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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL. DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
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VOL. XII. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, MAECH 9, 1882 NO. 3.
Ho Kept Ills Word.
She stood in the spoiling class,
A maiden sweet and fair,
With a tender light in her eyes and a bright
Soft gleam on her yellow hair.
" Caress," the preceptor called,
And as no one answered she
Inquired with a smile, though she blushed the
while,
' Did you give it, sir, to me ?"
"Not then, my child, bnt I will,"
He said, and a titter broke
From the scholars all. Thero wore nono too
small
To take and absorb a joke.
Thon the pretty speller turned
From a pink to a scarlet rose,
And the teacher thought, as he gravely taught,
" How charming and sweet she grows 1"
But years glide by, aud now,
Impelled by rumors hoard,
ith prophetic ear, happy bells I hear;
For the teacher kept his word.
Boston Transcript.
A Queer Matrimonial Exuerieuce.
The Millbank neighborhood is a prey
to excitement. One of tho prettiest and
most popular belles of tne country finds
herself married without having intend
ed to marry ODybody.
This startling event occurred under
tho following circumstances the queer
est of all incidents in the chapter of ao
cidents. A picnic party at "Annandale," the
residence of Jadge Annan, our popular
county official. A beautiful antumu
day inspired every heart, and a pictur
esque grove near the mansion had been
selected as the scene of the festivities.
Nothing could be more attractive than
the spectacle presented. The youths
and maidens were seated in groups
under the brilliant foliage; hampers of
edibles were already uncovered under
the shadow of a great oak, and the
autumn sunshine lit up gay scarfs and
carls and laces.
Miss Bel Annan for she was a belle
in name as well as in reality was en
gaged in her customary amusement of
flirting. She was a lovely blonde, and
devoted to the occupation. No one had
ever succeedtd in flirting with her. At
twenty-live, if you could believe her
statement, she was heart-whole and im
pervious. tier foenian on this occasion was a
fine yoang fellow called by his intimates
Nei Hay. 1I was very much in love
with Mis Hel Annan, and everybody
was aware of it. Huce general enjoy
meut of the sullies of the young couple
who were equally pay.
" You people really ought to be mar
ried I" said a satirical voice behind
them
And, turning round Mr. Hay saw a
friend of his, Mr. Leftwick, smiling
with a grim expression. Mr. Leftwick
has been a candidate for magistrate,
and the fates seemed unpropitious.
The election bad taken place on the day
.before, and the returns indicated that
his opponent had been eleoted by a
clear majority.
" If I had only bad good luck I might
have married you to celebrate this fes
tive occasion."
Mr. Hay looked at his fair companion
and smiled.
"Isn't it a pity!" he said.
" Yes it really is too bad 1" said
Miss Bel, with a dangerous glance.
"It would be such a novelty a
wedding at a picnic," said Mr. Hay.
" If agreeable," said Mr. Leftwick,
"I will perform tho ceremony for tho
general enjoyment."
At a country picnic the extravagant
is the order of the day. The proposi
tion of Mr. Leftwick had been over
heard by some of his "strayed revel
ers." They gathered around the group,
besieged Miss Annan and Mr. Hay
convinced the latter promptly. Then
the former after a while; and it was an
nounced to the company in generai
that Mr. Edward Hay and Miss Isabel
Annan were now about to be married.
In ten minutes the whole gay com
pany had ga'bered beneath the oak;
some wild flowers were improvised into a
wreath for the bride, and she presented
herself, leaning on Mr. Hay's arm and
modestly holding down her head noth
ing could be better.
Mr. Leftwick, with deep solemnity,
performed his functions to the best of
his memory.
" If anybody can allege aught why
this marriage should not take place,"
said Mr. Leftwick, " iet him speak or
for ever aiter hold his peace."
No one spoke.
" Do you, Edward Hay, take this
handsome young person for your wed
ded wife?"
" With pleasure I certainly do,"
said Mr. Hay.
And do you, Isabel Annan, take
this unfortunate victim of your charms
for your wedded husband ?" said Mr.
Leftwick.
" Yes," said Miss Bel Annan, looking
down with the appropriate air of
timid it v.
"Then," said Mr. Leftwick, solemn
Jy, "by virtue of the authority vested
in me or which should have been
vested in me as a magistrate of this
county, I pronounce you Edward Hay
and you Isabel Annan to be man and
wife 1 Salute your bride 1"
Mr. Hay seemed willing, but Miss Bel
promptly declined. She was blushing
a little the whole affair seemed so
very real. A few minutes afterward
her blushes had suddenly disappeared.
An old farmer riding by had called
out:
" Mr. Leftwick, I congratulate you I"
" Congratulate me ?"
"You are eleoted a magistrate. The
Russell precinct was not heard from last
sight, but the returns are now in. You
are eleoted by thirty-five majority."
"Eleoted I" exclaimed Mr. Leftwick.
" Certainly, you are eleoled."
"Well, then," said Mr. Leftwick,
desperately, "I've celebrated the event
by performing a marriage ceremony I"
The gay revelers stood looking at
each othei in wild amazement, and Miss
Bel Annan was visibly trembling,
young lady was now Mrs.
ii.
No sooner had the incident at the pio
nio become generally knowu than it
created the wildest excitement. Every
teatable buzzed with it; every friend
meeting a friend asked what would be
the result. Were the young people
really married or was it only a mock
ceremony, .having no actual signifi
cance ? The Millbank neighborhood
was turned upside down.
Tho question was simply Had Mr.
Leftwick authority to marry anybody
on the day of the picnic? If he had
that authority the parties were married,
for they had consented and he had
pronounced them man and wife.
It was useless to urge that the affair
was intended as a jest. When a duly
empowered magistrate is called upon
by two people to marry them; when
they formally take each other as bus
baud aDd wife, and he pronounces
tliem to be such then the two persons
are married, and there is an end
ofitl
This view was generally accepted J
bnt was Mr. Leftwick a duly empow
ered magistrate ? He had been elected,
but hnd received no certificate. What
was the law governing tho case?
Judge Annan was not appealed to. It
really was too delicate a question for
his decision under the circum
stances. But other gentlemen learned
in the law were consulted ; and they
agreed almost unanimously that Mr.
Leftwick. bad been an actual magistrate;
the popular vote had made him such,
and nny formal certificate of election
was unnecessary. The parties were
married.
When Mis3 Bel Annan awoke slowly
to the consciouHness that this was the
general sentiment, she began to cry,
and then grew sullen and angry. It
was an outrage! it was a wild absurd
ity 1 Married! and to Edward Hay!
Sue would never see his face again.
He had been guilty of the basest de
ception. He had knowu that Mr. Left
wick was really a magistrate, and
meant to entrap her into a hateful
ncion with him. Yes, hateful ! She
dutested tho sight of him. If he over
presumed to approach her, sne would
tell him her opinion of him, and forbid
his ever appearing again in her pres
ence. Mr. Hay did not seem desirous of
inflicting his society upon his young
wife. The picnic party had speedily
broken up in tho midst of general dis
may, and Mr. Edward Hay had simply
bowed low, without so much as a smile,
and departed.
Soon nn incident occurred which
brought homo to Mies Annan, or Mm.
Hay, the terrors of matrimony. Judge
Annan was absent holding court, wid
the young lady was in the drawing
room at Annandale, when a loud knock
was heard at the front door and a vis
itor entered. The young lady looked
at him and bowed slightly; his appear
ance was not prepossessing. He was
one of a class of petty attorneys of whom
the illustrious Gnitcau is an example.
" I have called to see you about a
claim I have on your husband, Mrs.
lay," said this ornament of his pro
fession. The young lady started slightly, but
only greeted the words with a haughty
stare.
" Sorry to trouble yon, but business
is business. I am counsel for plaintiff
in Smith vs. Hay. It is too slow to
proceed against real estate, and 1 am
told you have bank stocks."
The young lady colored. This gross
business intrusion was hateful to her.
She had a nice little amount of stock in
her own right the gift of an nncle.
".You are aware that your personality
is liable to execution for your husband's
debts.'' said the legal gentleman.
The young lady rose to her feet and
swept superbly from the room. As she
disappeared upstairs she said to a ser
vant: "Show this person to the door."
And the person in question took his
dilapidated hat and went away.
Three days afterward Miss Bel An
nan, as we may as well continae to call
her, saw an advertisement in the county
paper which made her color a little. It
announced that the real and personal
estate of Mr. Edward Hay would be ex
posed for salo on the first of the ensuing
month. She remained silent for a few
moments looking at the advertisement;
then she began to sob, and said:
"Inmeo sorry 1"
On the same evening she received a
note through tho postoffice which con
tained these words :
" I trust you have never supposed that
I had any agency in the affair of the
picnio or that anything could induce
me to take advantage of it in any man
ner. But I know you will acquit me of
that. There is only one course. As we
seem really to be married, a divorce is
necessary but a divorce case occa
sions scandal, and that I know would
wound you. Need I say that I would
not wound you for the world ? that is
not much to say. I have, therefore,
arrrnged everything to spare you pain.
My estate will be disposed of, and I
shall remain away for some years. .Then
the law declares you free again on the
plea of desertion and there will be no
more annoyance
Your friend, no more, Edwabd Hat."
Miss Bel Annan read this letter over
twice before she observed a postscript
on the second page :
" I heard of the visit you were sub
jected to by that wretched creature. If
I had been present but this is un
necessary. He will not presume to
annoy you again ; I can promise you
that."
As a matter of fact, Mr. Edward Hay
bad norsewnippea tne counsel lor plain'
tiff in Smith vs. Oray. He had then ad
vertised his property and made all his
arrangements to leave tne country.
" Hum, hum 1" muttered Judge
Annan, reading the notice en his return
from court. "That is really a pity.
There is no necessity for selling his
property. The estate is an excellent
one and will pay all claims ten times
over. Poor fellow, I always liked
him I"
Miss Belle Annan, who was present,
sniaed Biigntiy ana murmured.
That
Hay I
"So did I, papal"'
"Well, I suppose there is no help for
it. To be candid, my O.ear, I always
wished you to marry Edward. His
father was a very dear friend of ruiDe,
and I like the young fellow himself. If
it had not been for that unlucky affair
at the picnio you might have married
him -some day."
" Never, papa.
"Well, my door, of course you know
best. You really are married, I am
afraid; but you can count on Edward
Hay. He is much too honorable to
take advantage of you and then he
may wish to marry some one else."
" Marry some one else I He can
not I" exclaimed Miss Bel Annan.
The old judge smiled, and looked
furtively at his daughter. She was
biting her lip.
" I merely hazarded tne supposition,"
said the judge, refolding his newspa-
er. "You are aware that his name
as been frequently connected with his
cousin, Miss Hamilton.
Miss Bel Annan made no mply. She
was looking with contracted brows at
the carpet, and masticating a lace hand
kerchief, which was suffering from her
white teeth. Miss Hamilton was a very
handsome young person, and her name
had often been associated with Mr.
Hay's. Did he care for her 1 It would
be shameful I Had he not told her, Bel
Annan, a hundred times. Then she
colored, remembering Borne very inter
esting scenes between herself and the
young man.
" There s no Help for it," repeated
the judge, " but I am really sorry the
young fellow is going to leave us. There
will be one advantage, nevertheless
you will be free again. Two years'
desertion dissolves the marriage tie.
Then both you foolish people will be
free and he can many Miss Hamilton.
Until then that will be impossible, as I
fear you are legally, my dear, Mrs.
Edward Hay !"
m.
Everybody could see tbat Edward
Hay was in an unhappy state of mind.
He had always been a person of the
most cheerful temperament, and the
gayest fox hunter in the country. Now
ho hid lost his good spirits and went
about moping. Ho crew thin and
white. He did not eat, which is a bud
sign, linally, in a nt of desperation,
he joined a party of fox-hunters and
rode recklesnly; in swimming a stream
he was thoroughly chilled, and in con
sequence three days afterward he was
seized with a fever.
A fever is a very bad thing to have.
Mr. Hay got up one night when his at
tendant friend was dozing, and wrote
a note which he addi eased to Miss Bel
Annan.
This reached her on the next day,
and, with a little flutter at her heart,
she real what follows :
'I have been thinking, thinking,
thinking, hero in the dreary night,
about what has happened to us; and
the result of it is that I ought to
neglect no means of showing you that
1 am not the contemptible person you
must tbiuk me.
"I therefore write down, a) well as
I can my head seems a little feverish
this. It is to be shown to people,
and produced in court if necessary:
" I am not your husband, and you
are not my wife.
" I never meant to say that I took
you to bo my wedded wife.
" I do not wish to be your husband,
and assert that I was deceived into tak
ing part in a mock ceremony which as
long as I live shall have in my eyes no
legal significance whatever.
" Edwabd Hay."
This was written on the first page of
a sheet of note paper. On the second
portion of the sheet, and wholly de
tached, were these words ;
" Oh, how I love you, Ball It near
ly breaks me down t3 think that I am
going to leave you. I am not well,
either, but hope to be soon. If we could
only go back to old times before that
cursed pionic I can't help using the
word. You liked me a little, I think,
snd you mipht have well, all that is
over. I suppose I shall never see you
again certainly not for m..ny years.
You will then, no doubt, be married to
some good fellow, and there will be an
end of me. So be it. You shall be free
from all annoyance. I give you a proof
of that in the first part of this note,
which you can show people. They will
see that I am not, and never have been,
your husband."
The unlucky lover signed his name
aeuiu, but as be forgot to add the period
at the end of his sentence, the signature
read, " Your husband, Edward Hay."
Miss Bel Annan, who had read the
note throughout, with a deep blush in
her cheeks, suddenly burst out laugh
ing. It was rather hysterical, but she
was plainly amused at something. She
allowed the hand holding the sheet of
note paper to sink in her' lap, and fix
ing her eyes upon the floor, mur
mured: "Your husband, Edward Hay 1"
Then she sighed and said in the
same low tone;
Poor, dear fellow I He is sick; and
and I suppose I ought to be there
to nurse him!"
rv.
Edward Hay rose suddenly from his
sick bed and abruptly left the country.
Ten days afterward his property was
sold and his attorney transmitted the
proceeds to the young man in Paris.
He remained there three months, went
to Rome and stayed six then he took
a run to Russia, and came home, via
England and Scotland, to New York.
It was quite a pleasant evening in
autumn when he reached the Millbank
neighborhood again. As he had no
home of his own he had written to a
friend that he was coming to see him,
and having gotten out of the train he
set off on foot in the direction of his
friend's house.
The pathway which he followed
wound across green fields, and passed
within a few hundred yards of Judge
Annan's. Seeing this, a fact which he
had probably lost sight of, Mr. Edward
Hay made a detour to avoid the house.
This led him into a picturesque glen,
whioh he followed. All at once he
emerged into the very grove where
they had held the picnio, and there at
the foot of the oak where he and Miss
Bel Anan h id been manied sat Miss
Bel Anan.
The young fellow stopped and stood
still, trembling a little and looking at
her. She was leaning on a huge root,
with one hand covering her eyes, and
sobbing.
" Bel !"
The words seemed to escapefrom him
unconsciously as he hastened to her.
And then came another word from the
lips of Miss Bel Anan as she started up,
apparently as muoh the result of
impulse:
"Edward!"
As they were locked in eaoh other's
arms a moment afterward, there seemed
to be very little explanation. These
were natural, however, under the cir
cumstances, and were soon made. Miss
Bel Annan informed her husband that
she had not the least objeotion to being
Mrs. Edward Hay; and when the ens
tomary performances followed, and Mr
Edward Hay moaned his landless con
dition, Miss Annan, or Mrs. Hay, as the
reader pleases, said smiling, as she
leaned her head upon his shoulder:
"I will give your estate back to you
as T bought it, my dear. The property
of a wife belongs to her husband!"
This charming young person had in
deed purchased Edward Hay's property;
and, as only a year had elapsed since he
had deserted her, she was still bis wife,
and their possessions were, therefore,
in common.
Nevertheless there was a wedding,
and the young people wore formally
married by a minister. The occasion,
was a grand frolio at Judge Annan's
hospitable mansion, and Mr. Edward
Hay said to his wife, as she blushed
under her orange flowers:
"After all, I believe I wish to be
your husband!" J. Estm Cooce,
moonshiners.
A writer in the Atlantic Monthly has
been visiting the moonshiners of the
South, and has succeeded in putting
their side of the question just as they
look at it. Tho ' moonshiner," that is
tho manufacturer of illicit whisky, who
make it chiefly at night, in order to
avoid the vigilance of the United
States excise officers, is usually a small
farmer, to whom his " still " is no more
than a cider mill to a Northern man.
Like his fathers and grandfathers he
has always made whisky. "It don't do
any body any harm," said one of them
to tho writer. " It's about all tin way
we have of makin' any money in this
wooden country. It don't go into tho
general trade of the country enough to
nmoutit to anything,'' which, if we may
bolievo what is said about its merits, is
deeply to bo regretted; tho liquor is
made out of their own corn, and if the
tax were actually collected upon it all, it
would drive them out of tho country.
What they most fear is disturbance from
the outside the invasions of railroads
and commerce and improvements gen
erally. As one old man expressed it:
"But this hyur couatry's all a goiu'
to change. It's a goin' to be most
everlastin'ly improved, ye see; I'm too
old. But the old ways is a comin' to an
end. They's men abuyin' up thousan's
of acres of this land. They'll be rail
roads built direo'ly, hither an' yan,
moren'll do anybody any good. They'll
cut off the woods for fuel an' quarries
up hyur, they say. And they'll be
mean, dirty little towns laid out all
about. Then instill o' people drinkin'
a little healthy whisky, as wo've always
done, they'll be forty times as much
mifcer'blo pison stuff sold aud drunk,
and whoever drinks it'll begin to steal
an' lie. I reckon they'll be some fine
houses built some'eres along this river,
and they'll put up big ecientifio locks
on their doors, and thieves'll come up
from Cincinnarter and Chat'noog', an'
break into 'em.
" They ain't never ben a lock on to a
door in these mountains. But they's
goin' to bo the allfiredest improvements
about hyur, an' I s'pose our people'll
lurn to steal too; haf to, to keep up an'
live. An' they'll be some o' them city
women hyur, I reckon, from them big
places, with their fine weathers an' fine
dresses a draggin' on to the ground, an'
they'll be the deuce to pay among our
young men. That's what they call
civ'lyzation, ain't it stranger ? I tell ye,
this country '11 soon be improvin like
the deuce, but I shan't live to see much
of it, I reokon."
The " informer" is known among
them as the " reformer," which is an
unconscious pronunciation of the name
and they account for his zeal in pur,
suing them by the faot that " the re
former gets halt."
Killing: Alligators.
A Detroiter who had just returned
from Florida after an absence of several
months, was asked the other day if he
had any fun with the alligators down
there.
"Yes, sir dead loads of fun," he
replied.
"Kill many 7"
" Well, I should say so !"
" How many did you ever kill in a
day r
"Three hundred."
" No I you don't mean 800 alligators
in one day r
" Yes, I do."
"You must have struck a rioh spot.
Three hundred in one day I Whew I
What time did you begin I"
" Oh, about 10 o'clock in the morn
ing." " And how long did it take you ?"
" About an hour."
There was a pause, during which as
tonishment, incredulity and worse were
visible on the faces of the crowd. Fi
nally one man stepped forward and
said:
"Did you use artillery ?"
" No, sir."
"A Baw-mill?
" No, sir."
"Dynamite?"
" No. sir."
" Maybe you'll tell ns how you did
it?"
"Yes. sir I talked 'em to death,
Please call at my office for pamphlets
oi norma its resouices, fruits, cereals.
alligators, people and hotel charges.
ira la pree frets,
THE WASHINGTON.
An Interesting Account of the WnshliiEton
Family.
Wednesday, February 22, was the
150th anniversary of the birth of
George Washington. Old style still
prevailed throughout the British em
pire in much the greater part of the
regin of George II. (1727-60), and did
so in .1731-32, the year beginning on
the 25th of March, as a rule; so that
Washington was born in the year 1731,
according to the ordinary mode of fix
ing years and dates and days in tho old
country, the usages of which governed
the new country to which Virginia
even then the ancient dominion be
longed one hundred and fifty years ago.
When the English adopted the reform--in
1752, 270 years later things were
properly arranged, tho year being made
to commence on the 1st of Jan
uary, while eleven days were omitted
from the calendar the 3d of Septem
ber being reckoned as the 14th of Sep
tember, 1752, whence the call of so
many of the intelligent men of tbat
year, " Give us back oar eleven days I"
Washington's birthday thus was mRde
to fall on the 22d of February, and he
completed his majority on that date in
1753. He was the eldest son, by a
second marriage, of Augustine Wash
ington, grandson of John Washington
who came to America, it is supposed,
in tho year 1657, or thereabout say
some two hundred and twenty-four
years ago. His mother was
Mary Ball, Augustine's second wife, who
survived her husband for more than
forty-six years, as she died in August,
1781), and his death occurred in April,
1743. She lived to see her eldest son,
become one of the most immortal of
men. The Washingtons were
of the English gentry, and of
a very old race. It is believed
that they were of some note in the
tenth century, long before the Con
quest. It is certain that they were of
established fortune in the thirteenth
century, living in the north of Eng
land, (Durham, a county PaLtine.)
William Do Hertburn was the first of
them who can be considered indisputa
bly historical. .Exchanging bis estato
for that of Wensington, he took tho
latter name; and he must be considered
the progenitor of all tho Washingtons,
and they are many. Tho family were
of considerable distinction, and spread
to many parts of England Northum
berland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, War
wickshire and Northamptonshire. Law
rence Washington, whoso father (John)
is known, was mayor of .Northampton in
1532, just three hundred and fifty
years ago. This was temp, Hon. VIII.:
and in liidsi liawrence obtained part
of the spoil of the monasteries the
manor of Sulgrave. This long remained
in the family, and came to be known
as the Washington manor. The John
Washington and Lawrence Washington
who came to America in IOjY were
great-grandsons of the first Lawrence
Washington of Sulgrave; and Georgo
Washington was the great grandson of
tho John Lawrence who came over in
1657, accompanied by his brother
Lawrence. Tho pedigree is very re
spectable, even if we go no farther back
than to John Washington of Warton,
father of the mayor of Northampton,
who probably was born under the
Plantagenets, that dynasty becoming
extinct in 148o. The active Washing
tons of tho time of the great civil wa,
were royalists, and somo of them were
persons of distinction, and fought on
those fields
' Where the wicked cavaliers did run
The clean contrary way."
Bat the fortunes of war finally were
with the Roundheads, and tho two
brothers, John aud Lawrence, who ar
rived in Virginia in 1657, were pohti-
cs.1 exiles, who had found it would be
(rood for their health to leave England
General - ashington, in 1792. spoke of
the usurpation of Oliver (Jromwell,
though ho had played a part in America
not unlike to that which Cromwell had
performed in England. Our first Pres
ident was a man of good lineage
Probably ho wa of the best blood of
any of the Presidents, who, though of
good positions, were ofteuest sons of
their uwn works, or grandsons. Mr,
Hawthorne, in his "English Note-
Books," writes concerning his jour
ney from Newcastle to lors, in
1856: "All I remember of this
tract of country is that one of the
stations at which we stopped for an in
stant is called Washington, and this is
no doubt the old family palace where
the Ue Wessingtons, afterward the
Washingtons,' were first settled in
England." There is a parish of Wash-
ington in Durham, and a township of
Washington in that parish; and a par
ish of Washington in Sussex and in
Derby thero is a township of Wessing
ton or Washington in the parish of
Crich. There is ahamlet of Wessington
or Westington in the parish of Campden
Ohipping, Gloucester. Thus the name
is somewhat common in widely-separated
English shires, though it does not
appear to be borne by any place of note.
The title of Wellington is derived from
the parish and market town of Welling
ton, in Somersetshire, which is not a
large place. But little is known of the
Northern Wessingtons, but we can
easily believe that they were all alive
and active, and that they cut Scottish
throats, or had their throats cut by
Hcottishmen, in the old Percy and
Douglas wars, five hundred years ago,
or more or less. Suoh were the gen
tlemanly amusements of those vanished
days, diversified by hunting and hawk
ing, and other cruel sports. It was the
Wessingtons who "went south," and
spread the name of the race over the
midland counties of England, and who
prepared the way for the Washingtons
that crossed the ocean, and founded the
thriving family from which proceeded
the man who was to found the American
nation. As George Washington was
the real creator of this republio, how
different might have been this country's
history had his great grandfather re
mained in England and shared in the
joy over that restoration of the Stewarts
whioh took plaoe in 1660.
More than 100 newspapers in the
United States are owned and edited by
colored men.
Blaine's Tribute to Garfield.
The memorial services ordered by Congress
commemorating the life and publio services
of the late President Garfield were held
in the hall of the House of Repre
sentatives. Prior to 10 o'clock A. M. admis
sion to the capital was refus3d to all save
members of tho two House s of Congress and
ttieir employes, tmt at that hour the doors were
thrown open to persons fortunate enough to
hold tickets to the memorial services to
tho late President Garfield, and before
half an hour had parsed the gallories of the
House were filled to their utmost capacity. The
largo majority or the spectators were ladies.
nlio, out of respect to the occasion, had for the
most part discarded bright colois, and a somber
black was the prevailing hue of their costumes.
There were no signs of mourning in the hall.
The full-length portrait of the Tate President
was Hung Just back ol tho chairs oi the presid
ing ofheors, being Itself unctraped.
Tho three iront rows ot ciosks in tno cham
ber had been removed and their places occu
pied by a large number of chairs to accom
modate tho invited guosts. The Kcpresonta
tives were early in attendance, all being ar
rayed in black, and a fow appearing in full
evening dress. In the lobby, back of the
speaker's desk, the marine "band was sta
tioned, and from 10 o'clock until noon it
whik-d away tho tedium of the passing hours
by bursts of solemn music.
At 11:30 A. m. Ucni-raln Sherman, Sheridan,
Hancock, Howard and Meigs, and Admirals
Amnion, Rogers and Rodgers entered at the
north door of the chamber and were as-igned
to scats to tho loft of the speaker's desk, and a few
moments later tne members or tne uip.omatio
corps in full regalia were ushered in, hoadod by
the Hawaiian minister, as dean ot the corps.
Their brilliant costume only served to throw
into stronger relief the dark attire of the
members of Congress who sat immediately bo
hind them. The supreme court of the district,
headed by Marshal Henry, were the next ar
rivals. Dr. liliss was also in attendance. Mrs.
Blaine occupied a front scat in the gallery re
served for the friends of the President.
At precisely 12 o'clock the House wag called
to order by Speaker Koifor and prayer was
offered by tho chaplain of tho House. The
speaker then said: "This day has boon dedi
cated by the action ot tne two nouees or uon-
grcss to services in commemoration of the lifo
and death of James Abram Garfield, lute
President of tho United States. This house
is now assembled aud ready to perform its
part."
ino resolutions sotting apart tno nay lor the
memorial services wore next read by Clerk Mo
Phorson. At 12:10 the Senate was announced, and all
roso respectfully as tho Sonntora, headed by the
officers of that body, entered and took their a-
ned scats. They were followed by tho chief
justice aud tho associate justices of tho supreme
court, dressed in their lobes of office. Again
tho assembled multitude arose as tho Presi
dent of the United States and his cabinet were
announced. They were accompanied by Sona
tor Sherman and Representative MoKinley,
chairman of the committoo of aiTiiugenicnis.
The President took the front seat on tho right
of the presiding officers' chair, next to that oc
cupied by Cyrus W. Field.
At 12:30 the orator of tho day, James G.
Blaine, was announced, and his advent, was the
tiguul for a round of applause. The cere
monies wore then opened by a short prayer by
Chaplain F. D. Power, of the Houso, after
which President Davis said: "This day is
dedicated by Congress for memorial services
oq the lato President of the United States,
.Tames A. Garlield. I present to you the Hon.
James G. Blaine, who hxs been fitly chosen as
the orator for this historioal occasion."
Mr. iilaiuo then rose aud standing at the
clork's dosk, immediately in front of the two
presiding officers, proceeded with improssivo
m as of manner and clearness of tone to deliver
his eulogy from manuscript. The eulogy was
o- neludod at 1.50 P. M., having taken just an
hour and a half in it delivery. As Mr. Blaine
gave utterance to tho last solemn words, tho
spectators broke into a storm of ap
plause, which was not hushed for some
moment". Mr. Blaine began his oration
by giving a Bketch of Garfield's ancestry; then
adverted to the struggles of his early li e; th- n
tolas career as asoldior, making special refer
ence to his honors wou at Cheainauga; then
told how ho left tho army for Con
gress; sketched his career as a legis
lator, alluding to his skid in de
bate, and comparing him with other great po
litical h aders, sa ing he "perhaps more near
ly resembled Mr. Seward in his supicme faith
iu the all-conquering power of a princip e:"
next the omtor spoke ol the dead President's
nomination and of his candidacy and election;
tin n referring to his life as President the
orator mado mcnliou of his assiduoiiB and
conscientious discharge of his duiies while
in the presidential chair, and of his ambilien
for the success of his administration; after
Bpeaking of tho political events which dis
turbed the dead President's serenity, the ora
tor referred to his roligious views, raying:
" llio religious element in Garfield ' character
was deep and eai nest." Finally, after pavii
a tribute to Garfield's liberality, charity and
tol ranee, Sir. blame concluded as follows
" Gient iii life, he was suipassingly great in
death. For no cause, in the very frenzy i,f
wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand
of murder, he was thrust from the full tide of
tins world's intorost, Irom its hopes, its a-pir-ations,
its victories, into the visible pres
ence of death and he did not quail. Not
alone for the one short moment in
which, stunned and dazed, he could
give up life, hardly aware of iti re
linquishment, but through days of deadly lan
guor. through weeks of agony, that was not
lees agony because silently borno, with char
sight and calm courage, he looked into his
open grave. What blight and ruin met his
anguished eyes, whoso lips may tell what
brilliant, broken plans! what battled high am
bitions! what sundering of strong, warm, man
hood's friendship ! what bitter rending of
sweet household ties! Behind him a proud, ex
pectant nation, a great host ot sustaining mends,
a cherished and hnppy mother, wearing the
full, rich honors of her eai ly toil and tears ; the
wife of his youth, whoso wholo life lay in hi
the little bovs, not vet emerged from child
hood's day ot irolic ; the lair, young daughter;
the sturdy sons, just springing into closest
companionship, claiming every day and every
day rewarding a father's love and care ;
and in las heart the eager, rejoicing power
to meet all demand. Before him desolation
and great darkness 1 And his soul was
not fchaken. His countrymen were thrilled
witu instant, proiound and universal sym
pathy. Masterful in his mortal weakness, be
became the center of a nation's love, enshrined
in the prayers of a world. But all the love and
all the sympathy could not share with him his
Buffering. Ho trod the w ine-press alone. With
unfaltering front he faced death. With unfail
ing tenderness he took leave of life. Above the
demouiao hiss or the assassin's bullet he heard
the voice of God. With simple resignation be
bowed to tho Divine decree. As the end drew
near bis early craving for' the Bea returned.
Tho stately mansion of power had been to him
the wearisome hospital of pain, and he begged
to be takcu Irom its prison walls, from its op
pressive, stifling air, from its homelessnesg
and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the
love of a great people bore the pale sufferer
to the longed-for healing of the sea, to
live or to die, as God should will,
within eight of its heaving billows, within
sound of its manifold voices. With wan.
fevered face, teuderly lifted to the cooling
breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the
ocean's changing wonders: on its far sails.
whitening in tho morning light; on its restless
waves, rolling shoreward to break ana die be
neath the noonday sun: on tho red clouds ol
evening, arching low to the horizon; on the
serene and Bhining pathway of the stars. Let
us think that his dying eyes read a mystio
meaning which only the rapt and parting soul
may know. Let us believe that in the sdenco
of the receding world he heard the great waves
breaking on a further ehoi e, and felt already
upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal
morning."
After the oration benediction was offered by
the Rev. Dr. Bullock, chaplain of the Senate.
The marine baud ftlaved the Garfield dead
march as the invited guests filed out of the
chamber In the same order in which they had
caterea u.
Effecls of the Floods.
A Memphis dispatch gives the following
graphic account of tho disastrous effects of
tho Hoods along the Mississippi :
It would require an artist's pen to pioture
tho grandonr of tho Mississippi as, at its pres
ent flnodtido, it sweeps with a mighty power
down to the gulf, while its relentless current
everywhere carries upon its bosom the evi
dence of its destructive powers. From Cairo,
III., to Vicksburg, Miss., there is scarcely
anything to bo Been but a dreary watery waste,
oxtendiug in many localities fifteen miles into
the interior from either bank. The damage that
1ms been done to farming interests by the great
overflow cannot now be estimated. Thousands
of cattle and other stock have been drowned
snd hundreds are now daily dying of starva
tion. Tho inhabitants of tho bottom lands have
been driven from their homes and are now
existing as best they may on ridges whero
i.astny bunt nuts anord them sneiter ana
wnero tnoy would soon Btarve were not iooa
provided. Never bofore within the history of
the country was there so much sufTorlng ex
perienced by tho pcoplo of tho Mississippi val
ley as now, and, what with the rising waters
and tho incessant rains, the disasters of the
future cannot bo loretofd.
Breaks have also occurred in the lovces near
Belmont, Mo., and letween Belmont and Os
ceola, Ark. Through this vast area of country
the waters are pouring in mighty volumes into
tho head waters of tho St. Francis river, over
flowing the entito St. Francis river valley to a
depth of fourteen inches deeper than wss over
before known. This largo body of water again
finds its way back into the main channel lust
above Helena, Ark , and has caused the great
est disaster to tho people below, from Council
Bend, Ark., tony miles south of Memphis, to
rriar s Point, Miss. The river is a toot higher
than it was at the great flood of 18G2,
and is still rising at the rate of two
inches a day. Levees that have with
stood alt tho binh waters that have occurred
within the past twenty years havo been broken,
and dwellings that were built above the high
water mark of previous years have been flooded
to tho depth of a foot or more. At Arkansas
City the wafer has invaded every dwolling.
Half of Helena, Ark., is under water, and the
greatest Kars are entertained that tho loveo
which protects the front of the city will break.
Tho condition ot those whose Janus nave
been inundated is best described in the follow
ing appeal, which was forwarded on their be-
hatt to-day: "uuroouutry is in a oepicrauie
condition. Many of our people are now
without anything to oat except tho drowned
stock, and uulo.-s aid comes in the
way ofprovisions many will perish from hun
ger. The stock, hogs and cattio are drowning
day after day as they are driven from danger
to deatu. rue lovces continue to mean and
the waters riso, driving people from their
floating houses, barely escaping with their
lives."
Another account says: "Our Btock are on
the levee starving to death. Thoy are dying
day by day, and mny people cannot got
out of their house , aud without assistance
from Bomo source many are bound to
starve. Hundreds of negroes, who havo
been driven from their homes in Critten
den and Phillips counties, Aik., havo arrived
hero aud are utterly destitute. There aro
many yet within ths inundated region who are
cooped up in their cabins, unable to get away
irom lacK ot means ot conveyance, in many
dwellings mules havo been taken in and oc
cupy the porches and hallways, whilo tho
ownors sleep within the rooms. Negroes aro
living in giu lofts, 41 rafts and on platforms."
1110 uio.iinwi, t,u oi mis. great submer
sion must be a delay in planting and a mate
rial decrease in acreage Tho prospects to the
merchant and planter throughout the valley
aro 1 loorav. and tho outlook for a cessation of
the present suffering is anything but hopeful.
A ureonvnie (Miss.) dispatch savs : " Tne
Bolivar levee broke yesterday morning. River-
ton, Wade, Clay and Badgat levees also broke
through, and it is reported that the Concordia
broku tho day bofore. These breaks will
cause the overflow of every plantation
in Bolivar county. Tho river foil
hero four inches last night, and is
still falling raphilv. Roscdalo, the
county Beat of Bolivar county, is six feet under
water. The Ledger oflico and other houses are
washed away. Clark's front levee on Lake
ISunli is gone. Tins will causo an overflow of
what was left of bolivar county. Williams'
hayou levee in this county is broken, and all
1 tun northern portion ot Washington county
and ti.o hack lands throughout Issaquena and
SherUey counties will go under. A number of
nei.iii wcro drowned at luvcrton. Accounts
ot sulf.jring and loss of lifo continue to come
and exceed anything that lias evor attended
previous inundations of tho Mississippi river."
Another Memphis dispatch says: "Advices
from Rivcrton, Miss., 150 miles below Mem-
his, tay that the lovces broke on Monday
lit. several persons were drowned, anions
'ho number Benjamin Hoyno, shipping clerk,
who tried to go to the assistance ot a Mrs.
Bradshaw, and was drawn into tho channel.
tno live stock is all drowned and there
aro 1.0 provisions lor the people to
subsist on. Tho break occurred about
100 vi rds above Duncan's. At Duncan's
there aro 110 lees than twenty-three women aud
children, and muny more are huddled together
on ti.o levee, half naked, frozen aud hungry.
Every house at liiverton, except throe, has
oither floated off or is so damaged that they
will bo unfit for habitation when tho waters de
cline. "
A New Orleans dispatch eays: "After the
heavy rain on Tin sdav a gap of seventy-live feet
wa- made 111 the levee at Uaraon s .Landing,
and 100 yards was swept away. The noise of
the flood awoke the tleeping citizens, and
without taking time to clothe themselves
they Hid lor their lives. Bon Haines,
keeper of the lauding, and two negro
children wore drowned. A number of others
had narrow escapes. Near Bolivar 250
yards of tho lovco gave way, and between
Cattish Point and Mount Landing, a
distance of six miles, the levee broke in four
places. In Arkansas City, Ark., the water
covors the floor of every store and the lower
floor of every dwelling, aud varies in height
from six inches to lour feet above the ground.
The floor of the hotel is oovered to the depth of
twenty inches."
Boring tho Ears.
A goo-1 deal has been recently writ
ten on the subject of boring the ears
for the sake of the eyes, says the
London Lancet. It is always easy to
find excuses for any practice whioh
ministers to vanity. That that counter
irritation set up by boring the ear and
wearing a ring may, during the few
days following the operation, havo some
effect on the eyes, supposing these or
gans to be the seat of any low form of
inflammation, is jctst possible; but that
permanent good should be done by
wearing rings in the ears after they
have ceased to irritate, is inconceivable.
The test for motive in the recourse to
this device would therefore be
willingness on the part of the applicant
for this form of "treatment ' to allow
the healing process to be delayed (say)
by wearing a rough ring dipped in some
irritating application, m short, so pre
pared as to act like a eeton 1 This, in
deed, might do good, but in such a case
probably recourse to a fow blisters be
hind the ears would be better. It is
nonsense to suppose the wearing of ear
rings can be of any service to the eyes
unless they irritate, and if they do ir
ritate, the process by which the result
attributed to them is obtained is circui
tous, and, from a surgical point of view,
awkwaid in the extreme. Science can
not prostitute truth to fashion even in
so small a matter as the wearing of ear
rings. Friction matches maybe described as
I those made without the consent of vh,9
old folks. Boston Star,
1