleasure
That it must go
Before we know
How passing sweet it was to hare our treasure.
Preverse are we,
Too blind to see
Chat idle memories only lead to sorrow.
Enjoy to-day,
While yet you mayj
Why wait until to-day become to-morrow ?
Edmund Whitehead Bmrmon.
The Tramp's Revenge.
A great, fertile hollow, in the midland
hills, and one man owned it alL Five
hundred acres of level and upland, field
and forest; and well might Milly Van
Vleeck complain that she oould not even
visit a neighbor without climbing over
the hills.
But old Squire Van Vleeck had no
use for neighbors.
Was not the land his own, and the
homestead and the sawmill itself, half
way down the hollow ?
Such barns 1
Why, the biggest of them bad scarce
ly a rival in the county. There was
twenty feet of sheer fall, between the
mows, packed as they now were with
tons of clover and timothy.
What did ho or his need of neighbors ?
Not much, perhaps, but that fall,
when his ambition goaded him to reach
out for the civic honors he deemed the
rightful due of so much land and for
est, saw-mill and crops, and all that, he
tmddenly discovered that the people in
the other hollows and on the hills and in
the villages, all had neighbors of their
own.
Such a snub they gave him !
No wonder the grim old squire went
lack to his ample homestead and
gruw'o I at his patient wife, and even
nt Millv, in hpite of her gentleness and
her beauty, nui behaved himself, gen
erally, like the old bear be had grown
to be.
The first heavy snows came earlier
thnn usual and the cold weather brought
with it immunity from the one thing tho
squire hated most.
Not a tramp had been seen in the
hollow for weeks, and no man troubled
himself to ask whither they had flown.
All the more, however, that bitter af
ternoon, did the old man a angry soul
stir itself within him when he met, at
his own (rata, the most outrageous spec
imen of the abhorred race that the whole
season had brought before him.
' If other tramps had sometimes borne
only the seal of misfortune or of com
mon vagabondage, this one was clearly
and undeniably a chosen vessel of vice
and crime.
Plenty of bone and muscle had he, and
the very Bwing and spring of his slouch
ing gait proclaimed that no lack of mere
physical capacity had made him what he
was.
Can a tramp have in him anything
like energy?
The squire would have said " No," at
any time before he gave that roving
ruffian su large and so acrid a piece of
his mind and temper.
He hail scaroelydreamed of such a
chnnge as his words produced.
There was some magic in them stirring
up evil into a power.
The begging whine swelled into a vol
ume of hoarse and strident vituperation.
The relics of a mind glowered fiercely
through the hairy, filthy face. The
whole hulking frame seemed to quiver
as the tramp strode away, with the
meaning of the threats and curses with
which the air was blue behind him.
Fear is a bitter ingredient to put in
the cup of anger, and Squire Van Vleeck
was in even a worse humor than usual,
ten minutes later, when a somewhat
fine-looking young man reined in his
horse at the gate, and seemed about to
spring from his sleigh.
"Good morning, squire'
" Don't stop, Gil Morse ! Drive right
on I" roared the old man. " Don't stop
agin anywherein this holler. Ter father s
son needn't quit the road anywhere on
my land. Ef it hed't a-been for him, I
might a-had the nomination."
More than that be said; but while the
young man's face deepened to a hot
crimson, he controlled his temper suf
ficiently to give his horse the reins and
do as he was bidden without another
word.
A tall, strongly-built, broad-shouldered
youth was Gilbert Morse, and a
year in a city business-house had made
cone the less a man of him. H's greet
ing at the squire's had been clearly alto
gether unexpected, and he pulled his
horse to a walk, a moment later, as if he
wanted to give the matter some kind of
consideration.
How he would have driven if he oould
have looked along the road ahead of
him, just beyond where it entered the
hemlock-woods 1
. Distant as were her neighbors, Milly
Van Vleeck was too robust and healthy
minded a young lady to remain housed
np, even in winter weather, and she had
never looked rosier or prettier in all her
life than she did that afternoon, as she
tripped along the frosty road home
ward. Away beyond the sawmill, and into
the woods she had been, almost aimless
ly, in sheer exuberance of youth and
high spirits, never dreaming of such a
: possibility as danger there and then.
Down the road she was ooming, and
the frosty snow that orackled under her
light feet was not more innocent or fear
less. A man in the road I
It might be Jake, her father's sawmill
hand, or it might be one of the farm
boys, or it might be neither. Why
should she car ?
And yet. as that man drew nearer.
Milly walked more slowly, and her
heart began to beat, she oould not have
told why.
Hue oould see mm more distinctly
now, and never had her eyes fallen on
anything like that before.
"I almost wish I had the dags with
me she said to herself with a shudder.
"What a horrible looking man. 1
thought the tramps were all gone."
More and more slowly walked Milly,
for, as the hideous human form drew
nearer, a pair of blazing, hungry, wild
beast eyes gloated fiercely and triumph
antly upon her through the matted locks
which hung from under the battered
felt on his head.
" A darter of his, I reckon," growled
the tramp. " It's all the same, anyhow;
some rich man's gal."
A wild scream burst from -Milly's
whitening lips, and she tried to spring
past him; but his long arm caught her
as she went by, and in an instant her
shawl was wound around her head.
' "No more screeohin'," growled the
hoarse, deep voice, " though there's no
body nigh enough to hear ye."r
Nobody ?
Then why was it that the lash had
fallen so suddenly on the good horse
Gilbert Morse was driving, just beyond
the turn in the road ?
A scream from vigorous lungs goes
far in frosty weather, and the whip fell
more than once.
Milly struggled hard, even in that
grasp of iron, but her strength was fail
itg fast, when a wild, angry shout rang
down the road, and the tramp loosed
his hold for a moment.
"Don't meddle.youngster," he began,
s a fiercely plunging steed was Bulled
up in a flurry of snow at the roadside.
The answer came from the loaded end
of a whip, square between his eyes.
A thinner sknll might have been
cracked by it, and, even on his brazen
forehead, the blow brought him to his
knees.
Milly Van Vleeck was free, and she
almost instinctively bounded into the
cutter.
There was no room to turn and Gilbert
Morse gave his trotter the reins, for he
saw the tramp was feeling among his
rags for something whioh might have
danger in it. He longed to stay and
finish his work with his loaded whip,
but there was Milly.
"Ob, Gil I" she exclaimed, "how shall
I get home ? '
"The saw-mill road," he replied;
"the track has probably not been bro.
aen. but the snow isn t deep.
"Yes, but it has," said Milly. "They
were hauling logs, yesterday."
"Safe enough, then," said GiL "But
ain't 1 thankful I came along, just
then I
"Did father tell you I was out this
way? I knew you would come to see
me first thing. . And how you have im
proved !"
Milly's excitement was taking a form
that could not be unpleasant to her com'
panion; but a deep cloud was settling
on his race, notwithstanding, and she
checked herself suddenly to ask him:
"But what can be the matter? He
did not hurt you. did he ?"
' No. but your father has, Milly. I
cannot stop at your house. Tour father
has forbidden me. Something between
him and mine, about the election. When
we get to the gate you can get out and
go in. remaps he 11 get over it soon.
and I don't want to make him any worse
just now.
A wise young man was Gilbert Morse,
in spite of his Milly s all but tearful
prr testations, for the sight of his daugh
ter returning home in such company.
aroused old Squire Van Vleeck to the
uttermost.
It was even an aggravation that Gill
so deftly pulled up just long enough for
Milly to lump out, and then raised his
bat so politely to her father as he drove
away.
So choked with wrath, indeed, was thf
bitter old man that he could not find
words to express himself, and, before he
had recovered his utterance, Milly was
rapidly recounting to her mother her
awful peril from the tramp, and the gal
lant manner in which she had been res
cued by Gilbert Morse.
The squire could not' help listening.
although it seemed a good deal like a
romance at first.
But Milly had bruises to show, as well
as her torn shawl and disordered dress.
and in a moment more the old man was
striding up and down the room like a
tiger in a cage.
" On my own land! in my own woods!
My own daughter!" he gasped at inter
vals; and then stopped in front of her.
with: " Did you say Gil Morse knocked
turn down? '
Tes, father."
"And saved ye?"
"Yes, father; and he brought me
borne in his cutter.
"And I drove him away like a dog or
a tramp this very afternoon!" roared
the squire. "I'll drive them all away.
I'll shoot 'em on sight. They'll burn
me out of .house and home next"
Milly's mother bad her arms around
her, almost hysterically, but her excite
ment was calmness itself compared to
tne a most inaicrous irenzy of the old
man.
Lack of love for his own had never
been charged upon him, whatever were
his other faults.
The events of the afternoon had not.
moreover, been of a sort to induoe any
unusual quietude.
His expected supper and evening at
oquire van vieeck s having been so un
ceremoniously out out of the anestinn.
his afterthoughts equally forbade an im
mediate drive home, for that would be
ten miles at least
Just over the hill, and less than three
miles from the Van Vleeck homestead,
was a pleasant eountrv hostelrr. and
there Gil naturally betook himself for
supper and horse-care.
This attended to, he said to the land
lord, an old acquaintance:
"Al, can you keep a secret ?"
"Did, once," replied AL
"Then lend me your shotgun," said
Gil, and, with the request, he added an
aooount of his exploit on the road and
the differences between himself and the
squire.
"Can't go to the house, von see, Al,
but I'm bound to know if that rascal is
loafing around there."
"I'd go with you in a moment, if i
oould get away," almost shouted the
landlord. "Gun? Yes, two on 'em if
you want. I wish my wife wasn t sick.
It won't do for yon to arrest him all
alone, and without any warrant, but try
for a chanoe to fill him full of buck
shot." It was somewhat dark when Gilbert
Morse began to retrace, on foot, the
road he had so recently driven over, for
the moon was not yet over tho hills, but
he felt all the better for Having the
double-barreled duck-gun over his
shoulder. .
"Better than a Pistol for night-work.
he said to himself.
He did not keep the road up to the
homestead, but made a detour through
the woods and came out beyond, not far
from the saw-milL
"Better go on toward the main road,
he muttered: "it's early yet, and he's
likely to oome in from that direction."
"Hullo! he exclaimed, a moment
later, as he stood among the sheltering
shadows of a clump of trees, "three of
'em. The big fellow's the same one.
They're making straight for the saw
mill. Bent on mischief not a doubt of
it."
There was no earthly reason for any
sort of doubt.
The big tramp had met his two asso
ciates, returning from an expedition
somewhat more successful than nis own,
and they had promptly agreed with him
that the circumstances called for the
infliction of the extreme penalties known
to the laws of their guild.
it was already getting well into the
evening, and rural retiring hours are
notoriously early.
JNot -that slumber was likely to oome
very promptly to the Van Vleeck family
that night, though the squire had
calmed down a good deal and was un
usually silent.
Mrs. van Vleeck had kept very close
to her daughter all the evening, and had
taken the precaution to bring the two
dogs, both large ones, into the house.
J. he dogs and the family might be the
safer, but how about tramps ?
J.he big ruffian, as has been said,
was not without some traces of a vicious
intellect, and was quite competent to be
the leader of a little affair like that.
" Set the saw mill first," he said.
" All the men folks '11 start for it to put
it out. Then the barns, to call away the
reel, and we kin work the house a nick
and get to the woods and over the hills
as safe as so many foxes."
So they could, indeed, if no mishap
came in to interfere.
The house-folks must be in bed now.
A match, some kindlings and bits of
wood, on the opposite side of the saw
mill from the house nothing easier
than to start a fire.
" Now, boys, for the big barns. We
kin wait there till this 'uns well a-go-iug."
They made a run for it, but the only
reason they were not more closely pur
sued, or even fired upon, was that Gil
bert Morse deemed it nis duty to stop
and scatter the growing blaze behind
the saw mill. It was not hard to do,
although the fire was beginning to come
up very well when the desperadoes left
it. The brands could all be kicked into
the snow, and there was not a trace of
it in three minutes after he get there.
But those three minutes I
The big barn was better thau either of
the small ones, because further from the
house and more easy of entrance. It
contained no horse, and was not even
locked.
The three tramps were inside quickly
enough, and the big one climbed one of
the high mows.
" Better light it up here," he said to
his frijnds below. " They can't get at
it to put it out. ay when. Is the saw
mill well a-going ?" -. .'.
" Can't say edzactly," growled one of
the smaller ruffians, peering through the
door. "And there s a feller runmn'
scrost the field."
" Here goes then I" exolaimed the
leader, as he caught up a wisp of hay
and scratched a match. jnow, boys,
I'm ooming. Make for the shed. We'll
work it."
A slippery thin a; is a hay-mow, and
uncertain footing in the dark. Instead
of ooming down as he went up, the big
tramp found himself sliding, sliding
helplessly into that twenty -foot gulf be
tween the two mows.
In vain he grasped at the dry timothy
aud clover, he did but scatter his lighted
wisp among the tinderish masses he
pulled down with him in his fall.
Down in a half stunned heap, with a
vast pile of kindling hay on top of him.
to choke and stifle him with its smoke as
he limped about in the suffocating dark
ness and vainly groped for a way to
escape.
Bang, bang I
One of the smaller tramps went down
amid a storm of leaden pellets, but the
other reached the shed just as the door
of the house swung open, and the two
mastiffs bounded out to see what might
be doing mere.
Squire Van Vleeck and his " hands,"
old and young, were out in the shortest
order, and the female part of the house
hold were not far behind them; but it
was too late to save the big barn, what
ever might be done for the others.
Well for the squire's pockets that he
had built them some distance apart
As for Gilbert Morse he was calmly
reloading his old duck gun when the
squire discovered his presence.
" I'm going in a minute, " he remark
ed, ooolly. " Don't be in a hurry. I've
put out the fire at the saw mill, and I
think I peppered the fellow lying there
by the shed. If I'd been a little quicker
I might have saved the barn."
" So you've been out here this winter
night lookin' out lor my property, hey
ve? said 'the naif-bewildered squire.
"The barn's gone, and no mistake; but
we kin save the others."
The old squire was just the man to be
steadied by an actual calamity; but,
while his "bands" were doing what lit
tle oould be done in the way of a fire de
partment, be strode straight for the two
tramps.
The one who had been in the way of
the buokshot would never answer any
more questions, bnt the one the dogs
were holding down gave some informa
tion. 1
" Where's the man that attacked my
daughter this afternoon?" asked the
squire, sternly.
" In the barn," replied the tramp.
But the barn's burning up," said
the squire.
"So is he," doggedly returned the
ruffiian; "and sarved him right, for
getting me into seoh a sorape as this."
Some profanity there was; but the
dogs were taken off, and the man was
tied up. .
' Oh. Gil, oome into tne house," were
the pleasant words that came to the
young man's ears, as he stood looking at
the tramp he had shot
" Not till your iatner asss me," was
the half-haughty response.
" Don't be a fool. Gil M jrse. iusl be-
cause I am," growled the old man. "Do
as Milly tells you, now and hereafter.
Go right in. We'll take care of things
for ye for a while: but I reckon it'll all
be yourn one of these days."
And so Gilbert Morse did not go back
to the hoetlery that night, and when, a
few months later, at the trial of the cap
tured tramp, he was asked, "Are you in
any manner connected with Squire Van
Vleeck f " he manfully responded :
" tie is my iainer-iu-uw.
But nothing more was seen of the big
tramp, not a relio of him, until they re
built the great barn the following spring.
W. O. Stoddard, in Hartford Timet.
Miss Lee and a Kaples Landlord.
A letter from Naples to the Columbia
(8. O.) Regittera&y t Miss Mary Cnstis
Lee, a daughter of General Robert Lee,
arrived here a few days ago, :n oompany
with some lady friends from Malta, who
registered at the Hotel Royal des Etran
gers. It appears that during the night
of the 8th the mosquito bar around the
bed ignited accidentally from a candle
which Miss Lee had lighted. In a few
moments the flames spread and caught
the lace curtains, and the room was soon
enveloped in flames, which Miss Lee
heroically endeavored to suppress, but
without success, and fearing that the
hotel might be burned she gave the
alarm of fire, which soon was heard by
some gentlemen who were occupying
rooms on the same floor, when ex-Judge
Samuel W. Melton and Mr. A. W.
Clark, of Columbia, S. C, were the first
who came to the rescue of Miss Lee.
aud succeeding in saving her money and
valuable jewelry from the flames. The
morning following the fire Miss Lee ex
pressed her willingness to pay all dam
ages, though the fire had occurred from
accident The propneter, taking ad'
vantage of the lady, demanded 2,000
francs, which was a preposterous and
enormous charge of the damage. The
friends of Miss Lee at once demurred to
thin charge. The American consul. Mr,
Duncan, at this place was exoeedinglv
kind and protested against the payment
of any such sum. The proprietor, now
being foiled in his disgraceful effort to
overcharge for damage occurring from
accident, became insolvent and spoke in
a manner which reflected upon Miss
Lee. The insult was qoiokly resented,
Mr. Clark, of Columbia, 8. C. struck
him over the head with an umbrella. In
a few moments the proprietor was sur
rounded by a number of Italians, who
were clerks, waiters and attaches of the
hotel, bnt they were met by Judge Mel
ton, uoionei John T. nioan, Jr., Mr,
D. A. F. Jordan, of South Carolina.
and Dr. I. B. Roberts, of Georgia, who,
by their oaurage and determination.
caused them to stampede and call for
the police. A large crowd soon assem
bled about the hotel. The proprietor
was denounced by Colonel Sloan for his
conduct toward Miss J-iee, and chal
lenged him to go into the garden and
answer for the same with swords or pis
tols, which the proprietor declined to
accept It would be well for Americans
to avoid this hotel when coming to
Naples.
Words of Wisdom.
The great are only great because we
are on our knees.
After crosses and losses men grow
humbler and wiser.
All who know their own minds know
not their own hearts.
He is happiest, be he king or peasant,
who finds peace in nis home.
The praises of others may be of use in
teaching us not what we are but what
we should be.
' Do nothing in thy passion; why wilt
thou put out upon the sea while the
norm is raging.
Most of the shadows that cross our
path through life are caused by standing
in our own light
A man may say a thing twice if he
says it better the second time than he
was able the first
Good counsels observed are chains to
grace, whioh, neglected prove halters to
strangle undutiful children.
Our passions are like convulsive fits.
which, though they make us stronger
for the time, leave us the weaker ever
after.
Health is the only nohes that a man
ought to set a value on; for without it
all men are poor, let their estates be
what they will. . , v
Whatever you would not wish your
neighbor to do to yon do it not unto him.
This is the whole law; the rest is a mere
exposition of it .
" The goodness which struggles and
battles and goes down deep and soars
high, is the stuff of which heroism is
made, by whioh the world is salted and
kept pure. It is the seed whioh bears
fruit in martyrs and makes men nobler
man ineir nature and demi-gods and
tne prophets of a better tune.
A Piece of Impudence.
Professor Johnson, of ; Middletown
University, was one day lecturing before
the students on mineralogy. He had
before him rmita a, nnmhnr nf inui.
mens of various sorts to illustrate his
subject
A roguish student, for sport, slyly
slipped a piece of brick among the
stones. The professor was taking up
tne stones, one aiter another, and nam
ing them.
" This," said he, "is a piece of gran
ite; this is a piece oi feldspar, eto.
Presently he came to the brickbat
Without betraying any surprise, or even
onanging bis tone oi voice:
" This," he said, holding it up,
niece nf imnndenoe."
Thara m a shont of lftn crhkoi an A
the student oonoluded that he had mad
little by that tnoK.
TIMELY TOPICS.
Property on Sixth avenue. New York,
has been injured (so it is claimed) to the
amount of $60,000,000 fey the elevated
railroad.
Herr Strousberg. the European ex-
railroad king, has offered his creditors
three cents on a dollar. Their claims
amounting to $16,000,000.
An interesting black worm, an inch
long, that falls to pieces on being
handled, has appeared in Colorado, and
taken to boring through the roots of the
corn.
A young woman residing in the neigh
borhood of Headley, in England, recent
ly arose in her sleep, and, taking a car
ving knife from the kitchen, proceeded
to the fowl house, where she out off the
heads of six fine cocks and hens. She
afterwards slaughtered five pet rabbits,
and wound up her somnaoibulistio ex
ploits by mortally Btabbing a favorite
donkey.
L. D. Atchison, who fell a distanoe of
200 feet from the trapeze bar of his bal
loon at Elmwood, 111., being killed in
stantly, was a veteran aeronaut and acro
bat, having replaced Donaldson with
Barnum's show. Some five years ago,
while exhibiting in Kentucky, his bal
loon burst at an elevation of 2,000 feet,
but he clung to the pieces and escaped
with his life, though he was badly in
ured.
A Texas. fMich.) girl tried to get in
to a rear window of the school-house the
other dav. when the sash fell and held
her fast about the neck. Several men
across the street heard her scream, but
supposed it was children at play, and it
was ten or fifteen minutes before she
was seen and her unconscious body re
leased. It were long before indications
of life was discovered, and several hours
before the child regained oonsciouness,
An electric alarm has been recently
designed which may be fixed to an
ordinary clock. It is so arranged that
when the hour hand of the clock tonones
a button an electric circuit is completed;
the minute hand passes over the button
without effect There is a series of
holes for the different hours, into any
one of which the button can be pushed
according to the time at which the alarm
may be desired. The completion of the
electrio circuit may ring a bell or sundry
other alarms.
Karl Piloty, the great historical
painter, recently heard from a brother
artist that Dr. Trettenberg, an old phy
cioian of seventy-three, Piloty's fnend
for many years, had said that the at
tempts on the emperor's life were the
legitimate fruits of the emperor's mas
sacres in 1848, when he was in command
of the Prussian troops. The painter
denounces the physician, who was sen
tenced to eight months detention in
a fortress, which at his age is next thing
to a sentence of death. When Piloty
appeared in court he was hooted and
hissed.
The total area of Denmark, says an
English exchange, is 6.900.000 acres;
5,200,000 acres are under cultivation, of
which 300,000 have been added during
the last ten years. The area is divided
into more than 200.000 different proper
ties, of which 170,000 are each owned
by a different proprietor; and out of
280,000 families not living in the towns
only 26,000 are cottagers. It will thus
be seen that in Denmark, as in France,
the sou is divided among a number of
small proprietors, and not, as in Eng
land, accumulated in a few hands.
.During the last ten years an extraordi
nary increase in the breeding of oattle
and a corresponding decrease in the
production of grain has taken place,
Two thirds of the imports and exports
fall to the share of England and Germa
ny, Sweden and Norway ooming next.
A Mathematical Prodigy.
Gilbert Miller, a lad nine years old.
living at Keokuk, Iowa, has recently
exhibited most remarkable powers in
mathematics, being able to give answers
to difficult problems with scarcely any
hesitation. He is a strong hearty boy,
not overly fond of school, and differs
only in this one respect from other
children of his age. His parents are
averse to any display of precocity and
will .not allow him to be questioned.
But enough has already been elicited to
show his wonderful faculty. He prob
ably inherits this gift from his father,
Prof. Miller, of the Keokuk Mercantile
College, who has long made a specialty
of rapid commercial calculations.
We here present a few examples given
recently to the lad as a test The
answers were forthcoming at once, with
out any apparent effort:
Cube 74. Answer 405,228.
Multiply 9,876 by 7,117. Answer
70,287,492.
Divide 678,632 by 823. Answer
2,069.
How many times will a clock tick in a
year of 365J days? Answer 81,557,
600. Find the fifteenth term of a geometri
cal progression first term five, ratio
three. Answer 23,914,845.
These results were found to be exactly
correct Other questions involving diffi
cult fractions were also given and an
swered, but we cannot represent them in
type, r Birmingham (Iowa) MJnter
prise. Presidential Summer Resorts.
A Washington letter says: Presi
dents John Quinoy Adams, Jeffer
son, Madiaou and Monroe used to go
to their respective rural homes for an
"outing" during the heated term. An
drew Jackson went down the Potomac
to the "rip-raps," a fort on the edge of
the ocean, or rather in it, whioh was
begun in his day and has never yet been
finished. Polk, Fillmore and Pieroe
hired summer residences on Georgetown
heights, Buchanan occupied aa a sum
mer residence a house at the Soldiers'
Home, and his example has been follow
ed in turn by Lincoln, Johnson, Grant
and Hayes,
HnlilU of the Eskimos.
Let us examine the more immediate
environment of the Eskimo their house.
It is composed of a hillock of turfed
earth, of square form, recalling some
what our military fortifications. It is
entered by a low door giving aooess to
a narrow and very low passage, in which
the Greenlander himself, notwithstand
ing his small size, is forced to bend
down. The single apartment to whioh
this passage gives access, and the floor
of which is lower than the surrounding
ground, is ventilated by an orifice in the
upper part It is lighted by two open
ings on each side of the door and Her
metically closed by strips sewn together
of a sort of goldbeater s skin made of
the intestines of the seal. This kind of
immovable glazing sifts into the apart
ment a sufficient light, but appears
from without altogether opaque. The
furniture consists of a sort of camp-bed
which oconnies the entire half of the
apartment, provided with sealskins, and
ou which the entire family pass the
night, after having taken off their day
costume, and put on another more am
ple dress. On the ground a stone basin,
said to be of serpentine, tne lorm oi
which resembles that of a fish, is filled
with seal oil, in which are steeped sev
eral wicks. The flame which rises irom
this vessel gives a sufficient light, and
maintains the confined spaoe at a high
temperature. The cotton wicks come
from Denmark, as also tne onemioai
matohes whioh the Greenlanders con
stantly use to light their briar-root
pipes, which, with their tobaoco, their
aloohol, and their coffee, are sent them
each year by the Danes.
Their costume is maae almost enureiy
of sealskin. It consists, in the case ef
the men, of a shirt (Danish), above
which is placed a woolen vest The pan
taloons are of hairy sealskin; the boots,
under the pantaloons, of sealskin leather.
Gloves of fur, armed, when neoessary,
with bear's claws, blue spectacles
against the wind and the reflection from
the snow complete the accoutrement.
The oostume of the women is not want
ing in elegance. The hair is raised a la
Chinotse on the top of tne neau, ana
bouid into a sort of vertical chignon,
tied by a colored knot. A well-fitting
blouse of European material, trimmed
with fur, is provided with a hood, in
which the mother carries, when neces
sary, her latest born, as the opossum
does her yonng. The women wear very
tight breeches of sealskin and high
boots reaching above the knees; red.
embroidered with yellow, after marriage;
white, embroidered with green, among
unmarried girls.
Their arms consist of bows witu wuicn
they shoot arrows pointed with bone or
iron and similarly madeharpoons, which
they throw from the hand. When the
harpoon is to be thrown into the waiei
it is attached to a cord provided at the
other end with an inflated seal-bladder
which acts as a buoy and prevents the
loss of the wounded animal, which
would run away into deep water with
their harpoon. Their other apparatus
are iron fish-hooks, wooden baits repre
senting fish, colored, and very well imi
tated. To these we may add cases of
skin which they put on the paws of the
dogs when the cold is very intense;
leathern muzzles to put over the snout
of the dogs, smoothing-irons of fetone,
knives identical with those which iron
tanners use to dress skins, aud intended
for the same purpose. This will give an
idea of all that the Greenlanders have to
help them to struggle against the in
clemency of their native climate.
Before concluding what relates to the
surroundings, one word about tne all'
mentation. The word Eskimo is not the
name which they give to themselves,
They oall themselves Innuit (the men);
so true is it that under all climates hu
man vanity prevails. The name Eskimo
(eater of raw fish) is a nickname given
them by their American neighbors. It is
not, however, so well merited now as it
was last century, at the time when
Crantz observed them. They continue,
nevertheless, to eat the lard sent them
from Denmark and also the lines of the
seal. The rest is eaten cooked. Na
ture.
Popular Superstitions of the Turks.
The interpretations of dreams gives
rise to much cogitation, and furnishes a
frequent topic of conversation for Turks,
meu and women. Fire means sudden
news, as water forecasts a journey. A
person who has a reputation for explain'
ing areams unas a reaay welcome every
where in the East. The Evil Eye is
feared by all classes. It is to divert
harmful admiration from her own beau
ty to her ornaments that a Turkish bride
deoks herself with diamonds pasted on
chin, cheeks and forehead; for this that
she shrouds her face with a glittering
veil of thin, copper-colored strips of tin
foil; for this that she sits under the aski
a festooned canopv of artificial green
boughs, with bunches of dyed feathers
aud shining metal balls completing the
deoorations. It is for this that every
Turkish baby has its little muslin skull
cap, adorned with a medallion of pearls.
And if you happen to say "Ne guzel
tchouajouK ' (What a pretty child I)
you are instantly asked to spit in its face
or to say "Mash-Allah !" to correct the
mischief of your words.
Divination is often made at holy
wells, by observing the surface of the
water. At Eyoub, the sacred quarter of
Stamboul, near the mosque where the
sultans are girt with the swerd of Os
man, in lieu of coronation, is a famous
well. It is to be found in the back
garden of a poor, tumbled-dcwn house
belonging to the Khodja who takes
charge of it ft is an ordinary round
welL about a yard in diameter. A low
coping-stone runs round it, over which
the votaries at Dame Fortune's shrine
stoop low, to catch, if they may, some
image in the depths below vouchsafed
for their enlightenment. All Mussul
men, before looking in, reverently hide
and stroke their faoes with their open
hands, and as is their manner in praying
for some favor. llelgravia Magagine,
He btood barefooted on the seashore
in the moonlight and turned his poetic
ear to oatoh what the wild waves were
savitg. but when a wandering crab an
propriated one of his toes for a tooth
pick, he keeled over and let out the
other nine in a shadow dance that just
made tne goaa scream. . .
Items of Interest.
" Green pears" Young married folks,
A lazy cook. One that "fritters"
away her time.
Rome has 865 churches a church for
every day in the year.
A leading physician says heat is the
sole eause of cholera infantum.
" Yon can't do that again," said a pig
to a boy who had cut off his tail.
Why are good resolutions like fainting
ladies ? Because they want carrying out.
A boy says that when he eats water- t
melon his mouth feels as if it were in
swimming.
Leprosy has made its appearanoe in
the United States on the Atlantic and
Paoiflo coasts.
Why is a philanthropist like an old
horse ? Because he always stops at the
sound of woe.
Two or three centuries ago there were
a hundred hospitals for lepers in Eng
land and Scotland.
"Here is your writ of attachment,"
said a town olerk, as he handed a lover
a marriage license.
"Maria, I'm almost disoouraged.
How many times have told I you not to
say tater, but pertater ?'
Monday I dabbled in stock operations!
Tuesday owned millions, by all calculation!
Wednesday my Fifth-Avenue palace beganf
Thursday! drove out a spanking bay spanf
Friday 1 gave a maguifioent ball)
And Saturday " smashed," with nothing at all.
Many a young man's fate has been
adversely settled by his persisting in
walking his sweetheart down shady
side streets when she expected to be
taken to an ice-cream saloon.
The barber is an independent chap,
and, like all strapping big fellows, can
alwavs hold his hone. Alta California,
Great fellow, though, for getting into
scrapes. Philadelphia Bulletin.
Says the New York Commercial Ad-
vertiaer; "Lightning gettetu over a
good deal of ground in a very short space
of time." Bnt we'll back an American
youth against the field when he flops out
of the water without stopping to comb
his hair, and legs it along the bank witn
policeman two lengths penmu.
Rochester Union.
The greatest eel-pond in America is on
the farm of James N. Wells, in the town
of Riverhead, Mass. It covers five
acres, and is now so full of eels that they
can be raked out with a garden rake.
Two years ago Mr. Wells put 2,000
dozen of eels into the pond, intending to
have them undisturbed for five years.
They have increased to millions. They
are fed regularly every tniru uuy vu
" horse feet," a peculiar shell-fish. The
eels know when they ore to be fed, and
the stroke of Mr. Wells' whip against
culls thousands of them np to
dinner, although anvone else may pound
away all day without any enecs. uuo ui
these shell-fishifasteued to a strong cord
and thrown into the water, may be drawn
out in a few minutes with hundreds of
eels clinging to it
Roses Their Increase.
"According to De Prouville, a French
writer, there were, in 1814, only io'
varieties of roses, and the advantage of
multiplication by seed is sufficiently
evinced by the fact that mere are now
more than six thousand varieties, the
poorest of which are much better than
any which existed at that day. Among
the earliest cultivators of roses from the
seed were three Frenchmen Dnpont,
Vilmorin and Descemet. The former
was the gardener of the Empress Joseph
ine. When the allied armies entered
Paris in 1815, the garden of Descemet
contained 10,000 seedling roses, which
Vibert, in his anxiety to secure from de
struction, succeeded in carrying to the
interior.
In England very little attention seems
at that time to have been paid to the
production of new varieties from seed,
and the English relied very much upon
the continent for their choice roses.
Now, however, they are abundantly re
deeming their reputation, and many fine
varieties have been produced by the
English rose-growers, at the head of
whom stands Rivers, whose efforts are
seconded by Wood, Poul, Lane and
others. They are still, however, com
pelled to yield to the French cultivators,
for to these we are indebted for our fin
est roses for Lamorque, Solfaterre,
La Reine, Chromatella, the new white
Perpetuals, Souvenir de Malmaison and
others.
The varieties of roses became increas
ingly great after the introduction of the
Bengals, Noisettes, Teas and Bourbons
all these classes producing readily
from seed, and in endless variety. There
is a willingness to cast asi' e the old for
the new, and however much we may re
gret this disposition, for some bid and
truly deserving favorites, we cannot feel
willing to denounce it, for it exhibits a
gratifying evidence of a desire for im
provement, and the existence of a spirit
of progress, which, dissatisfied with
things as they are, is continually striv
ing after nearer approaches to perfec
tion. New England Farmer.
President Polk's Cocktails.
Judge Carpenter, of California, tells
this anecdote of James K. Polk's term
of the Presidency: Polk was a temper
ate but not abstinent man, of very regu
lar habits. He rose early at the White
House, and had his servant bring, punc
tually, a very large oocktail in a tall
glass, of which he drank just one-half
and left the other half for his return
from his morning walk. On this walk
he required the company of Marshall
Polk, Iiis nephew. Young Polk was
also fond of a oocktail, though his uncle
did not know it and would not counte
nance it However, they would hardly
have left the house on the daily occa
sion, when Marshall, pretending to have
forgotten something, would slip bacfc
and drink nearly all the remaining half
of the cocktail and pour in some water.
After returning from the walk, President
Polk repaired to his chamber in a brown
political study, and seizing the tumbler
gulped down the water and sediment,
aud then exolaimed: "Paughl" This
oontinued with regularity, and the cheat
was never found out Polk now lies be
fore bis dwelling in Nashville, interred
in his yard, and Marshall Polk baa not
been heard from since the beginning o f
the war,