(. M ,' f i c ' , . ' . ? ! . , HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. XI. RIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA.,. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12. 1882. NO. 47. The Best That I Can. " I cannot do muoh," said a little star "To make the dark world bright I My silvery beam, cannot struggle far, Throngh the folding gloom of night t But I'm only a part of God's groat plan, And I'll cheerfully do the beat I can 1" What is the nee," said a fleecy cloud,' "Of those few drops that I hold ? Tlicy will hardly bend the lily proud, Though caught in hor onp of gold 1 1'ot I am part of God's groat plan, 80 my treasures I'll give as well as I can ?" A child went merrily forth to play, But a thought, like a silver thread, Kept winding in and out all day, Through the happy goldon head ; Mother said : "Darling, do all yon can, For you arc a part of God's groat plan 1" PhO know no more than the gloaming star, Nor the cloud with its chalice full, now, why, an t for what, all strange things were j 8I10 waB only a oliild at school 1 But tho thought, " It is part of God's great That even I should do all that I can I" 80 she liolpod a younger child along, Whi n U10 road was rough to tho foot, And she pans from the heart a little song That we all thought passing sweet j And hor father, a weary, toil-worn man, Baid I, "I, too, will do the beet I can." Our best I Ah ! children, tho best of us Must hide our faces away, When the Lord of tho vinej-ard conies to look At our tack at tho closo of tho day I But for strength from above, 'tis tho Master's plan, We'll pray, and we'll do tho best that we can A CONFESSION. MoRt nion would hesitate at telling such a story of themselves. But I am convinced that it will aff.ird a sugges tion of mercy toward Mich as do fall, and pome may bo turned a way from temp'ation by its recital. 1 hud been an under clerk in a large establishment, for many years. Natur ally economical, my pavings had at tained to Buch a resectable sura that I ventured upou married life, onite as much a a refuge from the monotony of my inexpensive stylo of living as in obedience to those yrarnings of nature which a man is either very foolish 01 very bad not to heed in dno season. Like most men, however, whose adven tures of this kind are not followed by tho comfort and ease which depend upon money for their possession, in the course of time I cumo to repent the un dertaking; for I was in debt, and my family had increased, while my income hud not kept pace with my expenses My wife lacked the courage to practice the proper self-denial which would be consequent upon a retrench nent of our expent.es. I whh daily nnno ed by duns. I hud borrowed money in eveiy avail able quarter, and a walk in the public streets was literally denied to me by the fear of encountering some one to whom I was in debt for house expenses. Ilv-turi.ing home late one night, jaded by a listless stroll throngh the town, I found the junior member of the firm awaiting me. The house had received intelligence, after business hours, of a transaction entered into on their ac count, which secured the immediate transmission to an isolated inland town if several thousand dollars, together with certain papers and statements necessary to conclude the affair. It was too important a matter to be intrusted to tho insecurity and uncertainty of the mail Upen a consultati jn of the mem bers ol the fhm I had been selected to perform the nccesf ary two days' jour ney. I accepted the mission with alac rity, for tho reason, among f thew, that it would bo such a recreation as would divert my thoughts for a time from tho perplexities of my miserable condition. With tho usual foresight of the firm everything necessary to my prompt de parture had been prearranged. The needful papers and accounts, and the indispensable money required to finish tho transactions, were placed in my bauds in an envelope addressed to the gentleman who had acted as agent of the concern in tho matter. A letter of instructions were also inclosed. I remember well the bright Septem ber morning cn which I started on horseback and alone on my jouruey, of which I accomplished half the first day, arriving at a farmhouse, whose occu pants unhesitatingly granted my peti tion for a share for tho night In ita humble hospitality. The weather had grown colder as the evening came on, and by the time I had reached tho house I experienced a sen sible chill. I had with me a flask of liquor, and was furnished, at my re quest at bedtime, with a small quantity cf hot water with which to compound a sort of punch, as an antidote to the oold I apprehended having taken. I had removed the package of money from my pocket and laid it on the table", with a view of putting it under my pil low before going to bed. As it lay on the table the address was uppermost; on the left-hand upper corner was a memorandum, "85,000 inclosed." I was standing with my back to the door. Succeeding a few moments of entire silence I heard a step behind me, and I almost thought a breath upon my face. Taming suddenly round I beheld my host with the hot water I had called for in a tumbler in his hand. He was 2uite beside me, and his eyes rested, or fancied they rested, on tho package upon the table. I must confess I was sensibly startled by this incident My concern was not diminished by observ ing that he had removed his boots from his feet, and was then standing as he had come up, in his stockings. My first im pulse and act was to take the water out of his hand. Not being quite ready lo use it I put the envelope of money on the top of it as the moht convenient thing to keep it hot. I did not turn the su perscription downward, because I feated it would betray the suspioion which. I now positively entertained of evil in tentions on the part cf my entertainer, who had quitted the room as noiselessly as he had entered. I imagined a great many ways in which he could have become acquainted with the cause of mj journey, and came rapidly ,to the conclusion that my employers' funds were in danger. That they were actually so became evident before the night had passed. I recalled the man's connte nanco vividly to my recollection, and examined from memory his features, so as to make some estimate of the char acter with which I had to-deal. Phy sically he was more than my equal. When I fisst alighted at the house it struck me I had seen him before, and after some moments of further and pro found reflection I distinctly recalled him to my mind as a merchant who had dealt with our firm during my early connection with it, and who Lad failed through the dishonesty of friends whom he had assisted. I remembered him as having boen spoken of as disgusted with trade, and as having sought a home in the wilderness with his family, and earning s living literally by the sweat of his brow. There were but two bedrooms in tho house, both on the same floor, a passage which commenced at the head of the stairs dividing them. While the thoughts which I have related were passing throngh my mind I heard voices in the other bedroom and quietly opened my door, which my host had closed behind him. Standing out in the passage I could distinguish a man's and woman's voice. At first their lan guage was unintelligible, but gradually my ear became accustomed to the duty I endeavored to put it to, and I could distinguish that the burden of their talk was their domestio expenses, and tho general current of their thoughts was the difficulty of getting throngh with certain undertakings they had in contemplaion or had commenced. It was evident that the man was more hopeful than the woman. My excited imagination at once framed the theory that the treasure in my possession was designed by them to solve this diffi culty, and that the reluctant man was heinar urgod on by tho less scrupulous or braver woman. A sudden movement of one of them toward tho door caused mo to retreat into my room. I heard the bolt of their door moved, and supposing it was to unfasten it, hurried back into my own apartment and caught at tho envelope, intending to hasten it out of sight. In my eagerness to grasp it, it fell off the tumbler with the wafcred sido upper most and opened I The wafers had been so far dissolved by the heat and moisture as to split in two, leaving one half of each (there were three) on the flap, and the other half of each on the body of the envelope. Meanwhile, there was no sign or sound of an inrond into my room, which I had seen it was impossible to fasten the door save by moving some of the furniture against if. I became convinced that as yet everything was safe, and yielding to a feeling of cnrkioily I drew the money from the inclosure and counted it over There were ten one thousand dollars bills I I was astounded, and for the time forgot the fear that so recently har assed me. I looked at the memorandum on the back of the envelope. It was "$5,000." The letter was opened be'pre me. I read it over. It named ' jU00 as the sum inclosed. There was evidently an error. I counted it over again. Ten thousand dollars was the sum before mo I Again and again I counted it. I had been used to handling large sums and counting large sums of money daily ; but I actu ally found more .difficulty in arriving at the actual count of ten bank bills before me than I ever before or since encountered in counting any sum, how ever large or however numerous the notes. Finally, putting a chair against the door, I spread the notes out singly on the little table, in a row, and counted them with my finger. Then I made two rows of five notes each and again counted them ; then five rows of two each and counted them. I finally, though slowly, became satisfied that I had in my possession double the amount of money I was expected to deliver to "my employers' anent. Temptation enteied my soul. live thousand dollars would relieve roc of all my debts. Here it was within ! my grasp. I had but to seal iiu the en velope by rewetting the wafers, inclosing but half the money, and deliver it sealed to the agent, and my trust would be, to all appearances, faithfully discharged. Once tho thought occurred to rae that possibly it was a trap sat for me by mv employers. But their confidence iu me was unbounded, and tho suspicion was formed only to bo dismissed. Inlo not attempt to glaze over tho dishon esty of what I contemplated, but I had been so unceasingly worried by domes tio troubles arising from limited re sources, and so persecuted by cred itors, that I almost argued myself into the conviction that appropriating the money was simply authorized self defense. I would p.y all my debts, get clear with the world once more, insist upon my wife's adopting my views of living, sava money, get into business for myself and finally pay back the sum. I concluded to leave the envelope unfastened until the morning, so as to give myself that much more time be fore finally deciding upon an act which all my arguments with myself had not made entirely reconcilable. Arrived at this conclusion, my attention again turned to my host and his wife. I could hear his voice alone now. It had been sounding alone in an elevated tone for some moments. I crept quiet ly to the partition dividing their apart ment from the passage. The bright autumn moon, which was on their side of the house, shone through their win dow, and through the epaoes between the shrunken planks of the partition and out into the passage, and upon its floor in brilliant tars of light. It was easy for me to see what was passing within the room. Man and wife wore kneeling at their bedside in prayer. The man with uplifted head and closed eyes, uttering an earnest supplication, his wife beside him and one arm passed affectionately through one of his, and her head resting against his breast. They were kneeling at the side of their bed opposite me, and his face was plainly visible. Its calm and pious expression at the moment was a sufficient rebuke to my unjust 'Suspicions. I began to listen in time to hear him say: "Far don, Oh, merciful father, not only the sins of Thy humble servant and his household, but turn the hearts of those who have done evil unto him, who have wished him injury, and who harbored unjust suspicions of him. Bless such, Oh, Lord, and preserve them in order that they may turn from their ways and seek the path of righteousness." His serious, earnest and manly vcice struck a chord in my? heart, not only in sympathy with the honest and tender supplication t iat was passing his lips, but contrition fcr the wrong I had done him by my suspicions. I involuntarily compared him, whatever were his good or bad deeds, at least an humble peni tent before his God, with the wretch that I had decided but a few moments ago to make of myself by the misappro priation of my employers' money, and still, however, by the relief it could ob tain for me would not quite give way to the feeling of lepentance which was knocking for admission at my breast. I had half decided to turn away and drive these better thoughts from my mind, when I observed something mo e in a small crib that was placed at the side and toward the foot of the bed. Its occupant, a grandchild, whose parent they had informed me were dead, awakened probably by its grandfather's voice, rosd up, looked around, and set tled down upon its knees, and clasping its little hands as its grandfather's were clasped, and looking upward, out through the window at tho moon whose bright light fell full upon its darling face, began moving its lips as if trying to repeat the words. Nothing so like an angel ever met my sight. The grandfather began the Lord's prayer. The little fellowseemed to have this by heart. He repeated it word for word, his tiny, silvery voice sounding in sweet accord. I oould not turn away nor any longer resist the better emotions whioh 1 had hitherto kept down. A rush of repentant feel ing passed through me with an effect that shook every fiber. I fell upon my knees, and with tears streaming from my eyes joined in the concluding words of tho prayer. I need not say I changed my mind with regard to the money. I passed a quiet night and rose early, hastening away toward my journey's end, so as to give myself the least possible lime or opportunity for changing roy new formed resolution. In handing the package to the agent I said to him that, as thero was money in it, it might as well be opened in my presence to see that it was all correct, etc. He, of course, discovered tho error and handed me back ihe amount that was over, with which I returned home and delivered it up to its pre per owners in due time. It was fortunate for me in every way that 1 pursued the course I had dopted. It appeared that the money had been obtained from the bank after bank hours, in the absence of the teller, from one of the officers. There were no loose notes on hand of the larger denominations, but there were sheets of thousands and five hundreds signed by the president and cashier. Either two sheets were picked up in mistake for one, or tho wrong batch of sheets selected from that is, thou sands we 10 taken instead of five hun dreds. The notes were hurriedly clipped, strapped and indorsed "$5,000," without recounting, and so enveloped and handed over to me. The bank had discovered the error, and no doubt was entertained but that the missing money was with me. Whether I shoald have had the face to withstand the imputation, even with the appar ently undisturbed condition of tho en velope in my favor, is more than I can say, but I doubt it. But tho notes, in pursuance of a pre caution still in use in somo banks, were payable to the order of one of tho clerks and had not been indorsed by him. I could not, therefore, have used them, or if so they could have been traced back to me. I found also that the numbers had been carefully ascer tained of all I had taken with me, and thus another chance of detection ex isted. What an escape 1 Upon returning and entering the counting-room I handed the surplus back to my senior, with a feeling some what of pride, but mixed up with other feelings not easily described. My precaution of having the money opened by the agent in my presence was highly commended, and the possi bility of his misappropriating the nndue amount, as very little personal knowledge of him was possessed by the firm, was duly discussed. What was said on this point brought blushes to my own cheeks. In course of time my senior account ant was taken into tho firm. I was put in his position, and with his salary I saved money, finally got into business on my own account, and am now, as you know, rich. I never forgot my former host and his grandchild; but at the death of the former I took, charge of the boy. He is ne w my partner and the husband of my daughter. From Candles to the Elcctrio Light. The materials used by the ancients for prodncing light were wax and tal low, oil of various kinds being also used at a later day. Their candles and lamps were exceedingly rough and un couth, and the light yielded was of the feeblest description, and gave out the most disgusting odors. Even np to the E resent century little or no progress ad been made, gas being unknown, and the perfeot-burning oil lamps with which we are so familiar having no ex istence until many years later. Gas was first introduced in 1802, but as late as 1812 the Haymarket theater, in Lon don, continued to be lighted by can dles. Mark the contrast. Less than forty years ago London witnessed the drama by the dim. flickering light of foul-smelling candles, while within the fiast few days Paris has had the privi ege of listening to the opera beneath the brilliant, noon-day glare of the eiectrio aro 1 It appears that bromide of potassium, whioh is so extensively used as an anti dote for sleeplessness, is largely com posed of lead, and those who employ it are exposing themselves to ead poison ing. This statement is made by a Ger man cnemut. New York's Hirer Thieves. New York has a large number of pro fessional thieves, many of whom ap parently lead an honest lifo and are not known as dishonest members of society except to a small circle of friends. Chief among the claw referred to, says a metropolitan paper, aro river thieves or pirates, all of whom at some period of their lives learned the art of hand ling an oar either as an accomplishment or in the line of duty. If one of these should be found basking in the sun light and mentally mapping out his duties for the night, he could eaily plead that he was an honest man out of employment. Groups of theso fellows can be ereen lounging around the Erie basin in the daytime, playing cards or gazing at the vessels at anchor. As a rule these men are rough-looking fel lows, although many i-iipesir uonest enough. Some of them livo in tene ment houses in New Yorkor Brooklyn, and have good reputations not only among their neighbors bit also in their own families. Many ara young men, the sons of honest parents with whom they live. Each one knows how to dis pose of the articles whub find thoir way into his possession. There are a num ber of persons who make money by buy ing stolen goods from river pirates. The junkmen, at best, are regarded with suspicion. Some of them, beside purchasing junk from the masters of vessels, will steal whatever they can lay their hands on. If a boy or an ap prentice should be found alone on a vessel the junkman will offer him a trifling snm for some of the gear or stores. Watchmen on vessels at anchor in the stream are sometimes in collu sion with the junkmen, by whom they are well paid. According to the genu ine boatmen, such as those at the Bat tery, the junk business, although it is licensed by the authorities, is dishonest, and the men who follow it should be classed as pirates. On dark nights tho watchmen of the vessels at anchor in the bay aro told to keep a sharp lookout. Every approach ing small boat is viewed with suspicion. If the latter should be hailed and should fail to answer, but row hastily away, the watchman can feel himself free to tire at the retreating boat without being called to account for his conduct. There are usually two or three pistols in the cabin of a vessel, and a crew, when warned, is able to repel a boatload of river pirates, or at least to attract the attention of the vessels in the neighborhood. Consequently the pirates have to proceed with great caution. They usually select a dark night for making an attack on a vessel at anchor. If it is summer Ihey gen erally pass themselves as honest work men enjoying a quiet row, but if it is winter they g on ILtif d'mhoaeat mis sion with tho expectation of meeting with danger. If the captain of a schooner auchored in the bay is known to Lave money in his possession the pirates aro apt to select that vessel. When trade is brisk and quantities of rum, molasses or other liquids are left on the piers, the river pirates row in under tho docks and bore holes through tho planks iu the flooring and into the hogsheads above. The liquid pours through tho holes and is caught by the men in the bout below. One night in tho spring of 1880 a boat con taining four river pirates approached a fleet of coasting schooners anchored in Flushing bay. But the alarm was given ia time and the crews were prepared to defend themselves. One of the pirates in endeavoring to escape fell overboard and was drowned. Several of tho crews iu tho neighborhood wero aroused rnd the three remaining pirates were caught and were arraigned before the authori ties next morning. In a day or two the trio were "railroaded to Sing Sing." This proved a wholesome lessor,, and for 6ome time afterward no attack was made on a vessel at anchor. There have been a number of cases of collu sion between dishonest dock watchmen and river pirates. The former wait until the coast is clear and then give their confederates the signal to ap proach and begin operations, while they mount guard and stand in readiness to give them warning of the approach of any one. But for tun wutenmeu on tho vessels the river pirates would come on board and cut all the ropes below the belaying pins and carry them off. The Lost Child. In Uvalde. Texas, the little three year-old daughter of Mr. Sam Johnson, living on the Sabinal, wandered off after flowers. Its absence attracted attention before it had been gone an hour and the family began to look for it, but not finding it on the place at once roused their neighbors to assist in the search. California Brown, who had stopped over night in the place, Ben White, Henry Shane, several Mexicans and the distressed parents hunted all that day and night, and at about o'clock on tho next day the dimt.ack of the child's shoe was discovered by tho practiced eye of Mr. Brown. The party, bouyant with hope, followed the trail with great difficulty until night, when fires were built up in the hope of attracting her attention. On Friday morning the search was resumed and fresh tracks found, which were followed by Mr. Brown, Mr. Shane and a Mexi can, the rest of the party having divided and keeping up the search in different directions. About 10 0 clock the little one was discovered on a high hill by a hole of water, three and a half miles from home, with its clothing torn to shreds by the thorns and prickly pear through which it had worked its way. On the approach of the hunters the child commenced crying, and the first remark she made was that she " wanted to go to her mamma." Signal guns wero immediately nrea, which soon brought the balance of the party to tho spot, and the feelings of the overjoyed but heretofore frantio mother at the finding of her living child, instead of its bones, can be better imagined than described. It was out two davs and niehts. without any food whatever, and where the tracks of panthers, and wolves and wild cats are found thick by the hunters. SCIENTIFIC SOTEs. Thirly-four species of Insects new to Fcience have reoently boon diiovored in the Sandwioh Islands. It is maintained that it moteors did not fall into the sun the temperature of the earth would sink to 'iW degrees or 300 degrees. Sulphurous acid is rare among the products of Vesuvius and the volcanoes of equatorial America ; more 0 mmon in jiitna, and abundant in the volcanoes, of Iceland and Java. A paper recently read before the British association contends that coal must have been formed from a compact mass of vegetation, and could not have arisen from large trees. After experimenting for a quarter of a century on the variation of plants, Doctor H. Hoffman inclines to the opin ion that variation takes place in defi nite directions, and that its cause is in a preponderating degree internal. Last snmmer, says the Journal of Science, some common hivo bees built a comb against the flat wall of a house in Dorsetshire, England. A few pieces of tho comb were exhibited at the No vember meeting of the Entomological society, London, and they had evident ly contained bee grubs This is an un exampled departure from the habits of tho species. Adamscobite stono is found in only one place in the world, and that ia in the State of Missouri. The company which now owns the whole quarry will transport the stone quarried to Win chester, N. H , where it is to be manu factured into such articles as are deemed salable. The stone is very peculiar in its structure and properties. Its cutting power is diamond-like, cutting, away steel very rapidly and still retaining an exceedingly fine edge. The general experience of observers has been that the removal of forests re sults in diminishing the size of rivers and smaller streams traversing the ter- itorv. This effect is often very marked small streams disappearing entirely and large rivers dwindling to mero brooks. Quite a different experience is reported from New Sonth Wales. A ract of land embracing the watershed of three creeks was partially cleared in 1S0. Soon after, these creeks whicn had been dry water courses for years became permanent streams, and have so continued to the present time. Tho explanation offered to account for this phenomenon is, that a largo proportion of tho rainfall formerly taken up by the gum trees and evaporated now finds its way to the streams. He creations of Some Eminent Men. Swift relieved his tense and tragic moods by harnessing his servants with cords on one occasion he insisted on harnessing his learned and respectable friend Dr. Sheridan and driving them up and down the stairs and through the rooms of his deanery, Peter the Great sought to unbend himself by being wheeled over the flower-beds and neat parterres of his host's garden in a wheelbarrow, as poor Sir William Tcni- le found to his cost, 'lhat accom plished diplomatist appears to have felt his chagrin at the failure of tho triple alliance mero child's play to his feelings at beholding tho Russian mon- rch riding roughshod over the priceless tulips of Moor park. Glover, the once famous author of "Leonidas and the Athenaid," had the eamo dis agreeable weakness, though, not being safe in the " divinity which doth hedge a king," his plebeian back re ceived on more than pne occasion infuri ated eudgelings at the hands of in sulted horticulturists. Cardinal Mazarin said to have been fond of shut ting Limself up in a room and jumping over the chairs, arranged in positions varying according to the degrees of diffi culty in clearing them. Of this weak ness on tho part of his excellency an amusing anecdote is told. On one occasion, while engaged in theso ath letic, ho forgot to lock the door. A youpg courtier, inadvertently entering tho room surprised the great man in his undignified pursuit. It was an em barassing position, for Mazarin was, he knew, as haughty as he was eccentric, but the young man was equal to the crisis. Assuming the intensest interest in the proceedings he exclaimed, with well-feigned earnestness : " I will bet your eminence two gold pieces I can beat that jump." He had struck the right chord, and in two minutes he was measuring his leaping powers with the prime minister, whom he took care not to beat. He lost his two gold pieces. but he gained before long a miter. Samuel Clark relieved his theological pursuits in the same way, and on one occasion seeing a pedantio' fellow ap proaching, said to the pupil who was sharing his amusement : " Now we must stop for a fool is coming in." Old Burton, the author of the " Anatomie of Melancholy." the only book which pot Dr. Johnson out of his bed two hours before he intended to rise, found his chief recreation in going down to Folly bridge, at Oxford, and listening to the ribaldry of the barges, "which did cleare away his vapoures ana make mm laugh as be would die." I empie liar. Why Some are Poor, Cream is allowed to mold and spoil Silver spoons are used to scrape kettles. The scrubbing brash is left in the water Nioe handled knives are thrown in bet water. Brooms are never hung up. .Dishciotns are tnrown where mice can destroy them. Tubs and barrels are left in the sun to dry and fail apart Clothes are lelt on the line to whip to pieces in the wind, trie crust is left to sour instead of making a few tarts for tea. Dried fruit is not taken care of in season and becomes wormy. Vege tables are thrown 'away that would make a good dinner. The cork is left out of the syrup jug and the flies take possession. Bits of meat are thrown out that would make excellent hash for breakfast. Coffee, tea and spioes are left to stand open and lose their strength. Fork spoils for the want of salt and because the brine wants scald ing. Pictures of Ancient Extravagance. Crassus, when a candidate for the consulship, gave a feast of 10.0J0 tables t which all the citizens of Rome were indiscriminately invited. Crosar, to celebrate the funeral of a daughter, gave one of 22,000 tables, with accommoda tion for three guests at each. This en tertainment was repeated and exceeded for his triumph. He brought together more gladiators and wild beasts than were ever produced on any former oc casion in an amphitheater, but his ex hibitions of this kind were so com pletely outshone that it were a waste of time to dwell upon them. In a documont annexed to his testament, Augustus states as a title to pnblio gratitude that ho had exhibited 8.000 gladiators and brought more than 3,500 wild beasts to be killed in tho circus. In tho course 0 1 the festivities institu ted by Titus to celebrate the opening of the Colosseum, 5,000 wild beasts wero let loose and killed by tho gladiators. The Emperor Probns collected for a single how 100 lions, 100 lionesses, 100 Libyan and 100 Syrian leopards, 300 bears and COO gladiators. Having caused the circus to be planted with trees to resemble a forest, ho let loose 1,000 ostriches, 1,000 stags, 1,000 does and 1,000 boars, to be hunted by the populace, who were to keep whatever they could catch or kill. The fiercer animals were encountered by tho gladi ators. It docs not appear how long the show lasted. Tiberius, whose life at Capri was a diRgraco to human nature, was fonder of saving money than of spending it, and he left an immense sum in the treasury, which his successor, Caligula, managed to dissipate in two years by extravagance of the most senseless kind. As if in rivalry of Cleopatra, he swal lowed precious 6tones dissolved in vinegar, and caused his guests to be helped to gold (which they carried away) instead of bread and meat. One of his favorite amusements was shower ing money among the populace from the Basilica of Julius Ciesar. He built galleys of cedar, covered with jjwelry, and largo enough to contain vines and fruit trees, and had canals cut for them along the coast. The stable of his favorito horso, which he talked of naming Consul, was of marble, the trough of ivory, tho harness of purple, and tho collar of pearls. The set of emeralds and pearls worn by one of his wives, Lollia Faulina, was valued at 100,000 sterling. The principal extravagance of Clau dius was in public games". Ono of the shows organized for him was a naval combat on a lake, in which tho galleys were manned by 19,000 men. He was fond of good cheer, and was ia the habit of inviting himself to the tables of the rich. He camo on one occasion with 000 persons in his train. It was to Nero that Tacitus applied the expression, incrcdihitium citjiitor. What he not only desired but achieved in the way of cruelty and vice would bo declared incredible if Romon history had not already shown what revolting atrocities rnay be conceived by a diseased imagi nation and executed by irresponsible power. After tho Lurning of tho city ho gratified his taste, in entire disre gard of the proprietors, in rebuilding lie at once appropriated a number of the sites and a Largo roition of tho public now palace, their ranks grounds for his Tho porticos, with of columns, wero The vestibulo was largo milo long. enough to contain the colossal statue of him, iu silver and gold, 120 feet high, from which tho colosseum got its name. The interior waa gilded through out, andalorncd with ivory and mother-of-pearl. Tho coiling3 of the dining rooms were formed of movable tablets of ivory, which shed floweis and per fumes on the company ; the principal saloon had a dome which, turning day and night, imitated tho movements of tho terrestrial bodies. When this palace was finished he exclaimed : " At last I am lodged like a roan." His diadem was valued at half a million. Ilia dresses, which he never wore twice, wero stiff with embroidery and gold. Ho fished with purple lines and books of gold, ilonever traveled with less than a thousand carriages. The uiulers were shod with silver, the muleteers clothed with the finest wool, and the attendants wore bracelets and necklaces of cold. Five hundred she-asses followed his wifo Poppioa in her progresses, to sup ply milk for her bath. Ho was fond of figuring in tho circus as a charioteer and in the theater as a emprer and actor. He prided himself on being an artist. and when his possible deposition was hinted to him ho said that artists could never be in want. There was not a vice to which he was not given, nor crime which he did not commit. Yet the world, exclaim? Suetoniojs, en-1 dured this monster for fourteen years; and he was popular with the multitude, wno wero aazzica by his magnificence and mistook his senseless profusion for iiDeranty. un the anniversary of his death, during many years, they crowd ed to cover his tomb with flowers. The utmost excess in eluttonv was reached by Vitellus, who gave feasts at which 2,000 fishes and 7,000 birds were served up. lie prided himself on his culinary genius, and laid every quarter of the empire under contribution to supply materials for a dish, which con tained livers of mullet, brains of pheas ants and peacocks, tongues of flamin goes, roo of lampreys, etc. Tacitus states that he spent what would be tan tamount to several millions sterling in lees than eight months in eating or giv ing to eat London Quarterly Etview. The Jeannelte Party. It is announced from Sc. Petersburg that there is little chance of receiving further news from the Jeannette party inside of some weeks. The exact whereabouts of De Long and his party is not known, and the relief expedition must travel 1,400 miles in wintry weather before it reaches the region where Nendemann left them, over a country which has no roads. But the assurance is given that the Yakuts, into whose hands they are supposed to have fallen, are a good-natured, hospitable trioe 01 natives, skilled in caring for uuviugn vauseu py we oold. FORTY-SEVEXTII C0-NUUESS. Senate. On tho opening of the Donate after tbo holi" dny recess tho Senators were called to order by tho picsidont pro tempore, Mr. Davis, after which a number of bills were introduced, among them being tho following: By Mr. An thonv, to promote the efficiency of the navy; by Sir. Maxcy, to inorcaso the cfliciency of the signal servico of tho Army.... The morning hour was mainly occupied in the presentation of petitions of which a largo number prayed for the exerciso of government control over rail transports tion charges. Jtr. Millor pre sented one urging that tho proceedings of Con gress bo printed in newspaper form wcoMv, aud a copy thereof supplied free to every family in the United States. ...Mr. Garland intro duced a joint resolution to rcappropriato tue amount (375,0OO) appropriated by the act of March, 1877, to pay hi full to certain Southern mail contractors the amounts due nnder their contracts for the years 1859, 1800 and 1801. The resolution offered by Mr. Davis, of West Virginia, relating to pension frauds, calling tr statements of their nature and character, wi.it Bruount of arrears lias been paid, etc., came np on tho calendar. Considerable discus sion ensued upon an amendment offered by Mr. Edmunds, striking out tho direction to the secretary of tho interior to report his opinion upon such legislation as he thought advisable. Air. Davis in tue course 01 tne uuDuto saiu tuai the secretary had estimated that $100,000,000 would be required for ttiis yoar to pay the pen sion roll, and this CBtimato, he learned, had been increasod by tho commissioner to $120, 000,000. He (Mr. Davis) had stated last year that the arrears of peneions bill would cost tho government a sum greater than tho national debt, and H10 ttatement was laughed at. l'res ent indications sccmod to justify tho statement ho then made. Mr. Logan, replying to Mr. Davis, said that statements not oa'sod on accu rate informatian should not bo allowed to go to the country uncontradicted. The assertion that tho pension arrearages would cost more than the national debt was certainly not based upon any icliablo basis. The report of the commissioner showed that with a curtain force at his command tho arrears of pensious could be paid in two years, and that alter those wore paid tho roll would be reduced to forty, or not over lifty, millions. iloune. Tho session of tho IIouso alter the holiday recess reopened with a novel incident of a sensational character. Mr. Ortli (lU'pnbhcan, of Indiana) rose to a question of privilege, and reading from a manuscript made a protest against his committee assignments as an in justice to himself and his constituents. Tho members listened attentively, nn-i Mr. Springer was on his feet to enlarge upon tho themo, but was stopped by Mr. Kobueon, who called promptly for the regular order. Mr. Springer said ho should, therefore, take another occasion to bring up this subject, Mr. Orth asked to be excused from serving on tho committee on rules, 01 which the speaker is chairman. His request was granted by Speaker Kcil'er, who said that ho did not consider it necessary to vindicate him self by saying anything iu reply to Mr. Orth. ....Tho following bills wero introduced and referred: By Mr. Hawk, to rcorganizo tho militia; also to require manufacturers of olo margariuo to label the same. By Mr. Gibson, to hmend tho rules as to the committee on Mississippi levees. ...Mr. Hewitt offered a resolution reciting the fact that the khedivo of Egypt bad preseutod to the United States tho obolisk known as "Cleopatra's Needle," ami tending to his high noes, the khedive, the thanks of tho people ot the ":ated States for a gift which only tho oldest of nations oould inako and tho youngest could most highly prize. . Adopted. A Tramp's Philosophy. In the hip pocket of an old vagrant pulled in by the police f other night was a memorandum book 1 .-.11 of his own writing with pencil, and tome of his philosophy is good er'jngh to bo pre served. His first poru.maiih reads: ' Drinking bad vhii-1 y because it is ofl'ered free is like gettinj in tho way of Imhets purchased by an eneray. A second reads: " Honesty is tho best policy, but somo folas are satisncd with second best. It is hard to be honest on an empty stomach." " A dry plank under a rain-proof shed is better than a feather bid in jail, and one isn't annoyed by the jailer bringing in a sqraro brenkfust." A fourth says: "Pay as yon go. If you haven't any thing to pay with dr.t.'t go. If you are forced to go record 1 ry indebtedness and let your heirs eeitie bills." The fifth explains: "We should have charily for all. When the winter winds blow cold and drear wo vags should pity the poor fel lows in India who aro basing red hot weather." A sixth is recorded: " Politeness costs nothing, but it is not expected that you will wake a man np at midnight to ask permission to go through his hen-house. It is more courteous to let him enjoy his needed repose." Tho seventh and last was noted down as follows: " When you pick up an apple core do not find fault because it is not the applo itself, but be satisfied with tho grade of descent. Do not be ashamed of your occupation. We cannot all bo lords, nor can we all be vagrants. As I cann t bo a lord I should not lament at being a vagrant. I3e truthful ard outspoken that is, tell 'em you are a Chicago fire sufferer. Ktep seasonable hours or some other vags will get your piauKnrst. no nopeiul, cheerful and good-natured. Growling won't cure a sore heel." A Mexican Salutation. Mary Hal lock Foote, in "A Provin cial Capital of Mexico,' in the Century, says: As the white mules pace sedately down the roughly paved streets the ladies keep a hand ready to niako the customary signal of greeting from the carriage windows to their friends at the windows and balconies of the street. It is an indescribably fascinating gesture so swift and subtle, almost like a fleeting expression across the iace. It is made by a qniok flutter of the tocond ringer, the hand being raised, palm in ward, to a level with the eyes. How much its charm is enhanced by the beauty of those dark Southern eyes it half conceals it would take a very stolid observer to decide. It seemed to me excessively intimate; in Morelia, I be lieve, it is kept for one's friends only, but in the capital it is the usual greet ing at a distance between acquaint ances. 1 have seen nothing prettier in their social cn stoma, except the way the ladiea meet and lean their cheeks together, and pat each other softly on the back of the shoulder. Governor Crittenden, of Missouri, emplovs eonviot labor in his household, . a number of men and women being de tailed from the penitentiary for this srvioe.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers