V iilili 0 v A -f ' . HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL, DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. IX. RIDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1879. NO. 18. The Subscriber. It was the old subscriber, His eyes were old and dim, Bat " he wan't tnlcin' no paper That was pokin' chaff at him." For he picked his paper up one dny And it went to his heart like a rocket; "Whom the gods lore, die young, it snid, But they whose hearts are dry," he read, " As summer's dust, burn to the socket." Then he looked through the paper with wrath and doubt, And bis heart with anger burned ; For he found a t had been lolt out And he found an o that was " turned." And he lifted his roice with a mighty shout As the sheet with his feet he spurned. He stopped his paper; he would not read Such a blundering, villainous sheet; Uf the news it contained he had no need, He could hear the news on the street. Only ten days later, ho sold his corn. But he pounded his heud full of dents, When he learned, alter selling for twelve and a-hall, - It was quoted at forty-two cents. And his farm was sold for taxes, because He didn't know when they were due, And ho bet on a race three days after date, And he bet on the wrong horse, too. He was fined nine dollars and seventy cents For going out shooting on Sunday, For he did't know, with no paper to read, Whether t'wos Sunday or Monday. He came to town to the Fourth of July, But it had been gone for a week, And he felt so mad, that he wanted to cry, For he didn't know how to speak. He thought that Grant was President yet, And he never had heard of Hayes; It was worry, and blunder, and trouble, and fret, All ol his weary days. So ho came to town, one summer morn, And " signed" lor his puper again, And went b;u:k home to his wheat and corn, The happiest man among men. Burlington JIawktye THE TWO MR. SMITHS. ' It is not either her money or her position that dashes me, Carrol ; it is my own iimuic. Think of asking Eleanor Bethune to become Airs. Williiun Smith! If it had been Alexander Smith " Or Hyacinth Smith." ' Yes, Hyacinth Smith would have done; but plain William Smith!" " Well, as far as I can see, you are not to blame. Apologize to the lady for the blunder of your godfathers and god mothers. .Stupid old parties! (They ought to have thought-of Hyacinth;" and Carrol threw his cigar into the fire and began to buckle on his spurs. " Come with me, Carrol. "No, thank you. It is against my principles to like any one better than myself, and Alice Fontaine is a tempta tion to do so." " I don't like Alice's style at all." "Of course not. Alice's beauty, as compared with Mrs. licthune's settled income, is skin-deep." If sarcasm was intended. Smith did not perceive it. He took the criticism at its face value, and answered, " Yes, Eleanor's income is satisfactory ; and be sides that, she has all kinds of good qualities, and several accomplishments. If I only could offer her, with myself, a suitable name for them." " Could you not, in taking Mrs. Be thune and Iter money, take her name also ?" " N-n-no. A man does not like to lose all his individuality in hiswife's.Carrol." " Well, then, I have no other sugges tion, and I am going to ride." So Carrol went to the park and Smith went to his mirror. The occupation gave him the courage he wanted. He was undoubtedly a very handsome man, and ho had, also, very fine manners ; in deed, he would have been a very great man if the world had only been a drawing-room, for, polished and fastidious, he dreaded nothing so much as an inde corum, and had the air of being uncom fortable unless his hands were in kid gloves. Smith had a standing invitation to Mrs. Bethune's five-o'clock teas, and he was always considered an acquisition, lie was also very fond of going to them ; for under no circumstances was Mrs. Bethune so charming. To see her in this hour of perfect relaxation was to understand how great and beautiful is the art of idleness. Her ease and grace, her charming aimlessness, her indescrib able air of inaction, were all so many proofs of her having been born in the purple of wealth and fashion ; no par venu could ever hope to imitate them. Alice Fontaine never tried. She had been takeD from a life of polite shifts and struggles by her cousin, Mrs. Bethune, two years before ; and the circumstances that were to the one the mere accidents of her position were to the other a real holiday-making. Alice met Mr. Smith with empresse ment, fluttered about the tea-tray, like a butterfly, wasted her bonmots and the sugar recklessly, and was as full of pret ty animation as her cousin Bethune was of elegant repose. During the afternoon Eleanor's hand had rested a moment very tenderly in his; he had seen her white cheek flush and her eyelids droop, and he felt almost sure that he was be loved. And as he had determined that night to test his fortune, he was not in clined to let himself be disappointed. Consequently he decided on writing to her, for lie was rather proud of his let ters; and indeed it must be confessed that he had an elegant and eloquent way of putting any case in which he was personally interested. Eleanor Bethune thought so. She re ceived his proposal on her return from very stupid party, and as soon as she saw his .writing she began to consider how much more delightful the evening would have been if Mr Smith had been present. Ilis glowing eulogies on her beauty, and his passionate descriptions of his own affection, his hopes, and his despairs, chimed in with her mood ex actly. Already his fine person and manners had made a great impression on her; she had been very near loving him; nothing, indeed, had heen needed but that touch of electricity conveyed in the knowledge that she was beloved. Such proposals seldom or never take women unawares. Eleanor had been expecting it, and had already decided on her answer. So, after a short, hap py reflection, she opened her desk and wrote Mr. Smith a few lines which she believed - would make him supremely happy. Then she went to Alice's room, and woke her up out of her first sleep. " Oil, you lazy girl: why did you not crimp your hairP Get up again, Alice dear; I nave a secret to tell you. I am going to marry Mr. Smith." "I knew some catastrophe was im pending, Eleanor; I have felt it all day. Poor Eleanor!" "Now, Alice, be reasonable. What do you think of him honestly, you know !" "The man lias excellent qualities; for instance, a perfect taste in cravats, and an irreproachable propriety. Nobody ever saw him in any position out of the proper center of gravity. Now there is Carrol, always sitting round on tables or easels, or if on a chair, on the back or arms, or any way but as other Christians sit. Then Mr. Smith is handsome; very much so." " Oh! you do admit that?" "Yes; but I don't myself like men of the hairdresser style of beauty." " Alice, what makes you dislike him so much P" " Indeed, I don't, Eleanor. I think he is very 'nice1 and very respectable. Every one will say, 'What a suitable match!' and I darn say you will be very happy. He will ilo everything you tell him to do, Eleanor; and oh, dear me! how I should hate a husband of that kind!" " You little hypocrite ! with your talk of weman's 'rights' and woman' 'su premacy.1 " t "No, Eleanor love, don't call it hypoc risy, please; say many-sidedness it is a more womanly definition. But if it is really to be so, then I wish you joy, cou sin. And what are you going to wearP" This subject proved sufficiently attrac tive to keep Alice' awake a couple of hours. She even crimped her hair in honor of the bridal shopping; and before matters had been satisfactorily arranged she was so full of anticipated pleasures that she felt really grateful to the author of them, and permitted herself to speak with enthusiasm of the bridegroom. " He'll be a sight to see, Eleanor, on his marriaee day. There won't be a handsomer man or better-dressed man in America, and his clothes will all come from Paris, I dare say." " I think we will go to Paris first." Then Eleanor went into a graphic de scription of the glories and pleasures of Paris, as she had experienced them dur ing her first bridal tour. " It is the most fascinating city in the world, Alice." "I dare say, but it is a ridiculous shame having it in sucli an out-of-the-way place. What is the use of having a Paris, when one lias to sail three thou sand miles to get at it? Eleanor, I feel that I shall have to go." " So you shall, dear; I won't go with out you." "Oh, no, darling; not with Mr. Smith. I really could not. I shall have to try and manage matters with Mr. Carrol. We shall quarrel all the way across, of course, but then " " Why don't you adopt his opinions, Alice?" " I intend to for a little while; but it is impossible to go on with the same set of opinions forever. Just think how dull conversation would become!" " Well, dear, you may go to sleep now, for mind, I shall want you down to breakfast before eleven. I have given 'somebody1 permission to call at five o'clock to-morrow or rather to-day and we shall have a iele-a-tcte tea." Alice determined that it should be strictly tete-a-tete,. She went to spend the afternoon with Carrol's sisters, and staved until she thought the lovers had had ample time to make their vows and arrange their wedding. There was a little pout on her lips as she left CaiTol outside the door, and slowly bent her steps to Eleanor's pi ivate parlor. She was trying to make up her mind to be civil to her cousin's new husband elect, and the temptation to be anything else was very strong. " I shall be dreadfully in the way his way, I mean and he will want to send me out of the room, and I shall not go no, not if I fall asleep on a chair looking at him." With tills decision, the most amiable she could reach, Alice entered the parlor. Eleanor was alone, and there was a pale, angry look on her face Alice could not understand. ' Shut the door, dear." " " Alone?" " I have been so all evening." "Have you quarreled with Mr. Smith?" " Mr. Smith did not call." "Not come?" " Nor sent any apology." The two women sat looking into each other's faces a few moments, both white and silent. " What will you do, EleanorP" " Nothing." " But he may be sick, or he may not have got your letter. Such queer mis takes do happen." " Parker took it to his hotel: the clerk said he was st'll in his room ; it was sent to him in Parkers sight and hearing. There is not any doubt but that he re ceived it." " Well, suppose lie did not. Still, if he really cares for you, he is hardly likely to take your supposed silence for an abso lute refusal. I have said No ' to Carrol a dozen times, and he won't stav 'noed.1 Mr. Smith will be sure to ask for a per sonal interview." Eleanor answered drearily : " I sup pose he will pay me that respect ;" but through this little effort at assertion it was easy to detect the white feather of .iiistrust. She half suspected the touchy self-esteem of Mr. Smith. If she had merely been guilty of a breach of good manners toward him, she knew that he would deeply resent it; bow, then, when shehad however innocently given him the keenest personal spite. Still she wished to accept Alice's cheer ful view of the affair, and what is heart ily wished is half accomplished. Ere she fell asleep she had quite decided that her lover would call the following day, and her thoughts were busy with the pleasant amends she would mate him tor any anxiety he might have suffered. But Mr. Smith did not call the follow ing day, nor on many following ones, and a casual lady visitor destroyed Elea nor's last hope that he would ever call again, for, after a little desultory gossip, she said: "You will miss Mr. Smith very much at your receptions.and brother Sain says he is to be away two years." " So long?" asked Eleanor, with per fect calmness. " I believe so. I thought the move very sudden, but Sam says he has been talking about the trip for six months." " Really I Alice, dear, won't you bring that piece of Bui slam pottery for Mrs. HollistolookatP" So the wonderful cup and saucer were brought, and they raused a diversion so complete that Mr. Smith and his eccen tric move were not named again during the visit. Nor, indeed, much after it. " What is the use of discussing a hope lessly disagreeable subject P" said Eleanor to Alice's first offer of sympathy. To tell the truth, the mere mention of the subject made her cross, for young women of the finest fortunes do not necessarily possess the finest tempers. Carrol's next visit was looked for with a good deal of interest. Naturally it was thought that he would know all about his friend's singular conduct. But he professed to be as mucli puzzled as Alice. " He supposed it was something about Mrs. Bethune; he had always told Smith not to take a pretty, rich woman like Iter into his calculations. For his part, if he had been desirous of marrying an heiress, and felt that lie hud a gift- that way, he should have looked out a rich German girl : they had less nonsense about them, etc That was how the affair ended as far as Eleanor was concerned. Of course she suffered, but she wan not of that generation of women who parade their suffering. Beautiful and self-respecting, she was, above all, endowed with physi cal self-control. Even Alice was spared the hysterical sobbings and faintings and other signs of pathological distress com mon to weak women. Perhaps she was more silent and more irritable than usual, but Eleanor Be thune's heartache for love never led her to the smallest social impropriety. What ever she suffered, she did not refuse the proper mixture of colors in her hat, or neglect her tithe of the mint, anise and cummin due to her position. Eleanor's reticence, however, had this good effect it compelled Alice to talk Smith's singular behavior over with Carrol; nnd somehow, in discussing Smith, they got to understand each other; so that, after all, it was Alice's and not Eleanor's bridal shopping that was to do. And there is something very assuaging to grief in this occupation. Before it was completed, Eleanor had quite recovered her placid, sunshiny temper. "Consolation, thy name is satin and lace!" said Alice, thankfully, to herself, as she saw Eleanor so tired and happy about the wedding finery. At first Alice had been quite sure that she would go to Paris, and nowhere else ; but Eleanor noticed that in less than a week Carrol's influence was paramount. " We have got a better idea, Eleanor quite a novel one," she said, one morn ing. "We are going to make our bridal trip in Carrol's yacht!" "Whose ideals that?" "Carrol's, and mine too, of course. Carrol says it is the jolliest life! You leave all your cares and your bills on shore behind you. You issue your own sailing orders, and sail away into space with an easy conscience." " But I thought you were bent on a European trip P" ' "The yacht will be ever so much nicer. Think of the nuisance of tieket oflices, and waiting-rooms, and second class hotels, and troublesome letters waiting for you at your banker's, and disagreeable paragraphs in the news papers. I think Carrol's idea is splendid." So the marriage took place at the end of the season, nnd Alice and Carrol sailed happily awav into the unknown. Eleanor was at a loss what to do with herself. She wanted to go to Europe; but Mr. Smith hud gone there, and she felt sure that some unlucky accident would throw them together. It was not her nature to court embarrassments ; so Europe was out of the question. While she was hesitating she called one day on Celeste Heid a beautiful girl who had been a great belle, but was now a confirmed invalid. " I am going to try the airof Colorado, Mrs. Bethune," she said. "Papa has heard wonderful storiei. about it. Come with our party. We shall have a special car, and the trip will at least have the charm of novelty." "And I love the mountains, Celeste. I will join you with pleasure. I was dreading the old routine in the old places; but this will be delightful." Thus it happened that one evening in the following August Mrs. Bethune found herself slowly strolling down the principal street in Denver. It was a splendid sunset, and in its glory the Rocky mountains rose like Titanic palaces built of amethyst, gold and silver. Suddenly the look of intense pleasure on her face was changed for one of wonder nnd annoyance. It had become her duty in a moment to do a very disagreeable thing; but duty was a kind of religion to Eleanor Bethune; she never thought of shirking it. So she immediately inquired her way to tho telegraph office, and even quick ened her steps into as fast a walk as she ever permitted herself. The message she had to send was a peculiar and not a pleasant one. At first she thought it would hardly be possible for her to framo it in such words as she would care to dictate to strangers; but she finally settled onthe following form : " Messrs. Locke & Lord: "Tell brother Edward that Bloom is in Denver. No delay. The matter is of the greatest importance." When she had directed tho message, tho clerk said, "Two dollars, madam." But greatly to Eleanor's annoyance, her purse was not in her pocket, and she could not remember whether she had 1ut it there or not. The man stood ooking at her in an expectant way; she felt that any delay about the message might be fatal to its worth; perplexity ruled her absolutely. She was about to explain her dilemma, and return to her hotel for money, when a gentleman, who had heard and watched the whole pro ceeding, said: " Madam, I perceive that time is of great importance to you, and that you have lost your purse; allow me to pay for your message. You can return the money if you wish. My name is Wil liam Smith. I am staying at the American.1 " "Thank you, sir. The message is of the gravest importance to my brother. I gratefully accept your offer." Further knowledge proved Mr. William Smith to be a New York capitalist who was slightly known to three of the gentlemen in Eleanor's party; so that the acquaintance began so informally was very speedily afterward inaugurated with all the forms and ceremonies good .,.!.. ,,fQ ninilfl a. stranger money or the hour a thing to be grate fully accepted. She had seen in the door of the postoffice a runaway cashier society demaniis. it was soon possimu, too. for Eleanor to explain the circum ineea which, even in her code of strict s oner of of her brother, and his speedy arrest in volved a matter of at least forty thou sand dollars. This Mr. William Smith was a totally different man to Eleanor's last lover a bright,, energetic, alert business man, decidedly handsome and gentlemanly. Though Iiis name was greatly against him in Eleanor's prejudices, she found herself quite unable to resist the cheery, pleasant influence he' carried with him. And it was evident from the very first day of their acquaintance that Mr. William Smith had but one thought the winning of Eleanor Bethune. When she returned to New York in the autumn she ventured to cast up her accounts with life, and she was rather amazed at the result. For she was quite aware that she was in love witli this William Smith in a way that she had never been with the other. The first had been a sentimental ideal ; the second was a genuine case of sincere and pas sionate affection. She felt that the desertion of this lover would bo a grief far beyond the power of satin and lace to cure. But her new lover had never a dis loyal thought to iiis mistress, and his love, transplanted to the pleasant places of New York life, seemed to find its native air. It enveloped Eleanor now like a glad and heavenly atmosphere; she was so happy that she dreaded any change; it seemed to her that no change could make her happier. But if good is good, still better carries the day, and Mr. Smith thought mar riage would be a great deal better than love-making. Eleanor and he were sit ting in the fire-lit parlor, very still and very happy, when he whispered this opinion to her. "It is only four months since we met. dear. Only four months, darling; but I had been dreaming about you for four months before that. Let me hold your hands.sweet.while I tell you. On the 20th of last April I was on the point of leaving lor Colorado to look after the Silver Cliff mine. My carriage was ordered, and I was waiting at the hotel for it. A servant brought me a letter the dearest, sweetest little letter see, here it is!" and this William Smith absolutely laid before Eleanor her own pretty, loving reply to the first William Smith's offer. Eleanor looked queerly at it. and smiled. "What did you think, dear?" "That it was just the pleasantest thing that had ever happened to me. It was directed to Mr. W. Smith, and had been given into my hands. I was not going to seek up any other W. Smith." " But you must have been sure that it was not intended for you, and you did not know ' Eleanor Bethune.1 " "Oh, I beg your pardon, sweetheart; it was intended for me. I can imagine destiny standing sarcastically by your side, and watching you send the letter to one W. Smith when she intended it for another W. Smith. Eleanor Be thune I meant to know just ns soon ns possible. I was coming back to New York to look for you." " And, instead, she went to you in Colorado." "Only think of that! Why, love, when that blessed telegraph clerk said : Who si'nds this message?1 and you said, 'Mrs. Eleanor Bethune,1 1 wanted to fly my hat to the sky. I did not lose my head as bad'y when they found that new lead in the Silver Cliff." "Won't you give me that letter, and let me destroy it, William? It was written to the wrong Smith and deliv ered to the wrong Smith." "It was written to the wrong Smith, hut it was given to the right Smith. Still, Eleanor, If you will say one little word to me, you may do what you like with the letter." Then Eleanor whispered the word.and the blaze of the burning letter made a little illumination in honor of their be trothal kiss. Harper's Weekly. Pain and the Weather. It is a familiar experience that certain bodilv pains vary in their phases accord ing to the weather, but probably few have made exact scientific observations of this to any considerable extent. A series of such observations, made with much ability and perseverance, lias lately been reported to the American Academy of Science by Prof. Mitchell. They are by Capt. Catlin, of the United States Array, who lost a leg during the war, and since that time has suffered a good deal from traumatic neuralgia. He carefully noted, during five years, the effects produced on him by changes of the weather. For the first quarters of these five years there were 2,471 hours of pain; for the second quarters, 2,102 hours; for the third quarters, 2,050 hours; and for the last quarters, 2,221 hours. The best " yield of pain 11 is in J anuary, February and March, and the poorest in the third quarter July, Au gust and September. During these five years, while the sun was south of the equator, there were 4,692 hours of pain, against 4,158 hours while it was north of the equator. The average duration of the attacks for the first quarters was twenty-two hours, and for the third quarters only 17.9 hours. Now, taking the four years ending January 1, 1879, it is found that of the 537 storms chartered by the Signal Bureau, 298 belong to the two winter quarters, against 239 for the summer quarters. The average distance of the storm-center at tlie beginning of the neuralgic attacks was 680. miles. Storms from the Pacific coast are felt furthest off very soon after, or as they are crossing the Kockyrmountains, while storms along the Atlantic coast are as sociated with milder forms of neuralgia, which are not felt till the storm-center is nearer. Rain is not essential in the pro duction of neuralgia. The severest neu ralgic attacks of the year were those ac companying the first snows of Novem ber and December. One other interest ing observation is as follows: Every storm sweeping across the continent con sist of a vast rain area, at the center of which is a moving space of greatest barometric depression. The ram usu ally precedes this storm center by 550 to 600 miles, but before nnd around the rain lies a belt, which may be called the neuralgic margin of the storm, and which precedes the rain by 150 miles. The fact is very deceptive, because the sufferer may be or the far edge of a storm basin of barometric pressure, and seeing nothing of the rain, yet have pain due to the storm. The large collection stored in the vaults of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington, are in a fair way to be 'eome exposed to public view one of these days, work having begun on the National Museum, for winch Congress appropri ated $250,000. The building is to cover two and a half acres, and will be finished next spring. TIMELY TOPICS. A telephone has been placed in the Congregational church, at Mansfield, O., the wires leading to the houses of several aged and invalid persons. It sur mounts a floral decoration on the table in front of the open platform, where it is hardly seen. The speaker pays no at tention whatever to it, yet every word uttered in the auditorium is easily heard in the rooms of the dwellings which the wires reach. The first message from the minister was from Scripture : " The word is nigh unto thee;" "His word runneth very swiftly." When the Zulus rushed in on the small British detachment of Col. Wood, and while there was yet an open road in one direction, Col. Weatherly, an Eng lish cavalry officer, clapped his son, a boy of thirteen who was witli hini, on horseback kissed him, and told him to fly for life. The lad jumped from the saddle, striking the horse a lash which sent it galloping off, and said : " Father, I'll die with you." The father handed his revolver to the child just as the Zulus reached, over Britisli bodies, the spot where they stood. Weatherly slew nve Zulus before tie felt, but the son was killed at once. Apropos to the inter-oceanic canal across the isthmus of Darien, a corres pondent in Buffalo writes to the New York Graphic, suggesting the construc tion of an enormous railway across the isthmus, constructed and equipped to carry ships of any tonnage. He would have the track at each end of the route run down into water deep enough to siiDport a properly built dock, so that a vessel could sail into a basin surround ing this approach to the track, and then be docked and drawn across the isthmus on wheels. The writer does not profess any engineering skill, and modestly ad mits that there may be difficulties in the way of his scheme which he does not see. If so, otners will probably see them. He thinks such a road might be built for one-tenth of $200,000,000, the estimated cost of the proposed canal. The police statistics of large cities are often more impressive than a long and rhetorical sermon could be. Take those of Chicago, for example. The annual arrests number about 30,000, one-half for drunkenness, and of the total, 6,000 are women, Without going into elabo rate comparisons of figures, it may be af firmed that Chicago is not greatly worse than other large cities ; it may not bo as bad as some others. At the nest we ob tain a glimpse of an incalculable amount of crime and misery ; and when we remember that the influ ence of evil examples spreads like a con tagious disease, the subject is seen to he one of terrible moment. Mere preach ing to those whose surroundings alone render virtue almost impossible on the one hand, and mere attention to physical wants on tho other, will not meet the exigencies of the case. Nothing will effect an immediate or general cure, but there should be a union of all the methods which common sense and un common charity, can devise. Strange mischances with fatal results are daily happening here and there. A Boston butcher ran against a knife that lay on a block, severed an artery, and bled to death. A Denver woman caught her foot in a railroad frog, and could not get loose before a train ran over h r. A Vermont farmer sneezed with a straw in liis mouth, drew it into his lung, and died choking. A horse kicked a Michi gan boy into a deep well, where lie was drowned. The shoe flew oft' the foot of a kicking mule, in Nashville, and frac tured t'.ie skull of a baby. An Oregon girl swallowed her engagement ring, and lived only a week afterward. While standing on his head, on the top of a high fence post, an Iowa boy lost his balance, fell into a tub of hot water, and was fatally scalded. A stone, thrown by a playfellow, broke a glass from which a St. Louis boy was drinking, driving some of the pieces down his throat, and lie died a few days afterward in great agony. Looking up to watch the flight of an arrow, a Nashville wo man did not see it descending directly over her head, and the sharp metal point penetrated her brain through one of her eyes, killing her instantly. Horses' Comfort. The health and comfort of horses have of late years been improved bv the bet ter construction of stables. They are made more roomy and lofty, and pro vided witli means of thorough ventila tion. In many new stables lofts are done away with, or the floor of the lolt is kept well above the horses' heads, and ample shafts are introduced through the lofts to convey away foul air. By perforated bricks and gratings under the manger, and elsewhere round the walls, and also by windows and venti lators, abundance of pure air is secured for the horses; while being introduced in moderate amount, and from various directions, it comes in without draught. Too much air is almost an unknown stable luxury. To secure a constant supply of pure air, horses require more cubic space than they generally enjoy. Even when animals are stabled only at night, a minimum of 1,200 cubic feet should be allowed. In England, the newer cavalry barracks give a minimum of 1,500 cubic feet, with a ground area of fully ninety square feet per horse; and the best bunting and carriage Horse sta bles have more room. Journal of Chem istry. A Brave Little Girl. Mr. II. F. Gaulding has a little daugh ter eleven years old to whose nerve and courage ho is indebted for the life of his three-year-old boy. The boy was play ing by the cistern in Mr. Gaulding's yard. There was a plank off, and through this aperture the little fellow fell. He caught a plank, however, in falling, and held for some time before he was dis covered. But his hold weakened, and with a splash he fell into the cistern. His sister saw and appreciated the situ ation. Most girls would have screamed and run off in quest of help. Not so with this little girl. The screams and struggles for life of her baby brother gave her the strength and courage of a man. She saw a ladder, and, with all her might, she dragged it to and placed it into the cistern, and then went down into the water, readied out and caught her brother just in time to save him from a watery grave. By this time help ar rived and Doth were landed safely from their perilous position. All honor to this little heroine! Bainbridgc (,0a.) Democrat. THE NIHILISTS. An Account Which Hhows the Terrible ' State of Affitlrs. , , . Scene At St. Petersburg. Janitor I can't stand this any longer, sir; I don't mind doing the duties ordi narily expectsd of one in my position, but I cannot be on the watch all the twenty-four hours to see that the Nihil ists don't stick revolutionary posters on the front wall. I've gone eleven nights without sleep now. Proprietor But, my poor Ivan Ivan ovitcli, I did not make the law which all owners of houses are obliged to obey, providing for a fine of 500 roubles if a placard is posted up on the premises, and imprisonment if the offence is re peated. Here, drink this coffee; it will keep you awake. To-night I will go on watch and Jou can get a good sleep, i Janitor Thanks, my good master; your nobly considerate conduct lends me renewed strength. An hour later the janitor comes in to breakfast. Proprietor Great Todleben! where have you beenP Why, man, there is a revolutionary placard pasted on your back ! Janitor Is there P I suppose I must have closed my eyes for a minute or two. They, have a keen eye for business, those Nihil'sts. Let's tear it up. Proprietor No ; don't tear it tip, be cause some of the fragments might .bo found and we might be sent to Siberia Burn it up, coat and all I'll give you a new one. Now go back to your post, and, for the love of Heaven, do not doze a wink. The janitor returns. The proprietor watches him from the winnow, and, whenever he nods, shouts, " Now, then, Ivan Ivanovitch, keep awake!" In the course of the long, long, weary day the police arrive. Official We have come to search tho premises. Proprietor But, count, I belong to no association. I am merely a peaceful citizen who passes his days ana nights watching to see that his watchman doesn't fall asleep. Official I have General Gourko's orders to enter your house and see that you have no concealed arms. Proprietor All I have is an old shot gun without lock, stock or barrel. Official The Nihilists could easily furnish you those. Your shotgun is confiscated, nnd you may thank your lucky stars that you get off so easily. What's in that drawer? Proprietor Knives. Official Knives! I confiscate them. Proprietor But, prince, they are table-knives, and to-night I give a dinner-party ; my daughter is engaged to be married, and this is to celebrate her betrothal. Official You must eat with your fin gers, that's all. Proprietor But, grand duke, how are we to carve the fowls? Official Tear 'cm in pieces, or bite out Jchunks it'll all bo in the family. Where's your bedroom? Proprietor Here; your imperial ex cellency, and if you find any deadly weapons in it I want to be sent to Siberia. OffieiaJ I might send you there if it were worth the irouble.for here is a razor which in the practiced hands of a des perate man might be used to slay the whole imperial family. I will confiscate the razor. (The family dinner takes place, though under disadvantages, and the unhappy man forgets all the, trials and troubles of tho day. At the dessert, just as he is about to propose the health of the soon to be wedded pair, he receives a note couched in these terms): You are a traitor! You have to-day given up to the tyrants the arms in your possession. You have therefore been doomed to death by Yours respectfully. Tub Executive Committee. per Tomsk! Collinsovitch. Proprietor (tearing his hair) There! That's all that was lacking to make it complete. Read that! His Future Son-in-Law You were wrong, sir: th re is a good deal to be said on both sides. Proprietor Wrong! was I? Perhaps you are a Nihilist? (with bitter sarcasm.) His Future Son-in-Law I have the honor to be the chief of Section 217 and I don't care who knows it. His Daughter Yes, pa, and that is why I lo-ho-hove him. (Casts herself into her lover's arms.) Proprietor Merciful heavens! are you a Nihilist too, Paulovna? Ilis Daughter Yes, pa, and so are my sisters and my cousins and my aunts. All the guests--And . so are we all of us. Proprietor I will denounce you to the authorities call the police. His Future Son-iri-Law If you utter one word I will fire this train and blow up the house, which we had mined as a precaution, let the police should make a descent on us while we were at dinner. Proprietor And here I have been passing my days and nights keeping watch on my janitor. Omnes Your janitor! Ilo, ho! Look out iof the window and see what your janitor is doing. Proprietor May I be knouted and sent to Siberia if my janitor isn't cov ering the whole front of the house witli four-sheet revolutionary posters! (Faints.) A Sea Serpent as Thick as a Mast. Captain D:ivison, master of the Mitsu Bishi steamship Kiushiu Maru. gives the following relation of what passed before his eves on his voyage from Riu Kiu to Kobe. The statement is duly signed by himself and countersigned by Mr. John MeKechnie, the chief officer, and its authenticity appears to be beyond question : At 11.15 a. M., Cape Satano, distant about nine miles, the chief officer and myself observed a whale jump clear outfof the sea, about a quarter of a mile away. Shortly after it leaped out again, when I saw there was something at tached to it. Got glasses, and on the next leap distinctly saw something hold ing on to the belly of the whale. Tho latter gave one more spring clear of the water, and myself and the chief officer then observed, what appeared to be a large creature of the snake species rear itself about thirty feet out of the water. It appeared to be about the thickness of a junk's mast, and after standing for about ten seconds in an erect position, it descended into the water, the upper end going first. With my glasses I made out the color of the beast to resemble that of a pilot fish. Tokio Japan) Times. ... A teaspoonful of coal oil to a gallon o? water will exterminate all the insects that infest beautiful and delicate plant and flowers. . The Emigrant. ' She clasped her hnndo on my arms, She laid her cheek on my shoulder; The tide of her tears fell warm . ' On hands that tremblod to hold her. . , I whispered a pitying word, . : ,i ; As the ship moved slowly apart, . . 'i And the grief of the f riondless poured Its choking weight on my heart. For graves in the evening shade w " : Were green on a far-off hill, - - Where the joys of her life were laid With love that had known no chill , But however her heart might yearn, ; We were facing the freshening breeze, And the white wake lengthened astern On the rolling floor of the seas. She quenched the fl ol her tears, Uplifting hor meek, brave head. " Or dark or bright be the years, I will take ooumge," she said. Smoothing back her loose-blowing hair, And her shawl drawing closor tho while, So she drank in the strong sea air, And left the old shore with a smilo. University Magazine. ITEMS OF INTEREST. Playing with dice is shaky business. Low rents Tears in tho sole of a shoe. The knobbiest part of a house is the door. London has eighteen daily news papers. A mad dog is a pronounced instance of cur-rage. Good Thunder is a town in Blue Ear h county, Minn. "Venezuela rjroducos 85.000 nounds of coffee annually. A bycyclist in England re 'ently fell dead while riding. A doubtful compliment Telling a clown that lie's no fool. Twenty-seven daughters cheer the family of a Cleveland (N. C.) man. Admission to the degree of a barrister is subject to a tax of .250 in England. The spur of tho moment may have something to do with the flight of time. Two families never, under any circum stances, occupy the same house in Arabia. Railways arc . aristocratic. They teach every man to know his own station and to stop there. At the national convention of brew ers, in St. Louis, a resolution wsis passed to establish a " Brewers' Academy " for ' the purpose of "educating" brewers' . sons and others in the " science " of beer brewing. Justus Schwab, a communist leader in New York, has recovered $50 dam ages against Police Sergeant Rooney for arresting him for keeping his saloon open part of Sunday night, about which the law is silent. A brace of hungry tramps, espying a sign on a restaurant reading, " Meals at all hours," entered and asked the loan of a breakfast. On being refused, they re luctantly took their departure, dryly re marking, " Those meals are not at all ours." Milley Williams, a miser of Enson Crossroads, N. C, was accustomed to invest her earnings in gold, one dollai at a time. Her dwelling was recently destroyed by fire, and lumps of melted gold, worth about 10,000, were taken lrom tho ruins. Smoke is not, as many persons imagine, lighter than air. It is, however, carried up by tho heated air, which, being lighter than the surrounding atmos phere, is pressed upward. Smoke as cends because it is intermixed with' vapors, gases and warm nir. It is known that the first aerial voyage was made by Pilatre do Rozier, in com pany with the Marquis d'Arlatides, in a Montgolfiero, or heated air balloon, on November 21, 1783. Pilatre was also the first victim of nerostation ; lie per ished along witli his companion Roman by the fall of a balloon nt Boulogne. Razor blades (with the exception of cast-iron ones) are forged from cast steel, the bare being tilted to one-half inch in breadth, and a thickness equal to the back of the razor. The blades are heated in a coke or charcoal fire, nnd dipped into the water obliquely. In tempering, they are laid on their backs upon a clear fire, about half-a-dozen together, and they are removed, one at a time, when the edges, which nre ns yet thick, come down to a pale straw color. Should tho backs accidentally become heated beyond a straw color, the blades are cooled in water, but not otherwise. Kiches take wings And so do flies, The cheeky things lluzz in our eyes, Fill tip our ear, And nip unit tuck Without a fear, And the best of luck. Won't some human try And get through a bill To choke off a fly When he's got his All ? ,"rw York Peopit. Can Cuts Reason Baron Von Gleichen, a German diplo matist, used to tell a story of a favorite cat as a proof that tho feline race can think and draw practical conclusions. The cat was very fond of looking in mir rors hung acainst the walls, and would gnaw at the frames, ns if longing to know what was inside. SlteJiau, how ever, never seen the back side of a mir ror. One day the baron placed acheval glass in the middle of tho room, and the cat instantly took in the novelty of tho situation, Placing herself in front, and seeing a second cat, she began to run round tho mirror in search of her companion. After running round one way -several times, she began to run the other, until, fully satisfied that there was no cat be side herself outside of the glass. But ' where was the second cat? ' She sat dqwn in front of the glass to meditate on the problem. Evidently inside, as she had often before imagined. Suddenly a new thought occurred to her. Rising deliberately, she put her paws . on the glass in front and then behind, walked round to the other side, and measured the thickness in the same way. Then she sat down again to think. There might be. a cavity inside, but it was not large enough to hold a cat. She seemed to come to the deliberate con clusion that there was a mystery here, but no cat, and it wasn't worth while to bother about it. From that time the baron said she lost all curiosity about looking-glasses,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers