HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPEB ANDT3M. . Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. X. RIDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PAV, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1880. NO 2G.
. i " . i
i.
I
Augnst.
Gay trips along through morning dew
Bright August, clad in rosy hue;
And all the hills their voices raise
And myriad so;g3ttrs sing her praise.
Her reign is one ol quiet grace;
The sollOBt bl ashes wreathe her face;
Sweet soonts she pours out to the breoie
She gilds the fruit on bending trees;
Her wand she lilts o'er fields of grain,
And gladdens enrth with tides ol rain.
The sun may scorch, but still she showers
Refreshing duw on drooping flowers;
And hoards ol good cheer August flingoth
And bounteous blessings August bringeth.
So pleasantly ,sweot month, thou comest now ;
At thy approach the curled coin blades bow,
And, as thy perfumed bret-zos slowly pass,
New daisies smile nbovo the freshened grass;
Or when thy copious moisture Alls the land
The parched lips of earth with joy expand.
Now gather we the pumpkin yellow,
With luscions apples, ripe and mellow;
Sale lrom the rain the sheaves of grain
The bursting granaries lully fill;
While 'neath the hill the cider mill
Awaits the heavy-loaded wain.
In shadeicss paths the fevered, panting sun
Its stilly flight through lervid paths ascends,
Till sullen Siiius his rnce hath run,
And August's dicamy, dallying influence
blends
With lustier Septcmbor in the end;
Then gltuUlening breezes from the sighing we9t
At eventide shnil bring us longcd-lor rest. .
Lvtitr (i. Riygt.
GUY'S DISAPPEARANCE.
As little Miss Bertha Finch came
down the village street to the railroad
station in a high wind, with that dry
brown hat of htrs curling up acutely on
her head, and a glimpse disclosed of tlie
sweet pink face which she carried Lent
down agaimt the dust-clouds, you might
naturally have thoughtof arbutus b'os
sonis in their pale brown leaves. She
was so small and young, and flower
like and shv. As I remembered her she
seemed to be looking down half the
time, or else it was only that she was so
short as to make direot glance into her
face no easy matter; so that whtn she
looked into one's eyes she had to turn
her own upward
Yet she could be saucy, too. There
was a good deal ot independence about
thissiuuil slip of womanhood, in spite
of her shynes-t, hi r pathos, and her tiny
figure. " U'rtu.V her mother once re
marked, "is, as set as a cat if sbe
chooses to be; nni you can't tell why
sh! takes her whims, no more than yon
can why a cat does thus and so; but
when she's once got a n tion, she acts it
out..'1
And she hod taken a whim, this par
ticular dav, to go to town by the rail
road th t went poking around the coun
try in the m-ighborhood of Glyddon as
informally as a p low, running such mild
little trains up and down, that Bertha
felt as if all she had to do was to call
out " Gee-whoal" to the engine, and it
would obey her.
This whim of taking the cars was a
mild one, however, compared with her
freak of a few days before. Not to put
the reader in suspense. I will state that
she had refused a proposal of marriage
from Guy Atlee, a reasonably good and
promising young man, who had been to
the high school with her in earlier days,
and proposed now to graduate from the
position of a bashful lover to that of a
proud husband.
Guy had a position as clerk in the
postoittVe and chief store of Glyddon,
while Btnrtha's father was a not very
well-to-do larmer; so that the young
man had the argument ot worldly pros
pcrity on his side. But then he might
lose his position ; and somehow Mr.
Finch, though he lived in a rather
broken-down old house, was always
important in town attuirs. At any rate,
Bertha rejected the young man gayly,
yet with u sense of her superiority that
was quite serious.
"What is your reason? Don't you
love me?" asked he, in a business-like
way. They were standing at the time
on a little, unfrequented stone bridge,
with a blue and white sky reflected in
the water below, and bird singing
around them in the young green
boughs.
"If I did, do you suppose I'd tell you,"
reluriaed Bertha, with irrepressible
mirth.
" I suppose it's because you're proud,
then," Guy inferred, becoming gloomy.
" I think I nni proud of knowing my
own mind," she admitted, " which -ail
girls don't."
" I wish you'd tell me the real reason,"
the unfortunate lover resumed.
"Well, then," said Bertha, more
roguishly than ever, "you're too
young."
Guy kicked the bridge in his impa
tience. " I m a month older than you
are," he declared, peremptorily.
'I never should bo able to look up
to you," his companion assured him.
This was so absurd that Gay laughed
in spite ot his state of provocation. He
was nearly six feet tall, and she hardly
five, so that, taking the proposition in
its linear or perpendicular instead of its
spiritual seme, Bertha was egregiously
wrong. However, ' Then you can look
down to me," he replied. And as they
were both at that moment peering over
the side of the bridge, she adopted his
counsel literally ; for there he was, or
appeared to be, gazing up out of tin
placid steum from the midst of a mimio
sky. A white cloud reflection encir
cling his head made him look prema
turely venerable, and Bertha confessed
to herself that he was really handsome.
"Well, I'm gobs home now," she
said, presently. " You wait here. I
think it will be better."
Upon this Guy became sarcastic.
" How long shall I wait?" he inquired.
" Abo'it thirty years, I suppose, till my
hair turn3 gray."
" If you like," said Bertha Finch, not
daunted in the least.
"It's nothing to you, I see," the
young man replied, bitterly, suddenly
ieeiing very suieinm.
"What! waiting thirty yearaP"
laugnea sue. un, yes, that would be
a very serious thing to me. But I don't
suppose I shall."
Sbe had turned back to say this, but
as s he resumed her retreat imniediatedly,
ho was left alone in another moment.
iiuy aeoatea with himself what he
would do. He was terribly Btung by
what he considered Bertha'a
ness, and for a moment or two the idea
oi tnrowuig uiiuteu into tits river,
where he had just seen his own image
lying so seductively, occupied his mind
as a lacile though watery solution of
his trouble, lhen he thought how hne
it would be to marry another girl, and
let Miss Finch mature into an old maid.
But to this there were three objections.
In the first place, it was not certain an
other girl would have him; secondly,
Miss Finch might not become an old
maid: and finally, he loved Miss Finch.
At last he said to himself, " I know
what I'll do: I'll disappear."
And he did.
No young man could have been better
situated for indulging in this popular
town; nis accounts were correct to a
cent; his habits were irreproachable.
There could not be, consequently, any
distress to parents, or suspicion of pecu
lation, or disgraceful reason for his
dropping out of sight; and the mystery
oi tne tiling would be complete.
In fact, when it became known that
he was no longer in the village, the
theory ot suicide was the one immedi
ately adopted, for the usual reason that
there was no evidence to sustain it. Sui
cid. P And howP For what motiveP
Nobody could tell, but it was settled
that the cause must have been disap
pointment in love, although all testi
mony on the subject went to show that
tor a day or two before he was last seen
the missing voung man had been in
exceptionally good spirits. It was pro
posed to organize a search after him,
and even to drag the river and the
ponds; but Postmaster Pound an
nounced that this would be useless.
"Atlee left a message," he said, "stating
that all such doings would be labor
thrown away," in corroboration of
which he uroduced a paper signed by
his late clerk. It could not be learned,
cither, that any one had seen him near
the water, or, for that matter, anywhere
about the railroad. The last person who
had had sight ol him had met him on
the street toward evqning; Atlee had
parsed on into the dusk, and that was
the last seen of him.
It was with some idea of relieving her
mind, I think, that she betook herself to
the railroad this windy day for a trip to
town. An old man with copious white
hair, gold-bowed glas3es, and a flat
crowned felt hat, who sat placidly at
one of the car windows, reposing his
hands on a cane which he kept remarka
bly perpendicular, was a good deal
struck by her fresh and sweet appear
ance as ne saw her blown along by the
wind to the depot; and, as luck would
have it, when she entered the car true
to hrt instinct of preferring age to
youth, and finding all the seats half
tilled by very dapper young men, or very
dirty and disagreeable middle-nged ones
Bertha selected the unoccupied por
tion of this very scat where the old man
was meditating, and nestled down into
it as cozily as a young martin in the
maternal martin box. It was in keep
ing with the slight recklessness of her
general character that she should im
mediately extract a paper novel from
her pocket, and begin to read, despite
the industrious efforts of the train to
jggle her eyes out of her head and the
print out ot the page.
"Windy day, young lady," said a
mild voice in her ear, so affably modu
lated that she felt as if it could hardly
be the voice of a stranger. It was the
old man speaking to her.
"Yes," she assented, pleasantly; "I
thought it would blow me away."
" You air rather a mite ot a body to
fight it out, with such a breeze." re
marked her new acquaintance. " But
it don't seem to hurt ve. to iudge on it
from the roses in your cheeks. Lord, I
remember in the days when 1 was
courtin' how I used to like a day like
this. It made my gal's face shine just
so; and I ain't too old to take pleasure
in it vet."
Bertha felt her face "shine" still
more than before at this speech, whi ch
she rated as a trifle familiar, coming
f.oni a stranger. But then the man had
white hair, and, after all, it was not un
pleasant. She smiled, with some em-
bi.rrassnicnt, but said nothing, and re
sumed reading, while her fatherly com
panion seemed to become absorbed in
reco.lectionsof his youth. Before long.
however, he said : " I suppose it hurts
your eyes a good deal, reading in the
train, don't it?"
" It does sometimes," she admitted.
somewhat annoyed at this second open
ing ot a conversation. lor her story was
interesting. But determining to resign
herself, she laid the book down
abruptly, and looked straight at the old
man, who returned her gaze genially
from the midst of his whiskers and
spectacles.
bo you aye in liiyddonr" he in
quired.
Xes."
I'm acquainted there some. I used
to live there."
" You did 1" exclaimed the voune girl.
brightening up at once.
The old man began asking Questions
about various people in the village, aud
nnally mentioned Atlee. " He came
from "the place where I live Woodruff.
Vermont and folks thought he was a
likely enough young mau when he
started down to Glyddon. How's he
doing now?"
Poor Bertha blushed and shook with
as much feeling of guilt as if she had
personally superintended the closing of
Guy s career with a violent death.
Somehow this Diana, latueny old per
son's interest in him gave her a new
perception of the mystery and awful-
nes.s of his fate.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, "hadn't you
heard?"
" What! he ain't dead !" responded her
neighbor, with a quaver in his voice.
But immediately he addei: "No. he
can't bo. I should have heard of it. Per
haps you mean he's married?"
At another time Burma would have
laughed at this absurd juxtaposition,
ana even now had the impulse to
answer, "No, it's not quite so bad as
that." But the mention of marriage
came too near her last interview with
Guy t j make it wholly comical, so she
merely said : " He's gone awav. nobodv
knows where; it was quite sudden and
unaccouniaoie."
Atter a good many expressions of
grief and wonderment, the old mm
wound up with: "And so you can't
think of any possible reason? That
seems singular. What do you suppose P"
His young friend hesitated and looked
down. She could not fib. and s e could
not confide; soshesaid.simply, "I can't
tell." Her hps tremoiea a little.
"Oh. well, he'll turn up all right. I
guess." concluded the other, soothing v.
" It reminds me of a foolish thing I did
myself when I was young. I went off
and left tte place I was staying in too.
But that was because I was kind of
spooney about a young woman that
wouldn't marry me. Atlee used to
have the name of being too level-headed
for anything like that. He wouldn't be
such a fool, would he?"
The small brown hat went slightly
upward with a sudden movement. "I
don't know," said tne owner oi it, -wny
you should call it being a fool." .
" You know better than I do about it,
of course," assented the white-haired
critic. "Perhaps that's exactly what
he's done. Is it?"
"I heard some one saying they thought
ha was riisaDDointed in love." Bertha
answered, rapidly and ungramatically.
"And you don't blame nimr naz
arded he, indulgently. ...
" No, I don't. It shows mat ne ieeis
deeply, anyway."
" Well, now," continued the old man,
with a drawl which indicated an ap
proaching relapse into garrulity, " it's
queer enough I should have met ye, ain't
itP And you from Glyddon, where I
used to live: and learning news of Atlee
this way. Queer enough ! Well, I must
see his folks when I git back, and find
out if they know where he's gone."
After this thev talked of other things.
until they came to Wingfield, the end of
the journey, he maKing nimsen agree
able all the way, so that when the mo
ment came for parting, Bertha was
aware that the journey had seemed very
short, and that her casual acquaintance
was really an entertaining one.
Mavbe I - shall see you again,"
he suggested, as they descended to the
platform together.
" Do you ever come to Glyddon P" she
inquired, with polite reserve.
" Guess I shall before long," he re
plied. " You wouldn't be surprised, I
suoDose! if old Gilford shouid drop in to
see you some day? Ana now I think of
it, what's your nameP Will you tell
me?"
She told him. and he promptly wan
dered off, after giving her a nod, appar
ently intent upon his own affairs. " I
should think he might have said good-
bve a little more as it he was interested."
mused Bertha, not wholly pleased at
having him appear to dismiss her so
easily. And yet, what else could a mere
stranger, a fellow conversationist of an
hour, doP Besides, Bertha reflected that
old men could not be expected to show
the same interest and gallantry as well,
as Guy aud other young men.
When she got home that evening, she
bethought her to inquire ot her lather
whether he had ever heard ot an old
man named Gifford who had lived in the
village. Mr. Finch dimly recollected
him years before. "But! thought he
was dead," he added
" No : I met him to-day in the train,"
his daughter informed him, " pnd had a
very pleasant chat. He was so nice.
I do so like old men. Somehow when
they pay you compliments it doesn't
embarrass you, and they seem to be true ;
for what can an old man expect to gain
by paying a compliment that he doesn't
mean ?"
" I'm afraid the appetite for feminine
approval only increases in us with age,"
laughed Mr. Finch.
In less than a week from the time of
his departure the village was as ton
ished by Guy Atlee's reappearance,
"I went up to woodruff to see my
folk3." was the explanation; and he
expected to make light of the manner of
his going. But though his escapade
was a good deal criticised, he appeared
to have gained rather than lost in pub
lic esti nation by it.
When he went to see Bertha Finch
he declared that jealousy had brought
him back. "I learnea ot a flirtation
you were carrying on with an old gen
tleman in the cars old Gifford; and
knowing your preference for mature
men, I thought my chances, if I had
any left, were in danger.-'
"You are very impertinent to sup
pose you have any chances," was the
retort to this.
"But is it true about Gifford?" he
persisted.
" It is true that I met him. Oh, he's
a perfect lovely old man!"
" He would be very much flattered if
lie knew you said that, bnall 1 tea
him ?"
" Ycu can if you like: I don't care.''
said Bertha, airiiy. "I believe ha's
coming to call on me."
"Did he tell you so? Then he prob
ablv wants to sell you some pills."
" Mr. Atlee, what in the world do you
mean?"
" Simply that he's a patent-pill ped-
dier.'K
"How disgusting!" exclaimed the
fastidious maiden. "Never mind, he's
a real pleasant old fellow. '
" It s part ot his trade to be so." ex
plained Guy. " But I judge, from your
admiration tor mm, that you still scorn
JUL JTUUUg UUJ a tlAU Uli
" I never said ' scorn.' " she an
swered, "and 1 think it was cruel of
you to make us an minis you had per
nana committea suiciae. it was cow
ardly to make me feel I might have
caused it."
" I didn't mean it so," he pleaded.
1 hardly toougtit. i wanted to go
away out of sight, and I didn't want
any search. Couldn't you forgive me
for being foolish, and, as you call it,
..nnrarHlnP "
" I don't
t know."
' You see. I didn't suDDOse. from whnk
you said, that you cared what became
of me."
The little face that so often seemed to
be looking down was really bent with
some confusion at that moment ; but
its owner, obeying a whim, said, "Per
haps 1 didn't, atter all."
Guy's manner changed at once.
" Oh, do forgive me!" he oried. mock
ingly. " I would do almost anything to
secure that ev3n to growing several
years older, if you would only stop grow
ing, ana wait tor me."
" There, that s just use a boy. You
can't be serious two minutes together,"
Bertha railed back at him.
And so they parted.
The very next day Gifford drove bv in
a withered little buggy, apparently fresh
from Vermont, and stopped at the
Finches'. But Bertha was not at home.
so he went on, after leaving a box of
puis, wrapped up in a boastful adver-
tisement.
Toward evening, a few days later. Guv
came to see her again, and persuaded her
to walk out in the attie lane that ran he
hind the Finches' house.
He did not talk about himself, but
discussed the arrangements for a picnic
in which they were interested. As lie
was leaving her, however, "Old Gif
ford," he observed, "has been seen
about here lately. '
"Ihe dear!' said Bertha, nrovok.
ingly. " How sorry I was to miss his
caul"
"Did you?" Gay chimed In, sympa
tnetioaiiy. " 1 wonder 11 It wouldn't be
desirabli for me to become acquainted
with such a delightful manf He might
improve me in your eyes."
" Oh, yes, he would do you ever so
mucfi good," sneassurea htm. -
" I'll be on the lookout for him," said
the young man, cheerfully. ' Good
night." lie sauntered down the lnnn toward
the woods, and Bertha remained stand
ing under the applo- tree where he had
left her. entoywg tue rising sunset light.
Thus employed, and idly nulling to
pieces a bit of grass, she did not notice
the approacu oi anotner person, until an
aged voice close by her hailed her with.
i;V3
almost to prolong Atlee's "Good-night,
which was sun in ner ears.
It was Gifford.
She turned her head and greeted him
with decided coolness.
" Glad to see ye at last." he continued.
sitting down on a stone. " It's awful
warm." And he removed his felt hat,
to sponge out the interior carefully with
a bandana which he produced for the
purpose. "Did you get those pills P
First-rate to brace up with this weath
er. Good for lassitude, rheumatism,
gout, neuralgy, headache but I sup
pose you read the billP"
"No, I haven't yet," announced
Bertha, with threatening Ifcevity.
" Now that disappoinfsme," said
Gifford. "You don't know their vir
tues. Why, my second wife, she
couldn't get along without them."
' TTr.ri'i(t silfl nrrotnh 1'' nnwimoMf o4 lila
listener, internally.and proceeded aloud :
" You mean they saved her life?"
" Yes, yes," returned the dealer, de
liberately, "they did as long as she
lived."
" Well, mine seems to be pretty well
saved without them," said the girl;
" and anyway I don t have any of those
troubles that you mention. So I don't
think I need the pills."
"Wot just now, maybe." Gifford ad
mitted ; " but then you won't always be
so young as you are now, and you're
bound to have rheumatism. You'll be
an old woman before you know it, and
an ounce of prevention's worth a pound
of cure."
"I think I'll wait," said Bertha, find
ing her venerable idol very repulsive
on this second interview ; " and if you 11
excuse me now, Mr. Gifford, I must go
into the house."
" To get the box?" he inquired. "All
right. But I wi9h you'd wait a minute.
I've got something particular to say to
you."
" something particular f"
" Yes. Thinking of that young Atlee .
I made some inquiries, and, as far as I
could sec, you are tue young lady."
"What young lady? Anyway, Mr
Allen has come back now."
' Oh yes, I know that. But you never
fancied hin much, and I guess he don't
stand in the way."
" I don t understand what you re talk'
ing about."
' That's just what I've come to now,'
said Gifford. " I'm sort of lonely, but
I've got some property laid by. and I'm
looking round for a wife. What do you
say o me?"
"lou! i think you are horrible,"
tsertha cried, frankly. "An old, old
man like you, that' been twice married,
looking lor a wile! ' She recoiled invol'
untarily.
" There s nothing like an old fellow
that knows his own mind, and the ways
ot the world." he argued. Then sud
demy Bertha could hardly believe i
true he dropped on his knees. "Won't
you have meP" he entreated.
She moved toward the house rapidly.
as it escaping from a hideous sight,
"Stop! Istoo!" cried the ancient
suitor, m a remarkable vigorous voice.
"If you do that 11. tear all my hair
out."
Something in the tone arrested
Bertha Finch's flight, and she looked
around. At the same instant the anoma
lous old man, standing up very tall.
flung his entire head ol white hair at
her f eet, and stood revealed, felt hat in
hand, as liuy Atlee!
She covered her face in confusion,
but both of them burst into a hearty
laugh the next instant, as he advanced
toward her " This is more foolish than
my disappearance," Guy was confessing,
but the temptation wai too great,
Are vou angry?"
" It was you all the timeP" demanded
she, stii: slightly bewildered.
Ul" course, ihereat iTinord died a
couple of years ago. Ihat day in the
train I was iust going to get out here to
try my experiment, when I saw vou at
the depot, and you walked right in to sit
aown next to me."
Bertha turned hot and cold as she ran
over the car conversation in her mind to
see whether she tad committed herself
.in anv wav.
"You have rejected me twice now,"
continued Guy, coming very close, and
standing in tail uuminty before her
" once for being too young, and once for
being too old. Don't you think you
could make a sort ot compromise now,
ana take me apart lrom my age, as a
man who is willing to devote himself to
you, young and old? You are not
angry?"
"No," said Bertha, looking down
very much indeed. " 1 have been fool
ish too. Guy."
tshe made the compromise. Harper s
tsazar
An Enormous Rattlesnake.
While Mrs. Charles Wells, residitsr at
Woodtown, Tike county, Penn., was
passing through a piece of woods a short
time ago, she was suddenly startled bv
a rattling noise, which seemingly came
from no great distance She stopped to
listen, ana tue souna was repeated,
Airs, weug Knew it to oe mat ot a
rattlesnake. Thinking the reptile was
in the brush alongside tha road, she
started on. She had taken but a few
steps when she sawj, a few feet in front
of her, lying coiled in the road, with its
tieaa erect ana its tongue darting, a
monster rattlesnake, ihe reptile con
tinued to rattle, and showed no inclina
tion to get out of the way. Mrs. Wells was
accustomed to seting snakes the local
ity abounds with them and sho gattr
eretl up several large missiles, and.
approaching within a few feet of the
reptile, opened warfare upon it. The
battle was of brief duration, for a well-
directed stone struck the reptile, render
ing it neipiess. dub men suowerea a
voiley of stones upon ner antagonist.
and soon dispatched it. The snake
measured nearly five feet, and was the
largest one of his species that has been
killed in that neighborhood for several
years. Within five miles of the spot
where this snnke was killed is the
famous Ball Hill rattlesnake dens, at
which "Sam" Helms, a celebrated
nake catcher and tamer .used to capture
most ol tne snaaes wniuu us exhibited
throughout tut ainerent Btatei.
TIXELI TOPICS.
Forestry, so neglected in the United
State, now receives very careful atten
tion in France as well as Germany. One
of the French under secretaries of state
is director of forests, and has a large
staff. An eminent French scientist,
who complains that meteorologists too
often neglect observations on animal or
vegetable physiology, recommends that
the dates of the arrival and departure
of migratory birda, the leafing and
flowering of plants and the ripening of
corn snail on noieu in euuu uisiiiut.
made oy foresters
of such natural-history phenomena as
fall within their notice.
A horrible case is reported from Lon
don where the punishment received by
the culprit seems wholly inadequate to
the enormity ot the ouense. A nurse
in Guy's hospital becoming enraged at a
trivial offense committea by a patient,
a young married woman, dragged her
from the bed and plunged her into a
bath tub filled with cold water, whereby
the woman's disease was so aggravated
as to result in her death. For this
crime the nurse was arrested, convicted
of manslaughter and sentenced accord
ingly. The barbarity ot hospital nurses
is very frequently the subject of remark,
but the crime spoken of above is a little
beyona the ordinary run usually cuargea
against these officials.
Illinois still leads all the other States
in the number of miles of its railroads.
The position Illinois has occupied since
lavo. at wnicu time it passed rennsy4-
vania, wuicn previously naa been me
leading State. The railway mileage of
the former State is 7.578 ; Pennsylvania
is second, with e.Ubu miles; New Xork
follows i-lose behind, with 6,008 miles;
Ohio is fourth, having 5,521 miles; Iowa
fifth, with 4,)99 miles, and Indiana
sixth, with 4,336 miles; Missouri, Michi
gan, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Texas, Georgia and California follow in
the order named. Therels no State
or Territory which is totally devoid
of railroads, though Montana Territory
can boast of but ten miles of com
pleted road.
The denizens of New York city may
now look forward to the prospect of
peaceful slumbers, undisturbed by the
nightly howls of the feline race. The
board ot aldermen have passed what
will be known as the "cat ordinance,"
which orders the capture and destruc
tion of .11 the cats at large "in anyot
the public streets, lanes, alleys, high -
ways, parks or other places within the
corporate limits ol the city of iew
York." Should this not include the
backyard fences, it may be a very seri
ous omission. The war projected ngaint
mo cats may not seem so useless in view
of the fact that a wealthy and promi
nent citizen of San Jose, California,
died a short time ago from the effects of
a bite on the thumb by a kitten a few
weeks previous. The hand began to
swell soon after it was bitten, and the
poison extending uo the arm. hnallv
caused death,
The city of Szegcdin. in Hungary.
which from time immemorial has been
greaUy troubled with gypsies, and
which has imprisoned. Hogged and
threatened them with the wheel
and the gibbet, but all in vain,
lias lately revived an old device which
it seems did once before drive them
away. Expelled one day they would
return tho next and steal everything
tucy couia lay tneir lianas on. until the
heads of the city authorities came near
bursting in their efforts to devise some
means of securing immunity from the
thieving hands of the " Pharaohs," as
they are called by the Hungarians. At
last the authorities caught a caravan of
gypsies and shaved them cican, leaving
not a particle of hair on their heads or
faces. Thus sacreiigiously handled, the
Pharaohs long gave the town a wide
berth. Ihe memory of the truly bar
barous treatment having grown dim
with the lapse ofjpears, the gvnsics have
settled down again upon Szegedin. So
hzegedin has revived the old tactics.
and in spite of t.ie wanderers threats of
dire vengeance has once more shaved
them all, without regard to sex or age,
They have departed in wrath and hu
miliation, and rzegeain hopes aain to
pass some years in the peaceful enjoy
ment of its own eggs and chickens.
A Book of Beauty.
A New York publishing house has
commenced work upon a subscription
book designed to illustrate American
beauty. This volume is to contain one
hundred choice steel-plate engravings of
living American v. omen, remarkable
for their beauty. Daintiest of letter
ress, on highest grade of printing pa
per, is to explain the portraits ot the one
hundred beauties, and the binding is to
be executed in the highest style ot the
bookbinder's art. Our large country is
notable for the number of its beautiful
women, and one hundred could not be
gin to do justice to tie aggregate of
American feminine loveliness. Who is
to select the comely ladies, who'e coun
ttrteit presentments are to embellish the
forthcoming volu i.e of loveliness, is not
stated. To say the least of it, the task is
one ot great delicacy, and, no matter
how impartially performed, will be cer
tain to give grave displeasure to the tens
ot thousands of acknowledged American
beauties whose pretty pictures will not
grace the volume. If the friends of the
one hundred favored lair are numerous
and chivalrous enough to subscribe for
one or more copies of the work, the pub
iisuci Lutvv uc Batiaueu, uub uie uuilttcu
beauties will not. iven the courageous
canvassers for subscriptions to the book
are deserving ot general sympathy
whenever they happen among a group of
belies, not one oi whom has been se
lected for the " Book of Beauty."
len or a dozen years ago an enter
pi ising publisher issued a book of por
nans ui iuuics caueu uueens oi Auicr
ican Society." The pictures purported
to be likenesses of leaders of society, tew
oi wnom maoe any pretensions to sur
passing beauty. We believe the novel
work was a pecuniary success: tnere
was no disputing the social position of
the leaders of society : but who can or
dare decide as to who are the one hun
dred transcendent beauties of America's
array of feminine loveliness? How that
book will be praised and pitched into
bv the critics! how it will be pro-
nounced charming and stupid by hosts
of fair readers ! how publishers will be
overwhelmed with indignant letters!
but how American literature is to be
benehted by so invidious an illustrated
work ws cannot for the life of us mat-
"riiHtr t Circular.
A Scout's Lous' Fast.
"Big Foot" Wallace, the noted Texa9
scout, tells tha following strange story:
In the year 1862 I was in the north
western portion of Texas, a private in
Company K, Duff's regiment, C. S. A.,
and stationed at Fort Davis. While on
a scout two companions and myself
became detached from our compnny,
and camped on Providence creek, a few
miles northwest of the fort. We were
attacked at night by the Indians, my
two companions killed, and our horses
stampeded. 1 escaped in the darkness
with only the clothes on my back, my
revolver and bowie knife. The next
morning while attempting to reach a
pool of water in a rocky ravine I tell
and fractured my left leg about midway
between ankl and knee, both bones
being broken. At the edge of tho water
pool was a deposit of tough, tenncious
wet clay. I bound my broken iimb
with my shirt torn in strips, and then
plastered it over thickly with the clay,
keeping the limb as quiet as possible,
and frequently renewing the clay poul
tice. After the second day I experi
enced no pMn from the fracture. Dur
ing the first three or four days I suffered
much from hunger. I used water spar
ingly, and kept my belt comfortably
tight about my waist, which apparently
afforded me relief lrom the griping pains
that occasionally annoyed me. For one
day only, I think it was the ninth or
tenth, I became flighty t intervals, but
not sufficiently so to Vianisb from my
mind that absolute rest of the injured
limb was necessary. The twenty-first
day after the accident I removed the
bandae, and found, to my grea' joy, the
broken bones were reunited. After a few
efforts I raised myself erect, and stood
on my feet, holding on to a little tree
until I became satisfied I could trust the
i:'jured limb. I then cautiously and
slowly, with the assistance of a forked
slick that answered as a crutch, worked
my way for several hundred yards,
when I became exhausted and sought
the Bhelter of a shelving rock where I
soon dropped into a fitful sleep that I
was aroused from by the howling of a
cayote wolf, which was but a few yards
from me. 1 took as good aim at tnrr
I took as good aim at him
with my revolver as mv nervous and ex
hausted condition permitted and blnzad
away, providentially killing him ; then
I cut his throat and sucked his blood
until I had swallowod a pint or more,
when I was compelled to stop by violent
cramps in my stomach. After suffering
untold agonies for an hour or more the
pain gradually subsided, and 1 tell into
a sound and refreshing slumber. This
was the first food that had gone into my
stomach for twenty-one days. When I
awoke it was late in the night. An al
most insatiable desire seized me to nil
my stomach with the raw flesh of the
wolf. I knew, however, it would be
death to do so, and partially relieved my
hungry cravings by chewing the uesn
and only swallowing the juice. As soon
as daylight appeared I collected brush
and wood, made a rousing tiro, and Sixm
roasted the hams of the wolf, on which
I subsisted for the noxt two days, swal
lowing very little of the flesh, but all
the juice I could extract by constant
chewing. Dm ing the two days I walked
eight miles and reached the fort, where
I was received as one of the dead. I
was put in the hospital, and under the
kind care and skillful dietary manage
ment of Dr. Arthur Stevens, surgeon. 0.
S. A., I slowly recovered my health and
strength. Myordinary weight prior to
my starvation was about 205 pounds.
1 he second day after my return to the
fort I weighed 1264 pounds. Mv height
is six feet one and a haif inches.
Never (Juite Content.
Rev. Robert Collyer holds that it is
both the curse and blessing of Ameri
can lif-J that we are never quite con
tent. We all expect to go boaiewheie
before we die, and have a better time
when we get there than we can have at
home. The bane of our life is discon
tent. We sav we will work so long,
and then we will erjoy ourselves. But
we find it iust as Thackeray Ua3 re
pressed it. " When I was a boy," he
said, " I wanted some tally it was
a shilling 1 hadn't one. w uen i was
man I had a shilling, but 1 didn't
want any tally." But we say not one
wor-l against that splendid discontent
that all the while makes a man strike
for something better. We like this idea
that every boy horn in America dreams
of being President. No man has any
right to be content to do his best, and
not to do better to-nion.w man ne
is doing to day. But all that will come
hy keeping close to a manty ana autitui
liie.
While we are going steadily along
to whatever future awaits us, the grand
est thing we can do is to tel sure that
what we are doing tor a day s work,
with all that we do besides, is just the
most blessed tiling, so far as we can do,
and that we are very likely having the
best time that can ever come to our lite ;
that this work, and wife and home and
children, all they are and all they mean
beat the world.
The saddest tiling in our hie is our
discontent when we ought to be more
contented. It is our birthright to get
the good of life as we go along, in these
s .tuple and pure things that to all tiue
man and womanhood are like rain and
sunshine to an apple tree. Bat when
we do not believe this, and dream that
the best cf our life is to come when we
have made our fortune, then we sell our
birthright for a mess of pottuge. But
worse than Esau, the pottage gives us
the dyspepsia, and then we lose the
good ot birthright and pottage together.
The Wouderful Man Without Limbs.
Mr. Kavanagh. the Irish member of
parliament whose lack of arms and legs
is accompanied by a plentiful supply of
brains, had in his youth a very sorrow
ful life. After the early death of his
father and mother, he was under the
control of his two elder brothers, who,
mortified by this strange deformity, are
said to have secluded him in the country
from the sight ot mankind. The boy,
full of intellectual z 3al and manly spirit.
would not allow his mind to rest or
grow morbid; and when, alter several
years, his brothers died, leaving a very
large estate to his guidance, tie emerged
lrom his library a rarely cultivated ana
brilliant man, with a brain and will so
trained that it was a very easy matter
for him to grasp practical hie and affairs.
So delightful are Mr. Kavanagh's intel
lectual and spiritual graces that he wen
for a wife a very beautiful and charm
ing woman. His children are all bright
and h ndsomo, and he is greatly beloved
by both them and his tenantry. In spite
ot his bodily misfortune Mr. Kavanagh
is a noted Ninirod, riding after hounds
in u saddle which he himself invented
with th greatest energy and daring.
At Evening.
Upon the hills the wind is sharp and cold,
The sweet young grasses wither on the wold,
And we, oh, lord, have wandered from thy
told;
But evening brings ns home.
Among the mists we stumbled, and the rooks,
Where the brown lichen whitens, and the lox
Watches the straggler lrom the soattered
flocks;
But evening brings us home.
The sharp thorns prick us, and our tender feet
Are cnt and bleeding, and the omhs repeat
Iheir pitilul complaints oh, leBt is sweet,
When evening brings us home.
We have been wounded by the hnnter's dart,
Our eyes are very heavy, and our hearts
Search for thy ooming when tho light departs,
At evening bring ns home.
The darkness gathers. Through the gloom
no star
Rises to guide us. We have wandered lar.
Without tby Inmp we know not where we are
At evening bring us borne
The clouds are around ns, and the snow drifts
thicken,
Oh, thou, dear shepherd, leave us not to sicken
In the waste night our tardy footsteps
quicken ;
At evening bring us home.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
The rest of the week Sunday.
Machines for catching cold Ice
tongs. If an old sheep an only jump a fence
they call it a spring lamb.
An attack has been made on Chicago
rumholes for selling liquor to minors.
California's census shows a population
of 863,000, being an increase ol over
303,000 since 1670.
fiveat Britain now has 1,703 news-
papers, against 624 in lct54. I here are
1411 uuiiiro, " F
The shark is the most sociable offish.
He never calls upon a bather without
wanting to stop and take a bite.
A picture recently appeared in the
London 2'inies the first ever admitted
to the columns of the " Thunderer."
Chicago claims to have the largest
bookbindery in the United States nex
to that in the government printing
office at Washington.
Several of the brigand chiefs of Italy
have, in the course of their careers,
figured as champions of Mazzini, ot the
Pope, of Victor Emanuel, and as Gari
baldians. An apple tree in the" orchard of Wm.
Plymive, of Washington ounty, Pa.,
bears nine varieties, bouic ui ui
now rips, while others will not ripen
until late in the fall.
The barley crop of Canada is esti
mated at from 9,000,009 to lO.O'JO.OOO
bushels, which, after allowing about
2,000,000 bushels far home requirements,
will leave a surplus of 7,000,000 to
8,000.000 bushels.
It seems that New York city is sink
ing beneath the waves at the rate of
several inches every century, and the
Rochester Herald is already beginning
to worry about, the luture fate of the
obelisk Buffalo Courier.
"Edward, you have disobeyed your
grandmother, who told you just now
not to jump down these steps."
" Grandma didn't tell us to, papa. She
only came to the door and said: 'I
wouldn't )Ump down inose stairs, ooys;
and I shouldn't think she would, an old
lady like her."
The VikingV ship lately discovered at
Sand fiord, in Norway, has been taken
to Christiania. and plnced under covr
in the Uni.ersity garden, near the old
boat found at Tunoe some years ago.
Tlic damaged part is to be restored, and
the colors, which rapidly faded in the
sunlight, freshened up.
A cow that wore a tell having been
run over and killed on a railroad, the
owner brought suit against the railroad
company for damages. It was proved
that the engineer rang the bell and tried
to frighten the cow off the track, but
the farmer's lawyer also proved that the
cow rang her bell and tried to frighten
the engine oft' the track, and so the jury
decided in his favor.
What dirterenc U there 'twixt a boy
That as a MoVer enters,
And some c"od wlimr at war
Wltli wicked legislators ?
Ol course you give it up. Because
The one. I.e ligms the fires,
Anu t'other, the editor,
He fiercely flstits ihe liars.
Mtridtn Recorder.
The boy wa never known to dislike
work. II i always willing to da
anything required of him, but he always
Knris it dilTiuuit to parcel out his work
to fit his time. That is to say, he finds
it difficult to make up his mind. In
tim mnrninsr he is tirmlv of the opinion
that the evening is the proper and only
time fitting lor labor, lhis would be an
right and as agreeable to his parents as
himself, but it so Happens tuai
evening cooks his matutinal convictions
have undergone a complete revmsion.
and he is now thoroughly convinced tbe
morning hours should alone be conse
crated to toil.
Words of Wisdom,
Patience and gentleness are power.
Character is a perfectly educated will.
More lives have been bettered by
afflictions than by sermons.
lie who goes through the world more
purely ani nobly than other men, does
so because be wills to do to.
Hope is the very soul to an heroic
action. Hope is the main-spring to
every well-regulated life. Hope Is the
morning star to every brighter i'ay.
How beautiful are the smiles of inno
cence, how endearing tbe sympathits of
love, how sweet the solace oi friend
ship, how lovely tho tears of affection!
These combined are all characteristic in
woman. They are the true poetry of
humanity, rich pearls clustering around
the altar of domestic happiness.
How wonderful and how true are
these words of Heine : Quite a strange
elevation of soul take possession of me
when I walk alone at gloaming by tho
sea shore; behind me nothing but flat
dunes; before me tbe braving, im
measurable seat over me the tky, like a
great crystal dome. 1 seem then, to
myself, so ant-like In my insignificance.
andyet my soul takes such a world wide
Hight.