iiiiii
V
N 1 :
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDTJM. Two Pollar8 Per Annum.
VOL. VIII. , RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1878. NO. 42.
'J i
Borrroboola Ghn.
A stranger preached last Sunday,
And crowds of people came
To bear a two hours' sermon -
With ft barbarous sounding name.
'Twas all about some heathen
Thousands of miles afar,
Who lived in a land of darkness,
Called Borrroboola Oha.
8o well their wants he piotured
That when the plate was passed
Each listener felt his pocket,
And goodly sums were cast;
For all must lend a Bhoulder
To push the rolling car
That carried light and comfort
To Borrroboola Oha.
That night their wants and sorrows
Lay heavy on my soul,
And in deep meditation
I took my morning stroll;
Till something canght my mantle
With eager grasp and wild,
And looking down with wonder
I saw a litUe.child.
A pale and puny creature
Iff dirt and rags forlorn;
What could she want, I questioned,
Impatient to be gone.
With trembling voice she answered,
" We live just down the street,
And mamma she's a-dyin',
And we've nothing left to eat.'
Down in a wretched basement,
With mold upon the walls,
Through whose balf-bnried windows
God s snnshine never falls;
Where cold, and want, and hunger
Crouched near her as she lay,
I found a fellow-creature
Gasping her life away.
A chair, a broken table,
A bed of dirty straw,
A hearth all dark and firdi is
But the Be I scarcely saw,
For the mournful sight before me,
The sad and siokening show
On, never had I pictured
A scene so full of woe
The famished and the naked,
The babes that pine for bread,
The squalid group that huddled
Around the dying bed;
All this distress and sorrow
Bhould be in lands afar;
Was I suddenly transplanted
To Borrroboola Gba?
Ah, no I the poor and wretched
-
Were close beside my door, '".3W
And I bad passed them heedless
A thousand times before.
Alas for the cold and hungry
That met me every day,
While all my tears were given
To the suffering far away.
Tboro'a work miuugll ftir CbnaUan
In distant lands, we know;
Our Lord commands his servants
Through all the world to go.
Not only to the heathen;
This wss hiB charge to them
" Go preach the word, beginning
First at Jerusalem."
Oh, Christian, God has promised
Whoe'er to thee has given
A cup of pure cold water
Shall find reward in heaven.
Would you secure the blessing,
You need not seek it far;
Go, find in yonder hovel
A Borrroboola Gha.
Jb ligious Utrabl.
THE TWO ROBERTS.
Singing softly to himself, Robert Ed
bury rode " over dale and over down "
in the sweet stillness of the July night.
Hardly a breath of air was stirring in
the breaches of the trees. Now and
then au invisible night bird piped a
solitary note to keep him company, and
soft waves of light streamed over the
hills as the queeuly moon, well attended
by her guards, rode indolently down the
broad highway of heaven. The blue
dome, looking soft as velvet, was, like
the fabled path of love, strewn thickly
with the golden kisses of the stars.
As he gained the last hill, whose
summit gazed on the little watering-
Elace which was for a few weeks to be
is destination, he iuvoluntarily drew
rein and sat silent a moment, enjoying
the moonlight scene. On bis left an
old-fashioned brick house reared its
twisted chimneys aloft. So close was
he to it that its sharp gables seemed to
cut the air over his head, and only a
strip of green lawn, bordered by horse
chestnut trees, separated him from the
windows, gleaming in the moonlight,
" Reenter and crown I'd fling thorn down,
If I rcigbt"-
Robert Edbury hushed his song when
he perceived, for the first time, his very
closo proximity to the house and tbo
windows.
" The substantial homo of some sub
stantial farmer," he said to himself. " I
had better move ou, or his daughters
miy thiuk I am serenading them."
Too late 1 Just then a window was
opened softly overhead, and a lndy's face
appeared at it. Iu the rush of bright
moonlight Robert caught Bight of the
long ripple of gold-gleaming hair, and
was sure that the face was lovely. At
any rate, the voice was.
" Robert, dear, is it you t"
For half a minute Robert EJbury was
mute with surprise, and made no answer.
" It is you, Robert. Why don't you
speak?"
He spoke, then, low, and with hesita
tion. " How do you kuow it was I ?"
"Of course I kuew it was you."
There was a flash of petulance in the
sweet voice now. " Who else but you
could ba riding and singing in that ab
surd wny at this hour of the night, and
halting before the house ? Have you a
cold, Robert ? Your voice sounds dif
ferent from what it usnally doe.."
"Perhaps it is the night air," answer
ed Robert, wickedly, and getting his
wits partially together. "Or I may
have cracked it with singiug." But still
be spoke iu the most subdued of tones
" I did not expect the pleasure of speak
ing with yon."
"The very idea of your coming up on
horseback ut this night hour! You
know yon ought not to be out. Why
did you do it ? Where are you going T
IntoSpafleld?"
" To be sure." i
" But what for?"
" To see a friend."
"Who is it?" camo the quick re
sponse. " Hot not meny uameron rw
with a shade of jealousy in the tone
now. " Are the Uamerons receiving
this evening ?"
" Not that I know of," returned Rob
ert Edbnry, promptly. " I swear to
you I was not going to see Nelly Cam
eron. I have not spoken with a single
young lady to-day, except yourself."
" Poor Robert I" and a little laugh
rippled lightly on the air. " But do go.
You know what your health is, and that
you have no business to be riding at
this time of night. Ton ought to take
better care of yourself. Tou will be
laid up to-morrow ; your voice already
sounds strange and altered. Good
night." " One moment," cried Atobert t,aovay.
earnestly, as he leaped from his horse,
fastened the bridle to the gate, and
stepped inside beneath the window,
where gleamed that mysterious, enon ant
ing face. ' Won't yon give me a flow
eryou can easily reach that clustering
vine by your casement. Perhaps per
haps I shall wish to ask yon some time
to forgive me some great onense. won t
you give me a flower for a token ?"
How strangely you taiK. ji course
I would give you a flower ; but these are
only honeysuckles, and yon know we
promised to give each otner notning .
roses, nut stay i tne pretty voice
caught itself. " I huve a bunch of vio
lets on my table. Would you like
them?"
"Anything anything that comes
from your hand 1" whispered Itobert,
more sincerely than ha always spoke.
The bright face disappeared a moment
from the window and then returned a
white hand gleamed in the moonlight.
" xnere, take them, and now you must
go I yaicu i hear some one stirring.
Suppose it should be mamma 1 Good
night, dear Robert."
The window was softly closed, and in
an instant after Robert was groping for
the violets in the wet grass. He found
them where they fell. But, as they
were falling, the quick eyes of Robert
EJbury had discerned something, bright
as a star, falling too. The small strip
of grass where he had stood was entirely
n the Bbade, hidden from the light by
the larce horse-chestnut trees, and he
vrtiadto grope in the dark for this glitter
. I intr fliinr An inafant'a aaarMi ravfialo
Jv f thing. An instant's search revealed
dijo be wuat he suspected a lady s
bracelet. It was a slender circlet of
gold, studded with crystal. The quick
movement had unclasped it from her
irm ; and Robert, with a smile, put it
side by side with the withered bunch of
violets in his pocket as he rode away.
" Soepter and crown I'd fling them down."
sang air. J3dbury as he roae swiftly on
in the purple dusk of the trees. "Seep
rer ana crown, if I had them, I'd fling
them down for the one bare chance cf
hearing that lovely voice once again."
He was alone ; there was no one to
see him ; and taking the violets out of
his pocket ho kissed them tenderly.
It was most absurdly silly of him do it ;
but who of us does not do silly things
in the heyday of our youth's morning ?
Silly things that we blush'for afterward,
perhaps; just as Robert Edbury blushed
when putting the violets again quickly
away.
" Scepter and crown I'd fling them down,
If I might"
But his song got no further than that ;
it died away in thought.
Passing arm-in-arm down the crowded
dancing-room of the Spa the next even
ing, with his friend Norton, Robert
Edbnry's quick ear was caught bya note
which at once arrested his attention.
He had said that he should know that
divine voice again, hear it wherever or
whenever he might, and he was not mis
taken. A certain remonstrance lay in its
tone ; not to say mischief.
"But who could it have been, Robert,
if it was not you ? It frightens me to
think of it. It it was somebody of
your height and figure. It must have
been yourself, Robert."
" But I tell you it was not, Jessie. I
should like to know who it was."
" He was a gentleman, I am sure "
with a stress upon the word. " You
need not he put out, Robert."
Robert Edbury turned and saw close be
side him, leaning on that other Robert's
arm, a young girl surpassingly beautiful.
Roses mingled with the bright gold of
her hair, shone in the bosom of her
dress, and a bunch of them was some
how intertwined with the slender gold
wrist-chain attached to her fan.
Mr. Edbury caught his breath, as,
turning her face, the girl's soft violet
blue eyes rested for a moment unreoog
nizingly on his.
" Who is she?" he whispered eagerly
to his friend. "How lovely she is I
What is her name ? By heaven I I never
believed in divine loveliness before : but
here it is, pure and undented. What is
her name?"
It is Miss Ohassdaue," was the an
swer, ehe and her mother live at the
Grove, half a mile out of town."
" A farm-house," remarked Robert.
"No, it is not It looks not unlike
one. They are people of property. Yes,
she is very pretty. I'll introduce you if
you like." m
mil au hour later Robert Edbury was
bending over the young lady's hand in
the pretty secluded gloom of a vine
wreathed window. They were as much
alone as it is possible for one to be in
me neart oi a busy, unheeding crowd.
The first notes of a Strauss waltz were
beckoning the danoers, and gay couples
went laughing, hurrying by.
" You are not engaged for this valse ?"
said Robert eagerly.
Some remembered cadence of his voioe
struck the young girl's memory, and,
forgetting to answer him, she looked at
him doubtfully, while a rosv blush
swept over her forehead. She half knew
him and half did not
" Will you let me look at your card ?"
he pursued, as, with perfect courtesy in
his voioe and manner, be took the bit of
gilt and enameled pasteboard which she
had tucked away amid the roses at he
wrist.
" I I half promised this dance to
Robert,", she stammered, flinging a
qnick glance over her shoulder into the
swaying crowd.
" Then I shall claim it," answered the
other Robert, with an audacious smile.
He stooped and picked up a rosebud that
had fallen, and then held it triumphant
ly before the flushed and startled face
by his side.
"See 1" he said, gayly; " I saved it
from being crushed under foot. Will
you not give it to me ?"
But she reached out her hand impul
sively. " I I never give roses to
strangers," she replied, with a cold,
frightened, angry air. "They are Mr.
Robert Stonor b roses. Give it back to
me, if yon please."
" My name is Robert, too," he said,
in the same gayly -tender voice, thongh
his dark face changed a little at her
frank confession. " My name is Robert,
too, Miss Ohassdane. Therefore, may I
not claim the rose?" -
The soft blue eyes, filled with tears,
flew up and met his. She knew him
then. Frightened and ashamed, and
trembling from head to foot, she rose
impulsively to her feet. He took a step
backward, and they stood so, facing
each other a moment in the gay unheed
ing crowd.
" I know you now," gasped Jessie.
" How dare yon speak to me again you
are verv presuming, sir. I will not bear
it Give me back my flower and leave
me."
"Nay," he said gently, but in the
tone of a master, is there cause for
auger ?" And in a low, reasoning, per
suasive voioe he spoke to her for some
moments, and the rising spirit was calm
ed. In spite of herself and against her
will she was becoming irresistibly at
tracted to this man.
" Give me this one waltz, Miss Ohass
dane, and then I will give yon back your
rose. It will be a fair exchange. But
mind what I tell you, as sure as there is
a heaven above us the day is coming
when yon will offer me a rose nnasked.
Come I"
The old rose-red ' flush drifted over
the young girl's face; his words, and
more than all, his manner, impressed
her as he meant they should. He stood,
with proffered arm, courteously still be
side her. and. though protesting inward
ly with all her might that she would not
dance, she gave him her band, and in
another moment they were floating de
liriously together to the strains of the
seductive music.
, When it was over, Robert led her to
her seat near some friends ; her mother
had not gone to the rooms that night.
She looked very pale. The pretty rose
color had all died out of the sweet round
cheeks.
" Are you faint ? " he asked anxiously,
bending over her. "Are yon tired?
Shall I get you some water ?
" No, no I " she cried, shrinking away
f rom him. ' ' I am not faint- but look at
Mr. Robert Stonor. I have offended
him. He is angry because I danced
with you. Oh, what shall I do ? He is
my cousin, and has ill-health, and he
must not db excitea.
Robert Edbnrv turned, and sawBnd'
ing near him that other. Stobert, who
threatened to k . perhaps was no
mean riv;.- His ill-health was evident.
One land was pressed to his side as if
to still some pain there, and on his
handsome blonde face, which was marked
by unmistakable traces of confirmed
sickness, a cloud of jealous anger rested
heavily.
The eyes of the two men met, and
each knew the other for a rival.
A half smile of scorn, as he looked,
curled Robert Edbury's lips. In a case
like this a man has no pity for the ail
ments of another. With a gravu face, he
took from his pocket the rosebud and
laid it in Miss Ghassdane's lap.
" Here is your rose," he said, quietly.
" I restore it to you at your wish. But
remember what I said ; and believe me,
time will prove me to be no false
prophet."
Without waiting for an answer, he
bowed and disappeared amid the throng
of dancers, seeking her no more that
night.
"Is Miss Chassdane engaged to that
man ? " he questioned of his friend Nor
ton. " I believe there is no positive engage
ment," was the reply. Mrs. Chassdane,
it is said, objects to it"
"On what score does she object?
Money?"
" Oh, no; Stonor has a small, com
pact estate close by, and is well off. On
the score of his uncertain health. Also,
they are cousins. "
"What is it that is the matter with
him?"
" Some complication, connected with
both the lungs and the heart, which, I
conclude, renders treatment difficult"
" Do yon thiuk Miss Chessdane cares
for him ? "
" I don't think she loves him, Edbury
if that's what you mean. It seems to
me that she likes him more as a brother.
When eligible attentions are paid to
girls, they feel flattered, yon know, and
respond accordingly. Nine out of ton of
them understood nothing of their own
feelings, and mistake friendship for
love. Robert Stonor and Miss Chass
dane have grown up together have
been like brother and sister."
Frequently they met after that. It
was an unusually gay season at Spa
field, and entertainments abounded ac
cordingly. In the morning drinking
the water, or making believe to drink it;
iu the afternoon sauntering in the gar
dens, or on the parade ; in the evening
at the rooms, or at private parties ; two
or three times did Mr. Edbury and Miss
Chassdane meet, and linger together,
and converse with each other. Robert
Edbury's time was his own, and he staid
on. He could have staid forever. The
two or three weeks' sojourn he bad in
tended had more than doubled itself ;
for he had learned to love her passion
ately ; and all the world might see it for
aright he oared. She too, might see it,
it she chose ; but whether she did or
not, he could not tell, judging from the
grave and sweet dignity with which she
met and bore back his eager attentions.
At length there came au evening when
he was determined to put bis fate to the
test ; to go on in this uncertainty was
worse thin torment They had not
been muoh disturbedby Robert Stonor j
a paroxysm of his complaint had con.
fined that gentleman to his own home.
And so Robert Edbory went up to the
old gabled house, before which his horse
had halted that first night, and sought
an interview with Miss Chassdane, She
was quite alone. The long French win
dow by which she sat was flung wide
open, and the low red sunlight, stream
ing in over her, lighted up her fair gold
hair and the roses in her dress.
" How beautiful she is I" he thought
as he took her hand in his. "What if
I should not win her after all I But I
will make a hard fight for it"
Jessie looked up inquiringly into his
face. " Yon are very silent" she said ;
and then, catching the earnest look in
his eyes, she blushed violently and drew
away her hand.
"I love yon," he passionately broke
forth in a low tremulouB tone, break
ing his emotional silence. "I have
come to yon this evening to risk my fate
by Baying this, to win or to lose all.
Jessie, you must know how I love yon ;
how I have loved you all along, from
that very first night that I spoke to you.
neither of us knowing the other. Will
yon not give me some hope of love in
return ? Do not send me from yon an
utterly broken and discouraged man I "
Jessie was silent for a moment one
long, cruel moment to Robert Edbury
then the small, sweet face was turned
to him with gentle dignity. He knew
his doom beforehand, ere she spoke the
words.
"You must know how useless it was
to speak to me of this," she said. " Yon
knew surely, yon must have known
that I was engaged to my cousin, Rob
ert Stonor."
" Engaged to him ? "
"Yes. We are engaged."
Neither spoke for a time The scent
of the flowers, blooming in the lonely
grounds on th's side of the house, away
from the dusty and busy highway,
seemed to mock them with its sweetness;
the clustering shrubs and trees waved
gently in the summer evening breeze.
He could not speak at once; the sense
of his bitter loss was too great The
setting sun streamed in upon him,
lighting up his distressed face. It
seemed to him that the great old-fashioned
clock in the hail ticked ont the
jeering words:
"Lost! Lost!! LoBttl!"
" Engaged I" he said, at length, with
a long-drawn breath. " I did not know
it. But engagements, where no love is,
have been broken many times before
now I"
"Hush I" cried Jessie. "Do not
speak like that again. It would kill
him I You do not know what you are
saying."
" Kill him !"
"If he heard it, I meant He says
he trusts me."
" And you are sacrificing yourself for
uim i for a fancy I mar tne trutn,
Jessie. You care not for Mr. Stonor,
except as a cousin or a brother. Ex
amine your own heart, and it will tell
vou that you do not You care for me.
You love me, Many a half word, a
half lo ii oj mst; jpi . j nuj xoa,
mtr -Jflrliuar. it is Robert Edbnrv von
f have learned to love, not Robert Stonor.
Your blnshes, my love, are betraying
it now. You "
" What was that ?" shrieked Jessie.
A low, smothered sound, half groan,
half cry, came in from the open window.
It was so full of pain that a man would
not care to hear it twice in a lifetime.
Before either could ruHk out Robert
Stonor stood in the opening.
It was a figure never to be forgotten.
His handsome face was distorted with
either pain or anger ; his lips trembled ;
his left hand was pressed, with the old
familiar gesture, upon his heart
'AFalse, false that you are !'' broke
at length from his bloodless lips, as he
seized Jessie with his right hand. " You
told me that you did not care for Rob
ert Edbnry ! You told me "
A pause, a stagger ; and with a fright
ful shiver he fell on the carpet Robert
Eibury broke the fall partially, but he
was not quick enough to quite save him
from it Jessie flew from the room for
assistance.
" Robert Stonor here !" cried the be
wildered Mrs. Ohassdane. " I thought
he was confined to his chamber at
home."
He had been confined to his chamber;
but, alas, he had crept ont of it that
evening, and come up to the house to
see Jessie. With the fond hope of sur
prising her in the usual evening-room,
he had gone round the shrubbery, in
tending to enter by the window, and had
heard ail.
On the floor, there as he lay, bis head
raised on a cushion by the k&uds of
Robert Edbnry, he died. The medical
men said he could not, in any case, have
lived many months, it weeks, but that
the agitation had killed him.
It was many long days after that,
when she had risen from the sick bed to
which this shock of sudden death had
brought her, that Robert Edbury came
to say farewell to Miss Ohassdane.
"The interview wm brief, studiedly
brief, for, with the shadow of that dead
man lyiug between them, speech was
difficult to both. - i
" Good-bye," she cried, reaching out
to him an attenuated (hand. "I hope
you may find happiness and peace I"
"But we shall meet again," cried
Robert, eagerly, j' Surely surely
some time in the future I may come to
you."
" Hush !" she cried, the tears rolling
piteously down her cheeks. "Yon
must not speak of that. Robert's
shadow would always come between us,
as he fell there on the floor. We killed
him ! We killed him I" and she wrung
her pale bands together in strong ex
citement. 1'
"Stop 1" said Robert Edbury, quite
sternly, You are taking an altogether
mistaken view of the truth. Ask your
mother; ask any one. But you are weak
and ill yet, Jessie, and the time has not
come for me to insist on this. Let us
think of him, poor fellow, as one who
must, if he had lived, have suffered
much, and who has mercifully found
peace' in the rest of death."
He stood for a moment looking with a
fond longing into the small, aweet face,
from which the summer roses had fled
with grudging haste. Then taking from
his pocket a fragile gold and crystal
circlet he held it out to her. It was the
bracelet she lost that 4rst night of their
meeting. (
"I found it under the window that
uightwitn the violets' he said. "It
ion irom your urm. will you take it
VHUA UU Iff
A faint lovely tinge of red flickered
into her cheeks once more.
" No I" she answered, looking into
his dark face with tender, gentle wist
f illness; " I I don't want to recall that
night, or anything connected with it
Yon may keep it if you like."
Ho he kissed ner nana ana saia i are
well. But he left a whisper behind him.
" When the roses bloom again, re
member me."
A year went by, and no message
came. The second year he said to him
self, "Surely she will send for me
now 1" But May and June crept by,
and July came; but not one word came
from Jessie Ohassdane. He was grow
ing sick with a wild and helpless de
spair, for he felt how worse than useless
it would be to go, uncalled, when one
day a letter came fluttering like a white
bird to his heart:
" The roses are in bloom, and there is
one for yon 1"
The American Reindeer.
The artist, Mr. O. C. Ward, has a
paper in Soribner on " Caribou-Hunting,"
from which we quote as follows :
The animal is very compact in form,
possessed of great speed and endurance,
and is a very Ishmaelite in its wander
ing habits ; changing, as the pest of flies
draws near, from the low-lying swamps
and woods where its principal article of
diet, the Cladonia rangeferina, or rein
deer lichen, abounds, to the highest
mountain fastnesses ; then again as the
cold nights give warning of the chang
ing season, descending to the plains.
Horns are common to both Bexes, but
the horns of the bucks are seldom car
ried later than the month of December,
while the does carry theirs all winter,
and use them to defend the,, fawns
against the attacks of the bucks. Both
sexes use their hoofs to clear away the
snow in searching for mosses on the
barrens. In their biennial migrations
they form well defined tracks or paths,
along whioh the herds travel in Indian
file. I have often studied their habits
on the extensive caribou barrens between
New river and the head of Lake Utopia,
in Charlotte county, New Brunswick.
These barrens are about sixteen miles
in extent, and marked with well-defined
trails, over whioh the animals were con
stantly passing and re-passing, here and
there spending a day where the lichens
afforded good living, then away again
on their never-ending wanderings.
A friend of mine, who visited New
foundland on an exploring expedition,
informs me that there the caribou holds
almost exclusive domain over an un
broken wilderness of nearly thirty thou
sand square miles, in a country wonder
fully adapted to his habits, and
bountifully supplied with his favorite
food the reindeer lichen.
The caribou is possessed of much
curiosity, and does not readily take alarm
at whatv-.be sees. Where his haunts
have been unmolested, he will uncon
cernedly trot up within range of the
rifle. 1 am inclined to believe that a
grent deal of this apparent fearlessness
is due to defective vision. If this is so, he
is compensated by having a marvelous
gift of scent, quite equal, if not supe
rior, to that of the moose. And well
for the caribou that he is thus gifted.
The wolf follows the herds throughout
all their wanderings. On the plains or
ou the hills, where the poor caribou re
tire to rear their young, he is constantly
lurking near, ready to pounce on any
straggler, or if in sufficient numbers
to boldly attack the herd.
The woodland caribou is very swift,
and cunning in devices to escape his
pursuers ; hiB gait is a long swinging
trot, which he performs with his head
erect and scut up, and there is no ani
mal of the deer tribe. that affords better
sport or more delicious food when cap
tured. The wandering habits of the
caribou make it very uncertain where
one will fall in with him, even in his ac
customed and well-known haunts. When
once started, the chase is sure to be a
long one, and its results doubtful in
fact so much so that an old hunter sel
dom follows up a retreating herd, but
resorts to strategy and tries to head
them off, or at once proceeds by the
shortest way to some other barren in
hopes of finding them there.
The caribou is very fond of the water,
is a capital swimmer, and in jumping he
is more than the equal of any other
deer. His adventurous disposition, no
, doubt, in some degree influences the
geograpmcai distribution of tne species.
In the month of December. 1877, a cari
bou was discovered floating out to sea
on a cake of ico near Dalhousie, on the
Restigouche river in New Brunswick,
and was captured alive by some men
who put off to him in a boat
It is said that in very severe seasons
large numbers of caribou cross from
Labrador to Newfoundland on the ice.
His admirably-constructed hoof, with its
sharp, shell-like, cutting edges, enables
him to cross the icy floes : when travel
ing in deep snow, its lateral expansion
prevents him from sinking.
.. Cost of the United States Capital.
Last June Congress called upon the
secretary of the treasury for a tabulated
statement of all money spent by the
government, since its origin, in the Dia
trict of Columbia. This statement has
been prepared, and is full of interesting
figures. The total expenditures for
what may be called permanent improve
ments, including original expenditures,
the cost of repairs, furnishing and keep
ing in order the public institutions in
Washington are as follows ;
Theetpttol
i 117.184,691 13
ia.ioi.fuia la
The pateut offloe..
The treasury department 7,062,942 42
Streets and avenues of Waehiugton.... 8,9715,204 98
Tbe state department 4,989,948 21
Loans, etc., to tbe Distriot of Columbia 4,921,299 SO
benevolent Institutions 4,732,448 92
Penal institutions 4,418.829 79
Water works 4,000,822 14
Navy department (IncludiBg yard). . , . 3,899,136 04
Department of agriculture 8,174,192 73
Smithsonian Institution..... 2,303,420 86
Poatoffice department 3,124,604 89
War department 2,044,061 42
Parks and public grounds 1,826,687 83
The executive mausion and grounda , 1,649,449 99
The library of Congress 1,676,847 24
Bridges, etc., 1,290,(68 12
Tbe botanic gamen ' 722,813 88
Works of art, paintings, statuary -Corcoran
gallery 602,669 18
Canals 627,418 88
Miscellaneous , 360,640 05
r'.re department (buildings, engines,
c.)... 199,299 60
Courts 78,tj a?
To'! 192,112,896 8
Boots are made on the Paoifio coast
with pockets for pistols jn their tops.
CARPETS.
Where They Came From, Whs Use Them,
and Hew ftlader
Carpet oome from the East, says an
American paper, and their manufacture
dates far back into- antiquity. The
Babylonians made them; they form
ed a noted branch of manufacture in
Turkey and Persia before they were
known in England. They belong to
that Oriental luxurionsness of taste
whioh was the exact opposite of the
Saxon. The Mohammedan who prostrates
himself many times a day upon the
ground found it convenient to have
something on which to kneel and whioh
he could easily carry with him, while a
like habit of Bitting cross-legged upon
the floor made the same material first a
comfort, then an ornament to his house.
To these nses we may probably trace
the custom in all Oriental countries,
copied largely by France, of having oar
pets in one piece and then to only par
tially cover the floor, or of the use of
rugs merely before the principal pieces
of furniture. It is only in America,
England and Germany at the present
day that carpets are universally used
covering the entire floor, and where the
plan of waxing floors, as in France, is
almost entirely unknown. Those who
have painfully walked through some of
the palaces of Europe, shuffling along in
felt slippers, or endeavoring to stand
upright without them, realize the com
forts of a well covered floor, as well as
the great addition to the beauty of a well
furnished house.
It is somewhat singular that the Eng
lish should have been so late as they
were in discovering the utility of car
pets, for while they did not need them
for the aot of worship, the climate would
naturally suggest such an addition to
warmth. Yet we learn from history
that as late as the reigns of Queens
Mary and Elizabeth rushes were used,
even in the palaces, though carpets had
been imported to some extent from the
East. Shakspeare occasionally refers
to them, and Bacon, who was contempo
rary with him, describes a reception
thus : " Against the wall, in the middle
of the half-pace, is a chair placed before
him with a table and a carpet before
it ;" from whioh it will be seen that the
first carpets in use then were the same
as we find in the East new. mere squares
or rugs. At that day they were consid
ered as luxuries, and for common daily
use the English adhered as tenaciously
to their straw and rushes as they do now
to their roast beef and ale.
Not much is known of the earliest
Eastern fabrics, but as these nations
change but slowly it is safe to assume
that the first carpets were thin tapes
tries, made by hand, as they are made
at the present day. The process of fast
ening tufts of woolen into a warp with
the fingers was exceedingly slow and
tedious, but this is of small account iu
countrleH where labor la of so little
value. The same process in France at
the present day makes the Gobelins
tapestries of immense value, so that they
rarely, if ever, ccme into the market,
but are reserved for royalty. Many
years are sometimes occupied in pro
ducing some of the more ornate pieces.
Portraits and pictures of birds, animals
and flowers are accurately and beauti
fully reproduced, and what is more won
derful is, that the artist does his work
with the back of the tapestry toward
him. He cau only see what he has ac
complished by going round to inspect
it when he stops for dinner or leaves at
night
' From this tapestry has sprung un
doubtedly all our modern carpets.
Wheu the manufacture was taken up in
England, devices were employed to mul
tiply the fabrics and to cheapen them.
This led to hand-loom and subsequently
to machinery and the use of power.
Good imitations of Turkish carpets were
made at Axmmster, and were called
after the name of the town. Few people
have any idea of the process of manu
facture. It is one of the few remaining
braucb.es of Turkish industry.
The methods of work in the ancient
towns of Ousbak, Honla and Ghoirdofs
are of the simplest aud rudest descrip
tion. A vertical frame supports tro
horizontal rollers about five feet apart.
The warp, of any required length, con
sisting of an upper and lower thread, is
wonnd around the upper roller and the
ends fastened to the lower one by the
girls, who sit cross-legged in a row be
fore the frame. Each workwoman has a
certain width allotted to her, and pro
ceeds to knot the tufts which form the
pile in rows, using different colors to
form the pattern. The tying of the tufts
ana tne picking out of the various color
ed wools, which hang in balls over the
frame, is carried on with surprising
rapidity, the pattern being worked
solely from memoiy. Yet with the aid of
the rude irame, a pair of shears and
comb, the workers contrive to produce
the most harmoniously colored and cer
tainly the most durable carpets in the
trade, European taste has done much
to foster this manufacture, but has
never been able to improve it. A live
lier class of goods is produced to meet
the American demand than those used
by transatlantic purchasers.
It would be interesting to follow the
growth of this manufacture, and to de
scribe the machinery by which it is pro
duced, but that is impossible here. It
is only fair to say, however, that no
country has made more rapid strides
than this branch of manufacture.
More has been accomplished in one
hundred years than in all the centuries
preceding. Publio taste, united, to a
desire to economize, has led to an im
mense production of ingrains, three
plys and Brussels, and this demand has
stimulated the inventive genius of the
weavers and artists, until, in colors,
designs and quality of frbrio, there is
nothing left to desire. It is a perfect
mystery how goods uniting such qualities
of beauty and of substantial wear can be
produoed at such prioes. The ingrains
can be had as low as the home-made
" rag " carpet, and the Brussels as low
as the ingrains were formerly, while in
the latter there is hardly an end to the
patterns that may be produced.
The largest concern in America runs
700 looms, and emolova thousands of
hands. There is a different form or
manner of mechanism employed for
every carpet, from the methodical East-
lake to the elaborate Queen Anne.
Wonderful effecta are produced, in
Expectation.
We rode Into the wooded way; '
Below us wide the shadows lay;
We rode, and met tbe kneeling day; (
We said, "It Is too late.
" The sun has dropped into the west;
The monntaln holds him to her breast
She holds and hushes him to rest.
For us it la too late
"To see the leaf take fire now,
To see, and then to wondor how
The glery panses on the bough,
While panting grass-tops wait."
When, lo ! the miraole oame on:
A roadside turn a moment gone
And far tbe sun low-lying shone;
The forest stood in state.
Transfigured spread the silent space;
Tbe glamour leaped about the plaoe,
And touched us, swept from face to face;
We cried, " Not yet too late !"
But one, who nearer drew than all,
Leaned low and whispered: "Sans may fal
Or flash; dearheart ! I speak and call
Your soul unto its fate.
" Tread bravely down life's evening slope,
Before the night comes; do not grope 1
Forever shines some small, sweet hope.
And God is not too late."
ElizaMh Sluarl Phelpt in Earpmr't.
Items of Interest.
Suitable apartments for a castle in the
air A brown study.
Tea was used in China long before it
was cultivated, several varieties of the
bush growing wild.
Patience is a commodity which always
brings a large price, but the market is
seldom overstocked.
We pass our lives in regretting the
past, complaining of the present, and
indulging false hopes of the future.
Every person has two educations, one
which he receives from others, and one,
more important, whioh he gives to him
self. .
- Every one is the poorer in proportion
as be has more wants, and counts not
what he has, but wishes for what he has
not.
The Hackensack Republican says " a
good physician snatches many bodies
from untimely graves, and gets paid for
it, too."
" Always pay as you go," said an old
man to his nephew. " But, uncle, sup
pose I haven't anything to pay with ?"
"Then don't go."
There are 777 potteries in the United
States, paying annually $2,247,173
wages, and turning out products to the
value of $6,045,536.
By the side of the Yalle theater, in
Rome, Italy, a chnrcb, built by the
American Baptists at a cost of $20,000,
has just been opened.
In less than thirty years, 72,000 miles
of railroad have been constructed in the
United States. The value of property
in this country has in the same period
increased from $8,000,000,000 to $30,
000,000,000. A patent-medicine man posted hand
bills iu every available spot iu a neigh
boring village the other morning, and
before night fifteen goats had enough
medical information in them to run an
eclectic college.
That King Humbert's assassination
was attempted is not so surprising
when one learns that a number of Ital
ian students have founded a Nobiling
club, "to transmit to future genera
tions the memory of great men who
have consecrated themselves to the
emancipation of the human race by pen
or deed." " If," says the inaugural,
"the members have chosen the name
of the intrepid German philosopher, it
is to synthesize by his name the aim of
the club, whioh proposes to co-operate
with all its powers to bring about the
complete emancipation of man, politi
cal, economio and religious."
Words of Wisdom.
A noble man compares and estimates
himself by an idea which is higher than
himself, and a mean man by one which
is lower than himself, Tbe one pro
duces aspiration, the other ambition.
Ambition is the way in which a vulgar
man aspires.
An infant, a prattling child, dying in
its cradle, will live again in the better
thoughts of those who love it and plays
its part through them in the redeeming
actions of the world, though its body is
burnt to ashes or drowned in the deep
est sea. Dickem,
Nothing at first frames such false in-,
mates as au imaginative temperament.
It finds the power of creation bo easy,
the path it fashions so actual, that no
marvel for a time hope is its own secur
ity, and the fanoied world appears the
true copy of the real.
The family is the miniature common
wealth upon whose integrity the safety
of the larger commonwealth depends.
It is the seed-plot of all morality. We
express the noblest longings of the hu
man heart when we speak of a time to
come in which all mankind will be
united as one family.
Men, as a rule, are easily attracted by
a beautiful face, but still it is an in
ternal beauty of character by which a
woman can exert the greatest amount of
influence. A true-minded man, though
at first enamored by the glare of per
sonal beauty, will soon feel the hollow
ness of its charm when he feels the lack
of beauty in the mind. Inestimably
great is the influence a sweet-minded
woman may wield over those aronnd
her. , .
You are walking through a forest On
the ground, across yonr path, lies
stretched in death a mighty tree, tall
ana Birong, nt mast to carry a cloud of
canvas and bear unbent the strain of
tempests. You put yonr foot lightly on
it, ana now great your surprise when,
breaking through the bark, it sinks deep
into tne body ol the tree a result muoh
lesa owing to the pressure of your foot
.1 a i, . r i m i
wail vj iue poisonous lungi ana ioui
crawling insects that have attacked it
core. They have left tbe outer rind un
injured, but hollowed out its heart
Take care yonr heart is not hollowed
out and nothing left you but a crust and
shell of an empty profession. Shallow
rivers are commonly noisy rivers, and
the dram is loud because it is hollow.
V
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