HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPEBANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. XII. IlIDGWAY, ELK , COUNTY PAM THURSDAY JUNE 29. 1882 NO. 19. I ! r ; Back-Bone. When yon tee a fellow mortal Without fixed and fearless views, Hanging on the skirts of others, Walking in their cast-off shoos, Sowing low to wealth or favor, With abject, uncovered head, Ready to retract orwavor, Willing to be drove or led Walk, yonrself, with firmer bearing, Throw yonr moral shonldors back, Show your spine has nerve and marrow Juet the things which his must lack. A stranger word Was never heard In seiiBe or tone, 7. Than this : Back-bone. When yon see a theologian Hugging close some ngly creed, Fearing to reject or question Dogmas which his priest may read, Holding back all noble feeling, Choking down each manly view, Caring more for forms and symbols Than to know the good and true j Walk, youreelf, with firmor bearing, Throw your moral shouldcre back, Sli iv your spine has nerve and marrow Just the things which his must lack. -A stronger word Was never heard In Bcnse or tone, Than this : Back-bone. When you see a politician Crawling through contracted holes, Beglor some fat position, In thoring or at the polls, With no sterling manhood in him, Nothing stable, broad or sound, Destitute of pluck or ballast, Double-sided, all around ; Wilk, yourself, with firmer bearing, Throw your moral shoulders back, Show your spino has pluck and marrow Just tho things which his must lack. A stronger word Was never heard In sense or tone, Than this: Back-bone. A modest song, and plainly told Tho text is worth a mine of gold ; For many men most sadly lack A noblo stiffness in the back. WHO WAS IT ? We bod just finished breakfast. Tom laid clown tbe egg-spoon he had been pia.ung with ana looked across at mother. "Aunt Anne, I think I'll take a wife," no said, exactly as lie might hare said I think I'll take another enp of cof fee." " Take a wife ?" repeated mother, by no means receiving the information s's trannqilly as it had been given. "What for?" "Well, I don't know," answered Tom, thoughtfully "It's a notion I've got in my head scrnclit.w." "All nomens 1" said mother, sharply "Do yon think so?" said Tom. ap patently doubtful, bat not in the least pnt rnt. "Think to? I know it. What ir the world ran you want of a wife V After all these years we have lived sc comfortably together, to bring horn somebody to turn the house npsidi aown. And tuen what is to becorm o J that poor child ?" The ''poor child "that was I red dening at being broucht into the cren 'ment in this way was about to speak for herself, when Tom interposed, warmly: " I'm sure May knows I would never have any wife who would make it less a noma for her don't you, May ?" " Of course,'' said I. "And I'm sure she knows nothing of the sort," persisted mother, "nor yen either, Tom Dean. How can von auswer for what a wife may take it into ner nead to do, once you get her fixed here ? Yon can't expect her to forget, as yon do, that May has no real claim on yon. " That I have no real claim on her, I suppose you mean, ma'am." Tom out in for the second time, just as I was getting thoroughly uncomfortable. " But, for an mat, intend to Keep ner that is," added Tom, with one of his shortsighted blinks sideways at me, "as long as she'll stay with me, eb, May ? And whoever has anything to say against that arrange ment will nave to go out of my house to say it not that I'm afraid of any such reauiii in mm case and, on tne wnole, Auni Anne, 1 should like to try the ex periment." Mother smiled grimly, but Tom was so evidently bent on his " experiment," as he called it, that she gave up the argument. "You can dance if yon are ready to pay the piper," she said, shortly. "And, pray, how soon do you mean to bo aarnea v Tom's face fell a little at this ques tion. Well," said he, " I can't say exact ly. I suppose we will have to be en gaged first." "Whatl" said mother, opening her eyes; "why, you never mean to say, Tom, you haven't spoken to her yet ?" " Not yet,"answered Tom, cheerfully. "Time enough for that, you know, after I had spoken to yon." ' Well," she said, " if it was anybody else I should Ray he was cracked; bnt yon were never like other people, and never will be, Tom Dean. But, at least, yon have fixed on the lady ?" "Oh, yes," answered Tom; "but if you will excuse me, Aunt Anne, I wonld rather not eay anything about her just yet; for if if anything should happen it wouldn't be pleasant for either party, yon know." With which veiled allusion to his possible rejection Tom took his hat and left the room. Our household was rather queerly pnt together. There is no particular reason why I should have been of it at all, for I was not really related to Tom, nor even to " mother," as I called her, though I am snre we were as dear to each other as any mother and daughter could be. She was the second wife of my father, who, like most ministers, bad been richer in grace than in goods, and left ns at his death with very little to live on. Then it was that Tom Dean had como forward and insisted on giving a home to his aunt and to me, whom he had scarcely seen a dozen times in bis life before. That waa ex actly like Tom "queer Tom Dean," as his friends were fond of saying, " who never did anvtbintr like anvbodv else, I suppose, in spite of bis clear head for business, there is no denying that he was whimsical; but I am sure, when I think of his unfailing generosity and delioaoy, I can't help wishing there were a few more such whimsical people in the world. Naturally at the time I am speaking of, my opinion had not been asked; all I had to do was to go where mother went, and, while she gave her energies to the housekeeping. give mine to growing up, which by this time I had pretty well accomplished. Bnt perhaps for that very reason for one sees with dillerent eyes ut twelve and eighteen my position in the house had already begun to seem unsatisfactory to me; and the morn ing s words put it in a clearer, light, since it had been used as an argument against Tom's marrying. I knew that mother had spoken honestly, be lieving that such a step wonld not be for his happiness; but was he not the best judge of that? I knew him, if re flection should bring him round to her opinion, to be perfectly capable 01 quietly sacrificing his own wishes for my sake, who had not the shadow of a claim on him; so it must be on my part to prevent his own kindness being turned against him now. Still, it was not so easy to see how I was to provide for myself in case it should become advisable. What conld I do ? Draw and sing and play tolerably, but not in a manner to com pete with the hosts that would be in the field against me. Literature? J bad read so many stories whose hero ines, with a turn of the pen, dashed into wealth and fame. That would be very nice, only I was not the least bit literary; I had never even kept a jour nal, which is saying a great deal for a girl in ber teens. The "fine arts," then, being out of the Question for me. wnat remained? There was some clerkship, or a place in some family, and and there was Will Broomlev 1 That may seem like going away from the point, but it was not. It was matter -of-fact, but I conld see well enough what was going on right under my eyes, and I had a pretty clear idea of what was bringing Will to the house so often as he had taken to coming lately. There was a "situation," then, that wonld give me the home-life I liked best, and felt myself best suited for; but would it answer in other respects? ' I overcast the long seam 1 was sewing twice over, l was so busy trying to make up my mind whether I liked Will Broomley well enough to pass my whole life with him; and even then I had not come to any decision when I was called down stairs to Letty Walters Letty was the prettiest, I think, of all my friend?, and certainly the liveliest. Tom called her the "tonic," and used to laugh heartily at her bright speeches i suppose it was this that made mother ux on Letty as his choice, when 1 am a into tho sitting-room I found a i-ind of cross-examination going on. It was amusing to any body in the secret. la I was, tc watch mother's artful way of continually bringing the conversa- rion round, as if by chance vo bear on what she wanted to know. But it all amounted to nothing, either because Letty was too good a fencer or because .he really had nothing to betray. But when Tom came home mother took care to mention that Lettv had called "What, the tonic?" said Tom. "Too bad I missed her." "Bnt for your choice being already made," said mother, with a covert scru tiny of his face, "I dare say you might have as mnch of the tonic as yon liked. " "But I go on the homeopathio prin ciple, yon know," answered Tom, with a twinkle in his eye, After that mother's belief in Letty 'o guiltiness wavered, iler suspicions were transferred from one to another of our acquaintances; but always with the same unsatisfactory result. "It passes my comprehension, she said to me, despairingly, one day. "I am positive I could tell the right one oy Tom s lace in a minute, and yet I have mentioned everybody we know." "Perhaps it is somebody wo don't know," I suggested; "some friend of his we have never seen.'' "What! a perfect stranger?" said mother, sharply. "Never talk to me, child; Tom's not capable of that!" 1 was silent, for I did not want to worry her; but that was my opinion all the came. The same evening it was rather more than a week since Tern had hurled that thunderbolt of his at ns mother began about it openly. " When are yon going to introduce your wife to ns, Tom ? I suppose yon nave come to an understanding by this time." "Oh. there's no hurry." Tom said, as he had said before; but this time did not speak quite bo cheerfully. "The faot is," he continued, with a little hes itation, " there there's a rival in the case." "A rival I" repeated mother, with unfeeling briskness. " Yes, a young fellow younger by a good deal than I am," and Tom's face assumed an absurdly doleful look. "He is always there now. I confess I don't see my way clear; I'm waiting for her to make up her mind." And she s waiting, most hkelv. for you to make up yours," said mother, forgetting in her propensity to right matters that she was playing the enemy's game. " here s something in that that never occurred to me," said Tom, his face brightening. Mother saw her mistake and made a conntermove at onoo. " Bnt the ways of my time are old- fashioned noy ; young ladies nowadays take matters into their own hands. If she cared for yon you may be pretty sure she wouldn't have waited till this time to let yon know it that is, I jndge by the girls I am in the habit of seeing ; bnt if this one is a stranger to me " (here mother riveted her eyes on Tom's face ; oh, dear, my unfortunate words !) " if she is an entire stranger I cannot pretend to form any opinion of her, of course." Of course," repeated Tom, absently. "Not tbat I bave any such idea." re sumed mother, growing warmer. "I have said and I say again that to bring a perfect stranger under this roof is not my opinion of yon, Tom," I felt mother's words like so many pins and needles; for Tom was look ing meditatively across at me. and. though that was just a way of his, it seemed now if he was reading in my face that the opinion was mine and that I had been meddling in what did not concern me. I felt myeeli for very vexation getting redder every moment, till it pre intolerable. "It is so warm here," I said, for an exonse, tr.rning toward the French window. "I am going to get a breath or air." I went out into our little strip of arar den ground; Tom followed. I thought i snonia never nave a better opportun ity to say what I had in my mind to say, so I waited for him by the bench under the old pear tree. "Sit down here, Tom," I said, "I've something to say to yon." " Have you?" said Tom; "that's odd, for I well, never mind that just yet. What is it. May?" " Tom," I said, still surer now he nad misjudged me, and more resolved to set him right, " I want a place." "A place?' repeated Tom, puzzled. as well he might be by this sudden and indefinite annonncement; " what kind of a place ?" " I don't know," I said, for, indeed, my ideas were of the vaarnest. "I thought von might, being in the wav of tnose tmngs. ow pray, Tom," 1 went on quickly, " don't fancy I am discon tented, or or anything of that sort; the truth is ever since I left off school I have wanted something to do. and had it in my mind to speak to yon about it." With this I looked at Tom. fearing? ne might be vexed; but he did not look vexed; only preoccupied. " I do know of a place, as it hap pens," he said after a while, " only I'm not sure how it wonld suit yon." " mat s soon seen," said 1. "What is it like?" "Well, it's a sort of of general nse fulness " " Why, it must be to run errands." paid I, laughing. "And where is it, Tom ?" ' Well," said Tom, hesitating again. " it's with me." "How very nice 1" I exolaimed. "How soon can 1 have it ? ' " The sooner the better, so far as I am concerned," said Tom, and with that he turned and looked at me, and direct ly I met his eyes I knew somehow, all in a moment, what it was he meant; and I knew, too, both that I could not have passed all my life with Will Broomley, anu wny i could not. 1 am sure Letty waiters, who inter ruptedns just then, must have thought my wits were wandering that evening, and indeed they were; for I was com pletely dazed with this sudden turn things had taken. Bnt Tom, who had the advantage of me there, took it Quito coolly, and laughed and talked with Letty just the same as ever till she went away. It was pretty late when we went in. Mother sat where we had left her. knit ting in tne twilight. "Wasn't that Letty Walters with vou a while ago ?" she said, as we came up ' les," said I, with a confused feel ing of an explanation of something being Decessary; "she just came to bring the new crochet pattern she promised me." H'm I" said mother, as muoh as to say she had her own ideas as to what Letty came for. lorn had been wandering about the room in an absent sort of fashion, taking up and putting down in the wrong places all the small objects that fell in his way. He came np and took a seat by mother. I became of a sudden very busy with the plants in the win dow; for I knew he was eoinet to tell her. "Wish me joy, Aunt Anne," said he, it's all settled." "Settled, is it?" said mother, in any- thing but a joyful tone. " So it's as 1 (inspected all along. Well, you have my best wishes, Tom ; perhaps yon may be happy together after alL I'm sum I hope so." This wasn t a very encouraging sort of congratulation, and Tom seemed rather taken aback by it. "I'm sorry you are not pleased." he said, after a pause ; "I had an idea somehow you wonld be." "I did not know from what von jut'ged. But, there, it's no nse of crying over spilt milk. Yon'll be married directly, I presume ; I must be looking out for a house," and mother stroked her nose reflectively with a knitting-needle. " What for?" said Tom : " I thought of keeping on here all the same." " I never supposed otherwise." said mother. " Of course I did not expect to turn yon out of your own house." " But what is the need looking out for another, then ?" "Why, for myself." " For yourself 1" repeated Tom. in a tcne of utter amazement. "Going to leave ns just now? Why, Aunt Anne, I never heard of such a thing I" "Now, Tom," said mother, speaking very fast, and making her needles fly in concert, "we might as well eome to an understanding at onoe on this sub- i'ect. I am. fully sensible of yonr past indness now just let me finish I say I appreciate it, and have tried to do my duty by you in return, as I hope I shonld be always ready to do. I wish all good to you and your wife, and shall be glad to help her if I can, but to live in tne same house with her is what wonld turn ont pleasantly for neither of ns, and, once for all, I can't do it." "Aunt Anne," said Tom, pushing back bis chair and staring in mother's exoited face, "either yon or I must be out of our wits." "It's not me. then, at anv rate." re. torted mother, getting nettled. Amnsement and a certain embarrass ment had kept me a silent listener so far, but there was no standing this; I tried to speak, but could not. for laugh ing. I think yon are all out of your wits together," said mother, turning sharply, " What ails the child ? It'a no laugh ing matter." " ion don't understand each other." gasped; "oh. dear I It's not Lettv . oh oh, dear 1'' and relapsed again. " Not Letty ?" repeated mother, turn ing to Tom. "Then why did yon tell me so r " I never told yon bo," said Tom. "Why, yes, you did, persisted mother. " Yon came in and told me yon were going to be married." " Yes, so I am," said Tom, still at cross-purposes. " Now, Tom Dean," said mother, ris ing and confronting him, " what do yon mean I who is going to be yonr wife? "Why, May, of course," answered Tom. "May!" and then, after a pause of inexpressible astonishment, it was mother's turn to laugh. ' Do yon mean to say, Tom, it was that child yon were thinking of all tho while." " Why, who else could it be ?" said Tom, simply. "Well," said mother, " I ought to nave remembered you never did do anytnmg like anybody else. But. still. why in the world did yon go to work in such a roundabout way 7 ' " I wanted to see how yon took to my laea r saia xom. "And how do yon suppose we were to guess your idea meant May?" mother asaea. "Who else could it be?" repeated rom, tailing back on what he evidently fonnd unanswerable argument. It was no use talking to him. Mother gave it np with a shake of the head. " And you won't want another house then, Aunt Anne ?' said Tom, suddenly. That set mother off again; Tom joined with her, and altogether I don't think we ever passed a' merrier evening than the one that made us acquainted with Tom's wife Kate Putnam Osgood, Heroes and Their Rewards, The columns of the daily papers, in the brief records of current events, con tain the plots of comedies, novels and tragedies forfiner and more significant han any which fiction has produced. H ere, for example, is the story of a poor barber in New Jersey who, twenty five years ago, was keeping a oonntry inn. A passing stranger stopped with him, was attacked by some severe ailment, and for fonr or five months was not able to go on bis way. He had no money or friends, but the innkeeper refined to allow him to be sent to a hospital, supplied his wants and nursed him faithfully. The stranger recovered, left his benefactor's house, went West and was not heard of again until a short lime ago, when fication was sent to the poor barber, an be was the heir to thirty thousand dol lars, bequeathed to him by the man he ad succored Here is another story even more dra matic. On a cold evening in last January, when the sleet was falling fast, an engineer named Irving, on a railway in Virginia, was taking a long passenger train up a heavy grade. Seeing that the train in advance of him was not able to make the ascent on account of the ice on the track, he uncoupled his engine and hurried on to give it, in schoolboy parlance, a boost. After he had pushed it up the hillhe was returning to his own train, when, looking up, he saw part of the train he had just left, consisting of twelve heavy freight cars, rushing down the traek, having broken rom their engine. In another moment they would come in collision with the cars filled with passengers below. The engineer could save himself by leaping irom his engine I Or he might push the engine forward to the descending mass and so perhaps partially break its force. Never did soldier hurl him self into a more deadly breach. But the man did it. The lives of the scores of unconscious passengers waiting below were saved, and the brave engineer wat- taken from his crashed engine, strange to say, with scarcely a bruise. It does us all good to read saoh his tories as these, where eternal jus1 ice manifests itself in this world, incisive, swift, : complete, where a man has an opportunity for a noblo action, and its reward follow?, tangible und real. Thousands of men have succored the poor and sick, bnt have inherited no fortune. As many thousands would unhesitatingly have ricked their lives to save a threatened train, if so supreme a chance had ever come to them. routh's Companion. Fish and Meat as Food. There is some danger of thefleh ques tion falling out of memory, TLij is not to be tolerated after the interest which has been excited, and for some time maintained, in connection with this important phase of the food prob lem. Whatever may be the nutritious value of fish as food and we believe it to be very great it must be evident that a full and cheap supply of fish would react so as to produce a lowering of the price of butchers' meat. The " purveyors, as they like to be called, are encouraged, and in truth enabled to keep up the price of flesh because there is noth ing to compete with it as a Etaple of the common food of the people. A revival of the old and healthy habit of living largely on fish would place the meat supply on an entirely new footing. This is manifest on the face of the facts; bnt what may not be equally ap parent, though it is scarcely less note worthy, is the consideration that nervous diseases and weaknesses increase in a country as the pop ulation comes to live on the flesh of warm-blooded animals. This is a point to which attention has not been adequately directed. "Meat" using that term in its popular sense is highly stimulating, and supplies pioportionately more exoiting than actually nourishing pabulum to the nervous system. The meat eater lives at high pressure, and is, or ought to be, peculiarly active organism, liko a predatory animal, always on the alert, walking rapidly, and consuming large quantities of oxygen, which are imperatively necetsary for the safe disposal of bis disassimilated material. In practice we find that the meat eater does not live np to the level of bis food, and as a conse quence he cannot, or does not take in enough oxygen to satisfy tbe exigencies of bis mode of life. Thereupon follow many, if not most of the ills to which highly civilized and luxurious meat-eating classes are liable. This is a physi ological view of the food question, and it bos bearings on tho question of fish supply which ought not to be neg leoted. Lancet. Tables In Ancient Times. The Greek lady of leisure in Athens employed herself at the spinning wneei, and nad little need of a table, and, beantifnl in design and form as all Greek fnrniture was, one striking natural characteristic proclaimed it self in the furnishing of the home. They never bad that for which they conld find no practical use, and conse quently as tables were only needed for the purpose of meals, they appeared only at those times, were mere Blabs of wjod, which were brought in at the dinner hour, and set down loosely upon their legs. The meal over, the table vanished with the empty plates. In Homeric days each person had a separate table, and it was only when luxury crept- in that a larger table for the men became common, while the women dined at separate ones. Then the custom of lounging on conches, the elbows resting on the table, became usual, and the ladies were expected to sit while their lords as sumed the most comfortable attitnde they conld find. Even then, however, the table played so entirely a subor dinate part that we never read of it as being of handsome material or, indeed, as being of any importance at all, ex cept to groan under the food, which was of the most luxurious description. The Romans, on the contrary, held their tables in the highest estimation; they even made collections of them. Seneca possessed 500 small ones. It is enrious to trace in the acoounts old writers give us of Roman luxury in this respect a sort of likeness to the taste of modern days. No artiole o furniture in the Roman bouse cost so much as the table. Those with one foot, or pedestal, fetched enormous prices. Pliny says that tables were brought in the first instance from the East and were called orbes, not because they were round, bnt because they were massive plates of wood, out from the trunk of a tree in its whole diame ter. Yet, oddly enough, we hear very little cf tables in the East or in ancient history. Moses made a table for the Tabernacle, as if it were something un common, upon which to lay the shew bread. Fhilo Judceus describes it as having been two onbits long and one and a half high, and dwells upon it as a remarkable piece of furniture. fashionable tables in the luxurious Russian homes were called "monopo dia," and were made of a massive plate of wood, resting npon a column of ivory; such tables were enormously ex pensive, and, according to Pliny, the wood was brought from Mauretania, and cut from the trunk of the citrus tree. Some of these pieces of wood were four feet in diameter, and the ivory column which supported them was extremely massive. The greatest care was taken of such tables. They were polished and covered with thick cloths made generally of coarse linen, the hrst indication we meet of the modern table cloth. Oicero had snoh a table, for which he paid the enor mous sum of 1,000,000 sesterces. Just as to-day the handsomest walnut tables ire those made of wood cut from the trunk nearest the roots, so in the days of Roman magnificence highest prices were paid for the tables made from the last cut of the citrus tree, because tbe wood was dappled and marked. A Blind Shot. An English traveler in Southwestern Africa, Mr. Frederick Green, relates how by a marvelous shot in tbe dark tie put out of tbe way two dreaded lions that had long haunted the Bushman village of Otjituo and devoured more than a hundred human beings. These brutes would pass by whole droves o cattle, and go directly through flocks of sheep without touchingone,in order to Und and pounce upon a human victim. i hey were m ates, and the death of one of them (identified as the other's provider), in consequence of Mr. Green's lucky shot, frightened the other away so that he did not return. This is the hunter s storyi It was a o clock in tho morning; the moon had sunk below the horizon, and it was quite dark, when the humor took me to have a night ramble. Seizing my double-barreled gun and my revolving rule, x stood for some minutes a silent and solitary listener to the terrifio roar ings of two lions, who after a while passed along the back of the river op posite to that on which we were en camped. Suddenly baiting again, they com menced another duet in as loud a strain as their lungs could pour forth. I was by thistimejoined by John Mortar, Uonneld and two of my native servants, all in readiness with their guns, like myself. in case the brutes should attempt to attack ns. 1 now advanced a few paces from the wagon toward the river, and raising my double-barreled gun, called to my Damara, Ouknb (for from deaf- neas in one ear I cannot distinguish accurately the direction of sound), to point an near as he could to the quarter whence he heard the lions. This done, I placed the gun on an elevation of about 300 yards, the distance, as I supposed, of the animals, and fired. No sooner had the explosion taken place than one of the lions abruptly ceased roaring, nttering at the same a startling growl, saoh as always announoes the receipt of a gunshot wound by these brutes. The " clap " of the bullet against the beast's bide, so well known to sportsmen, was not to be mistaken, and tbe bystanders simultaneously shouted: "The hon is shuck!" 1 stood amazed, scarcely able to credit the fact, and might, perhaps bave thonght that my bearing bad de ceived me, bad not Mortar, Bonfleld and others present declared with one voioe that the lion must unquestionably bave been bit. After describing the discovery and dispatch of the woundod beast when daylight oame, and his thrilling en counter with its mate, when his revolv ing rifle twioe missed fire, Mr. Green says: On examining the dead lion I was much surprised to find that my night shot nad tut nun close behind the left shoulder. ... I bad tbe skin of the animal carefully removed, and intend to keep it as a reminiscenoe of one of the most extraordinary incidents of my naming experience. SUNDAY READING. Sermonle Remits. A sermon that is to aooomplish an end, and to be worth listening to, must embody real thoughts, thoughts that bave some connection with the interests and issues of life, and must bo instinct with the living convictions of the preacher. To be such a sermon, it must come from the preacher's mind and heart, warm with the very life blood of his soul at the very moment of his delivery. Bnt how a preacher can stand up before an audience and pro oeed to read as a message to living men a sermon which he wrote thirty, twenty or even ten years ago, I cannot under stand. When written the sermon, doubtless, was a real transcript of the writer's thoughts, con victions and emotions. But during the rush of intervening years, what changes, if there has been a soul within him, have passed over his spirit? To write that sermon now would be simply impossible. And yet he tries to put himself into it, and in that guise he presents himself to an audience of thinking people. An old coat that he wore twenty years ago might be aired and the dust whipped out of it, and he present himself in it with much more propriety than in that old sermon. No treatment of the ser mon can relieve it of its smell of age. Like an old bouquet of flowers, its once delicate fragrance has sunk into a sick ening odor. President Robinson. Rellalou News find Notts. There are over G.000,000 children in America still outside of any direct San-day-school influence. Over 100,000 Bibles were given to emigrants during the past year upon ar riving in this country by the American bible society. Bishop Payne, of the Methodist Epis copal church South, is very old, and in the Christian ministry sixty-five years, thirty-six of which he has been a bishop. The National Baptist says that the man who complains of paying ton dol lurs for his church pew went to tbe circus last week, taking his wife and five children, and paying a dollar apiece for reserved seats. He is going to take a cheaper pew next year, and to advo cate a reduction in tho salary of the pastor. King John, the monarch who rules Abyssinia with a rod of iron, is severely opposed to missionaries. He has ban ished a party of them who recently ar rived at Massowah. These missionaries had distributed some Bibles to the na tives, but, under tbe influence of the native priests, King John caused search to be made for these in the houses and huts. In cases where copies of the Bible were found the owners were chained and otherwise treated with great cruelty. The Dankardsbave a different wav of holding their great ecclesiastical gather ings from that pursued by any of the other denominations. They go in mass, and crowd in immense numbers. They have been holding their national con ference at Arnold, near Wabash, Ind. About 20,000 of them were present. They are very plain, both in their dress and their manners, bnt are conspicuous ly thrifty, and many of thorn are pos sessed of great wealth. They do not invest in co3tly clothing or jewelry, but despise everything in the way of per sonal adornment and luxury. They are, however, very fond of good eat ing. They settle all their disputes in a friendly manner, and nevjr go to law against each other. The following figures are from the general summary of the statistics of the United .Presbyterian church for 1882: Synods, 9; presbvteries, CO; pastors and stated supplies, 541; without charge, 179; total ministers, 1, yd: ministers or dained, 32; ministers installed, 52; ministers released, 35; licentiates, 3'J; students of theology, 50; congregations with pastors and stated supplies, 661; congregations vacant, 165; total con ?re gations,826; congregations organized, 16; mission stations, 9G; new stations during the year, 20; bouses cf worship erected, 37; average cost, $3,087. Total mem bers reported, 84,573; adults baptized, 629; infants baptized, 3,720; total num ber of Sabbath-schools reported, 8G9; officers and teachers, 8,647; scholars re ported, 72 956; contributions by Sun day-schools, 836,147. Contributions for congregational purposes, $930,12; an advance of $76,584 over the preced ing year; -for missionary objects, $17,- 898. The average contribution per member was $11.40. Tbe average salary of pastors was $868. (ilven a New Trial. Jones was tried for a homicide in St. Louis. Alpeora Bradley was his coun sel. Bradley is eccentric and his knowl edge of law is meager; but he makes a stirring speech, and his reliance is on his power with the jury as an orator. Throughout this trial he made the most ridiculous motions and objections, one of his propositions, for example, being that the State could not introduce proof of tbe killing without first showing tbat the man was alive. Eloquence in sum ming up could not cave the prisoner thus defended, and a verdict of murder was rendered. The prisoner demanded a new trial on the ground of bis ooun sel's "ignorance, imbecility, incompe tence and mismanagement." The supreme court denied the motion, but this deoision has been reversed by the court of appeals, which held that the record of the case showed Bradley to bave made "an exhibition of ig norance, stupidity and silliness that conld not be more absurd or fantastical it it came irom an idiot or lunatic." The court admits that such conduct on the part of counsel would not call for a new trial unless the prisoner bad lost legal rights or advantages by it; but in this case witnesses whose testimony might have saved Jones were not called, and " the prisoner in effect went to his trial and doom without counsel suoh as the law wonld secure to every person accused of crime." Counselor Bradley replies very hotly in a card, quoting Shakespeare in this remark able manner: " Tbe thiot who robs me of my money robs me of trash, it is mine and his and a slave to thousands. But that judge who robs me of my good name robs me of that.whichjdoes not make him the r.c her, but leaves me poor indeed." Sardine fishery. The fardine fishery constitutes, in France, a marine industry which plays a considerable part in the prosperity of the littoral population. The port of Douarnenez alone possesses 800 fishing-boats of seven or eight tons, and Ocncarneau 600; while there are another 600 beats between Brest and Sables d'Olonne. The crew consists of the master, three men and a boy, making in all 25,000 to 30,000 persons engage I in the sardine fishery, while the preservation of the fish affords work to at least an equal number. In 1875 Douarnenez produced 1,325 tons of green-saltod sardines, sold as fresh fish. The boats, twenty feet long, are flat in the stern, bnt raised and point ed at the prow, which gives them great speed, though it exposes them to the danger of capsizing. They have two masts, slightly inclined backward, and square sails of large size, which permit them to take advantage of the slightest breeze. The nets, not weight ed with lead, are from twenty to thirty meters long by six or eight wide, made of very fine cord, with meshes of such size that the sardine is caught by the gills. The upper part is floated with corkp, which serve to maintain the ver tical position of the net. "In the sardine fishery the bait, which is called rogue, plays the prin cipal part. It is a kind of caviare, made from the eggs of the cod pre served in brine, 35,000 barrels of which, representing a value of 70,000, are imported from Norway yearly. There are varions indications of the presence of the sardines, floating wreck being a good sign. Large fish, which prey upon them, effect such destruc tion that tho escaping oil frequently rises to the surface and exhales an odor which is perceptible to exper ienced fishermen. But it is especially the birds hovering round which are the harbingers of a good take. When a gull dips his peak into the water, it is a sign that the sardines are on the surface; and when a kind of gannet, common on the coast of Brittany, dives down from a height, they are at a cer tain depth below the surface. In this case the nets are at once let down, and the bait, mixed with sand to cause it to sink, is scattered by the mas ter. If the bait causes the sardines to rise, a few emerald-green flashes appear in the waves, when the fishermen do not spare the bait; and presently the whole shoal rises round the nets. When there are no more flsh to be taken, the nets are hauled in, the sardines are taken out and thrown into the hold, and the boats make for shore. Formerly a single boat could take as many as 20,000 sardines, but now it is rare to bring in more than from 5,000 to 6,000. The results vary, not) only from year to year, but also be tween two neighboring points on the shore. According to a table prepared by M. Gonillon, there were, at Dou arnenez, from 1859 to 1872, tnree years of good, six years of average, and three years of poor takings. On landing, the sardines are taken from the boats to tho factories in ham pers containing about 500, and the preparation begins at once with per fectly fresh sardines. V omen ont off the bends, open and clean the fish, and place them, one by one, on stone or marble slabs previously strewed with salt. While this preliminary drying takes place, tho fires are lighted, and the purest olive oil is put into immense caldrons. When the oil is in a state of ebullition the sardines are laid in layers in iron wire baskets provided with handles. These baskets are plunged into the boiling oil, and then placed on shelves covered with sheet zinc to drain, the oil being caught for future use. The fish, when moderate ly dry, are taken to the large drying house exposed to the sea breeze, where tbey remain for a longer or shorter period, according to the state of the atmosphere. On leaving it they are sorted and put into boxes; the largest ate considered as of first quality, while t he small are frequently metamorphosed into anchovies. SCIENTIFIC NOTES. The dazzling effect of the electric aro is a source of objection to its nse as a locomotive headlight by the French engineers who have been trying it. The raw material used for porcelain manufacture in Japan is obtained from the neigborhood of Arita, in the prov ince of Hezen, and appears to consist of elastio acid eruptive masses of tertiary age, containing a large proportion of potash mica, probably due to the action of later eruptions. The sand of the Desert of Sahara is of a yellow color and consists of about ninety per cent, of well rounded quartz grains and nine per cent, of feldspar. Other minerals found in it, but in very small quantity, aro chalk, clay, balitz, sylvite, magnetite, chromite, gatnet, olivine, amphiboie and pyroxene. Professor Whitney does not lay any weight on the removal of forests as a cause of the dryness and desolation of former fertile and populous regions of the earth. He admits tbat the greater proportion of land to water in late geo logical eras may have a little to do with the decreased rainfall; bnt he attributes the diminished precipitation mainly to a lowering of the intensity of solar radiation during geological time. Engineering skill has not yet suc ceeded in utilizing as motive powers the vast forces represented by the ebb and flow of the tides and the aotion o' sea waves. Various attempts to accom plish this bave, however, been made, and two recent schemes have been late ly described. In the plan proposed by M. victor Uanchez, a la'e bell moves up and down in a stone inclosure, and is connected with a large float in the sea. The rising and falling of this bell is used to force air into a chamber,' and this oompressed air may be employed to drive maohinery. In the scheme adopt ed by Professor Wellner, of Brnnn, there is fixed along a sea wall p. sort of air-trap a metallic case, open below, now in air, now in water, as the waves beat upon it. At the top this com municates through valves and pipes with a reservoir, in which tbe air is oom pressed, and the force thus supplied may be directly utilized for many purposes. V.
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