j. . .. A.. V--;V-" t " ' ' ' HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. VIII. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1878. NO. 31. Sunbeam and I. We own no houses, no lots, no lands, No dainty viands for ns are spread By sweat of our brows and toil of oar hands We earn the pittance that trays ns bread, And yet we live In a nobler state Sunbeam and I than the millionaries Who dine off silvern and golden plate, With liveried laoneya behind their chairs. We have no riches in bonds or otocka, No bank books show our balanoe to draw Vet we earry a safe key that nnlocks More treasures than Orcesns ever saw ; We wear no velvets or satins fine, We dress in a very homely way But O, what luminous lustres shine About Sunbeam's gowns and my hodden grey. No harp, no dulcimer, no guitar Breaks Into singing at Sunbeam's touch t But do not think that our evenings are Without their mnBio ; there is none such In concert halls where the lyrlo air In palpifant billows swims and swoons ; Our lives are as psalms, and our foreheads wear The oalms of the hearts of perfect Junes. When we walk together (we do not ride, We are far too poor), it is very rare We are bowed unto from the other side Of the street bat not for this do we care, We are not lonely ; we pass along. Sunbeam and I and you cannot eoe (We can) what tall and beautiful thron g Of angels we have for company. When cloudy weather obscures our ekies, And some days darken with drops of rain, We have but to look at each other's eyes, And all is balmy and bright again. Ah ! ours is the alchemy that transmutes The drt gs to elixer, the dross to gold, And so we live on Hesperean fruits, Sunbram and I and never grow old. fiiclmrd IieaU CHASED BY THE FIRE. In the coal regions of Pennsylvania there are railroads called " gravity roads," over which long trains run with out the nid of locomotives. The tracks are laid on a gentle in cline, till they come to Bteep ascending plauen, where stationary engines are placed, either at the head or foot of tho slope. Here strong iron ropes are at tachod to the cars, drawing them to the top of lhe bills, when they again can run down on the other side, controlled only by brukemeu, till other elevations are reached. These roads Lave two tracks, not par allel, but sometimes a mile or more apart. The one ou which the loaded cars pass is culled the " heavy," and the other, whore the empty cars return, - the "light track." They are bnilt a loog the sides of the mountains, and at times climb to the mountain summits, giving the eye a grand sweep over broad and beautiful landscapes. Then, gently descending, they follow the mountain curves, sometimes hanging over deep ravines, and sometimes dashing throngh dense forests, where the trees form an unbroken shade over the track. In the spring of 1875, John Ward, tne hero or this story, was head brake man on one of the coal trains. During mat spring, tins part of the country was visited by an unusual drouth. Dav after day the sun rose clear, and ran its course over a cloudless eky. But at length a veil gathered over the land' scape, through which the sun shone only like a dull red disk. The people said that forest fires were raging in the lum- Der districts north. Near the close of a day in the month 01 May, Ward and two other brakemen, in charsre of an emntv train, nnt.inod i cloud of smoke at the head of the plane next above them. As they ran down to the engine-house, which was here at the foot of the slope, they inquired if the woods along the track were on fire. The engineer replied that they were. but he thought they could shoot by ?A1 A 3 - wrcnoui danger. The men resolved to try. But when they reaohed the top of the plane, they saw that they had no time to lose. The fire was rushing towards them, and thev could feel its hot breath. Loosening tne praxes, tuey sped down the track with covered faces and suspended Dream. But a few moments sufficed to carry them out of danger, as they supposed. The road then wound round a curve of two miles through a dense pine forest. Josh and Dan McChing, Ward's two companions, congratulated themselves on their escape; but Ward felt anxious lest this was but the beginning of their troubles, ma nome was in the midst of the woods some miles further down; and for the first time he realized what a terri ble foe fire might become. Scarcely had these thoughts passed through his mind, when the train round ed the curve, and there before them was the are crossing their path. They had gone so far down the plane that it was impossible to run the cars back. They felt that they had better abandon them and return, while there was yet a chance, to the engine-house at the foot of the slope. But on rounding the curve again, they saw, to their dismay, that the fire had reached the track behind them, and was furiously burning on both sides. All chance of retreat was cut off. But the forest where they stood was cool and green, the undergrowth so luxuriant and damp that it did not seem possible that it could burn. The next moment, however, a burning twig lodged in one of the tall trees near them, and igniting the pine needles, darted out a tongue of flame. The men now saw that they must push their way through the fire in front or perish. With hearts trembling with fear, they took off the brakes, and were about to rush down the burning track, when a woman darted out from the trees, dragging a little boy by the hand, and screamed to them in tones of agony "Stop and take us in I" - Josh McChing shouted back: "We can't possibly," and pointed to a tall tree left standing in the clearing ahead against which cord-wood had been piled' and which was already in flames. Bui with a firm hand. Ward pressed down the brake, and ordered the others, to do the game, saying t "Would you leave a woman and her child to be burned like rata in a barn ?" "Don't yon see we must get by that tree before it falls across the traok ?" cried McChing in a rage. "I know," replied Ward, sternly; "but they shall go with ns, or we'll all perish together. Quick, quick, my wo man ! we've no time to lose I" He dared not leave the front of the train to help her, for he knew the other men, in their fright, would raise the brakes and desert them. She struggled forward, bnt when almost up to the cars, she stumbled and fell. With a bound, Ward sprang to her side, lifted her, and handed her to Josh McChing, who stood in the rear car. He then caught up the child, and turned to spring in, bnt the train was already moving, Josh, made utterly self ish by his fear, had raised the brakes. Ward ran with the energy of despera tion, threw the child into Dan's out stretched arms, and then caugnt the last car, where he clung, unable at the speed they were moving, with his utmost strength, to do more than keep his hold. In a tew moments they left the green woods, and passing through the blaz ing brush on either side, were almost blinded and suffocated with the smoke and heat, while burning twigs and bush es fell like a red-hot shower upon them. Ward felt his hands blistering, yet he held fast, and looked up to see if the pine-tree was still standing. As they passed under it, the flames had caught in the long branches, and it stood a pyramid of fire. On the cars sped. Another curve was passed, and they were again in the midst of a dense green wood. Dan McChing shouted to his brother to put down the brakes, and succeeded in making him stop the train. The two men then got out, and ran back to pick up Ward, who had dropped exhausted before the motion entirely ceased. They placed him in the cars, and then allowed the train to run some distance further, till they felt sure that the dan ger was paBt. Coming to a little stream of water near the track, they again stop ped the train, and gathered round the spring, to wash their burns and rest a little. Here Ward recognized the poor wo man he had saved as Mrs. Stacey, the wife of a wood-chopper, who was em- Eloyed to supply fuel for the engine ouse they had just passed. Her little shanty was right in the path of the fire. She saw the Are coming, and had time only to catch her boy and escape to the woods, where these men had picked ker up. She had lost everything, and feared that her husband had per ished in the flames. He had gone off with his axe in the moruing, which way she could not tell. Ward was filled with anxiety about the woman and her child. He knew, that bis two companions would do notli- tng Iur-her, -iai he must offer box shelter in his own home. But he had six children and an aged mother to sup port, and his wife was not one who bore her burdens lightly. But the kind-hearted man invited Mrs. Stacey to accompany him home, and luting the boy in his arms when they left the cars, he strode on ahead to show her the narrow path. They passed several bouses, and np proached a pretty white cottage. With a thrill of joy, Ward listened to the merry voices of his children. In a moment more ho opened the door on a bright family picture. The table was spread and bis children were gath ered round it, except the little twins, who were already in their cribs, while in the midst of them sat the old grand mother, smiling placidly at their lively cumber. Ward gave Mrs. Stacey a seat, and placed the boy on her lap; then, after introducing her to his mother, he asked anxiously for bis wife. She was in the kitchen, looking tired and worried. He saw this, as he began in a low tone to explain to her who their visitor was, and her claims upon their hospitality. But in a loud angry voice she inter rupted him, saying, "Now, John, that's just like you taking the food and cloth ing from your own family to give to beg gars. Here I am slavin and worryin from mornin' to night to take ore of these children and your old mother, yet you bring two more you've picked up, and expect me to feed and provide for them." "But, wife, I couldn't leave the poor woman to perish in the flames, or re main homeless and supperless this chilly night." ' Mrs. Ward was not a heartless wo man. She was thrifty, and anxious to get ahead, and bod much to try her. It distressed her to find that manage as economically as she could, she could hardly keep John out of debt. Just then she laid it all to her husband's charity to others. Therefore, seeing only her side of the argument, she said: "Why must you always be saddled with suoh people ? They see you are easily imposed upon, and so we nave to bear the oonsequenoes," Mrs. Stacey could not help hearing this conversation. Putting down her child, she walked to the kitchen door, and opening it, said, in a faltering tone: "Mrs. Ward, I'm no beggar. This morning I was in my own home. Thi afternoon the fire came, and I had to flee before it. My bouse and everything iu u wore uurueu w asnes. jsir. ward saved my life and my boy's at a risk I don't dare think of. May the Lord re ward him for bis kindness! Ha aW! me to nis house to rass the mchr,- hnt. I'll not stay where I'm not wanted, nor be the cause of strife. May the devnnr. ing flames never leave you as homeless and friendless as they have left me." xnese woras touched Mrs. Ward. As Mrs. Staoey turned away, she snranff towards h6r, and said, earnestly: " Oh, forgive me! I did not think what you bad endured. You shall stay, and I'll give you the best the house affords. Gome, let's all sit down to taa. Then, John, yon must tell ns every thing about the fire and your escape." She turned pale and trembled aa she listened to bis account of the fearful risks they had run. "John," asked his old mother, "will the fire reach as ?" "I think not. It is not SDreadinar in this direction, au4 I tmst we ere per. lectly safe," Yet, with fear in their hearts, that nightf before retiring, John Ward and his wife went out and climbed a high rock, near the house, where they could see if danger threatened. But aronnd them was only the green, dewy woods, ft Till flkVintrA 4-ViA aIab aatofn1 efn vl i rrVi Feeling relieved, they sought the rest both so much needed. The next morning, a messenger came to the little village to say that the fire was spreading with fearful rapidity, and that help was needed to fight it back. The men of the village responded to the call, and all day and nearly all night, in company with a larger force, they t L11L. J i a ! luugus uie ieunui uuimugruuun. But. fanned by a strong west wind. although baffled and driven back at one point, like an unrelenting foe, the fire pushed forward its columns in another, and often, before the men were aware, they saw the flanks of the battle turned. and themselves almost surrounded by the flames. Ward at last became alarmed for the safety of his family, and returned home. He found the greatest excitement pre vailing in the village. The fire had attached the other side of the mountain, and they feared it would sweep over and come down upon them. Ward saw that the wind was still carrying the flames in an opposite direc tion; yet he told bis wife to dress the ohiidren in their thickest woollen gar ments, so that they might be prepared for any emergency. Then, completely CAuauHieu, lie my uuwu ro rest. He had slept but a few hours when Mrs. Stacey came running in, with a report from the lower houses that the fire was approaching from another point. They were in danger of being hemmed in, and must make their escape at once. Old Mrs. Ward begged her son to leave her, urging that her life was nearly ended, at best, and that she would only retard tneir nignt. But he positively refused, and catch ing up the two children, whilo bis wife took the twins, they all started to follow the rest of the inhabitants. Mrs. Stacey had taken the baby, and with her own little boy, was already m the advance. For over a mile the old mothor walked. aided as much as possible by her son; Dtit or necessity, their progress was slow. The exertion proved too much for her. Bhe sank to the ground ex hausted. Her son assisted her to rise. and urged her to make an effort to keep up a little longer; but she begged him to leave ber and save the rest of the family. The flames were drawing nearer and nearer. They could hear the crackling and the crash of the great trees as they felL He tried to persuade the children to run on by his side; but terrified by rue awiui scene, tuey clung screaming to him, and refused to move. For a time, in his desperation, be tried to carry mem au. Hut bUo firo was advancing so rapidly, be suw that he must abandon his mother. or the whole family perish. She now earnestly pleaded with him, for the sake of the little ones, to put her down and flee for his life. She was not afraid to meet death. It would be bnt a moment's pang, then heavenly joy forever. With a groan of agony, he acquiesced. yet drew ber as far as possible out of the direct line of the fire. Then, clasp ing uer in nis arms, ne criea, "u motner, how can I leave you?" "Go, go, my son! As you have been faithful to me, may God deal faith fully with you and yours. Don't grieve mat you ion me. I am describing an actual occurrence, It seems almost impossible that a gen erous, dutiful son could leave his aged mother to die by the cruel torture of the flames, but the safety of his own chil dren and of bis wife appealed to bis heart, and at the moment it seemed to him better that one should be left, rather tnan that the whole family should per ish. Ward started forward, but before passing out of sight turned for one more look. His mother was kneeling, with bands clasped and eyes raised in silent prayer. The approaching flames illumined her pale face, but it was calm and peaceful. He stood like one in a trance till bia wife, who had pushed ahead, besought him to hasten on. She didn't know which way to go, for the fire seemed to be everywhere. Ilia mother also saw his hesitation, and motioned him away. Ward could hardly endure that last last sight. He turned desperately away, came rapidly to his wife's side, and placing the children at ber feet, flung mmsen into a tree to ootain a more ex tended view. After a glance round, he sprang down. and told her there was but one chance of escape. That was to climb to the top of the mountain, where there were some Darren ledges on whioh there was noth ing to burn. It was a desperate struggle on the steep rocKs, over fallen trees and through the brush. But the children had become more accustomed to the scene; and as they got further from the fire, their courage returned, and their own practice in mountain climbing aid ed their parents. At last they reached the summit in safety. But it was a sad, exhausted group that gathered there. The little ones cried with hunger and thirst; and on that barren rock the parents bad no means to satisfy either. All day long they looked down from their high peroh into what appeared like a gulf of fire. Now it ran along the ground, now leaped from tree to tree, then, as if driven by a tornado, it came on in one broad sheet of flame, the roar increasing till in terror the children covered their eyes and stopped their ears. The parents also felt as if the awful grandeur of sight and sound was more than they could bear; for they hardly dared to nope that they were safe above it From this position tney were arouse by the oldest boy shouting: Oh father, the sky is on fire, too I" Ward looked up and saw a broad flash of lightning dart ont of a dark cloud that was rising rapidly in the west. "Thank God!" he cried; "the rain is coming at last" Soon the heavens were overcast. The lightning darted back and forth, heavy thunder rolled overhead, and the in creasing vin4 fanned the flaoaea below I till they raged with redoubled fury, as if seeming to realize that their power would soon be gone. Then came the blossod rain; not in gentle showers, but in heavy torrents, that poured incessant ly on the hissing, steaming forests, till they lay drenched beneath it. John Ward drew his family close under the rooks to keep them dry, but caught in bis hat the cool drops to quench their thirst. As the night wore on and the violenoe of the storm passed by, they all found some rest save the father, who mourned for his mother as he kept watch over his poor little homeless flock. The next day dawned clear and beauti ful, the air washed pure from the blind ing smoke, and as soon as they bad risen and thanked God for their escape, they started to make their way back to the settlements. It was a tedious, difficult journey. When almost back to the site of their old home they heard voices approaching. Ward shouted and was answered by a loud cheer. In a few moments, a dozen of his old companions gathered round, congratulating him on their escape, and anxious to hear their Btory. Theylhad just started in search of them; but as they saw the wide sweep the fire had taken, their fears for their safety were greater than their hopes. John Ward and his wife now found that the kind acts done for these neigh bors in the past were returning, "after many days,'' "like bread cast upon the waters." The men lifted the children in their arms, and all proceeded to the homes that had escaped the fire. Here each vied with the other in making them welcome. Money and clothing had been sent from larger towns to those whom the fire had made destitute. Mrs. Ward found her baby and Mrs. Stacey safe and well; the latter full of joy, as she had just received the glad tidings of her husband's safety. The burned bouses were soon rebuilt, and but for the dear old mother, whom be had been so cruelly forced to leave to the flames, John Ward could, after all, hardly have been called a sufferer from the loss that had befallen him. This is not a fancy sketch. The act ual facts of the terrible disaster I have faintly pictured are more harrowing than I could bear to describe. Lan guage cannot adequately depict the awful scenes that were witnessed in that terri ble fire of 1875 in Northern Pennsylva nia, that destroyed whole villages, and brought great losses and suffering to scores of families. C. M. Cornwall in Youth's Companion. Yellow Fever. Yellow fever is a most mysterious, and in many respects an incomprehensible disease, says a New York paper. The few general facts that seem to have been learned about it, after close and varied observation, are not infrequently con tradicted hy new experience. One of its widely-supposed peculiarities is that it cannot live at certain elevations, 2,500 feet above sea-level being sufficient, it is tuougnt, to exoiude it completely. Yet. long before Cortez invaded Mexico. the natives of the country suffered ter ribly from an epidemic which was, be yond all rational doubt, identical with what is now known as yellow fever. This epidemic it was called mataiza hautl prevailed repeatedly, with great virulence and mortality, during the six teenth and eighteenth centuries, on the table lands of Mexioo, from 7,200 to 7,800 feet above the sea. If it has raged at that height, it may rage at an equal height again, and thus the favorite and now universally accepted theory be over thrown. It is surprising how very little is known of the yellow fever as to its symptoms, consequences, general course, and treatment; for, while it has been recognized only about 200 years as a distinctive disease, it has been a fearful scourge at least since the beginning of the fifteenth century. It used to be called the plague, and it is little less hideous and destructive than that fright- iui pestilence, now happily confined to the hot and filthy East. Yellow Fever Visitations. Speaking of the yellow fever visita tion, a New York paper says : In 1853 the soourge was much worse. In New Orleans, for example, the maximum of deaths per day so far attained has been 103. August 22d of that year there were 251 deaths from the pestilence, and on no day of that month were there less than 110 deaths, while most of the time they averaged at least 180 daily. The resident population was not then, it is estimated, over 80,000, and of these 12,- uuu died that season ; compared with whioh the present mortality. distrenHincr though it be, is small In 1822, when the yellow fever prevailed here, there was a great panio ; the city was fenced in below the City Hall park ihe in fected district was in the three lower wards -the merchants, bankers, profes sional men and the munioipal govern ment moved to the village oi Greenwich. now one of the upper wards : and vet. despite the alarm, barely 200 persons died. Just before the close of the last century the fever here destroyed 2,500 lives, and then New York had not more than 50,000 people a mortality of one ui every twenty innanitants. we hear now much more of the fever in 1822 than of the fever in 1793. How fortu nate that we so readily forget both our sorrows and our calamities. The Burning of the fflartyrs. Th A f nil n win n a frnm HbrriA'a AMnnnt current of the expenses incurred at the burning of Cranmer. Latimer and TUA. ley: In the Oxford edition we have the items for Ridley and Latimer: For three loads of wood faggots to bnrn RwIIav mnA T ntimai It. tA J ---."'..... jm VII Item Oue load of fir faggots a 4 i or we carriage of these four loads.. a 0 Item A post 1 1 Ttpm Twrt nh&fna a Item Staples 0 5 item our laborers a 8 FOB BURNING C&1NHKB. Vnr t(U wnnA tantmla a A For 100 and a half of fir faggots..... 3 4 For the carriage of them 0 8 To two laborers 1 8 Total xi 15s Od This small sum was the expense of burning at Smithfleld three of the most prominent churchmen of the age. j.uen you ii re-memuer me, aa tne fellow with one leg remarked to the man uiaoturer o( artilioial limbs, i mi ... i i. TIMELY TOPICS. The ammonia of the commercial fer tilizers manufactured in the suburbs of Augusta, Ga., has completely driven out the chills and fever and other mal aria that used to infect the locality. An artesian well 8,250 feet deep has been bored in Posth, Hungary. It is the deepest in the world, being nearly twice the depth of that in Paris. It sends by a jet of nearly boiling water forty-two feet high. Minnesota is engaging in frog-culture, which consists chiefly in protecting the eggs and young from their enemies by wire screens. The product so far has been about 3,000 dozen legs quoted in St. Louis at twenty cents a dozen. A blazing meteor which fell during a recent storm near Beaufort, S. G., was picked up and.found to be an irregularly shaped rock, weighing about twenty five pounds, and baying a thin coating as if of lava. More remarkable was the finding of a fallen aorolite on the Cali fornia desert, near San Bornardino, which weighed 250 pounds and contain ed gold, silver and copper. Stanley, the African explorer, is claimed by his mother. A Mrs. Easta way, of Liverpool, England, writes to Every Saturday, a Baltimore literary journal, that she is Stanley's mother, and that she can identify him by pecu liar India-ink marks upon his arms and a mole on his neck. He was born, she says, in New York, on October 26, 1843. His father was a sea captain, and died fifteen years later. In 1820 the best trotting time was a mile in three minutes. In 1830 the time was reduced to 2.40; in 1840, to 2.28; in 1850, to 2.26; in 1860, to 2.19; in 1870, 2.17i; in 1876, the beBt record was made by Goldsmith Maid, who made a mile in 2.14. Practically, the limit of trot ting speed may be said to have been reached, though it is by no means im probable that phenomenal animals may decrease the time of Goldsmith Maid. Victor Hugo has a habit of working upon four or five subjects at once, rarely knowing which he shall finish first. In the morning he begins with which ever subject first takes his fancy, and after devoting himself for a few hours to verse, turns to bis novel after luncheon, and finishes the day by writing on some theme utterly unlike that which he took up in the morning, Ho has now in preparation six prose works and four poems. At Bombay a lady and gentleman who were taking a stroll sauntered into a church, and finding the marriage reg ister on a table the gentleman for fun wrote in it the names of four people (two couples) well known in their cirole of friends. The names may not now be erased, because any one tampering with the signatures in the registry is liable to seven years' penal servitude. The offender has absconded, the gentlemen are in pursuit and the ladies in dismay. The governor has been appealed to, but no decision has been arrived at as to v hat can be done. There are 4,000,000 dead letters re ceived annually at the Dead Letter Office. 300,000 without stamps; 50,000 partially addressed; 6,000 no address; 81,500,000 of money orders and drafts of money value; 45,000 packages con taining property; 840,000 in money nine-tenths of which is returned, the balance remaining in the treasury sub ject to application for lour years; 25,000 photographs; 250,000 European letters are returned unopened; one-tenth of all letters received contain property; 10,000 applications for letters reported lost; the great proportion found and delivered. There is an association in Germany founded for the pursuit of scientific investigation about Africa, which has been led by the recent discoveries of rich natural resources in the interior of the "dark continent" to go outside of its own proper field, and call the attention of the German commercial and manu facturing classes to the importance of establishing trade connections with that undeveloped territory. So important does the imperial government consider this suggestion that it has made a pre liminary appropriation of 825,000 in aid of enterprises of the kind advised, with intimations that all necessary further aid will be forthcoming. A geographic commercial association for establishing trade with inner Africa has also been formed in Switzerland. The Grand Canal of China is likely to share the fate of the Great Wall. This waterway was constructed by Kubail Ehan and his successors of the Yuen race, and is 600 miles in length. There are 10,000 flat-bottomed boats on this canal, and these are used in the trans portation of grain. The Echo states that this great waterway is an enormous "white elephant," as it costs an enor mous amount every year for repairs, the appropriations there, or elsewhere, not being entirely devoted to the pur pose for which they are meant. Junks are delayed every month while channels are being dug for their passage. This year, Jor the first time since the con struction of the cinal, the grain from Nankin, with the consent of the govern ment, has been forwarded by sea. and this fact has impelled the Pekin authori ties to consider the expediency of abandoning the canal aa a commercial highway. The other day a visitor surprised Biohard Grant White saying to his baby: "Oh-ny, no-ny, e mussy tick hick be ittie footsy tootsies out fum undy zis banky wanky oz e catch ooly woly an' have zo snuffles." Just then be caught sight of the visitor, and eaid to the in fant : " No, no, yon must not expose your pedal extremities by extending them beyond the protecting cover of the blanket, or you will lay your system open to attacks of catarrhal affections. " And the astonished child shrieked as though some one bad winged it with a defeotiye safety pin. Burlingtonllawk' eye. A REMARKABLE HOTTENTOT. The Career nnd I,at FUM of Smith Pom mer, the Famous Urlqna Chief. The London World says: We copied recently from a South African paper a little paragraph relating to the killing of Smith Pommer, Some of our readers may wonder who Smith Pommer is or rather was. He was a remarkable man. Although a naturalized Griqua, be was a pure Hottentot in blood and inherited the craft of his race. His father, who was one of the Eat River people, was an industrious man, who did his best to im prove his condition and educate his son. But the boy, when only fourteen, joined the Eat River rebellion, and after its defeat escaped into Basutoland, and afterward found himself in Nomansland, where he and many of his rebel compan ions established themselves, surrounded by hostile neighbors. Smith Pommer grew into a fighter and then into a leader. His diminutive figure, his droll behavior, bis native wit and bis inventive faculties made him a distinctive character, and a great superior to the ignorant people around him. He became recognized as a speech maker and diplomat. His dash, above all, dazzled the Griquas and Oaf fres both, and those who distrusted him for his tricks admired him for his bold ness. White people who recame ac quainted with him called it impudence and bluster; but he was genuinely feared by the Caffres, and regarded by others with something like superstition. The Caffres in time believed that he bore a charmed life, for while a notori ously miserable shot, and seldom using a weapon himself in a fight, be could show legs and arms soarred with wounds. With a lofty idea of effect, he always let those wounds show themselves, and cultivated the impression that with all these scars no bullet bad ever entered bis skin, which was not true. After some years of a wandering, vagabond, warring life, Smith Pommer married the pretty Griqua girl, Wilhelmina Buruman, and made a compromise of " settling down " by turning a transport rider. While on one of these trading journeys, the Ama baoas swooped down upon his place at Bies river, surrounded those who could offer resistance, and in the fight Smith Pommer's young wife was shot dead. Smith's career then took a predatory turn again, and for some time he was an intriguing freebooter. In Adam Eok's time he again married, this time into one of the most respect able and well to do of the settled Griqua families the Ulbrechts. It is spoken of as a remarkable wedding. Having gone through the ceremony at Eokstad, be took his bride to his home at Bies river, from which he bad sent out invi tations to every one in the region, of all colors and occupations. The bride, a good-looking young woman, with bnt little dark blood in ber veins was mounted on a rude throne in tho open air, and before her every guest, white and black, passed separately, bowed his homage, and laid a gift at her feet. This, to them, unique ceremony was gone through with by hundreds of peo ple from far nnd wide, nnd the wedding was kept up for two days. The shrewd and original bridegroom acquired, it is said, a considerable amount of properly in the shape of wedding gifts. Smith now returned more steadily to his trans port riding, but still manifested bis prestige among the people and became a sort of commandont in Capt Eok's army, His ingenuity in laying a snare in order to obtain influence or gain a point was well known, and many of the Griquas at last had learned to hold aloof from him. The part he tooK in the outbreak which brought his reckless life to a close has been told in the colonial papers since the Eokstad disturbance. His excuse for being among the rebels which may or may not have had a foundation was that bis name hnd been falsely mixed up with the discontent, and he was on his way to bring in Adam Muis to prove him self innocent. It is soid,;however, that he entrapped numbers into rebellion by telling them to come to a certain meet ing armed, and when they got there made them believe their act had already committed them to rebellion. It is also said that he led on other men of influence who he knew, would draw many after them, by writing fictitious letters to Capt. Blyth and reading out imaginary replies. The fight in which he and Adam Eok's son were routed from the old laager near Eokstad ended in the death of the latter, and Smith himself, with a few attached followers, fled at dusk to the mountains toward Pondo land. It was a weird place that Smith Pom mer and his baud bad chosen to die in. High up in the thunder beaten peaks of the Ingeli, where the last bluff in that rugged range stands ont like a terrible battlement, where the beacon waves on the crag that looks down over three coun tries through the deep valleys of Natal on one side the bushy bills of Pondoland in front, and still over the upland slopes of Griqualand on the other side here in a steep ravine Smith and bis followers hid through the day. Toward night the sound of guns was heard in the krantzes and some of his men fell at the hands of his Caffre pursuers. A Caffre shot at Pommer, but missing was shot in re turn, and fell down a rock ont of sight as if wounded. Watching his chance this Caffre again shot where he saw a bush stirred, and the next morning the body of Smith Pommer was brought out with a bullet through the hip. Smith Pommer met his death by the hand of one of a race against whom his enmity had been nurtured from infancy. The Banks of the United States. The followin&r statement Axhihita tVin oondition of the banks of the United btates on the 29th of June, 1878: Capital $470,893,33(1 Circulation.... 91,218,160 Not., bill of Deposits 662,688,663 Profita ou band 146,606,960 excuauge,6to, Atn R?t1 au ua D.H. stock. ud ' otber securi ties 4.V2 7T MX Specie 39,351,461) Bealeatate.. .. 46,169,409 Total $1,370,987,1681 Total. $1,860,907,168 Since the 15th of March last, the capi tal has decreased 82. 959.175. the nirnnla.. tion 850,058,460: the profits on hand 83,782,711, the loans 817,874,512, and the specie 825,297,233. The deposits have increased SllO fififl fUf nnl th United states stocks and other securities $20,835,033. The number of banks thrnncrhnnt tVin Union is 2,050. Items of Interest. The flower for young fathers tho poppy. An old saw new set a miss is as good as a smile. Shakspeare was a wondor, bnt Queen Elizabeth a Tndor. The grape crop of California is unusually small this year. " Love is an internal transport I" ex claimed an enthusiastic poet. " So is a canalbeat," said a practical old forward ing merchant. The difference between ladies and ducks if there is any difference is that ladies are often dressed to kill, while ducks are killed to dress. It was thought to be a big thing in ancient times when Ajax threw off bis ulster and defied the lightning, but now almost any man raises thunder if his dinner is cold, and the poets never say a word abont it. Mrs. Mack ay, wife of the bonanza king, has over $250,000 worth of jew elry, but when she gets the toothache she suffers just as much as the woman whose bracelets and diamonds came from the ninety-nine-cent store. Colonel Baker, of Texas, Commis sioner to the Paris Exposition, say there are only four new things on exhi bition the phonograph, telephone microphone, from the United States and a swimming doll-baby, a French prvention. This country is becoming so crowded with marksmen, athletes, swimmers and oarsmen wearing medals on their breasts, that the ordinary man will soon have to return to blue ooats with brass buttons, in order to keep from sinking into utter insignificance. A Wisconsin dentist recently received the following from a patient writing for advice : " Mv mouth is three inches across, five-eighths through the jaw. Sum bumoky on the edge. Shaped like a boss-shoe, toe f orrard. If ybu want me to be more particular, I shall have to come thar." While, Mr. T. H. Eellogg, of Center ville, Iowa, was eating twenty cents' worth of rib roast the other day, bur glars lifted $500 worth of watches and chains out of his jewelry store. It was a luxurious dinner, that even kings might boast of, but Mr. Eellogg now feels that he could have better spared a better dinner. What shall it profit a man if he eat a pound of liver and on ions and watermelon, and lose about half of his jewelry store ? Extraordinary phenomena have been observed in connection with tho "Cor pupa" volcano in the Province of Castilla, Peru, which have caused great alarm among the population. The immense banks of snow which have crowned its summit from time im memorial have suddenly melted away with such rapidity as to cause torrents to rush down the sides of the mountain, washing out immense quantities of stones and earth. Tho river below, being unable to contain the great body of water so suddenly added to it, overflowed its banks, causing great damage and distress. A great chasm or lateral crater next opened on one side, throwing out volumes of smoke and steam, as well as tongues of flame, whioh were distinctly visible at night, acoompanied with loud subterranean rumblings. It had never been supposed that the Corpuna was or could be a volcano, and there is no tradition that it was ever in a state of eruption. Nor within the memory of man has its crown of snow ever been absent. London Houses. The houses of London, says a corre spondent, are mostly bnilt of yellow brick; but those of a more pretentious character are of a yellowish sandstone, which soon becomes blackened with the smoke that enshrouds the city. Iron buildings are not known here at least, we have not met with any in our wan derings over the city, they being an en tirely American institution. A stranger in London is astonished at tho appear ance of most of its publio buildings and churches. They are built mostly of white marble; but the smoke has black ened them to such an extent that were it not that their bases and sometimes a portion of their cornices are white, they might be supposed to be of black mar ble The columns in front of St. Paul's Cathedral are densely black; and so is most of the vast structure. If a pot of black paint was poured over the mag nificent statues of Queen Elizabeth and her four maids of honor, whioh stand in front of tue cathedral, it would scarcely be noticed, so black have they become. The National Gallery, on Trafalgar square, is deoidedly black, and the grand old church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, on Trafalgar square, is, if pos sible, blacker. The walls under the portico and most of the columns in front would never be supposed to be of pure white marble. As there is scaffolding being erected around it, the purpose is possibly to clean it of the accumulated smoke of ages. They probably think with the gamin, who, when asked why he did not wash bis face, replied, "What's the use! It will only get dirty again." Farming on a Grand Scale. The Napa (Cal.) Hegister says: John Finnell, one of Napa's princely farmers, has recently purchased 19,000 acres of land in Tehama county, at a cost of $350,000. The property is known as the Thomas estate, and has on it a $25,000 resilience and about $100,000 worth of fenaing. With the land and improve ments, Finnell gets 2,200 head of cattle, 1,240 hogs, and a lot of horses, mules, etc. This entitles Mr. Finnell to a place in the front rank of the great farmers of California. His borne place in this val ley, comprising 1,000 acres, and besides keeping 500 of it in a high state of culti vation, be has for the past four years been paying $35,000 per year rent for a large tract of farming land in Colusa oounty, from which he has derived a handsome income. We understand it to be the intention of Mr. Finnell to re move with bis family to his new place in Tehama county next spring. The new property has never been put under the plough and it is thought will prove Tery produoti'-a.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers