VOL. XI. MDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1881. NO. 15. The Mjl of the Baggage Man. With many crTe "lp trunks I pitch, With many a shout and sally; At station, Biding, crossing, switch, On mountain grade or valley. I hearo, I push, I Bling, I toss, With vigorous endeavor; And mon may smile, and men may grow cross, But I sling my trunks lorever, Ever I Ever I I bust trunks forever. The paper trunk from country town I balances and dandles; I turn it ouco or twice around, And pull out both the handles. And grumblo over traveling bags And monstrous sample cases, But I can smash the maker's brags Like plaster paris vases I They holler, holler, as I go, But they can't stop nie never; For (hoy will learn just what I know, A trunk won't last forever 1 Ever I Never 1 And in and out I wind about, And here I smash a Wester; I turn a grip-sack inside out Throe times a day at least, sir; I tug, I jerk, I swear, I sweat, I toss the light valises; And what's too big to throw, you bet, I'll tire it round in pieces. They murmur, murmur, everywhere, But I will hoed them never I For women weep and strong men swear, I'll claw their tnuika forever I Ever ! Ever 1 I'll bust trunks forever, I've cowed the preacher with my wrath. I Bcorn the judge's ermine; I'vo spilled both brief and sermon, And bonks, and socks, and cards, and strings Too lr.uneious to mention; And babies' clothes and women's things, Beyond my comprehension, I've npilbd, oud scattered, and Blung As far as space eo.ilil sever; And scatter, scatter, old or young, I'll scatter things forever 1 Evert Ever i Scatter things forever. It. J. Burdilte. A LAWYER'S STORY. "I never would convict a man on cir cumstantial evidence if I were a juror never ! never 1" The speaker was a distinguished crim inal lawyer of nearly forty years' active practice, and whose fame extended far beyond the limits of Lis own State. We had been discussing a recent otmm cletn e in vlncli, upon purely circuru fitaiiiirtl evidence, a-uiau had been con victed of an atrocious murder, although many of those most iamiliar with the lr cumsUuces of the case entertained the gravest doubts about the justice of his conviclim; and he h.d been swung oft' into otornitv protet-tin" his absolute in nocence with his latest breath, and cal' infs npnn On-1 to send his soul straight way to perdition if he wero not telling the truth. As most of our party were lawyers the conversation naturally enough drift ed into a di-cussion of the dangers aris ing from convicting accused persons, whose own mouths wero closed, upon purely ciicuujsiatitiul evidence, in the absence of any direct and positive proof of guilt, and case after case was eited in which, after conviction and execution, the entire innocence of the supposed cul prits had been clearly demonstrated. Most of the laymen present agreed with the distinguished lawyer, whose very positive expression of opinion has been quoted, while the majority of the law yers contended, with that earnestness for which lawyers are noted when advocat ing their own sido of any question, that justice could never miscarry when care ful judges guard against the possibility of unsafe verdicts by refusing to permit a conviction except when every link in the chain of circumstantial evidence has been established beyond doubt, and the whole chain been so perfect and com plete as to leave no room for any con sistent hypothesis of innocence. "The first murder caso I ever tried," Raid one of them, "was stranger thau fiction, as you will admit, and is quite as remarkable as any of the cases you have referred to where innocent men have been wrongfully convicted on cir cumstantial evidence. It ought to have been reported as an example of the unreliability of the direct and pos itive testimony of eye-witnesses who tell what they believe to be the truth He then related the main points of what was certainly a most remarkable and dramatic trial, and which consti tutes a fair offset to some of the mem orable cases to be found in every work on circumstantial evidence. The nar rative produced so strong an impression upon my mind ihat subsequently, with his consent, I put it into the following shape, having hrst carefully compared it with his notes of testimony takej upon the trial ot tne case, it can be relied upon as absolutely correct, with the exception that I have used fictitious names, for reasons which will readily be appreciated when it is known that most of the actors in the drama are still living. One winter evening, about 8 o'clock, in the early days of the war. in the quiet little town of , while natroutiK the streets to pieK up strag glers from the camp on the outskirts of the ton, Corporal Julius Fry was shot aud killed by one of three men of bad character, who were in company and upon terms of open enmity with the soldiers. . The men were arrested, com mitted to prison and brought to trial at the next term of the court. Two of them were gamblers and desperadoes. and supposed to have more than once had their bauds stained with human blood. The third, whom I shall call Short, though beating an unenviable reputation, was regarded as one unlikely to slay a fellow-man, except under com pulsion of circumstances. On account (if the character of the men and the trouble they had already brought upon qniet, law-abiding citizens, the senti ment of the whole community was stronclv against them. In order to clearly understand the force of the testimony given upon the trial and the subsequent result it is im portant to bear in mind the physical pe culiarities, dress and general appear ance of each of the three prisoners. Short was a small man of not more than five feet six inches in height, slen dt r, weighing scarcely one hundred and thirty pounds, with bright, fiery red hair and side-whiskers, and at the time of the murder wore a white felt hat and an old light blue army overcoat. Ryan was fully six feet in height with robust frame, with black hair and mus tache, dressed in dark clothes, and wore a black Derby hat. Grey was a heavy, broad-shouldered man of medium height, weighing fully two hundred pounds, with a full, black beard reaching nearly to his waist But as the evidence subsequently showed that he had not fired the shot, it is un necessary to describe his appearance more minutely. Certainly it is difficult to imagine two men more unlike than Short and Ryan, or less Table to be mistaken for each other, even by strangers, much less by their acquaintances. There was no possibility here for a case of mis taken identity. Short and Ryan were tried together with their consent Grey having asked for and obtained a separate trial and each was defended by separate counsel. After the preliminary proof relating to the post-mortem examination, the cause of death and the identification of the body of the deceased as the person named in the indictment, the common wealth called as its first witness a woman, Mary Bowen. She bore a bad reputation, but nobody questioned her purpose to tell, reluctantly, it is true, the whole truth. The prisoners were all her fii nds, and were constant vis itors to the drinking saloon of which she was proprietress. She was a woman of powerful physique, almost masculine frame, great force of char acter and more than ordinary intelli gence. From her testimony it appeared that a colored woman with whom she had had some dispute had hit her ou the head with a stone and ran, and the three prisoners, coming up at the mo ment, started with her up the street in pursuit of the fugitive. Although the night was dark there was snow on the ground, aud a gas-lamp near by gave suflicient light to enable one to recog nize a person with ease some feet away. Afterrunning about one hundred yards the pursuers came to the corner of an alley and stopped under the gas-lamp, being challenged by the deceased, who was in uniform, in company with one of his squad, hue swore that when tho corporal called " halt," Short, whom she imd known intimately for years, re plied, " Go to " and while standing at her side, so that their elbows were touching, both being immediately uu- ler the gaslight, he pulled out a pistol, pointed it at the deceased, who was lour or five feet from him, and fired and then an down tho alley, the deceased pursu- ng him. She heard four or five more shots fired, and immediately the deceased eturned wounded, and Short disap peared. While tho shots were being iired she saw both iiyan and Lrrey stand ing at the corner soruo feet away from her, and after that they separated and she went home. It was also proved that this alley was bounded on either side by high fences difficult to climb, and led down to a stream of water about fifty feet wide and three or four feet deep. No traces of footsteps were found in the snow except those of one man leading lown into this stream, and it was evi dent that the person who had fired had not climbed either fence, but had waded througn the stream and disappeared on the other side. The next witness was the soldier who stood close by the deceased when tho first shot was fired, and who, not know ing either of tho prisoners, described the person who had fired and ran down the alley as the man with red hair and side whiskers, dressed in a light-blue army overcoat and white soft hat, and upon being directed to look at the three prisoners immediately identified Short as the man whom he had seen do the shooting. The testimony of these witnesses was in nowise shaken upon cross-examination. Then the sworn ante-mortem state ment of the deceased, taken by a magis trate, was read to the jury. He said that he had known Short personally for some time, but bad never had any diffi culty with him. He fully identified him as the man who had fired the first shot and then ran down the alley, firing one shot after another until he fired the last and fatal shot almost in the face of the deceased. He also fully described the clothing worn by Short as it had linen described bv the other witnesses. These were all the witnesses to the occurrence, except the prisoners them selves, and, of course, they could not be heard. The case against Short seemed to be as conclusively made out as though a score of witnesses had sworn that they had seen him do the shooting. IN either tne judge, tne jury nor tne spectators entertained the slightest doubt of his guilt, and when tr e com monwealth at this point closed its case. it seemed as though the fatal rope was already around his neck and Ins escape impossible. Kyan heaved a sigh of relief which was audible throughout the whole court-room, for he was safe; there was not one word of testimony against him, or any circumstance tending to show any previous arrangement or concert of action between him and Short. After a whispered consultation be tween the counsel for the defense, one of them rose and moved the court to direct the jury to forthwith return verdict of " not guilty " as to Ryan, in order that he might be called as a wit ness for the other prisoner. This was resisted by the district attorney, and after lengthy and elaborate arguments the court decided that it was bound to errant the motion, and, accordingly, Ryan was declared "not guilty" and the verdict resorded. Then came a scene as dramatic to those present as anything ever wit nessed on the stage. Without any opening speech by Short's counsel, Ryan, in obedience to a nod from his attorney, stepped out of the prisoners' i dock and into the witness-box, looked around the court-room, took up the Bible and was sworn to tell " the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Every head was bent forward, eveiy ear was on the alert, every eye fixed on the witness something start liner was exnected. Would he attempt to show that Short had done the shoot ing in self-defense? That seemed the only thing possible. Uut how could he be believed in the face of the positive testimony of three witnesses, two of them living and in the court-room, one of them dead murdered? Ryan stood for a moment looking down, and then slowly lifting his eyes to the bench, in a silence in which the falling of a feather might have been heard, he said: " May I ask the court a question ?" The venerable judge, evidently sur- Erised at being interrogated, looked at im and said: " Certainly, sir." " I understand that I am acquitted," said Ryan, pausing for a moment and then continuing: "I want to know from the court whether anything I may say now can ever be used against me in any way ? " What did he mean ? What need for that question? Every one looked at his neighbor inquiringly. The Hushed face of the judge showed that he, at least, understood what it meant an attempt to swear his guilty companion out of tho hangman's grasp. Then, in a tone of unmistakable indig nation, came the answer: " I am sorry to say, sir, that nothing you may say now can be used against you; that is, on a trial for murder. You have been acquitted." Ryan's face grew pale and then red, and he said, slowly aud distinctly: " It was I who fired all the shots not Short." Most of the faces in the court-room wore looks of incredulity; some of in dignation at the hardened wickedness of the man who had just been declared innocent, and who, by his own state ment, had been guilty of murder, if he was not guilty of perjury. Uut quietly and calmly, without a tremor, as coolly as though he were de scribing some trivial occurrence which he had casually witnessed, Ryan went on, step by step, detailing all that had occurred, and when he had finished his story there was probably not a person present who was not fully convinced not only that Ryan had told the simple truth, but also that he had himself fired tho fatal shot in self-defense, or at least under such circumstances of danger as would have led any jury to acquit him. Ho detailed how he had fired the first shot from a small, single-barreled pistol in the air without any purpose except to give his cuallengor a Ecare, and hen ran down the nllev, and upon being closely pursued by the deceased with saber drawn and raised to strike, he was compelled to pull out a revolver and lire several shots toward his pursuer, who was rapidly gaining on him, to keep h lai back; and when he had but one shot left lie stumbled over a large stone and fell on his knees, and at thii moment the deceased struck at him with the saber, cutting him slightly in the cheek, and, being thus pressed, he aimed aud fired the last shot, which subsequently proved fatal. He further told how, upon recovering his feet, he ran, waded through the stream, and finding that he had lost his hit when he fell, retraced his steps, recrossed tho stream, found the hat and then went to a hotel, where he was seen by several witnesses to dry his wet clothing. His manner, his bearing and his story con vinced his hearers that he was telling the truth. But, so that nothing might be want ing if any doubt remained in the minds of the judge or jury, witnesses of un doubted veracity were called who cor roborated him as to the condition of his clothing and the cut on his check within fifteen minutes after the occurrence. Besides, it was shown that, although the man who had tired had waded through the stream, Short's clothing was perfectly dry. It s unncessary to say that Short was promptly acquitted and warmly con gratulated on cne of the narrowest es capes ever made by any man in a court room. Nothing could have saved him had the court refused to direct the ac quittal of Ryan and allow him to testify. The deceased corporal, the soldier and Mary Bowen were mistaken. That was all there was about it. So much for the occasional unrelia bility of the direct testimony of honest eve-witnesses. And so much, also, for giving the ac cused an opportunity to be heard on tho witness-stand, tho denial of which by the law is one of the relics of barbarism which still disgraces its administration in some States at this late day. The Nihilistic Organization. It is found impossible for the Ens sian government to get into the Nihilis tic circle, th( Nihilists being too loyal to one another, too well informed and too intelligently organized. For in stance, the government has learned that one of the rules of the Nihilists is that every member shall return to his lodg' ings every twelve hours, when one of his companions pays him a visit to see if all is right. When the visit of the inspector is made, if the lodger is absent, it isconcluded that he has been arrested, and the inspector makes away with everything of a compromising nature, The same rule forbids any Nihilist arrested to tell his name or address un til twenty-four hours pass. Tiie dis covery of this rule was made by tho police m the case of Isaieff. No tor ments could diaw from him his name or address until the day after his arrest. when he gave both. The police went to his house and found nothing but a small pile of ashes before Isaiott s fire place. The discovery of this rule only tends to increase the government s uis may at the completeness of the danger surroundi g it, as, in order even to find out who the Nihilist inspectors are, it would have to ascertain the identity of every man found making a visit. When a baseball club is beaten with out making a run they are said to be " whitewashed," but we notice they generally look pretty black all the tame. Boston Commercial. SUNDAY BEADING. Kentucky's "Mountain Moors." A letter to the Louisville, (Ky., tour- ier-JoitriKit wives an interestin t account of one George O. Barnes, who is holding largely-attended revival meetings in Kentucky. The correspondent says: Ho began his labors at Lebanon. where he preached a month without re sults. Such a beginning would natur ally damp the ardor of one upheld by ordinary faith ; but it did not deter Mr. Barnes. He left God's work to God's will, and leaving Lebpnon struck out for the mountains. On the twentieth of February, 1877, he pnrchased a little reed organ, and Miss juano, his daugh ter, began to assist him in his work. Ever since these twe have r reached, sung and prayed the gospel throughout the mountains and wilderness, holding their services in winter in court houses and in summer in the cool shade of the woods. When Mr. Barnes began his work he concluded, like Mr. Moody, to take Saturday for rest, preaching every other day in the week. At first he used a balsam for his throat to strengthen his voice. As he proceeded tne light of the work became brighter in his mind. He concluded to let God take care of his throat and quit tie balsam. Months afterward he concluded that he needed no rest on Saturdays, and that God would sustain his strength. For eighteen months, therefore, he has not missed preaching two sermons every day and three on Sun day. Services are about two and a half hours in length. II he leaves one sta tion to travel to auothct, he stops on the way to hold his service in the after noon. So eagerly is his coming expect ed, that whenever he holds one of those transitory services, some convert rides ahead in tho morning to inform the people where he will preach. The news goes from mouth to mouth and flies like the Scottish torch from cot tage to cottage. SigEal fires lighting the mountain fastnesses of tho moon shiners could not startle the people more. When the great preacher ar rives there are usually hundreds and sometimes thousands githercd to hear him. They come afoot on horseback and in wagons for miles about. When he has preached they depart, except those who, rendered eager by his elo quence and simplicity, ride alter him to tho next town to hear him. Often when he enters a mountain hamlet, alter having preached by the wayside, he is the head of a caravan of followers and eager listeners. All through those trackless mountains he has pushed his way with his wife and daughter and their little reed organ, which has been m use four years, and is to-day in per feet tune, without having once been touched by a tuner. If vouask Brother Barnes about tha organ he will tell you God keeps the organ in tune Miss Marie plavs it without teach ing, knowing nothing of music, mid it is in niost exquisite tonal purity. Through tho mountains Mr. Barnes goes much as Christ went among the Jews. He is hailed every' where. He talks to them in a lanmiagc they know. He is a pure, genial, syui pathetic man. His faith is lifted by his evident sincerity avay above the mark of ridicule, except from denominational Christians. Where he goes he gains audience from the busiest. The farmers neglect their planting and plowing, the merchants close their business houses in the afternoon, the lawvers pnt down their briefs. In Breathitt county, whore civil war was threatened, Judge Randall adjourned court daily at 11 o'clock, in order that Barnes might preach two hours. Judge Randal! said the preacher was stronger than the whole State militia. While there tho lawless ele inent was powerless. In less than three weeks he had registered .ibo converts, He preaches irresistibly. His Bible ex planations are clear, simple and lucid All doctrinal difficulties disappear, and the ministry flock to hear him like their people. They sit amazed under the simple power and child-like faith of the great preacher. All he asks is that you shall want to know Christ and receive God's mercy if it is offered. If vou do. then you are received. God will fashion the mind, he says, if the heart has longing for the truth. Religion New and Note. San Francisco has 110 churches of all denominations. The recent statistics of the Wesleynn Methodist gives a summary of 92,527 members, with 10,88i on probation They sustain 519 missionaries, and have raised for this purpose this last year about $800,000. They raised for the theological schools about $50,000, and for home missions and other purposes 83o,000 more. They have o,(j7o Sun day-schools in Great Britain alone, with 787,183 scholars. The colored Baptists in tho United States number about 800,000. The American Baptist Missionary Union closed its financial year with a debt of less thau 820,000. The Home Mission society will carry over a debt of 830,000. The report of the Illinois Sunday school association states that there are 0,316 Sunday-schools in Illinois, with a total membership of 553,300 and 4L7, 470 in regular attendance. An evangelist exclaimed in Spring field, Mass., a few nights ago: "If any of the churches are too nico for poor people, I hope God will strike them don n with lightning 1" The west front of St. Alban's Abbey, England, is to be restored at an esti mated cost of 125,000. The Presbyterians have decided to ol 1 a Sunday-school assembly at As bury Park, N. J., commencing August 12, 1881, under the auspices of the committee on Sunday-schools of the synod of New Jersey. The 382,920 Congregationalists in the United States cave last year for their re ligious work 83,692,922.21, or an aver age of nearly 810 per member. We hear of a man who justifies his meanness toward his wife by asserting that he and she are one, and, therefore, by refusing to furnish her money he practices the heroio virture of self-denial. The City of Tunis. An Italian proverb says, " See Naples and then die," and there is also an Arabian saying to tho same effect as regards Tunis J but to the European traveler the Mohammedan city, with its mosques, its minarets, its huge palms and fig trees, and, above all, the great fortress that dominates its site, will always be preferred. Unfortunately, on ianding the pleasing illusion is peedily lost, and that which appeared om afar as a succession of fine streets and princely residences is found to be a labyrinth of small lanes, the buildings generally in a wretched state of dilapi dation and the narrow roadways filthyjin the extreme. Evidently there has never been any recognized plan in its construc tion, but of late years, sspeemUr since the occupation of Algeria by tne Drench, the influence of European residents has resulted in ameliorating and beautifying some of the open sites with which the city is studded, but which are mostly dedicated to cemeteries and to the ruins of palaces and strongholds that mark the salient history of Tunis since its foundation in the birth of our civiliza tion. The city may be divided into three parts, r jspectively devoted to the Europeans, the Arabs and the Jews. The square in which is situated the Ex change presents a fine appearance, be ing built with some semblance of regu larity, and containing the abodes of the consuls and rich foreign residents. This quarter assumes the liveliest and most picturesque oppearance during the busy hours of the day, when Arab, Moor, Turk, Frank and Jew meet in this, the principal mart of the northern coast of Africa, where are to be found all the products of this magnificent but as yet poorly explored continent. The upper part of tho city, forming species of amphitheater, is inhabited by the Mussulmans, and on the sum mit is the Jiaslah or citadel, which is justly celebrated for its Oriental mag nificence, the approaches being embel lished with massive Roman and Sara conic ruins, with fountains shaded by marble porticos wrought with the most intricate and elaborate devices, with the upper spaces studded with palm aud other tropical trees. The citadel itself must have formed a redoubtable stronghold during the middle ages, but with modern artillery its heavy embat tlemcnts could be breached in a few hours. It contains many monuments dedicated to the kings of Tunis, some huge towers on which are cut various texts from the koran, and an armory dating from the timo of Charles A'., of Spain, containing a most valuable collection of military tro phies. There is also an arsenal, a powder manufactory, and depots for provisions and supplies; indeed, the citadel is almost a complete city of itself, with its arcades, its galleries, its vaults and subterranean passages, in which, without a guide, it would be as easy to lose one's way as in tho cata combs of Rome. From the ramparts is a most magnificent view, but the chief attraction to the eye is the bey s palace, the Darel-bey, which is justlv con sidered as tho iinest type yet extant of the Moresque style of architecture, and superior even to the Alhambra in the beauty of its lace-like ornamentation and the brilliancy of the colored marble with which it is chietly adorned, llns superb building shows in all its purlieus that strange mingling of misery and magnificence that since the days of Haroun-Al-Kaschid aud the " Thou sand and One Nights" appears to be inevitable in all oriental palaces not sub ject to European rule. San Francisco Chronicle. How Russian Exiles Live. On his arrival the prisoner is driven straight to the police ward, where he is inspected by a police officer who is absolute lord and master of the district. This representative of the government requires of him to answer the following questions: Uis name I tlow old I Mar ried or single ? Where from? Address of parents or relations or friends? An swers to all which are entered in the books. A solemn written promise is then exacted of him that he will not give lessons of any kind, or try to teach any one; that every letter he writes will go through the ispravnik's hands, and that he will follow no occupation except shoemaking, carpentering or field-labor. He is then told that he is free but at the same time is solemnly warned that should ho attempt to pass the limits of the town he shall be shot down like a dog rather than be allowed to escape, and should he be taken alive shall be sent off to Eastern Siberia without further formality than that of the ispravnik's personal order. The poor fellow takes up his little bundle, aud fully realizing that he has now bidden farewell to the culture and material comfort of his past life he walks out into the cheerless street. A group of exiles, all pale and emaciated, are thore to greet him, take him to some of their miserable lodgings and feverishly demand news from home. The new-comer gazes on them as one in dream: some are melancholy mud, otheis nervously irritable, and the re mainder have evidently tried to find solace in drink. They live in commu nities of twos and threes, have food, a scanty provision of clothes, money and books in common, and consider it their sacred duty to help each other in every emergency, without distinction of sex, rank or 'age. The noble by birth get sixteen shillings a month from govern ment for their maintenance, and com moners only ten. Winter lasts eight months, a period during which the sur rounding country presents tho appear ance of a noiseless, lifeless, frozen marsh no roads, no communication with the outer world, no means of escape. In course of time almost every individual exile is attacked by nervous convulsions, followed by prolonged apathy and prostration. They begin to quarrel, and even to hate each other. Some of them contrive to forge false passports, and by a miracle, as it were, make their escape; but the greater ma jority of these victims of the Third Sec . - . . . . ii ? . tion either go ruau, commit suieiue or die of delirium tremens. Always willing to give his note The music teacher. FACTS AND COMMENTS. A Colorado judge recently cleared a desperado wiio hud eoniuif ted a foul murder, but the crowd hanered the rascal from the court-house window and told the judge that the next time he let a murderer go they would hang him. Thereupon his honor promptly sentenced three other murderers to be hanged. Utah is just now the chosen field for considerable Christian missionary work There are forty-four Presbyterian mis sionaries in the Territory, maintained at an annual cost of $30,001), the Congre gationalists are spending 8110,000 in new schoolhouscs and churches, the Meth odists have twenty missionaries on the ground and other d.iouihiutions are represented. These tremendous on slaughts have incited the Mormons to renewed zeal. The czar of Russia rules over au un dermined empire, and occasionally some portion of the explosive elements, crop- mg out. of the surface, is observed. CLis is the real significance of the inci dent of the other day, when a mine of gunpowder was found under a stone bridge at a steamer landing in St. Petersburg. The arrest of a couple of naval lieutenants at Cronstadt for ab stracting dynamite from the imperial stores only shows how slight a hold the czar has on his own picked officers. Some of the Nihilists, who are known as " .Federalists, have drawn up a scheme of reorganization which they propose to bring forward after the de struction of the present political regime. According to this scheme Russia would be split up into a number of small free states, which would only be connected with each other by a congress and a president, like the United States of America. Small and self-governing states are, they say, the primitive forms of Russian political life ; it was only Ivan the Terrible and his successor who, with the help of the Tartars, created tho present centralized and autocratic empire. Such a scheme would, it is bo 1 loved, find favor with many members of the constitutional party, who feel the difficulty of governing a nation of 80, 000,000 of people by a single central parliament, and also with some of the " old Russians," who dream of establish ing, in opposition to the civilization of the West, an improved civilization based on the institutions of ancient Russia. In the Nineteenth Century Mrs. Burr advocates a reform in dealing with the problem of crime which deserves care- tul consideration aud whicu will com mend itself to common sense on this side of the Atlantic as well as on the other. She points out the fact which both moralists and novelists have em phasized before this, that the seeds of crime are sown in young hearts before boys and girls have reached their teens, and that to leave little children to grow up under circumstances which almost drive them into pilfering and then pun ish them because they become thieves is at once au injustice and a folly. She proposes to cut off the supply of our prisons, and even of our reform schools, by putting the street Arabs under ten years of ago into homes no one of which should contain more than fifty or sixty children, who should be under the charge of carefully-instructed matrons, and should be clothed, fed andproperlv trained, and eventually provided with places where a healthful and productive industry would become possible for them. " Ihere is a new kind of hend in ex istence," Baid a postoffice detective to a correspondent of the Philadelphia lie- cord, " the postal card fiend, who came into existence with that species of epis tolary eflusion. The nuisance is a much greater one than you can imagine. No one who is not connected with the ser vice can imagine the number of scurril ous cards sent out. Ladies como to us some of them belonging to the first families of our city who are almost heartbroken over the open missives they have received. They do not want to expose the matter often it is the re suit of some family feud and so all we can do is to stop the cards here, while the villain is allowed to go free, have heard of a case lately where young wife was assailed in reputation by a former lover rejected of course who kept just within tho boundary of the law. The insinuating language was sullioiently veiled to keep the young husband uneasy, while it ate deep into the young bride's heart. It will kill her, as shq is dying slowly of the iu ward wound. Ot course ten years in prison would be light punishment for such a hend, but these people alway calculate on an unwillingness to prose cute on account of fears of publicity." An illustration of the value of revao cination is afforded by a report just fur nished by the chief medical officer of the general postoffice in England. This report relates to an average number of 10,504 persons employed in the postal service in London, all of whom have been required to undergo revaccination on admission to the service, unless that operation has been performed within seven years previously. Among these persons, during the ten years 1870-1879, there has not been a single fatal case of smallpox, and in only ten instances have there been non-fatal attacks, all of which wore of a very slight character. In the telegraph department, where the enforcement of revaccination has not been carried out with quite the same completeness, twelve cases have occurred in the same period among a stall averaging 1,458 in number. Eight of these attacks were of persons who had not been revaccinated, and one proved fatal. The remaining four were of re vaccinated persons, who all perfectly IDVUICICU mtUUU. lJLbbAJl, .ill. CAjfCll' once, like that of the nurses at the small' pox hospitals, seems to show that revac cinated persons enjoy absolute immu liity from severe attacks of smallpox and that their risk of catching that dis ease at all, even in its most modified form, is infinitesimal. Tho Skein we Wind. If you and I, to-day, Should stop and lay Our life-work down, and let our hand fal where they will Fall down to lie quite still And if some other liaifd thould come, and stoop to find The threads we carried, so that It could wind, Beginning where we stopped; If it should come to keep Our life-work going: seek To carry on the good dcBign Distinctively made yours, or mine, Wiat would it find? Some work we must be doing, true or false; Some threids wo wind; some purpose so exalt Itself that we look up to it, or down, As to a crown To bow before, aTi e weave threads Of different lengths and thickness some mere shreds And wind them round Till all tho skein of life is bound, Sometimes forgetting at tho task To ask The valuo of tho threads, or choose Strong stuff to use. Xo hand but winds some thread ; It cannot stand quite still till it is dead But what it spins and winds a little ekein. God made each hand for work not toil-stain Is required, but every hand Spins, though but ropes of sard. If love should como, J Stooping above when we are done. To find bright threads That we have held, that it may spin them longer find but shreds That break when touched, bow cold, Sad, shivering, portionless, the hands will hold The broken Btrands and know Fresh cause for woe, George Klinyle. HCM0B OF TIIE DAY. Josh Billings says he has never known a sekund wife but whnt was boss of the situashnn. "Will the coming man fly?" He probably will when the coming woman gets after him. The Detroit Free Press advises you to make weather predictions if you want to be talked about. The Rochester Democrat hears of couples being married on the run. Old man after them with a shotgun, per haps. We know a man so near-sighted that he can't recognize a creditor when he passes one on tho street. Keokuk Gate City. Soldiers are always the most adept lovers, because they learn how to pre sent arms and Balute. Uallimore Jivery Saturday. This is his first season on a farm, and he has planted ten acres with tomuto cans. He expects the ground will pro duce a heavy crop of canned tomatoes. Phdadclnhia Chronicle. A horse died in Campton, N. H., the other day in whose stomach was found fifty shingle nails and pieces ol hoop iron. Indigestion is the curse of our modern civilization. Lowell Citizen. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 'iheaddcst arc these: " Have you a ten ?'' --Keokuk Lonrtilutiun. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: " We haven't a ten." Stcubeitrtllc Herald. Can anybody tell us why a woman, emerging from a crowded car, always makes believe she is going to get out at one side of the platform, until two or three men have jumped ou in the mud, and then steps off at the other side ? She always does it ; and we want to know the reason why. Philadelphia Bulletin The yonntt folks will never be en tirely resigned to the introduction of the electric light into private residences until some means of turning it down are invented and applied. As it now is, you must havo the full blaze or Egyptian darkness. The latter is not exactly proper, and tho former, for ob vious reasons, will never do. Aieratea llaiUtay Journal. WISE WORDS. A man's good breeding is the best security against other people's ill man ners. Darkness, solitude and remorse are grim and hateful company. Those who hope for no other life are dead even for this. Great truths are generally bought, not found by chance. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hopo too much or dare too much. It is a great pity that some people grow bitter as they grow old. It seems as though the more teeth they lose the more they want to bito. There are men in the world who never make use of their opportunities. They couldn't weigh the chances of suc cess if they had as many scales as a fish. In seasons of adversity some men bear up under the stress of circum stances, while others beer up. The principal difference is seen in the purse and on the nose. Yon often gain more knowledge from shrewd though illiterate man than from a podautio scholar; there is gen erally more nourishment in a mess of oatmeal porridge than in a costly pud ding. If you aie a wise man you will treat the world as the moon treats it. Show it only one side of yourself, seldom Bhow your self too much at a time, and let what you show be calm, cool aud polished. But look at every side of the world. Oaths are vulgar, senseless, oflensive and impious; they leave a noisome trail npon the lips aui stamp odium upon the soil. They are inexcusable. They gratify no sense, while they out rage taste and dignity. There is no place in the wide world like home. It is the dwelling place of our hearts' treasure, and the first of our lives we owe to it and its inmates. To make it pleasant and attractive should be the aim of every man.