r Ratos of Advertising. One fiuare (1 inch, 'iono Insertion - J! 18 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY", BY r. Hm wbnk:, Ori'ICE Iff ROBINSON & BOH ITER'S BUILD IS ( ELM BTEEET, TI ON EST A, PA. S TEBM8, 1.60 A YEAH. No fluhscriptlons received for a shorter riod than throo months. Correspondence solicited troin all parts nl'the country. No notice will bo taken of anonymous trot 11 in u 11 icsit ioiiM. One .Square " one month - -3 00 One (Square uirco momns - nw OnoS'iuare " one j-cnr - - 10 00 Two Squares, one ycai - 15 To Quarter Col. " - - - - 30 00 Half ' ... - fiO CO One " " - - - 100 00 Legal notices at established rates. Marriage nnd death notions, gratis. Alt bills for yearly advertisements col- lected quarterly. Temporary advertise ments must be paid for in advance. Job work, Cash on Delivery. VOL. XII. NO. 5. TIONESTA,,PA., APRIL 23, 1879. $1.50 Per Annum. . , 7 To a Little Maiden. , Sweet little maiden, Modest littlo maiden, Blushing little maidon, Thirteen ! There's an niry spell about yon, There's a dainty charm about yon, There's a modest grace about you, I ween. Would you know wherein the spell lies, little maiden T iTo you Bk wherein tho charm lies, little mnidvn T Shell I teli wherein tho grace lies, littlo maiden t Nay, nay ! For were I to tell, Indeed, I know full well It would surely break tho spell, Little tnuiden. . But I'll whisper in your ear A word for you to hoar; Just a hint never fear, - Little maiden. !Re alwuys bright and ready, 1'rcHs onward strong and steady, liver help tho poor and needy, LitUo maiden ; And the charm and the grace Tlutt are sealed ou thy lace . Will uever loose their place, Little maiden. Botlon Trantcript. Her Blue-Eyed Boy. " My boy, my bny,nry blue-eyed boy, Vur thee I nigh, for thee I weep, "" When others tread the mazy dance, Or Htnile in happy dreams and sleep. Torn from these loving arms away, Hy those who reeked not tear or prayer, l'.re thou couldst spcjik thy mother's nunie; My tiny bud,.iuy bubelet lair. "My hoy, my boy, my blue-eyed boy, Could I within thy bright eyes gii.e, Or have an hour to kiss thee in, 'Twould light up many weary days. But thou ait lar away from me; Between us ocean's billows beat, And I eun but thy picture kiss, My fairy rose, my b.ibelet sweet.'' ""sliss Isabella Spooner finished rend ingWliese verses and proceeded to rut tliem out of the paper they had grncd, with u pair of scissors thnt in company witli a hunch of keys hung from l.er gen erous girdle, a murmur of admiration and . syiflpalhy arose from her audience. This audience consisted of Mrs. Spooner, Isa- ' bella's mother, a tall, thin, naif woman with a grewcdcal ol foruhciid-fhi'.l is, in regard to height and very white, well shaped hands, which looked as though they had been molded out of lard ; Mrs. Dusenberry, a lady who looked about five-and-forty, but who, according to her own calculations, grew young so last that Iter friends confidently expected that iti a few years she would be a girl again, with lips so thin that they came near being no lips at all, bumpy "brow, small, black, uneven eyes, a nondescript nose and a ftjuro remarkable for its unobtrusive nss; Captain Ilottop, Miss Spooner's uncle, a hale, hearty, rather handsor..; m vn, who had spent most of his life in a sailing vessel; Mr. Wellington Octoper, a young pork merchant, called " Devil fish1' -by those of his companions who hail been to the Aquarium, " because it t came so nearbeing Octopus, you know," with reddish' hair, reddish complexion and no forehead to speak of ; Miss Eugenia Ann Octoper, sister of the pork merchant, a pretty, pert young girl, who came down to breakfast in diamond earrings, and talked a great deal about "style;" and two or three elderly men and three or four young men, who, being mere no- bodies, can, of course, only expect mere mention. It was a lovely day in the last week nf Julv. and these neonle were eathered togejther on the broad veranda of the Spooner homestead (Mrs. Spooner took a few summer boarders for company). and, truth to tell, they could not have been in a pleasanter place. The house, substantially built of gray stone and draped with beautifully wistarias that climbed to the very roof, faced the Dela ware river, and the gleam of tho water through the branches' of the eatalpa trees that stoofl 7ust outside the garden gate, laden with showy flowers, among which the bees were having rare riot, was a pleasant sight to see.. . Miss Isabella Spooner, the real mistress of the homestead her mother's extreme lassitude rendering her only the nominal one was a comfortable, sentimental old maid, with nn obtrusive figure (in which respect she formed a great contrast to her friend Mrs. Dnsenberry), light, very light blue eyes, and a snub-nose. She wore her hair brushed back from her forehead t a forehead much like her mamma's and falling in a curly crop in the back of her peck. In evening dress these curls were always tied with a bit of bright rib bon, which imparted to them quite a juvenile appearance and charm. Miss ' Isabella doted on poetry, and looked upon all rhymers as " heaven born.11 In fact, she had an intense re Bpect for and admiration of all persons connected with literature, and was wont to say, " Could have been pen-gifted I would have asked no other boon. "How very sweet!" said Mrs. Du senberry, in a soft, too soft voice, as Miss, Spooner, after reading the verses quoted above, took her scissors in her hand. "They remind me of some lines I introduced in my first letter to Professor Ganz at the time I became so interested in tho habits of the birds of North America, lie said afterward, by-the-bye, that the brightness of that letter absolutely dazzled him. Mrs. Dusenberrv prided herself on her let ter-writing, and, anxious that her tal ent should not be "hid under abusheL" wrote on the subject which 6he thought would be most interesting to him, with a hint as to the impressioa he had made on her susceptible heart, to every man with whom she came in contact, as soon as possible after form inir his acauaintance. ''Andwhen do you expect her, Iaa- bellaP" asked Mrs. Spooner, lifting her hands, of which she was very proud, from her lap, to regard them more closely, and then listlessly dropping them again. "This afternoon, toward evening," answered Miss Spooner, taking a letter from her pocket and referring to it. "She writes: 'I hope to arrive just as the sun is beginning to drown in your beautiful river, and the evening star peeps forth a.s bright as bright, alas! as the eyes of my blue-eyed boy.' " "How very sweet!" said Mrs. Du senberry. "it reminds me of a note I received the other day from Dr. Drake, in answer to one I sent him, begging him for a copy of his lecture on the 'Human Skeleton.1" "Well, I should say she was quite smart. Yes-s," said the young pork merchant, in a nasal voice. "Them verses sounded very pretty. I don't read anything in the newspapers but the.- lard quotations and the hog market reports myself, but I know good po'try when I hear it. And you read first rate, Miss Spooner, you do. Yes-s." "It was nice," said his sister; "but no better than a friend of mine can do. She can write pomes by the hour, but she don't print none. She don't need to, Yause her pa rich. She only does it for fun." "Well, I'm blessed," here broke in Captain Hottop, dropping his feet with a bang from the chair-top on which they had been elevated, " if I wouldn't like to know what this is all about. Who is she? And who's the blue-eyed boy?" " Why, bless me! you've just come, nnd you don't know, do you, uncle?" said Miss Spooner, putting the " pome 11 away in her pocketbook, and leaning back in her chair the better to meet the eyes of the captain. She's Mrs. Montgomery Montague, a charming young widow, and the blue-eyed boy is her only child a lovely babe " "Babelet," corrected Mrs. Dusenberry, at the same time playfully flicking the cheek of a youth at lier side, one ot the mere-mentioned, who in his interest in Miss Spooner story had neglected to fan he rival of Madame Do Sevigne, after having been captured and detailed for that duty only five minutes before. "And when her husband died," con tinued the fair Isabella "(he was the younger son of an aristocratic English family, one of the very highest intimate with the Queen and lie ran away to this country on a lark, and his folks disowned Dim because they thought he married be 'ow him, though I've no doubt she was much too good for him, and he treated her hockingly), his father sent for the boy, md tore him from nis weeping mother's arms." "'And recked not tear or prayer,1'1 quoted Mrs. Dusenberry. " But why did she let them take him?" diotited the captain. "By heavens! they ouldn't have taken him if she'd 'a held on. Foreiijners tearing citizens of the United SUUes from their mothers1 arms! Who ever heard of such a thing before?" " Well, they didn't exactly tear him away,11 explained his niece. " That's the poetical way of putting it,11 interpolated Mrs. Dusenberry. "But she was left almost destitute," Miss Spooner went on, " and she's a deli cate little thing, and 11 "Circumstances were too many for her," suggested the pork merchant. "Just so," assented his hostess. "But, most fortunately, she possesses the gift of song; and with what her writings bring her in, and the presents which are show ered on her wherever she goes she is such a fa vorite she manages to get alone. I met her at Mrs. liluelight s party last winter, and wetook such a fancy to each other right off, and she told me her story in the conservatory. Young Chandler was there, too, but she didn't see him ; he was at the other end of the room, behind some tall plants he was very attentive to her afterward, and gave her a pearl brace let on her birthday and I cried till my nose looked like a 11 " Cherry," suggested Mrs. Dusenberry, addine in a sprightly manner : " Captain, if you desert me for this enchantress, I'll never forgive you," to the great astonish ment of the honest captain, who had not exchanged three sentences with the lady, and, indeed, had never seen her until this very July alternoon. " Well, sautairs. spooner, changing a ring from tho forefinger of her right hand to the forefinger of her left, " we must all be very kind to her. 1 sympathize with her with all my heart about her child. I know how I'd feel if I lost you, Isabella." "Mv babelet sweet! murmured Mrs. Dusenberry, fixing her peculiar eyes on her friend, on which the gawky youth at her side dropped the fan, and burst into a loud guflaw. "Hush! cried Miss Isabella. "Here she is." And up the garden walk tripped a , . i . r i- i. i i i i i Fllglll giriisii-iooKiiig woman, urcsseu in a blue-gray silk, with a Gainsbor ough hat, from which floated a long black ostrich plume, coouettishly set on the back of her head. Her pale yellow hair hung in babyish curls about her snow-white brow, and she raised a pair of lovely yellow-brown eyes to the group on the veranda. Miss Spooner, with astonishing quick ness, considering how stout she was. ran down the steps and caught her friend in her arms. "You darling!" she said, with enthusiasm, " we have just been reading your sweet, sweet poem, 'A Mothers Wail.1 Welcome to the homestead!" "How beautiful it is!" said the lit tie woman, clasping her daintily kidded hands, and speaking in a low clear voice perfectly audible to the listeners above as she turned toward the river. "That glimpse of the water! the grand old trees! the fragrance of the air! and " raising her beautiful eyes " the glori ous sky, so like " with a catch in her breath ''so like the eyes ol my lost, my darling boy!" In less than a week every man in that house was more or lees in love with Mrs. Montgomery Montague the captain, the pork merchant, the old clerks and the young clerks. And the women well, the women didn't like her as well as they did be fore she ceine. 'She's nrettv enouch nnd clever enough," said Mrs. Dusenberry, " but I for one am getting tired of her blue eyed boy. As I said in a letter of mine to a distinguished literary gentleman immediately upon rending it he enrolled himselt among my band ol admirers 1 have lost children, lost them in the grave, but I never bring my shadows to cloud the sunshine of my friends.1" And, to do her justice, she never did. On the contrary, so uncommonly well did she bear her bereavements that one could scarcely believe she had ever been bereaved. 1 But to go back to the pretty poetfs lovers. Captain Ilottop was the most devoted of them all. He had never been in love before, and love, like scarlet fe ver, is a most serious complaint when contracted late in life. He followed Mrs. Montague around like a faithful, loving slave, carrying a heavy shawl to spread on the grass when she chose to sit be neath the trees, and a large umbrella to shield her from the sun when it was her pleasure to ramble along the road. He named his sailboat " Lilian 11 after her, bought a pony and phaeton and placed them at her service, swung her for hours in the hammock which hung in the orchard, and listened with patient, heart felt sympathy to her longings tor her blue-eyed boy. " Blessed it it ain't too bad!" said he one day (they were sitting beneath the catalpa-trees), as the little widow pressed her lace handkerchief to her eyes to dry the tears that sprung to them just after she had remarked that the twittering of the denr little birds wns so like a baby's voice. " Couldn't you git him away from them folks? Tears tome I couldn t refuse you anything when you clasp your hands and look at me with tears in your eyes." " Oh, captain," sobbed the sorrowing mother. " there are very few people in the world like you very few. You are one in a thousand yes, five thousand. But 1 never had a chance to appeal to them personally. I was very ill when when they took my darling away; and letters, with no matter how much feel ing we write them, are so cold." "Why don't you try 'personally,1 then?" asked the captain, swinging her dainty parasol about, to the imminent danger of the delicately carved handle. She blushed, cast down her yellow brown eyes, raised them again, looked him in tlie face like a child resolved to tell the truth, however painful it may be, and said, "I have no money wherewith to pay my passage to England. Under stand me, I would willingly, most wil lingly, be a steerage passenger, a steward ess, anything anything to bring me nearer my child. But coming to them save as befitted the wife of their son and brother, my husband's proud family would certainly disown nte, and I should be alone in a strange land more heart-sick than ever.v " Well, if the want of money's all," cried her honest lover, "that's easily settled. I'll give you the money to go in bang-up style " But here he stopped in amazement, for Mrs. Montgomery Montague had risen from her seat and drawn her small figure to its fullest height. "Sir, do not insult me," she said, with trembling lips. " Insult you!" cried the captain, spring ing to his feet "insult you, my dear little woman! I never dreamed of such a thing." "But you offered me money," she stammered. "And I was about offering you my hand and heart thatfs the way they nut it in the love stories, don't thev? Will you marry me, Lilian? and then, if you choose, we n go together lor the boy." "Generous man!" said the widow, a tear stealing down her pretty cheek. "But don't you see" and a smile suc ceeded the tear " that that would never do? I could never plead for my child as the wife of Captain Hottop. It must be as the widow of Montgomery Mon tague." " Blessed if you ain't right!" exclaimed tlfe captain, looking at her admiringly. " Well, promise to marry me when you return. Do, Lilian. No one could love you better than I." "When I return?" " Yes, for surely my promised wife can accept part of the fortune that will be all hers when she is really my wife, with out anybody Nobody need know. Will you, Lilian?" " I will," she said. "Will what, my precious?" he asked, ihniling. " Everything," she answered ; and turned nnd fled like a bashful girl, after ho had clasped her in his arms and given her a kiss in true sailor fashion. A ad by the very next steamer Mrs. ll'UVg"IIIVl J iUVllVIlK VV. avt&v, Airs. Jll tj- land, with a valuable solitaire diamond engagement ring glittering on her pretty hand, a che k for five hundred dollars in her silver portemonnaie, and many use ful and ornamental farewell gifts from the ladies of the Spooner househo'd. The ladies lelt all fieir old interest in her re vive, no ' thai she had gone away indeed, as Mrs. Dusenberry informed the eighty- year-old grandfather of tho youth who fanned her on the afternoon of'Mrs. Mon tague's arrival. " She was much too lovely, and made me quite jealous of you, you false man," And Miss Isabella Spooner-hung the riicture of young Montgomery, " that labelet fair, in the parlor, and wreathed it with daisies. '" Heaven grant thnt we may see the darling himself soon!" she said, with pious emphasis. But they never did. For, a couple of weeks after tho widow's departure, Wel lington Octoper burst in among them all as they were playing croquet on the lawn, scattering the balls in every direction. " Sold, by gracious!'1 shouted he. " What?'1 asked Miss Spooner, drop ping her mallet. " A million tierces of lard and twice as many pigs, I suppose," murmured Mrs." Dusenoerry, leaning in an unconscious manner against the shoulder of her part ner. " She's a fraud! Yes-s," continued the pork merchant. " Who?" they all cried this time. "The widow, Mrs. Montgomery Mon tague, that U, Mrs. Maria J. Thompson. I es-s." I "A fraud, pir! What do you mean, sir? what do you mean?" bellowed Captain Hottop, as though through a speaking-trumpet, a flush overspreading his weather-bronzed lace. "Just what I say. captain. Yes-s." answered the pork merchant. " It ought to be the first of April it ought for, by jingo, there never vas such a sell! The only truth shctold was when she said she was a widow, So she is. xes-s. I he widow of Jack Thompson, celebrated mince and punkin pie maker in Chicago. I met his brother on the street to-day. He's a pork merchant. And she never had any children." Mot a blue-eyed boyr" gasped the captain. "Not even a blue-eyed boy. Yes-s!" said Wellington . Octoper. Harper's WetMy. A Kaffir Wedding. General Cunvnchame writes in his work on South Africa: "I went to see the niarriftffeof the chief Faku. with the daughter of another chief from the Klip rivet district. Faku is a chief who did right good service during the rebellion, and-je is likfcd well. I was glrtd of an opportunity bf paying some ma. k of re- speci, went ins an uninviieu guesi, anu was right hospitably received. Well, sir, before this I was always under the im pression tint a Kaffir marriage was a sort of bargain iid sale, hop the broomstick aflair, so mf ny cows paid, and the woman handed over to the husband in the pres ence of thf official witness; but I was much surmised to find it quite a different affair, ant) one of much ceremony. In civilized society the gentleman usually settles himself and a dower on the lady, but here the dower is given to the father, and he brings the laity in much Kaffir state to the husband. Proceedings open by a wild sort of dance, which announces the approach of the bride; in the mean time slie md her bridesmaids were said to be washir.g and decorationg themselves at a stream near by. After a short time the bride'sparty advanced, and was re ceived by the husband and his people sit ting down, a space being left of about twenty pacei between them. All guests were on the husband's right hand, he and they being surrounded by the hus band's tribe men, women and.children in a sort of half-circle. The dances and Songs open with the men on the bride's side, nnd after the dance the men deposit their shields one on the other in the center of the space, the bride's father's shield, as chief, being placed on the top. The bridesmaids1 dance and song then begins, the bride herself being still . kept in the background. When this is over the bride suddenly appears in the center of the bridesmaids, with her face veiled, a knife in uer right hand and a small shield in her left . The dance and song of bridesmaids begin again, all grandly advancing to the shields, and then stop. The husband calls to the bride to come to him, and she turns her back to him and dances with the rest back again; then again the men dance ai d sing. Several of the elders and wives of the bride's party run up in front of the husband and chaff him, tell him he is " no go," and not good enougli. for the girl. The men's dance then ceases, and the bridesmaids begin again. This time the bride's vail is lowered to the nose, and her eyes seen, and she advances be yond the shields. Induana, on the bride's side, sits down in a peculiar manner, in dicatingthat the husband must give her plenty of milk, and so the dance goes on until she comes up to the husband. He spep.ks to her; 6he turns her back to him ; he asks her lovingly to give him her hand; she does so; and as she does so she looks over her shoulder at him. She gave him one look, but that look was a piercer. More dances ensue, until at last she comes up unveiled. He asks her if she will be his wife ; she says ' Yes.' She is then asked by the official witness if she is willing to be his wife, and to come and live with him, and she says ' Yes.' Other dances and ceremonies follow, but, as it was close to 6undown, I had to saddle and k'ave. As far as I could see there was no constraint in the matter ; on the contrary, from the look, rather a lik ing of the bride for the bridegroom. Everything was mos ov! rly; beer (ubaty wala) there was for the guests, but no drunkenness. The bride was one of the finest 'women I have ever seen in South Africa, six feet high, well formed and very pretty." Interesting Facts About the Blind. The oran of vision is considered the most t'elicate organization of the human frame; yet many who have been born blind have been enabled to see by sj-gi-cal operations, end the following is an interesting fact concerning one of that class: A. yoiuh had become thirteen years of age when his eyes were touched by a surgeon. He thought scarlet the most beautiful color; black was painful. He fancied every object touched him, and he could noi distinguish by sight what he perfectly well knew bv feeling; for instance, the cat and dog. When his second eye was touched, no remarked that the objfct i were not so large in ap pearance to this as to the one opened at first. Pictures he considered only partly-colored surfaces, and a miniature ab solutely astonished him, seeming to him like putting a bushel into a pint. Stanly, the organist, and many blind musicians, have been the best performers of their time; and a schoolmistress in England could discover that the boys were play ing in a distant corner of the room in stead of studying, although a person using his eyes could not detect the slight est sound. Professor Sanderson, who was blind, could, in a few minutes, tell how many persons were in a mixed company, nnd of each sex. A blind French lady i 'ould dance in figure dances, sew, and hread her own needle. A blind man in Derbyshire, England, has actually been a irveyor and planner of roads, his ear f uiding him as to distance as accurately t s the eye to others ; and the late Justice ielding, who was blind, on walking into room for the first time, after speaking a w words, said : "This room is twenty mo feet long, eighteen wide, and twelve gh," all of which was true. TIMELY TOPICS. Mr. David Mclver, one of the proprie tors of the f'unard line of steamships and member of Parliament for Birkenhead, writes to the London IHtnes, declaring un hesitatingly that from his personal ex ants. perience ns a carrier he does not know of any nation whose trade prospects at pres ent are so gloomy ns Great Britain's. The depression in the Lnited States and else where, he says, does not at all approach the depression here. The British ex ports to the united states are compara tively nothing, either as regards volume or value. The British food importations are steadily increasing, and the balance of trade is so overwhelmingly against Great Britain that he sees nothing except ruin for home industries, whether manufac turing or agricultural, if the present state of things is allowed to continue. While parents and guardians would consider themselves culpably negligent if children under their charge should partake of poisonous food or drinir, yet now few are equally solicitous as to the character of the mental food supplied to the youthful mind. Three New York forgers, brought back from Barbadoes by he police, ascribe their crimes to the in fluence of dime novels. It is not enough that parents should simply forbid their children reading such demoralizing literature; it is equally important that every household should be supplied only with papers, books, and magazines that are elevating and instructive in their tone and contents. The active minds of youth demand some occupation, and will gravi tate towards thnt which is exciting and stimulating, unless wiser counsels pre vail. Let those in authority beware of the presence of rank moral poisons in the household. The drowning of sixty English hussars in Afghanistan shows the wisdom of the old Peninsular general who said that " every English officer and soldier should be able to swim." It is true that the strongest swimmer has little chance against a raging sea or the rush of a mountain torrent, but, nevertheless, a knowledge of swimming has saved Eng land more thnn one valuable life during her Eastern wars. In the Sikh campaign ot 1W43 a noted cavalry omcer, when pur sued to the brink of a flooded river bv the enemv. slid from the saddle, and srasned his horse's mane with one hand while paddling with the other. The animal, thus lightened, swam safely to the shore. Tn 1857, again. Major Thompson and Capt. Delafosse, the only survivors of the Cawnpore massacre, saved themselves by plunging into the Ganges and floating down the stream, the incessant firing of the oepoys lrom the bank serving merely to scare the crocodiles, who might other wise have attacked them. They landed when a considerable distance down the river, and, after wandering in the jungle tor two days, were picked up, half starved and covered with sores, by a British de tachment. Menotti Garibaldi, son of the general. and Achille Fazzari, his companion-inarms, have been intending to sail in the autumn with 3,000 Italians for the south ern coast of New Guinea, establish a colony there, and found a new city un der the name of Italia. Their object is to una an outlet for that spirit of adven ture and enterprise which Italian unity aroused m many who are still young men. Among those who are to join the expedition are between twenty and thirty now sitting as deputies in the Italian parliament. The party will number about 3,000, and will bo divided into two parts: the military, commanded by Signor Fazzari, for tlie protection of the settlers against the natives ; and the agri cultural and industrial, to lay the verita ble foundations of the colony and turn the resources of the country to account. Four steamers are to be engaged to carry the adventurers to their destination, and to convey all the requisite stores and re quirements, from spades, pick-axes, saws and planes to printing-pivssi s and a tele graphic cable, with which they may place themselves at once in communica tion with the northernmost point of Australia. The Prisoner of Rochelle. Here is a scene from the vaudeville of the "Prisoner of llochelle." Corporal Cartouch amuses himself by -going through the manual, while Leza, seated at her work-table, abstractedly questions him concerning matrimony. Leza. If a girl were to fall in love with you, corporal, what would you do? Cartouch. Present arms! L. She would doubtless look to you for C. Support! L. And then what a heavy burden you would have to C. Carry! L. Your butcher and baker would have to C. Charge! L. Your " prospects of course would not C. Advance! L. And you would have to C. 'Bout face! L. -And never have any C. Rest! L. Now, corporal, pray give me your C. Attention! L. A man of your age isn't able to bear such a C. Ixjad! L. But you are not in your C. Prime! L. Your wife may C. 'Bout! L. Leave you, but she will soon C. ltd urn! L. And then you'll have to bear on all your C. Shoulder! L. Would you bo (J. Heady! L. I think you have some other C. Aim! L. And you would throw all your epistles into the C. Fire! (Hns the musk; t.) "One robin doesn't make a spring;" but one robbing makes a thief. ITEMS OF INTEREST. Ants that keep the world busy Inf What doesn't strike when it does 4 strike? A clock, when it won't go. People found abroad after eleven r. 11. in Peoria, 111., must explain them- " selves. ' " I can beat vou all hollow." as Uie machinist's hammer said to the boiler. Since its foundation in 1795 the pres ent Paris mint has coined 1,700,000, 000 gold pieces. A new work on chemistrv contains an article on diazoorthaniidoparatolu ensulphonic acid. Why are balloons in the air like vagrants? Because they have no visi ble means of support. What color is pied type? Mcridcn Recorder. " Well, it's not red. Aeokuk Constitution. But it makes a printer feel blue. Hackcnsack ltcpullkan. Professor (looking at his watch) "As we have a few minutes, I should like to have any one ask questions, if so disposed." Student " W hat time is it, please?" The area of the New England States is about tho same as that of England and Wales, but the population of the last named is 23,000,000, or between six and seven times the population of New England. There was an ingenious amount of devotion implied in the remark of a love-sick millionaire when the object of his affections became ecstatic over the beauty of the evening star '"Oh, do not do not praise it like that!" he cried; "I cannot get it for you." A former paragrapher..,haa .acUilud, .iniiMJiuj 1 m Toledo as a teacher of writing. One of his scholars said to him the other day: "Which is the proper way to make K, Mr. ?" The ruling pas sion was strong in the teacher, nnd he replied: "Make K while the sun shines." "Well, how is the spring trade?" said a gentleman to a friend the other day. " Dry goods never brisker," was the reply. " My wife shops all day, every chair in the house is covered with bundles, nnd I think of sending my pocketbook out of town for change of'oir it's too thin." Xav York Star. AN EDITOlt'S EPITAPH. Oh, man of shears, You've had your share Of this world's fears And scanty fare. If you would look And sec the lack Of joy you took, You'd change your tack ; Hut now all paste To you is post ; Your form is ensed, Your die is cast ; Your inky quills No more will qiuirk. Your little bills Of bric-a-brnc And petty squibs You'll no more squnck. Lyceum Gaxetle Artistic Savages. j The curious development of nrt in stincts and art capacity in the Bushmen of South Africa and their failure to grow toward civilization in other respects, is sharply presented in a recently-published work on that country: "How strange it is that these creatures, so low in the so cial scale, should have possessed artistic skill superior to most savages! They have portrayed on the rough rocks scenes of the chase and of native customs with such vigor, with a few colors of so per- ' manent a character, that the snectator-gjg?"" might take them for rough, first sketches, " by some untrained artist, executed only a short while since. Each animal is char acteristically rendered, and the manner of chasing and securing it, with the fig ures of those. who assisted in running it down, are faithfully shown. Possessing such admirable talents in so high a de- -4 gree, these people were yet incapable of attempting the erection of any descrip- tion of house, but sheltered themselves in such caverns nnd rocky niches as nature happened to provide. Some of these drawings include forty or fifty figures, correctly representing the chase of the lion, the eland, the rhinoceros, the gnu, the blesbok and many other wild ani mals, all vigorously drawn and colored in a species of distemper. These little people are described as wonderful hunt ers, their sense of sight being scarcely surpassed by that of the eagle, or their sense of hearing by that of the wolf. . Their hardihood and endurance far sur passed that of any animal in the field, while their cunning and adroitness was only equaled by the fox." A Story of Victor Hugo. The story is told of Victor Hugo, France's greatest living author, that many years ugo the father of the pres ent head of a Parisian publishing house was offered a manuscript by a pale young man with a large forehead. The publisher glanced ovcrtho pages and saw that the work was in verse. With out attempting to read it, he handed it politely back to the young author with a few of the usual phrases about poe try being a drug in the market, de pression of trade, etc., etc. " 1 am sorry, for your sake," said the young man, inipressively, as he pocketed the rejected manuscript. " 1 was about to proposo to you a contract by which I would have assured to you tlie right to all tho future Droductiona or in r.w" It was a fortune that I was about to offer to you but you refuse, and so no more need be said." He bowed and withdrew. The publisher, struck by his manner, reflected for a moment, and then hastened after his visitor to call him back. But ho was too late the young man had already disappeared. "Never before or since," the old gen tleman was wont to say when relating this story, "have I ever met with a voung author who so fully believed in his own powers, nor with ono that had so much reason for such belief, for my visitor whs Victor Hugo." I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers