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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. ,-, J-niNIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
,XOL.IX. ,,. , : ' f:;t; ; iRIJJGAYAY, ELK COUNTY, f A., THTJBSJJfAY, , MARCH 27, 1879. ' NO. 6.
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" " ' From Mj Arm-Chalr.
TO TBB CHILDBIlt OF CAMBBICOE,
Who -presented to me, on my seventy-second
birthday, Febrnarv 37,1879. this chair, made
from the wood of . tho Tillage blacksmith's
chestnut tree.
Am l a king, that I should call my own
This splendid ebon throne?
Or by what reaion, or what right divine,
Can I proclaim It mine?
Only, perhaps, by right divine of song'
It may to me belong;
Only became the spreading chestnut tree
Of old was sung by me.
Well f remember it In all its prime, "
When in the inmmer time,
The affluent foliage cf Us branches made
A cavern of cool shade. '
There by the blacksmith's forge, besido the
h street, .
'Its blonoms white and sweet
Eatioed (he bees, until it seemed alive,
Acd murmured like a hive.
And hen the winds of autumn, with a shout,
- Tossed its great arms about,
The shining chestnuts, bursting from' the
sheath,
Dropped to the ground beneath.
And now some fragments of Its branches bare,
Shaped as a stately chair,
Hive by my hearthstone found a home at last,
And whisper of the pact.
The Danish king could not, in all his pride,
Repel the ocean tide,
But, seated in this chair, I ean in rhyme
IioU back the tide of time.
see again, as one in vision sees,
The blossoms and the bees,. . .
And bear the children's roloos shout and oall, .
And the brown chestnuts fall.
I sec tho smith; with its fires aglow,'
I hoar the bellows blow;
And the shrill hammers on the anvil beat
Tho iron white with heat 1
And thus, dear ohildren, have ye made for me
This day a Jubilee, '
And to my more than threescore years and ton
Brought baok my youth again. ,
The heart hath its own memory, like the mind,
And in it are enshrined
The precious kcopsakes, into which are wronght
.The giver's loving thought
Only yonr love and your remembrance oould
Oivo life to this dead wood,
And make these branches, leafless now so long,
Blossom again in song,
Uenry W. Longfellow,
UNDER A CLOUD.
" Did vou ever see a sadder face 7 "
It was the remark of a lady to her
friend, as Mrp. jjonng passed her wiu.
dow, ' Mrs. Loring bad ridden ont for
tha flvot timo for month. tint now -of
her own choioe, but ia obedienee to the
solicitation of a friend, and the positive
command of her physician. She was in
deep sorrow, refusing all comfort,
Heavy clouds were in her sky black
clouds, through which not a ray of oun
shine penetrated.
" Fever,"answered the friend, while
a abode caught from Mrs. Loring's
countenance nutted across nor own face.
Who can she be?"
" Didn't you recognize her? "
"No. The oonntenonoe was, to me,
that of a stranger."
' I can hardly wonder that it should
be so," said the friend, " for she is sadly
changed. That was poor Mrs. LoriDg,
who lost her two children last winter
from scarlet fever."
"Mrs. Loring!" The lady might
woll look surprised.- " Borrow has in
deed done a fearful work there. But is
it right thus to sit under a cloud ? right
thus to oppose no strong barrier to the
waters of sfUictiou that go sweeping
over the soul, marring all its beauty? "
"It is not right," was the answer.
" The heart that sits in darkness, brood
ing over its loss, sorrows with a selfish
sorrow. The clouds that shut out the
sun are exhalations from its own stag
nant surface. It makes the all-pervading
gloom by which it is surrounded.
I pity Mrs. Loring, unhappy sufferer
that she is; but my pity for her is al
ways mingled with a desire to speak
sharp rebuking words, in the hope to
agitate tbe.slumberons atmosphere in
which she is enveloped like a shroud."
"I wonder," remarked the other,
that her husband permits her to
brood so long in idle grief over the in
evitable."
"Husbands," was replied, "have
often the least salutary influence over
their wives when bowed with affliction.
Some .men havo no patience with dis
plays of excessive grief in women, and
are, therefore, more ignorant than chil
dren in regard to"its treatment. Such a
man is- Mr. Loring. - All that he does
or says, therefore, only deepens the
enoompassing shadow. A wise, un
selfish man , with a mind to realize some
thing of his wife's true state,- and a
. heart to sympathize her, will always
lead her from beneath the clouds of
sorrow upward to the oleerful heights
upon which the sunshine rests. If she
shows unwillingness to be led; if she
courts the shadow and bide in the gloom
of her own dark repinings, he does not
become impatient. He loves her with
too unselfish a love for this, And so he
brings light to her on bis own counte
nance, the sunshine of even affected
cheerfulness that penetrates the murky
atmosphere in which she sits, and warms
her heart with its - genial radiance.
Thus he wooes her with eunny gleams
from the clear sky that yet bends over
her, and that will make all again bright
and beautiful on the earth of her spirit,
the will but lift herself above the
.clouds. It is the misfortune of Mrs.
Loring that she is not blessed with such
a husband,"
The subject of this conversation had
on that morning- yielded to the solicita
tions of one of her neatest friends, and
with great reluctance consented to go
out with her in ber carriage. ....
"I shall be much better at home,"
Xjie objected tewthe urgent appeal of her
friend. ,."Tbis quiet . suits . me. . The
stillness of my own chamber acoords
best with my feelings. The glare and
buttle of the busy streets will only dis
turb me deeper. -1 know it is kindness
in vou; but it is a mistaken kindness."
To reason with her would have
useless, and so reason was not attempted, !
"I have oom prepared to hear no
objections," was the firm answer. "The
doctor says that you are injuring your
health, and must go out. Bo get your
self ready."
"Health life even I What are they
to me? I have nothing to live fori" was
the gloomy responses. "Oome' quiokly
the time when I shall lay me down and
sleep in peace."
"A woman, and nothing to live for?
One of Ood's intelligent creatures, and
nothing to live for I "
There was so mnoh rebuke in the tone
with which this was offered that Mrs.
Loring was partly aroused thereby.
"Oome I Let us see whether there
bo not something to live for. Oome I
you mns$ go with me this morning."
Bo decisive was the lady's manner so
impelling the action of the will that
Mrs. Loring found herself unable to re
sist; and so with reluctance that wnsnot
concealed, sb made bor -preparations to
go out. In due time she was ready,
and, descending with her friend, took a
seat in her carriage and was driven away.
Houses, trees, publio buildings, swept
like a moving panorama before her eyes,
and though familiar objects glassed
themselves therein, they failed to
awaken the slightest interest. The sky
was clear, and the bright sunshine lay
everywhere; but ber heart still Sat under
a cloud, and folded around itself gloom
for a mantle. Her friend talked to her,
calling her attention every little while to
some new palace home, or -to some
glimpse of rural beauty which the eye
caught far in the distance. But all was
vain; the mourner's slender form still
shrunk back among the cushions, and
her face wore its saddest aspect.,, T ..
Suddenly the carriage-drew up .before
a neat -looking house of moderate size,
with a plat of ground in front, wherein
were a verdant square ami borders of
well-tended flowers. Ere Mrs, Loring
had time to ask a question the coach
man was at the door.
"Why do you stop here t" she in
quired. '
- ' I wish to make a brief call. Cornel
you must go in with me."
Mrs. Loring shook her head in a posi.
tive way, and said " no " still more posi
tively.
" You will meet no light votary of
fashion here, my friend," said the lady,
Dut one wno baa suffered like your
self. " Oome l"
But Mrs. Loruig shrunk farther back
in tho carriage.
" It is now only three months since
she followed to their mortal resting
place two preuious little ones, the last
of ner flock, that, scarcely a year ago.
numbered four. I want you to meet
ner. sisters in sorrow, you cannot but
feel drawn toward each other by cords
or sympatny.
Mrs. Loring shook her head impera
lively.
" No no I I Jo not wish to see her.
ht lraye griefenough of my own without
snaring in mat oi others. Why did you
bring me here ?" There was something
me anger in me voice oi Mrs. Jjonng.
" Six months, nearly, have passed
since God took your children to Him
self, and timo, that softens grief, has
brought to you at least some healing
leaves. The fiiend I wish to visit a
friend in humble life is sorrowing with
as deep a sorrow, that is yet but three
mont&s oia. nave you no word to
peak to hor ? Can you not, at least,
mingle a tear with her tears I It may
do you both good. But I do not wish to
urge a selfi3li reason. Bear up with
womanly fortitude under your own
sorrow, and seek to heal tho sorrow of a
sister, over whose heart are passing the
waters of affliction. Come, my friend !'
Jure. JUoring, so stroagly urjed. step
ped out npon the pavement. She did
so with a reluctance that was almost un
conquerable. Ob, how earnestly she
wisned nerseit back in the shadowy
1 - . - -
bomuue oi ner own come.
" Is Mrs. Adrian at home ?" was in.
quired of the tidy girl who came to the
aoor. xue answer being in the affirma
tive, the ladios entered and were shown
into a small but neat sittinc-room. on
the walls of which were portraits, in
crayon, of four as lovely children as
ever, uie eyes looked upon. The sight
of these sweet young faces stirred the
waters of sorrow in the heart of Mrs.
Loring, and she hardly restrained her
tears. While vet her Dulses thrabhnd
with a quicker beat, the door opened
and a woman entered, on whose rather
pale face was a smile of pleasant wel
oome.
"My friend, Mrs. Loring," such was
the introduction, "of whom I have
spoken to you several times."
The smile did not fade from the coun
tenance of Mrs. Adrian, but its expres
sion changed as she took the hand of
Mrs. Loring and said:
" I thank you for your kindness in
calling."
Mrs. Jjonng scarcely returned the
warm pressure with which her hand
was taken, - Her -lips moved slightly
but no word found utterance. Not the
feeblest effort at a responsive smile was
visible.
We have have both been called to
pass through the fire," said Mrs. Adri
an, in more subdued tones, though the
smile still played around her lips.
"Happily, One walked with uffwhen
the flames were fiercest, or wo must
have been consumed."
It was now that her voice reached the
hearUof Mrs. Loring. The eyes of the
BBinsn woman dropped to the floor, and
her thought was turning in upon itself.
In the smile that hovered about the' lips
iu.ru. n.uriHii sue iiaa seen only indif
ferenoe, not a sweet resignation. The
words just spoken, but more particular
ly the voioe that gave them utterance,
unvailed to her the sorrow of a kindred
sufferer, who would not let the voioe of
wailing disturb another's ear, nor the
shadow of her grief fall upon a spirit al
ready under a cloud. The drooping
eyes of Mrs. Loring were raised, with a
half wondering expression, to the face
of Mrs. Adrian. Still hovered the smile
about those pale lips ; but its meaning
was no longer a mystery ; the smile was
a loving effort to send light and warmth
to tb heart of a grieving sister. From
the face of Mrs. Adrian the eye of lrtra.C
Loring wandered to the portraits of her
children on the wall
- "All gonel". The words fell from
Mrs. Loring's lips almost involuntarily.
She spoke from a new impulse pity for
a sister ia sorrow, .
i .."All," wiaa answered. "They were
preoious to me very precious but Uod
took them."
A slight huskiness vailed her voioe.
" Beautiful children I" Mrs. Loring
still gazed on tte portraits. "And all
taken in a year. Oh how did you keep
your heart from breaking ?"
" He who laid upon me so heavy a
was the low reply.
" I have found no strength in a like
affliction," said Mrs. Loring sadly.
--Nr strength t Have Ton sought
sustaining power?" . Mrs.-Adrian spoke
with a winning earnestness.
"I have prayed for comfort, but none
came," said Mrs, Jjonng, sadly,
Praying is well ; but it avails not,
unless there be also doing.
"Doing?"
"'yesj thJaJffifuT doing of oufduty.
BorrPw bas too antidote like this. ''" ' -
Mrs. Loring gazecTfntently upon the
face of ner monitor.
"When the last heavy stroko fell upon
my heart," continued Mrs. Adrian,
" shattering it. as it seemed, to pieces.
I lay for a little while stunned, weak
and alm'ost helpless. But as soon as
11 " .- T 1 i
tnougnc began to run ciear, x saia to
myself : Is there nothing for my hands
to do, that you lie here idle ? Is yours
the only suffering spirit in the world ?'
Then I thought of my husband s sorrow,
whioh he bore so silently and manfullv.
striving to look- away from - his own
grief that he might bring comfort to
me. ' Is it not an my power to lessen
for him the gloom of our desolate house
hold ?' I asked of my eel f. I felt that it
was ; and when next he returned home
at the day's decline I met him, not with
a fuce of gloom as before, but with as
cheerful a countenance as it was in my
fower to assume. I had, my reward ;
saw that I had lightened his burden ;
and from tha moment half the pressure
oi mine was. remoyea. .oinoe uien;i
have never suffered my heart to brood
idly over its grief; but in daily duties
sougnt tue Btrengtn mat never is given
to those who fold their hands in fruitless
inactivity. The removal of my children
lightened all home duties, and took away
objects of lovethat I felt must be in a
measure restored. I had the mother's
heart still. And so I sought out a
motherless little one, aud gathered her
into the fold of my love. Ah, madam !
this is the best balsam for the bereaved
and bleeding affections that I can tell of.
To me it has brought comfort and re
conciled me to losses, the bare anticipa
tion of which once made me beside my
self with fear. Sometimes, as I sit with
the tender babe I now call my own rest
ing on my bosom, a thought of heaven
goes pleasantly through my mind, and I
picture to myself the mother of this
adopted child as the loving guardian of
my own babes, now risen iuto the
spiritual kingdom of our Father. I can
not tell you what a thrill of delight such
thoughts at times awaken I"
Mrs. Loring bowed her head npon her
bosom and sat in silence for some mo
ments. Then she said:
"Ton have read me a lesson from
which I hope to profit. No wonder my
heart has ached on with undiminished
pain. I have been selfish in my grief.
There is nothing now to live for,' I
havo repeated to myself over and over
again, until I believed the words." .
" Nothing to live for I" Mrs. Adrian
spoke in a surprised voice. "In the
image and likeness of God we were all
made; and if we would have the lost
beauty restored, we must imitate God
in our lives. He loves every one with
a divine tenderness, and is ever seeking
to bless us. .If we would be like Him,
we must love each other and seek eaoh
other's good. He has given us the
ability to impart blessings, and made
true happiness to depend on the exer
cise oLthis ability; and if we fold onr
hands and sit in idle repinings, happi
ness is not possible. How fully have I
proved this I"
" And, God helping me, I will prove
the opposite," said Mrs. Loring, speak
ing from the warmth of a new impulse,
"Long enough have I been Bittinar
under a cloud." , , .
While the bright " sun shone far
above in the clear heavens," added the
friend, with a snsilo of encouragement.
" May we see this babe you have
called yorrr own ?" said Mrs. Loring.
The little one was brought, and, as
she lay tenderly clasped to the bosom
of her new mother, giving even more.pf
blessedness than she received, Mrs.
Loring, after her lips had touched, with
a lingering pressure, the pure forehead,
said:
" Your action has been wiser and bet
ter than mine, and you have had your
reward. While the waters of love have
grown stagnant in my heart, sending up
murky exhalations to darken my sky,
yours have been kept sweet and pure to
mirror the bending heavens. I thank
you for the lesson."
ene wore a different face on returning
home than when she went forth so re
luctantly. There wasa rift in the over
shadowing clouds, and a few rays of sun
shine came warmly down. Even the in
ception of good puiposeshad moved the
long-pulseless waters, and the small
ripples on the sarface wore catching tho
light.
A few weeks of unselfish devotion to
the life duties awaiting her hand on all
sides wrought a wonderful change in
Mrs. Loring. In seeking to be useful
to others, her heart was comforted ; and
when into that heart, ever yearning with
mother s undying lovo, a babe Jelt
helpless and friendless in theworld was
taken, the Work of consolation was com
pleted. She sat under a oloud no longer.
Above her arched the beautiful sky,
bright through the cheerful day : and
when the night of grief for the loss of
her preoious one returned, as it would
return at intervals, a thousand stars
made beautiful the azure firmament.
T.nst ri ii? lit nn nf nnr sweetest vonnff
men gathered all his musical talents
tnil rnairpr1 In t'iA navement in front
of the house in whioh his Duloinea was
sleeping. He sang several selections.
Than hn tlirw nil his sonl into that ten-
dor strain, " For the pain that's in my
bosom is hard to bear," and a window
in the upper Btory was gently utiea ana
this bouquet wsswafted to him: "Young
man, try a mustara piaster wt wi
pain." Ha fainted on the spot, Salem
tiunbeam.
rAUM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Wfant the New Acrlealtare Teaches
The following hints are taken from an
essay on "The New Agriculture" by
Dr. J. F. Nicholas, a distinguished agricultural-
writer: "Apples carelessly
grown will bring poor prices ; but those
well grown and well cared for and
properly packed will bring best prices
even in these times. The best corn
will make the best meal. Some farmers
make their cider from rotten or other
wise worthless apples and put the cider
intd , musty casks. Such oider, how
ever, is of little value compared to that
made from good apples and put in clean,
sweet casks. Fork fed from slops and
kept in. dirt and filth is not near as
valuable as that fed on good meal and
always well littered. Good food is always-
worth paying for. A' pan of
butter has been spoiled by the farmer
going into the milk room with his boots
covered with manure ; butter and milk
absorb odors rapidly. It is always best
to aim at excellence in everything.
Fodder-corn is good feed if properly
grown, but it is not good .when sown
broadcast and thick. It is as foolish, to
say that either milk or beer can be pro
duced from food which chemistry says
lacks the elements of which they are
composed, as to Bay that dung will pro
duoe plants it the minerals are lacking.
Fifteen cows, allowed to stand out one
hour on a cold day, shrunk in milk nine
quarts ; ice-cold water given to a cow
will shrink the milk ; cows allowed to
stand in water on a hot day will also
shrink their milk. Cows never should
bo allowed to stand in a draft. A good,
careful man, placed in charge of a badly
managed herd of cattle, has increased
the flow of milk to an extent sufficient
to pay his wages. Putting salt on the
hay mow is a useless practice ; in this
case it has no curative properties. In
tha oltHigrioulture the idea was preva
lent that dung was dung from whatever
source produced ; that from meadow
hay being supposed ' equal to that
from the best hay or the best
of meal or grain. The new agri
culture forbids farmers letting their wet
lands lie waste, but tells them if they
have finished their haying by the mid
dle of July to go to work next day to re
claim other lauds. The now agriculture
teaches us the different amount of nu
trition in the different kinds of corn.
Under the old system, twenty to forty
bushels were considered a good yield,
but the new one teaohes us that seventy
or eighty will only be considered a fair
yield ; it also teaches us that the nu
tritive value of the cob is superior to
that of wheat or rye straw, and equal to
that of oat straw, besides containing a
much larger amount of potash than any
of the straws. Eastern corn -ground
with the cob is equal in feeding value to
the Southern corn without the cob ; but
to obtain tho bost results from any
grain it should be ground very flno.
The amount of potash taken from the
soil by the corn cobs is enotmous.
Sweet corn makes the best fodder to
feed green to cows."
Mtarvlna Orchard.
Aton o! dry, uuleaohed ashes per
acre will furnish nearly the same ingre
dients advised by the Scientific Farmer
for the fertilization of orchards, which
is two hundred to two hundred and fifty
pounds of bone dust and three hundred
to four hundred pounds of sulphate of
potash per acre. This gives some seven
ty or eighty pounds of potash, fifty to
sixty pounds of lime (from the bones)
and ten to twenty pounds of nitrogen,
and some magnesia in the potash and
fertilizer, all of whioh are called for to
to nourish orchards on insufficient soil,
as the flesh of most fruits contain much
potash as well as lime, in combination
with the fruity acids, and the seeds
phosphoric acid. Whether the ingredi
ents required are applied in the formula
given or in the unleacbed ashes sug
gested, it is recommended to sow broad
cast and lightly harrow in, leaving it to
the rain to more thoroughly incorporate
with the earth. Such treatment has
proved successful in orchards showing
signs of deoay both in this country and
in Europe.
Coal ashes and salt areemploved with
great benefit on some soils, especially
in orchards bearing sour fruits. Or
chards, the soil of which, from close pas
turing or other causes, is nearly desti
tute of humus, will gradually deteriorate
and finally die unless restored to that
state of fertility which is necessary for
the thrifty growth cf the tree and its
existence in a healthy and vigorous
state. Such orchards are greatly bene
fited with a top dreesing of leafmold,
rotten chip manure, muck from a creek,
broken bones, animal hair of all kinds,
and similar material general! v at hand
on farms, whioh can be applied without
other expense than the time and labor
expended. When manures are used
they should be well decomposed; fresh
warm manures excite young trees into a
very rapid growth, but the wood is
watery and feeble.
A dry soil, of but moderate richness.
is the one, that produces and sustains
hardy trees; their wood is firm, the buds
plump and close together and the parts
well proportioned. Home and Farm.
Haeceaa with Strawberries.
It is becoming more and more a neces
sity in the successful culture of the
strawberry to raise only the best varie
ties and put them in market in the best
possible condition. We often hear the
cry that strawberries do not pay, and I
fully believe it; for under the common
mismanagement lelting tho plants run
at will-r weeds are allowed to oooupy
space in the bed, and little or no care is
exercised in regard to manure. I pre
fer, rather than the matted-row or the
hill system, to cultivate in the single
row, making the rows two and one-half
feet apart and the plants about eighWor
ten mones in me row. This will give
plenty of room for the hoe and -cultivator,
which I use freely through the
Bummer, keeping the soil well stirred
and allowing no weeds to grow about the
plants, in manuring, care should be
taken or you may seed your bed with
weeds. I prefer to .use bonedust, or
some reliable commercial fertilizer of
whioh I know the ingredients and the
manufacturer., Clean rye or wheat
straw, well rotted, is good to put under
the row before planting, and a free ap
plication of liquid manure from the barn
yard gives good results; I have a barrel
fixed npon wheels for distributing it.
When the plants are sending out run
ners, I wait until a few young plants
have begun to take root; then with a
pair ot sheep-shears I stand astride the
row and with one hand gather up the
runners and clip them with the shears in
the other. This I repeat two or three
times during the season. When market
ing I use the slat orate made for sixty
boxes, but I take out fifteen, thus leav
ing forty-five; removing one partition
and putting a couple of strips at eaoh
end, dividing the crate into three tiers
instead of four. . The upper strip at one
end should be so placed as to allow the
easy removal of the lower partition. By
this plan the fruit gets plenty of air, and
I can round up my boxes well with ber
ries and there is no danger of their get
ting mashed, if carefully handled; and
when exposed for sale they present a
mnoh finer appfarjuice. and command a
much Dotter prioe Mian is received 1
hundreds of quarts marketed in trays
for
closely packed in Irtige Orates. Jamts
Hunter, jr., fatrfav count, la., in
New York Tribune.
' Steal af a Freaperen Farmer.
When you see a barn larger than his
houses, it shows that he will have large
profits and small affections. When you
see him driving his work instead ot his
work driving him, it shows that he will
never be driven from resolutions, and
that he will certainly work his way to
prosperity. When you always Bee in his
woodhonse a sufficiency for three months
or more, it shows that he will be more
than a ninety days' wonder ia farming
operations, and that he is not sleeping
in his house after a drunken frolic
When his sled is housed in summer and
his farming implements covered both
winter and summer, it plainly shows
that he will have a good house over his
head in the summer of his early life and
the winter of old age. When his cattle
are shielded and fed in winter, it evinces
that he is acting according to soripture,
which says that '.' a meroiful man is mer
ciful to his beast." When he is seen
subscribing for a paper and paying in
advanco, it shows that ho will never get
his walking' papers to the land of pov
erty. Minnesota Farmer.
Roetlns of CnttlnB.
A writer in ltc' Monthly says :
" The rooting of slips I have found a
very easy matter in a double pot. I
take an eight-inch . pot, cork up the
bottom hole, and put it into enough
clean sand to raise the top of a four
inch pot to the height of the eight-inch
pot when placed thereon, I then place
the four-inch pot in the center without
corking, fill around it with sand, place
in a warm, sunny position, and fill with
water by pouring into the small pot.
Slips placed in the sand near the outer
pot will root rapidly if kept warm and
plenty of water is kept in the pot. In
summer I place the pots oh a fence in
the hottest place I can find, and in win
ter in a south window of a warm room.
As soon as rooted, the slips must be
transferred to good soil. I have never
found any trouble in rooting anything
in this way.."
Scenes on the Levees at New Orleans.
Edward King writes as follows in the
Boston Journal :. If one were to judge
simply by tha appearance of the. levees
along the Mississippi river, as he enters
New Orlcam from Mobile, he would
think the twn enjoyed a full tide of
prosperity, i Dozens of long, dark-bodied
steamers from England, from Nor
way, from Bassia, and scores of ships
from eaoh of those countries are loading
with cotton. The tall white steamers
from the upper waters of the Missis
sippi and from the dozen great streams
tributary to it stand ranged in rows like
impatient steeds, foaming at their fiery
nostrils with anxiety to depart. An
army of whites and blacks scurries from
steamboat to cotton-press or broker's
offioe, from ship to shore, from dancing
boat to crowded wharf. The " roust
abouts" sing and shout in their peculiar
and almost incomprehensible dialect, as
they dexterously handle the "cotton
hooks." The lines of mules pass sober
ly, with the hot sun glistening on their
backs, which have long since become
impervious to any sensat'ons except
those produced by severest beatings.
JJraymen urge their mules to gallon
through sloughs of mud, and the wan
derer on the levees is quite sure to oome
way well spattered and covered with
little tufts of cotton. John Bull's rosy
face and shapely form is Been here, in
sharp contrast with tlie saturnine fea
tures of the planter from up river,
Everybody is talking oot'on, shouting
cotton, breathing cotton, for the dainty
white fibers float in the air. Morgan's
Louisiana and Texas railroad, a line as
yet incomplete, but running to boats
which ply on the gulf, has hundreds of
cars soattered on the levees. Here are
types which you never see save on the
Mississippi river, the active, devil-may-care,
laborious boatmen, who have
rough struggles all their lives, and
some of whom die violent deaths, but
who are thoroughly in love with their
amphibious e xistence, and could not be
persuaded to change it for anything
else. Men from far Arkansas head
waters, from the muddy bluffs of 'Mis
souri, from the fat lands of " Egypt,"
from the water-invaded plantations of
Mississippi and Tennessee, are huddled
together, disoussing the latest political
excitement, or the price of the starjle
in which they all trade. They are all of
one mind as to general politics, but
local matters allow of hundreds of
points of difference, none of which do
they fail to improve. Sometimes discus
sions become violent, but this is rarely
me case in new uneans, between gen
tlemen. I doubt if there is another
point on the globe whioh can furnish
so interesting, animated and peculiar a
spectacle as may be Been here on a
Saturday afternoon, when packet after
packet moves away majestically and
aocenda the enormons stream, leaving
behind her a vast trail of smoke, and
when the wharves are thronged with
agents, passengers and laliorers.
Reports from Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Michi
gan, Indiana, .Ohio, Kentucky and Mis
souri show that the yield of winter
wheat for the year will, it is thought,
be about 80,000.000 bushels, against
27,002,000 bushels last year,
TIMELY TOPICS.
A curious display of folly and stub
bornness on the part of a Russian noble
man is reported. This man owns 40,
600 acres of arable land, whioh he will
not oultivate nor lease to anybody else;
and be will not permit the extirpation
from his acres of the Siberian marmots
or of the beetles, whioh spread over the
country, destroying a large portion of
the crops every year, and for whose ex
tirpation many thousands of people are
elsewhere employed by the authorities.
Blondeau, the French aeronaut, Bent
his pupil, Ooutiur, up in a balloon hear
Naples, and on its descent in the sub
urbs the population immediately out it
in pieces and ran away with them.
Blondeau wroto to L'ltalia, a Naples
paper, that the balloon comprised 6,500
feet of fiilk and thread . and had cost
Ttwenty - eight workmen thirty-four days
orTvi labor, lie had traveled with, a balloon
for thirty-five years, and often among
Arabs and other barbarians, . but had
never experienced a similar act of bar
barism. The men - most noticeable in
the outrage were subsequently arrested.
Wurtemberg, in Germany, is often
visited by tenible hailstorms. In some
parts of the country whole districts
are exempted from the land tax? on
account of the damage caused byjthe
hail. And these hailstorms are ap
parently becoming more destructive. As
regards liability to being visited, it ap
pears that pine woods enjoy compara
tive immunity, while beach woods and
bare hillsides are particularly unfortun
ate. The parishes most frequently de
vastated lie on the outskirts of wooded
hills, but it does not appear that clear
ance of a wood has any deleterious influ
ence. The valleys of the Neckar and
some other rivers are the least troubled
by this annoyanoe.
" Serkys Tea," as it is called, is now
turning the heads of Philadelphia ladios.
Olive Harper describes it in a late let
ter. It is a decoction of various Orient
al herbs, has a slightly resinous and
aromatic taste, and is said to confer on
the ones who drink it faithfully almost
the bloord and beauty of eternal youth.
Miss Harper saw it often and drank it
in Turkey, and really believes it will
prolong the freshness of a woman's
complexion to an advantage. It seems
to aot on the skin, and to promote a
general health and vigor. Only one
firm sells it in Philadelphia, and their
rooms are thronged from morning till
night, by ladies seeking to renew their
youth. The story sonnds fishy.
Botel Tobago is an island in the South
seas which has boon visited by a party
of United States naval officers. They
were surveying a rock east of the South
cape of Formosa, and called at this is
land. They found a curious race of
Malay stook. These aboriginos did not
know what money was good for. Nor
had they ever used tobacoo or rum.
They gave the officers goats and pigs for
tin pots acd brass buttons, and hung
round the vessel all day in their canoes
waiting for a chance to dive for some
thing whioh might be thrown overboard.
They wore clouts only, ate toro and
yams, and had axes, spears and knives
made oi common iron. Their canoes
were made without nails, and were orna
mented with geometrical lines. They
wore the beards of goats and small shells
as ornament?. Such is the account of
these strange people given by Dr. Beig-
fried in a letter read at the last meet
ing of the Philadelphia academy of
natural sciences.
True Success,
" the men who speak
With the loudest tongues do least" .
It was a favorite remark of an old
sea captain whom Causeur knew, that he
learned in youth never to talk about
anything that he' had determined upon.
"Men waste their energy in talk." he
would ay, " and have none left for their
enterprises. But if they are wise
enough to keep still, and devote them
selves to doing, they will find that their
actions speak for themselves and that
talk is unnecessary." Good advice this,
but many find it bard to follow. Man
is a sooial animal, and there is a certain
pleasure in discussing one s plans with
a friend and enjoying their fruits In
anticipation. Some go through the
world in a odd-blooded, - calculating
way, seeking advantage at every turn,
and doubtless finding it, but are they,
after all, the best patterns to model
after 1 Is not a little human weakness
of this sort rather amiable, on the
whole ? It certainly is true that he who
keeps his mouth shut and his ears open,
lays deep pians, and watches hia oppor
tunity as a oat watches to take the fatal
spring, stands a better chance of what
the world calls success than the more
confiding kind. But what is success?
Is it simply to lay up store of this
world's goods? The many so view it,
but those who have looked deeper feel
that he is most truly successful who has
borne his share of life's burdens and
troubles, who has opened his heart to
bis fellow-men, whose thoughts have
not been of self alone, and the work
ings of whose mind have not been wholly
concealed. Of course prudence is to be
observed, and care must be taken in the
choioe of confidants, - And moreover
" still keep something to yoursel'
You scaroelj toll to ony." , ,
But don't seal up the windows of vour
soul too tightly. It needs an occasional
airing. Vauteur tn Boston Tran
toript. Home Sentinel Brevities.
-The dollar is mightier than Mia
sword.
"Now I'll try to -brace up," as the
man said when he bought a pair of sus
penders. "That takes the cake," as the om
poiitor said when he removed the piece
of fat poetry from the hook.
The "Faille BridaWToilot" is illus
trated aud desoribed iu a fashion joun a).
To purchase such an outfit is enough to
maka the average father fail. ,
After you have related a ricb joke
to a friend, and yon expect to hear him
hurst out into uproarious laughter, noth
ing is more ca'.oula'ed to convince yon
cf the correctness of the Darwinian
theory than to have bim stare and
blandly inquire: "What's the pointf"
ITEMS Of iSIEREST.
. A biting wind A gnaw caster.
The plow is said to be tho oldest land
mark. The man who was in high feather "
has got down.
They say that fat is not condaolvo to
long life in a pig.
A good motto for a young man just '
starting a mustache Down in front.
A German theorist thinks oooking de
stroys the nutritive properties of food.
The average yield of wheat per acre
in Belgium Is nearly twenty-eight
bushels.
Balloonist John Wise writes that tho
north pole can never bo reached save in
an air ship.
Eighteen hundred girls under twenty
years of age were married in New York
city last year.
The leaves of the coffee-plant wilt
make nearly as good coffeo as will the'
berries. The flavor is more delicate.
There is only one thing that is moro
wearing or distressing to man than hav
ing to wait for a train; and that is when
the train hasn't waited for him. -
In 1695, in the township of Etslham,
Mass., a regulation was made that every
unmarried man should kill six black
birds aud threo crows a year as long as
he remained single. If he rtrglected
this order, he was not allowed to do so
till he had shot his full number of bird?.
A person who was recently called info
court for the purpose of proving the
coirectne8s of a surgeon's bill, wus ask
ed whether " the doctor did not make
several visits after the potient was out
of danger?" "No," replied the wit
ness; "I considered the patient in
danger as long as tho doctor continued
his visits."
In the spring a million sunbeams steal fro
out the eastern sky,
In the spring we hear the bnzzicg of the fes
tive April fly;
In the spring the village damsel decks licrpolf
with violets blue,
In the spring the landlord hastens to collect
the rent that's due;
In -the spring the sparrow's chirping flotda
serosa the meadow laud,
In tho spring the lovesick couple at tho fi-out
. gate take their stand;
In the spring the young man's ulster on the
poroh is hung to dry,
In tho spring tho lazy bullook on the hilltop
atops to sigh;
In the spring tho gentle cockroaoh dances
'round the kitchen floor,
In tho spring the little children jump upon
your cellar door; -In
the spring the gay mosquito from New Jer-
roy seems to float,
In the spring the littlo urohin goes ont tailing
in a bout
Aud nover comes b&cV.
AVtn Yotk E.rpres.
Words of Wisdom.
Circumstances cannot control genius;
it will wrestle with thorn; its power will
bend and break them to its paih.
Let every one sweep the drift from
his own door and not busy hiniHolf
about the frost on his neighbor's tiles.
Friendly letters should bo written
because the words spring spontaneously
from the heart, and not from a senso of
duty.
One moment of . true love and happi
ness among years of sorrow is wotth
more than a lifetime of quiet, even
monotony.
They who prepare the soil of tLe
world for the seed are but littlo known;
for unto those who sowed is ascribed the
golden harvest.
Looking up so high, worshiping so
silently, we tramp out the hearts cf
flowers that lift their-bright heads for
us and die alone.
The man or woman whom excessive
caution holds back from striking the
anvil with earnest endeavor, is poor and
cowardly of purpose.
When you have nothing to sny, say
nothing. A weak defense strengthens
your opponent, and silence is lers in
jurious than a bad reply.
. A Farmer's Square Heal,
Years ago there lived some miles from
Philadelphia a farmer named Jerry Fos
ter, noted for eating mnoh and spending
little. One day he took a wagonload of
butter, eggs, potatoes and ready-dressed
pigs to the city; and before he had been
in the market disposed of all his stock
save one pig. Driving round to a tavern,
the landlord of which was wont to supply
market folks with a dinner for twenty
five cents, he Bold his roaster to Mr.
Randolph for seventy-five cents, and de
parted to while away the time until din
ner hour. Jerry was punctual to the
minute, and found no one ready for the
meal but himself, the landlord and his
wife. Just as they were sitting down,
Mr. and Mrs. Randolph were called
away, the former- tolling Jerry not to
wait for them, but go ahead. Before
him, nicely crisped and brown was his
own roaster, with plenty of potatoes,
cranberries, turnips, bread and butter ;
and the farmer went ahead to such good
purpose that when the host and hostess '
returned to the room they found Jerry
leaning back in his chair picking his .
teeth, oomplaoently regarding all that
remained of the porker its bones, He
never dined there again.
Authors' Ages,
Chailes Reade is 61 years old; Juoob '
Abbot, 73; Edmund About, 60; Wi'liura
X. Adams (Oliver Optic), 6; A. B. Al
cott, 79; T. B. Aldrioh, 42; Berthol.l
Auerbaoh, 69; George Bancroft, 78;
Robert Browning, 66; Oarlylo, 83; 8.
L. Clemens (Mark Twain), 13; G. W.
Ourtia, 61; Darwin, C9; Disraeli, 73;
Hepworth Dixoo. 67; Emerson, 75; J.
A. Fronde, (50: W. E. Gladstjue, 69;
Bret Harte, 39; J. G. Hollanl, 69;
Dr. Holmes, 09; Julia Ward Howe, 69;
Thomas Hughes, 65; T. II. noxley,;3;
George E'.iot, 68: Longfellow, 71; Ben- ..,
Bon J. Loasing., 65; Donald G Mitobell, ..
66; Max Muller, 65; James Parttn, 56? '
Mayne Reid, 60; Rsnati, 65; Riskin,
59; John. G. Saxe, 62; Mra. Btowe, 61;
Tennyson, 69; Anthony Trollrpe, 63;
Whittier, 71; Wilkie Collins. 63; Swin
burne, 41; William Blaok, 87; M. F.
Tupper, 69; W. D. Howells, 41,
r