HENRY A. PARSON8, Jr., Editor and Publisher NIL DE S PE EANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. XI. RID G-WAY,. ELK COUNTY, PA., TIIURSD A Y,IAECH 24, 1881. 10. 5.
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The' Ringing Bird.
,' Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet," tho swallow Ming,
From the. nest ho bnildod high;
Ami the bm's raptured echo rung
From liiij leafy perch close by.
" Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet," rang the joyful time,
"Oh, Bwoet, sweet, sweet is tlio world in June.'
"Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet," the maiden said,
As she twilled her hair with flowers;
From bird and blossom the echo sped
Through the long and blissful hours.
"Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet," rang tho joyful tune,
'Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet is the world in June."
"Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet," the swallow sung
On the summer's dying night;
And "sweet, sweet, sweet," the echo rung,
As tho robin plumed for flight;
"Oh, sweet is the summer when just begun,
And sweet, Bwcct, sweet,, when her lifois done. '
J)ut the maiden, never a, word she said,
As she donned her weeds of woO;
The bird that sung in her heart was dead.
With the summer of long ago;
Tho sweet, sweet, sweet, of the bloom and bird
As idle mocking her dull ear heard.
Oh, sweet, feweet, sweet is tho whole glad earth'
When the summer days are here;
And sweet, sweet, sweet is the time of dearth.
Though the autumn days are drear:
If only deep in the heart is heard
Tlio gladsome song of the " singing bird."
HANNAH AND I.
My father ' Lad -moved into a new
place. Prospectively, I enjoyed much
in tlio dethronement -of our household
gods, and the reduction of all our
worldly goods to a state of chaos, I
foresaw the delicious suspense, anxiety
and final dismay or rejoicing that would
attend the transit of our looking-glasses
and parlor chairs. I looked forward to
a kind of nomadic existence about the
house during the days wherein we were
getting settled, to tho exploration of
unknown depths under the closet
stairs, and of mysterious recesses be
hind the chimney. I expected to sit
and sing in the best rocking-chair, to.
roll my tired limbs on the best mattress,
and t'd take my dinner with a large
spoon from out o fruit-jar.
When, therefore, I rode up from the
depot on top of the box containing my
mother's best china and glassware, 1
felt that every one who beheld, also
envied. The short ends of my hat
band fluttered spiritedly in the March
breeze, and tho anticipatory tremors in
my breast creaked the starched shirt
front beneath my jacket.
At a very tender age wo realize that
this is a world of disappointments.
For the next few days my life consisted
mainly in hunting up the hammer, run
ning for nails, trotting up "to the store
and down to the tinner's and after the
carpenter, .pushing stove-legs into place,
holding up footboards of family bed
steads, lift in,? the corners of bureaus,
waiting upon the painter and tho white
wash man, getting my fingers pinched,
getting scolded, getting a cold, losing
my handkerchief, having nothing in
particular to eat save a little baker's
bread, and now and then a bit of beef
steak cooked sometimes by my mother,
sometimes by my father, sometimes by
Mary Sullivan, and occasionally by ail
three. -
By the third day I. began to see that
t rft anarchic style of housekeeping has
its disadvantages and to feel that the
springs of a naturally good constitution
were wearing out in the family service.
On the morning of that day I left my
mother aud Mary Sullivan stretching a
carpet lifted for a room 15x15 to cover
our new dining-room, 15x16, and walked
out in the back yard to take the air.
As I sauntered down to the front gate
my eyes were greeted by a vision of
youth I cannot say of beauty swing
ing upon the gate over the way.
Tho " vision " wore a large bombazine
hood, such as was at this time in high
reputo among grandmothers, but was
never calculated to enhaneo the charms
if the vonnar. A little plaid shawl wen
pinueif askew about her shoulders. One
of a species of embroidered pantalets
which, like the dodo of Mauritius, has
since become extinct, had slipped down
and lay like a wrinkled bandage around
the top of her shoo.
"Hallo !" said I.
"Hallo!" responded she; ".you're a
mean, nasty boy :
I should have promptly returned
this compliment but for the consider
nt ion that I had just moved into the
community, and everything depended
upon my acquiring a gooil reputation.
Without replying,, therefore, , I began
reflectively digging a holo in the' gate
post with, my jack-knife.- The " vision "
swung back and forth, and hummed " I
want to bo an angel." In giving an
unusually' vigorous lurch outward an
apple flew from her hand and fell into
tho middle of the muddy street.
I digress here to stato' that, though a
popular street, that portion of it in
front of my father's- house generally
was mnddy. During tho spring and
fall months we had a large, swushy pool
there one that appeared to flow from
a secret perennial source of muddiness.
In tlio' winter months it froze over and
made capital skating. During the sum
mer it gradually dried away, until, at
the "pollywog" season, when alone a
boy can take the highest rational enjoy
ment in a mud-puddle, only a damp
spot iu the center of tho street indicated
tlio place from which tho water had sub
sided. It was now at high tide and the
apple fell into tho oozo just below it.
"Boy, come over and pick up my
upple," commanded my neighbor.
Conscious, of sotting that young pagan
an example of good manners, I returned
the apple with-a bow my mother had
taught mo. .She gave it two or three
cleansing dashes ou her dress skirt and
then said:
"Lend me your knife and I'll give
, you half."
Sho set the applo upon top of tho
gatepost, savagely jammed the knife
through it, wiped the blade on her shawl
aud returned tho knife with tho larger
. parcel uiBaypie
" Thank you," said I.
i&" What is your name, boy?"
' George Harriiuan. What is yours ?"
" Hannah Ann Farley. You going to
live in that house ?"
"I expect to."
"I'm glad of it. There's been a dis
agreeable, stuck-up little girl living
over there. . I thought when first I saw
you, you were going to be just like her."
This I took as Hannah's apology for
her reception. It was satisfactory, and
we might then and there have become
friends, but at that moment Mary Sulli
van came to our front door and called
me homo. She said the brass-headed
tacks were all gone, and I must go to
tho store for more. When I returned
Hannah Ann was nowhere to be seen.
The next morning I was fortunate
enough to find a five-cent piece in a
crack of a bureau drawer, and promptly
started for a store wherein to spend it.
The streets were so mnddy 1 thought I
would go across and leap the neigh
bor's fences. I was in neighbor Far
ley's yard when I was sharply hailed
from a littlo window high up in the end
of the house.
" Boy, come up hore 1"
" How am I going to get up ?"
" Oo around to the kitchen, and ask
my mother to show you tho way."
' I hunted up the kitchen, and found
Hannah's mother. Trior to this time
when I wished to represent a female
figure upon my slate I had a triangle
surmounted by an eclipse, and this in
turn finished by a small circle; here
after, with Mrs. Farley in mind, I drew
a cylindrical figure with a small circlo
on the upper end, and a slight depres
sion representing the waist-line. After
once seeing Mrs. r aricy 1 could never
wonder that Hannah was forever bor
rowing a pin to lasten something on
with. There could never be a more de
lightful garret than Mrs. Farley's, for
never could there be a woman who could
excel her in the celerity with which she
would use up furniture. Such a col
lection of mirrors with shattered glasses,
bottomless chairs, dismantled bureaus,
and tables standing upon three legs is
seldom met !
" What do you want to play?" asked
Hannah.
" Pirate."
" What's a pirate?"
I explained, and Hannah forthwith
became the most bloodthirsty of pirates.
It was in my heart to spare the women
and children, but she refused to' listen
to such a proposition, and felled her
victims left and right without regard to
age or sex. Once she pierced me
through the heart, and I fell bleeding,
dying, hitting my head against the
chimney, and yelling out in unfeigned
agony.
Afterward, we were riding peacefully
along over the green fields, and beneath
the calm blue sky, on a two-legged and
very dusty sofa, when a party of bri
gands swooped down upon us, and bore
ns off to a loathsome dungeon behind a
dismantled bureau. We flattened our
selves and crawled out, beheaded the
brigands, appropriated their spoils, and
returned triumphant to our own homes.
We were very dusty and covered with
cobwebs when I remembered my five
cent piece and said I must go.
" Hive me half of what you're going
to buy, aud I'll go with you," said
Hannah.
I couldn't very well refuse this gener
ous offer; so she put on her hood and
shawl, at mv suggestion tied up her shoe
strings, ami we started. She expressed
a preference for black licorice, and I
expended my money upon that luxury:
and shared it liberally. We came homo
hand in hand, and though Hannah went
over-shoe iu mud and water three times,
she bore it with inimitable good-nature.
From that morning our friendship
matured rapidly, hometimes Hannah
was at our house; sometimes I played in
the Farley garret; and sometimes when
she had a sore throat, and wore a prepa
ration of lard and camphor-gum around
it, we had permission to play in Mi's.
Farley's parlor. Whenever Hannah
stole cookies and ginger-snas for her
self, sho alwavs laid in for me; when
Mary Sullivan made tea-saucer pies for
ine, I carried them red-hot from the
oven to neighbor Farley's, and Hannah
and I watched them cool with hearts
that beat as one. Then while one-half
the juice drizzled over mv jacket the
corresponding half dripped on Hannah's
apron, iiunniiu was passionately fond
ot "jooce!
A hen school opened, Hannah and 1
went hand in hand, and stood by one
another in clays of adversity as well as
days of prosperity. Hannah being a
miserable scholar, her days were mostly
of adversity.
Tho months slipped away, and the
years grew apaeo. My father petitioned
the town authorities to fill up that mud
puddle in frout of our house; The
town authorities gave every encourage
ment that the " whole board" would be
on the spot at an earlv day, but we
looked for them in vain. Mv father
mado a second and third importunity
with like results. Then he pressed his
grievance upon their attention as gen
tlemen and men of honor. As gentle
men and men of honor they gave their
word that the matter should be neglect
ed no longer. We lived upon that
promise six months. Then my father,
grown irate, threatened to sue. The
board, becoming defiant, just wished he
would sue : thev should like to see him
sue. At this retort my father's feelings
rose to tho summit of moral indigna
tion ; he wouldn't sue ; ho scorned to
lower himself to a quarrel with such
men ; but ho would pay no raoie taxes
in that town ; and energetic prepara
tions ior our removal began.
Hannah and I were sitting upon the
edgo oi mi. Farley s coal-bin when J
communicated to her my father's de
cision. As soon as sue saw 1 was in
earnest sho dropped over upon the
anthracite, and gave vent to a flow of
tears. She declared that she couldn't
and wouldn't have mo go. She should
dio with loneliness, and sho wished she
was dead. A few tears of mine drizzled
over into the bin and mingled with
Hannah's. Afterward she appeared re
concilcd,and manifested intense interest
iu our preparations, obtruding her ser
vices at her house until my mother do
dared she should never be ready to go
if that Farloy girl couldn't be kept at
home.
The morning of our departure dawned
at last. My father and mother went to
tho depot, leaving me to follow, as I
had come, on the last load of goods.
It was an April morning, succeeding
a heavy rain-storm, and tlio waves of my
father's mud-puddle ran high. Hannah
sat upon the old petunia mound by the
gate, sobbing. I raised her drooping
form to bid her farewell, pushed tho
hair from her face and gave her my last
kiss. She clutched frantically at my
acket, but. realizing that delays are
dangerous, I sprang upon a dry-goods
box in the wagon. The horse, most se
verely afflicted with spring-halt, started
off at a fearful gallop, and we disap
peared around the corner forever.
As soon as circumstances would per
mit I addressed a letter to Hannah, and
soon received a reply, of -which the fol
lowing is a verbatim copy;
Jfjl Dear Llortje :
I now set down to let you know how
I am. I have had a soar throat nerely
all the time sence ycu Left. Somebody
has shot our Cat. School commenses
next week. I dred it. A new family
lias moved into your House, there is too
boys, Eddy and willy. If we never see
each other again on urth I hope we may
meat m heaven, Yours Irulv,
Hannah A. Fajilky.
The letter also contained two blots
and a grease spot and was directed by
Hannah's mother, wrong side up with
care. I wrote her once more, but received
no answer a failure which I attributed to
her aversion to all literary labor rather
than to any diminution iu the ardor of
ner anections.
I attended school for tho next three
or tour years, ami then entered the
wholjsale mercantile business in tlio
service of an uncle. I became a rising
young man. borne of the time I rose
rapidly, as gaseous matter and young
men between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-five are iu tho habit of doing.
Our family nlso prospered. From three-
ply in our parlor wo passed by easy
stages through body Brussels to Eng
lish ilton, and v;a numbered the
successors of Mary Sullivan by twos
and by threes.
Presently I arrived at that age whereat
extremely witty people begin pointing at
a young man peculiarly sharp and or
iginal jests concerning the subject of
matrimony. At first the implication
therein conveyed that I had only to
choose was gratifying to my vanityfbut
by the timo I began to direct any serious
thoughts that way myselt, so much solid
wit had become an insull'erablo bore.
There were girls in large quantities and
excellent qualities all around me, but
the thought of advancing to anything
serious with any one of them always
suggested Hannah.
My reminiscences of Hannah were not
such that I could create an ideal femi
nine character of her; but when a fel
low has sat in a coal -bin with a girl and
taken alternate suclt3 on as many Jack
son-balls as i had with Hannah, no
subsequent experience can ever entirely
etiace the impression. 1 had a curiosity
to know what Hannah had besoms. The
surest way to satisfy this curiosity
seemed to be to go and see her. I ac
cordingly went.
The girl was pretty. She had color
mid frankness ; she had graco and re
pose of manner. Her finger-nails were
crupulously kept, root and crown, and
her hair was glossy, as well as fashion
ably dressed.
The year we left town Hannah's
mother died ; and after the billows of
affliction had surged over his soul for
about six months, Mr. Farley again lie
held the sun and took a new wife. The
new wife had takeu infinite pains with
her step-daughter. The step-daughter's
present appearance, as compared with
her former condition, bore favorable
testimony for tho lady's system. Han
nah said that when we wero children I
had seemed like a brother to her, and I
at once placed myself upon a fraternal
standing. I interrogated her in regard
to the occupants of mv old home, and
she finally confided to me that she was
engaged to the younger Wetherbeo, the
"willy" ot her letter.
I afterward saw him, and could not
but inwardly applaud the discrimination
that led her, even in childhood, to be
gin his name with a small letter. He
was an individual of from 110 to 115
pounds weight, though what theie was
of him was drawn out and judiciously
distributed with a view to making the
most of straitened circumstances. There
may bo no more ink in an exclamation
point than a vowel, but it is better
adapted to attract attention. As to
color, energy and vivacity, Hannah had
enough to supply three iust like him
iiunnahs, 1 soon perceived, was the
philosophical form of engaged life. One
evening when we went to walk, she said
to me :
' Mr. Wetherbee has his faults ; no
one knows them better than I. But
where," added she, touehingly, "where
will you hnd a man who liasn t faults ?
"Whore, surely!" responded I.
" I don't look for perfect happiness
here below," continued Hannah, pen
sively; i vc seen too much ot lite tor
that ! Hannah is some years my junior
and must at this period have arrived at
the mature ago of nineteen vears.
I returned homo and two years slipped
awav. l was still halting between two
opinions and looking inquiringly at a
third, and tho " opinions had bguu to
manifest lively symptoms of taking care
of themselves, when one day in a neigh
boring city, strolling through a paper
box factory whose proprietor was my
friend, I came across Hannah.
" How m tho world came you here?"
bluntly ejaculated I.
"By the fortunes of life and the rail
way." I didn't know whether she was to be
addressed as Farley or Wetherbee, and
observing that she was dressed in deep
mourning, avoided anything that might
suggest explanations. She presently
told me that her father was dead. Then
as I sought her confidence on the fra
ternal basis sho told mo tliat her father
had left his estate incumbered.
" Those disagreeable Wetherbeos hold
a mortgage on tho house," said she,
"and they are just the exacting, unac
commodating kind "of people who
wouldn't. lics.it.atc,. f Jil'YWi'ning tho .day.
tho time expires !
Sho had set horsolf about earning
I money to pay tho indebtedness.
" You see," said she " the property is
left by will to mamma and myself con
jointly. If it is disposed of at a forced
sale it must be at a great sacrifice, and
tlien poor mamma will be left without a
home. She has done everything for me"
here Hannah's large eyes filled with
tears " and it is a small thing for me to
try to savo the home for her."
1 said I wondered sue hadn t sought a
different kind of employment and sug
gested teaching.
Oh, I've tried applying for schools.
Two or thrttB times I've received invita
tions to exauiinaJTdns; and they've given
me perfectly dreadful lists of questions
asked reasons wny we performed
operations that I never before knew we
did perform."
"Alusic, then."
"I love music: but there are three
teachers to evei7 pupil. This is pleas
ant work, and I am happy' in feeling I
shall save the home for mamma !
When I reached home that evening I
sold an opera ticket I had purchased in
the morning, and, whereas I had always
smoked fifteen-cent cigars, now pur
chased a box at ten cents (I gave them
away before the close of the week and
went back to fifteen's) and asked mother
if there wasn't a place somewhere in
the city where they cleansed and dressed
over-soiled kid gloves to look as well
as new.
For tho next few weeks I had consid
erable business in a neighboring city,
and I used to transact it in season for
the three-o'clock train, and then con
clude to wait for the express. Hannah
was always in fine spirits, buoyed up by
the belief that she was making sure
progress in paying that debt. I should
as soon thought of discharging the
national obligation by peddling matches.
One warm Saturday aitcrnoon, when
I stood by her side, and she leaned back
fatigued, but distraetingly pretty with
the loose hair cm ling around her
temples, she inadvertently laid her hand
on the corner of the table next me. It
was growing thin and the H formed by
the blue veins on. the back, and which,
in the days of youthful simplicity sho
had told me stood for Harriman, stood
out with great distinctness.
I suggested being allowed to make an
rangement removing her from the
necessity of liquidating those debts.
Sho refused to listen. 1 pressed the
matter unavailinglv.
I then went to tho proprietor, told
him Miss Farley was an old schoolmate
and a friend of mine, who was heroically
trying to save the family residence for
her stepmother, and asked him it he
could not furnish her a better position;
but i rank is the most obtuse ot creatures.
He finally asked me if she could keep
books, ltemembering the splurges in
that useful epistle of hew, I felt by no
means confident, but said I:
' Give her tho books, anv wav, and
look to m for dampges."
Ho found that she wrote a neat hand,
and had a slight inkling of double
entry ; but when it, came to the subject
ot remuneration, and she asked him
how much he had paid his last book-
eeper, ho had tho stupidity to reply:
1 Ho had 800, but I shall allow vou
81,200.'
Ah! said she, " he was un old and
experienced bookkeeper, while I kuow
littlo about it. Why under such cir
cumstances do you increase tho salary V"
Frank wouldn't have scrupled at nn
entire series of equivocations in his own
behalf, but sinco only my interests were
at stake, his conscience became as ten
der as George ashington s. He finally
acknowledged that the increase was pro
vided lor bv a mend.
" I shall aeeopt the position at $800,"
said she, with dignity.
I went up and held a conversation
with Hannah, f "reasoned" with her;
I "set things in their true light;" I
" made matters clear." It did seem us
if sho might see, but she wouldn't.
Upon tlio urgent and repeated invita
tions of my mother she consented to
spend her Sabbaths at our place. She
wiuj in the frequent receipt of letters
from li3r stepmother, in which the
most anectionate sentiments were
couched in the most beautiful language,
and on Sunday evenings she used to
read me extracts from these letters with
tears in her eyes.
Tho pav-day came at length whereon
I was morally certain she would receive
enough to complete her payments. I
went to see her at her boarding-place
that evening, and broached the deferred
subiect. She attempted evasion, but I
had decided that if ever I was to have
my own way in this connection it was
time I began. The result was I went
homo with her the next day.
We found Mrs. Farley had just de
cided to marry the former chairman
of that board of road commissioners
who wouldn't fill up my father's mud-
puddle.
" I think, Hannah," said sho, reflect
ivcly, " that perhaps we'd better dispose
of tho property, and take our re
spective portions to purchase our trous
seaux with."
They did accordingly, and one " re
spective portion " was made up as quickly
as 1 could spur on an able and experi
enced corps ot dressmakers.
During the ' years that have elapsed
since that eventful period, our domestic
life has been sometimes critical, and
often peculiar, but always jolly. I've
never seen the hour when in the inmost
recesses of my heart I've regretted that
my father's family once resided opposite
that mud-puddle aud Hannah Aim.
Hjiriii gju-ld Rejuthl ami.
By a "Galway jury" is meant an
independent jury, neither to be brow
beaten nor led by the nose. In 1G;5
certain trials were held in Ireland, re
specting tho right of the crown to the
counties of Ireland. Leitrim, Boscom
mon, Sligo and Mayo gave judgment in
favor of tho crown, but Galway stood
out, whereupon each of the jury was
fined 20,000
Tho Golden Horn, the inlet of the
Bosphorous, on which Constantinople
stands, is so called from its shape and
beauty. The Golden Gate of Constanti
nople ; consist's of a triumphal arch,
surmounted with a hronzo statute of
Victory. It was added by Theodosius to
r...i..n..'o .....ii
FACTS AND COMMENTS.
Some learncdjpersons are advocating
tho theory that 'outbreaks of crimes are
due to sudden and peculiar meteorologic
charges. If the theory is correct it
seems to us that the criminal outbreak
per centage for the past winter should
bo about the highest on record.
An association of the shipowners and
shipmasters of Maine, with five hundred
substantial members, has been organized
in Augusta. They believe that the
groat prosperity of the country at large
is about to make itself felt in the ship
yards of Maine, and their purpose is to
aid in the revival of the great industries
for which the State was long famous.
The organization, which represents
many million dollars, was perfected by
the election of permanent officers who
have enough to stake to secure their
best services.
The laborers in the St. Gothard tun
nel have suffered from a mysterious
disease that long baffled all physicians ;
but an Italian phvsician, Dr. Giaccone,
has now traeoid it, with the aid of
microscopic investigation, to parasitic
worms that are engendered by the un
derground atmosphere and lodge in the
intestines of men working in it. A
Swiss physician, Dr. Sonderegge, has
supplemented this discovery by devis
ing a method of expelling the parasites
Tho two doctors are hailed in Switzer
land as benefactors of their race.
An article in a California newspaper
gives some interesting information in
regard to the present condition and
prospects of tho kingdom of King
Kalakaua the Sandwich Islands. The
native race it appears is dying out,
the terrible disease of leprosy being on
the increase. Since the reciprocity
treaty with the United States went into
eil'ect the labor conditions of the country
have been greatly improved, the chief
beneficiaries being the Chinese, who
raise the greater portion of the sugar
crop and who are m a male numerical
majority on the islands, llio elective
franchise is open to all, but thus far the
Chinese portion of the population mani
fest no desire to avail themselves of the
privileges of Hawaiian citizenship. The
tuture. ot tho islands is an extremely in
teresting question. If the lorces at
present iu operation are allowed toworic
unchecked the Mongolians will m a lew
years have complete control, and Hono
lulu will become a small Hong Kong.
How and to what extent such a condition
of affairs may affect American interests
is a question which the future alone can
determine.
Apropos of an urticle in its eoluinus,
tho Clirixtiau Union savs: It is worthy
note that the coffee-houses estab
lished in the chief English cities as a
means of keeping men away from liquor-
shops have proved a decided success,
many of them paving an annual divi
dend of ten per cent, upon their capital.
J. hev .supplv conee, tea, cocoa, soups,
cold meat and bread and but ter of good
pituity and at low prices. Newspapers
are Kept in abundance, and customers
arc welcome to remain and read as long
as they please. Thus the coffee-house
serves tho purpose of a cheap club.
Similar experiments have proved
successful in Boston, Troy, St. Louis,
and other points in this country. It is a
matter lor profound astonishment that
the organized workers against intem
perance have paid so littlo attention to
tho palpable facts that drinking is partly
due to the tact that men are thirsty,
partly to the desire for social good
fellowship, and neither thirst nor
fellowship is adequately provided for in
any of our great towns and cities except
by the liquor-shops.
Iu 18H0 there were in the United
States no less than 170 boiler explo
sions, which killed 25'J persons and
wounded 555. It is remarkable that,
while the number of explosions per
month varies slightly, and is rather
larger iu winter months, the number of
resultantcasualties was decidedly largest
in June. Probably that was due to
the exceptional character of that month's
disasters; but it is only fair to expect
that violent deaths will increase regu
larly with the return of each excursion
season. A classification of the boilers
shows that forty-seven were used in
wood-working mills. Presumably wood
was used for lucl under such boilers,
and the much less equable temperature
produced by tho burning of wood as
compared with coal would go far to ex
plain the undesirable pre-eminence,
The next most numerous class of explo
ded boilers numbered nineteen, and
were used in paper, flouriDg, pulp and
grist mills and elevators. Eighteen
exploded boilers were the motors of lo
comotives and fire-engines, fifteen
were marine boilers, thirteen wero
" portables," being used in hoisters,
thrashers, pile-drivers, cotton gins, etc.,
and thirteen were used in iron works.
As compared with 1879 there is a large
increase in these figures. In 187!)
there were but 132 explosions, which
killed 208 persons aud wounded 2M0.
This fact is traced to the reviv al of
trade, which demanded the new uso of
idle boilers, and in many cases the over
working of others.
The celebrated Italian embalmer,
Paolo Gorini, lately died at Lodi, aged
sixty-eight. His whole life was devoted
to science, and ho died a beggar. The
State gave him a splendid funeral, and
the day after his burial a subscription
was started to raise him a monument.
Among the peasantry in a certain por
tion of Germany it is considered a sign
of good luck' to meet a pig. Some
shrewd goldsmith utilized the idea by
manufacturing charms, or pig emblems,
which became all tho rage in Germany,
and which have lately been the fashion
in this country.
The demand for George Eliot's bools
has been' so great since her death that
the London publishers have not been
ablo to meet it. Ono thousand readers
inquired for " Adam Bode " in one week
of a leading circulating library.
.THE FARM AXD HOUSEHOLD.
Pens.
For an early crop of peas plant early j
in iuu opuuK, jusu tia nuuu un tumt: is liu
longer any frost in the ground. Choose
a southern exposure, and, if possible, a
northwestern protection. The warmer
the place the better. It is our practice,
as far as possible, to prepare our ground
the autumn previous, so that the fertil
izers may become finely mixed with the
soil. We have found old leaf mold a
very good manure. We prefer double
rows for at least tho tall sorts, which
should be bushed when they are five
inches high, having previously been
hood. The rains will pack the earth
around the young plants, and it needs
good stirring. The double rows wo
make seven inches apart, and from that
to tho next double about four feet. It
has been our plan in order to get a good
start to sift some earth and fertilizers,
get a number of pans or boxes, soak
tho peas over night and plant
in tho boxes, two inches of tine
earth to a good sprinkling of
soaked seed, one after the other to
the top. The boxes are put in a warm
room in the sunshine, or near a stove,
and tho earth is kept moistened with
tepid water. When the ground is ready
the boxes are taken into the garden,
the earth and peas are gently dumped
out, and, as the peas will be found to
have sprouted, they must bo carefully
dropped into tho drills, with fear that
the sprouts may be broken. Then they
must be gently covered. We plant pea's
so that they are not more than a half
inch apart, sometimes almost touch, and
our success with peas has been very
great. In fact, we had tho vanity to
try and show our country neighbors
that a family can have plenty of peas,
and good ones. As to varieties our
tastes may be. peculiar, but wo do not
like the little, round, plump peas, and
would rather take castor oil than a dose
of the old-fashioned marrowfats.
Wo like the wrinkled, green,
sweet sorts, which, when cooked, are
surrounded with juice and eaten with a
spoon. Tho Philadelphia pea is very
early, and is a saleable early pea in
market. For our personal use we do not
want it. The American wonder is a nice
wrinkled dwarl pea needing no brush
but its coat is considerable, and we
do not propose it for any but the rich.
r or a somewhat tall, early pea needing
brush, give us the Alpha. It is tho ice
cream of peas. It is very early. One
year it did not yield well with us; the
next year it did. The Premium Gem is
our favorite early dwarf pea the most
satisfactory early sort that we have ever
planted. Next to that we like the Littlo
Gem. No one can go wrong on that
variety. It is dwarf. For safety and for
general early crop we commend it. For
tho later general crop there is no choice.
Of course the Champion of England is
the champion of peas.
Llllizlua Hone Uiimi.
As good a way as any to utilize bone
dust, mid have it prepared for immedi
ate plant food, is to mix it with barn
yard manure. Heat is soou generated,
and decomposition both of the bone
dust and the manure takes place. Barn
yard manure generally lacks phosphoric
acid, while bones contain a largo quan
tity. A ton of pure bone dust contains
as much nitrogen as eight and a hall
tons of fresh stable manure of an aver
age quality. Tho quantity of phos
phoric acid contained in tho manure
depends upon the kind of food consumed
by the animals, though the ton of bone
dust contains as much phosphoric acid
as 110 tons of stable manure, but. one
tone of the latter contains more potash
than five tons of bone dust.
In the Poull l'Y-1 Inline.
A correspondent of the Country Gum tin
man says : Kerosene and laid arc as
essential in tho poult rv-house as soap
and water iu the nursery, and I would
as soon think ot going w ithout tho latter
as the former. I never see a sign of a
louse unless we are careless and neglect
the remedy, or rather tlio preventive.
I do not wait until the chickens are ten
or twelve days old, for by that time the
mischief would be done; but I begin
the fall before, aud all through the
winter, once iu two or three weeks, rub
the roosting poles with a mixture of
lard and kerosene, half and half, and
put a littlo on the corners of the nest
boxes. When I set a hen I use new,
soft, clean hay, and on each corner of
the box pour clear kerosene; it must
not touch the eggs. If very late in tho
season, it will bo best to repeat this
a few days before hatching. I take the
chicks out as fast as they are dry, and
keep them by the kitchen stove in
basnet under a woolen blanket for one
or two days, men each ehicii s head is
rubbed with the anti-lonso mixture,
and any stray insect that may have lain
iu wait in some unguarded spot will
never obtain a meal from that chick
Care must be takeu not to put on too
much, or it will run into the eyes,
Once a young assistant used it so freely
that thirty chicks became entirely blind,
and died from starvation.
IluUHclluIfl II 1 11 In.
If, when bread is taken from the oven.
the loaves are turned topside down in
the hot tins and are allowed to stand a
few minutes, the crust will be tender
and will cut easily. I
When washing fine laces, do not use
starch at all; in the last water in which
they are rinsed put a little fine white
sugar, dissolve it thoroughly, and the
result will be pleasing.
No housekeeper should put quick-!
silver on her bedsteads. The mineral
is absorbed by those sleeping upon
them, causing paralysis and many other
serious and fatal diseases.
To keep bread moist, have the dough
stiff when it is set for the last rising.
The larger the proportion of flour to
that of moisture in the dough the longer
it will keep moist. After the bread is
baked and cold, put in a tin. box or an
earthen jar with close cover, and keep
it covered tightly, uread thus made
and kept cool, and always from tho air,
will last and be moist for a week,
The Brooklet.
Whenco comest thou, Oh, little brook,
With silvery voice and limpid look?
lieveal to ono all worn with strife
The secret of thy joyous life.
Tho rock's dark bosom'is my home,
Through field and woody glen I come;
Tho kindly heavens, sercno and cool,
Are mirrored iu my shining pool. .
And so my life is full and frco,
What matter whore my course shall bo ?
Sinco He who brought mo to the day
Will surely guide me all the way.
From the German oj Qathe,
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Tho Bay of Naples and the Bay of
Biscay what horseman has a finer pair
of bays. Steubeneille Herald.
A down-East girl who is engaged to ft
lumberman says sho has caught a feller.
JJostun Bulletin.
There is nothing on earth so lowly but
that duty giveth it importance except
sifting ashes on the nigh side of a
healthy wind.
Boers are not by any nieans confined
to South Africa. It is astonishing how
many are to be met with on a single
day's travel in the United States.
A man who offered bail for a friend
was asked by the judge if he had any
incumbrance on his farm. "Oh, yes,"
said he " my old woman."
Some enterprising searcher after
painful realities tells us that the cucum
ber was cultivated 3,000 years ago.
Tho inference is probably drawn from
the fact that many bodies at that early
date were interred iu a sitting posture,
as if doubled up with the cramps.
Modem- Arro.
" I'm sitting on the style, Mary," he
warbled, as he unconsciously planked
lumself on her new white bonnet. "Oh,
whisper what thou fcelest," she mur
mured, as she promptly introduced an
inch and a half of shawl pin through his
epidermis. Eb'rcilnd lluilwuy Journal.
There is in Baltimore a boy named '
' Ollie," who is just out of dresses. A
friend of the family asked Ollie "Whoso
bov he was? "Im mammy's boy."
W hy, Ollie !" said his father, reproach
fully. " Yes," continued Ollie, " and
l ni papu s bov. now can thai tier
asked the friend. "Why, my gracious!
was the reply, " can't a wagon have two
horses?"
Pre-histoiie Footsteps.
Oregon, the Arcadia for the red man,
rich in minerals and fertile in soil, held
a numerous population oi aborigines
who still flourished when the white man
set foot within its borders. They dwelt
near tho rivers and the shore of the
ocean, were warlike, and primitive, noat-
1 their canoes upon the streams and
lived their wild life undisturbed. Less
than u century has swept them into obli
vion, leaving only a lew bleached bones,
a few stone idols, and a few implements
f warfare and domestic use. No earth
works, nor temples, houses, nor pottery
remain. Yet tradition and the great
hell beds prove that numerically these
people were strong. Thinking of their
sudden extinction, we may well wonder
at the brevity of human life and the effac
ing power of time, who passes his hand
over a race and it disappears like
figures under a sponge. These peoplo
worshiped, for they have left their
idols. They joyed, sorrowed and loved
in their rude way, and now there remains
of llicm onlv a few feeble creatures in
the lowest scale of Immunity.
Then there are tho mound builders, of
Ohio, that curious race long departed,
wlio left their earthworks to puzzle a
civilized people. One writer describes
tho observatory mounds as forming a
chain of signal stations so located as to
communicate across the country from
valley to valley. They are built upon
the highest hilltops, and undoubtedly
served the peoplo who built them as
lelegiaphs whose messages were beacon
lights. Inside these mounds is an arch
of clay and stone and an altar. These
and some flint implements are all that
remain of those vanished tribes. That
they leaned toward civilization, and had
a certain form of government is a theory
not unsupported by the traces they have
left. They tilled the soil and cultivated
art in figures sculptured from tho hardest
stone.
Another race was contemporaneous
with the mound builders. They were
agricultural and ingenious, and they
wrote their history for us in curious pot
tery. Earthen vessels shaped liko tor
toises, shells, fish aud birds aro found in
tho pottery mounds in Missouri. They '
carved stone with great skill, too. Hu
man heads of almost Grecian beauty
adom many of their woiks. They, too,
suddenly disappeared, leaving behind
them a wonderful record in stone and
pottery. All that remains of their pa
tience, industry and skill are found in
their mounds, graves, and in the relics
scattered about the vicinity of the habi
tations. What wind of fate swept them
out of existence is not yet known.
Near Joliet, Illinois, a row of human
skeletons with copper ear ornaments be
side them were found recently, aud sev
eral sections of Minnesota send news of
similar discoveries. Ono mound revealed
six hundred skeletons, supposed to be
the remains of Indian braves slain in a
buttle which tradition says took place
several centuries ago between the Chip
pewas and Sioux, the former winning the
dar.
Everywhere over the earth lie buned
the tribes and races that flourished be
fore history was, and before civilization
began. How limitless is the store of
facts the silent earth holds bidden in
her bosom 1 Ages pass and races perish
yet she loses not the record of either.'
Under her fresh and smiling face, green
with verdure and might with flowers, are
the tombs of the centuries. Wonderful
are the forces of nature, the laws of
change. Who can contemplate the
mighty evolution of the universeand ot
feel the egotism of his soul grow less, and
h -ar in fancy the tramp of the army of
u race in their march toward oblivion ?