THE STAR OF THE NORTH. R. W. Heaver, Proprieler.] VOLUME 9. THE STAR OF THE NORTH IS PUBMSUED XVERY WEDNESDAY MOHNINU BY K. W. WEAVER, OFFMCE—Upslairs, tit the new brick build ing, ou the south side oj Main Street, third square below Market. ?' 8 Two Dollars per annum, if paid within six months from the time of sub scribing ; two dollars and fifty cents if not paid within the year. No subscription re ceived for a less period than six mouths; no discontinuance permitted until all arrearages ere paid, unless at the option of the editor. ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square will be inserted three times for One Dollar, end twenty-five cents for each additional in seilion. A liberal discount will be mado to (hose who advertise by the year. <tri)oice Jloctrn. TRAVEL. Written by H. P. 1., on the top of a hat with a brick mil, in 30 minutes by a stop-watch. Railroads, steamboats, stages, wagons ; Iron horses, snorting dragons ; Sido-wheel ducks with heads of steam on, Four-horse drags unfit to dream on; One-horse teams! at these don't cavil; What's the odds?— we're bound to travel. Down the grand, broad Mississippi, Go 'way small streams, this will whip ye; Bluffs and sand-bars, snags and sawyers, You're for steamboats, sad destroyers. Big old strong! your praise I give ill; Never mind, we're bound to travel. Foam and mist, and spray and thunder! Go 'way Europe, stand from under! Here's Niagara, our own roarer, Of all other Falls the floorer! Come here, cockneys, and be civil; Come and learn the way wc travel. On the railroad o'er the prairie, Fast we fly, light-winged and airy; Whirr! up fly the prairie chickens, Whew !- the deer runs like the dickens. Come here, cockneys, and be civil; Come and learn the way we travel. Flying sparks, and dust, and cinders, Coming in at doors and windows; Bad hotels,and awful eating; lium back-drivers, death on eheeting; Clothes begrimed with grit and gravel ; That is wbat we catch who travel. Mountains, valleys, hills and rivers, Each one to the landscape givers, Granite hills and rocks, we greet ye! Valleys, rivers, glad to meet ye! Each and all these words unravel; Hurrah ! rip! it's good to travel! political. SPEECH OF HON. GEORGE P. STEELE, OF LUZERNE COUNTY, DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, ON THURSDAY, MAY 7TH, PENDING THE BILL FOH THE SALE OF THE MAIN LINE. Mr. Speaker:— l have occupied but little of the time of this body during the session in the way of speech-making, having always preferred being an attentive listener to those who have had experience ir. matters of legis lation; but, sit, at the present stage of our deliberations I feel it a duty incumbent upon me to raise my feeble voice against the iniq itoua measure now pending. Were I to re main in my seat without uttering a word in condemnation of (his proposed act, my con stituents would think—and justly too —that I had proved recreant to every principle of honor—thai 1 was neglectful of the great in terests of the Commonwealth, and that, as a necessary consequence, I was unfit to repre sent them. In justice to the past, present, and future—in justice to the hard working tax-payer —in justice to everything near and ilea; to the glory and prosperity of our coun try, I ptopose saying a few words in the way of admonition. Sir, iu my humble judgment, very manj of the provisions of this bill are based upon er ror and fraught with great evil. Some of ihem I believe to be wholly unconstitutional, and an outrage upon the rights of the honest tax-payers of Pennsylvania. Sir, the very idea of selling Ihe main line of the publio works to a mammoth, heart less, soulless corporation, is sin:pi) absurd, and should be treated with derision and con tempt by every well-thinking man. The peo ple of Ibis country, sir, are not quite prepared to form a gigantic grasping monopoly that may hereafter be able and willing to dictate to the voters who their rulers shall be and what kind of legislation they shall have.— No, sir, I trust the publio mind is not yet poisoned to such an extent as to permit the perpetration of so gross an outrage. Sir, 1 am fully convinced that the friends of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to gether with those who felt interested in oth er companies, have year after year labored zealously and vindictively in order lo bring the main line of our public works into dis repute; and, sir, I believe Irom motives, both selfish and designing, they have endeavored to render Ihe Canal Board reprehensible and odious in the eyes of the people. Now, Mr. Speaker, from my own knowledge, and judg ing from all that I can see or hear, my mind a is fully made up that the Canal Board have been sinned against far more than they have sinned. If they have committed any great wrong or are guilty of any heinous offence, why is it not shown to Senators! It is neith er my province or inclination to stand here justifying wrong, let it come from what quar ter it may. Neither is it agreeable to my ear to hear any of our public officers abused unless some good cause be first shown. Sir, Ihe Legislature made large appropria tions during the last session for repair, laying new rails, &0., on ihe Allegheny Portage road and the different roads on the main line of our publio works, amounting to be tween $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. Under the direction of the Canal Board it has been expended in good faitb- Is there anything wrong ir. that! lam credibly informed that BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., WEDNESDAY. JUNE 3, 1857. all Ihs works are in excellent condition. This being true, is it strange that the Pennsylva nia and other railroad companies should now combine their influences in order to filch from the Stste the people's improvements *— If alter the works have been placed in a paying order, and a profit is about to be re alized from an immense expenditure recent ly made, they are to be given away to an overgrown corporation, it is high time the industrious tax payers be heard. Sir, I feel confident that the public mind has been greatly abused and deceived by the clamor raised against the public works and its agents. The hirelings of these mammoth monopolies have in this manner succeeded in indooing thousands of holiest men to be lieve that corruption existed in the Canal Board, and that speculation was the order of the day along the whole lino of our public works. Sir, these vilifications and slanders have beau reiterated and trumped up year after year so that the people would become dissatisfied; and that dor.e they could make an easy prey of the State's property. And, sir, from present appearances I am led to be lieve that they have got so strong a grasp as to leave but little hope lor the interests of the people. Sir, if this bill passes with all its danger ous provisions, my opinion is that the peo ple who have been hoodwinked und deceiv ed by this false clamor will find themselves in a situation that I will try to illustrate by relating a matter that 1 read in Aesop's fables when I was a boy. It was something like this:—A number ol frogs had a good old log in a beautiful pool of water, where they en joyed themselves in great harmony and com fort for many years; but their rulers used bad influences among them, and they at last be came dissatisfied. Influences were brought to bear upon the innocent creatures to in duce them to call oil Jupiter to send down some new idol that they might worship.— Consequently Jupiter sent them down along leggod, long-billed stork. He came quietly in among them, and remained so for a short time, but finally went to work eating them up one by one. Grea* alarm and trouble en sued among them, but they were unable to get rid of their long-billed friend until they were all eaten up. Now, sir, I think this would partly illus trate the situation ol the tax-payers of Penn sylvania should this bill be enacted into a law. This bill, sir, to say the least, bears upon ttie face of It a palpable aud UeUtniiaie rrauO. No measure has ever been introduced ill these lialls, or those of any other Republican Government that will have so great a tenden cy to weaken the confidence of the people in the integrity of thei: representatives. One section provides that if the Pennsylvania Railroad company purchases the Main Line that all their property, real and personal, shall be forever exempt and free from any State tax, and that their charter shall be per' pelual. Sir, it is well known that the reve nue derived from the tonnage tax alone now imposed upon the Pennsylvania Railroad amounts annually to the sum of $225,000, and which if multiplied by tbirty-threo, (the number ol years given that company to pay for the Main Line,) would amount in the ag gregate to the sum of $7,425,000. Then, aside Irom this tonnage tax, must be taken into consideration other taxes, which would annually amount to some SBO,OOO or $90,- 000 and all of which under the present bill they would be exempt from paying. In these figures I make no estimate of the natural and inevitable average increase of taxes, which would loom up to a pretty snug sum. A sin gle glance at the provisions of this bill will not only tell you that it is preposterous but that it is rascally and wicked in the extreme. How any legislator can muster sufficient daring to vote for a bill so abominable in all its features, and then brave the unavoidable indignation of an enlightened and honest cocslituency is more that can be divined. — Sir, the people have been flattered and ca joled by this corporation, and now it is about to rob them. A few speculators have, by dint of impudent villainy, managed to divert the attention of the honest masses from their real intorests by the hue and cry of "stop thief!" Session after session is worse than wasted in legislating against labor, and in fa vor of capital, for the exclusive benefit ol a few rich men. Instead of being as we should, the inflexible guardians of equal rights, and dispensing like the dews of heaven their fa vors upon all, we devote ourselves entirely too much to the building up of privileged or ders, and creating artificial distinctions in so ciety, exalting a few and debasing the many; making a small number enormously rich, and reducing the mass to penury and degra dation. Mr. Speaker, I now call on my friends, the Senators from Berks, Schuylkill and Phila delphia, to come lo the rescue, and implore them by all that is holy not to vole for anoth er section of this bill. I feel confident that their constituents are opposed to rearing in their midst a ponderous monopoly—one that will be constantly grasping after legislation that must prove detrimental to tho varied in terests of businee* men. Sir, it has always been the boast of Re publicans that opposition lo establishing a privileged class was one of their cardinal principles; yes, sir, I mean Republicans iu the true sense of the word. At this lime I should like to know what is lo be expected from professed Republicans. Simply noth ing. I came here, sir, without any prejudices for or against the Pennsylvania Railroad Com pany. I knew but little of the power or in fluence it wielded in these halls until a month or more ago, when one of ita bills, relative to its being exempted from paying tax on a large amount of property in and about Pittsburg, was under consideration. — The venerable Senator from Allegheny, (Mr. Wilk ins,) together with his colleague, (Dr. Gazzam,) protested s'rongly against its pass age, upon the ground that it was wrong and nnjust for any corporation to be released from paying a fair and equitable tax; but, sir, when the question was fairly before the Sen ate, then for the first lime I fancied that I could plainly see the company's solicitor, one of its generals, and a captain stationed in different parts of the chamber with a view of obtaining the ear of their respective party friends. By this system of tactics, the Sen ators from Allegheny were soon overpower ed, and tho company got all the legislation asked for. Now, sir, I am free to acknowl edge that from that lime up to the present hour i have been alarmed. In all candor, why should we not be? It is evident to any close observer of events that it is a foregone conclusion that this mammoth company is rule or ruin—that is, either by coercion or corruption. The interests of my immediate constitu ents will bo injured to a great extent, from the fact that the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Canal is to be included in the sale. It is evident that a majority of the coal operators in Luzerne County, who ship coal to an eastern market, will be forced to pay about twenty-five cents per ton additional toll for all time to come; and, sir, that will nearly, if not quite, amount to a prohibition of our coal trade irr that section of (he State. Sir, the Canal Board, so far as the interests of the Commonwealth would permit, wisely discriminated in favor of the coal trade com ing from the Wyoming valley. They ar ranged their toll sheet so that all coal pass ing down the canal one hundred miles, should then pass free through to Columbia. It is about one hundred and six miles from our coal field to the Junction, at Duncan's Island. Senators cun very readily see that should the Eastern Division go into the hands of a company, many of my constitu ents would be coinpelltd to pay exorbitant, and perhaps villainous, rates of lull on that pait of the canal. Coal from Lykens Valley passed nearly ninety miles less in distance to a market than does that which is shipped Irom Luzerne; and from the Shamokiu re gion about sixtv-fivo miles les°. Consequent ly it will be perceived that had not the Canal Board wisely discriminated in favor of the Wyoming Valley e.nal Irado, lt.d iovcuuo derived would have boon otoi B>iZs,ooo less than it was, simply because the operators in (hat Valley could not have competed with operators that ship coal so much nearer mar ket. In proof ol my assertions, I would morely refer you to the amount of tolls re ceived at the collector's office at Beach Haven, winch last year came to more than $254,000. Who can doubt that had not a proper discrimination been made that $125,- 000 loss would have been collected at that office! These are facts that speak for them selves. Mr. Speaker, I was appointed, in the year 1845, one of three Commissioners to meet in Philadelphia to sell the Delaware division of the Pennsylvania Canal, under a law that was paseed the previous session ; and, sir, I will here take occasion to pronounce that law an abominable outrage upon the interests of the Commonwealth. It was made the duty of the Commissioners to open books and receive subscriptions amounting to $1,700,000; and it was also provided that when that amount was subscribed that we should close the books, and issue certificates of stock to the subscribers. The law did not allow us to take any more for it than that amount. Be ing convinced that the whole project was wrong, 1 accomplished its defeat by one vote, through the aid of Hon. Samuel D. Ingham, who was also one of the Commissioners. Now, Mr. Speaker, can you or any other Senator say that the Delaware division is not now worth $500,000 more at a fair sale. It has been a paying canal ever since that day. 1 have only referred to this subject in order to show that my judgment in that instance was correct, as time has fully and clearly demon strated. This is one of the many reasons why I have confidence in my own judgment in matters of this kind. Sir, when 1 rose it was not my intention to hare occnpied so much of the time of the Senate. As an apology, I have only to say that my constituents, as much as those of any other Senator upon this floor, have a deep and an abiding interest in the future welfare of this good old Commonwealth. Sir, 1 would be willing to talk a month if by so doing her interests would be protected. The Senator from Crawford, in the course o( his remarks yesterday, said he could not see why senators would vote against this bill without giving their reasons for so doing.— la the language of that Senator 1 have had my "pitch in," and I hope the Senate will pardon me for occupyiog so much oi its time. MAIN LINE. The undersigned place on the Journal of the Senate their reasons for voting against the passage of the House bill No. 852, (re-print on Senate file No. 1127,) entitled "An Act for the aale of the Main Line of the Public Works." Ist. Because, although professing to offer the Main Line to tbe highest bidder, ibe bill discriminates so largely in tbe conditions of sale, terms of payment, and the exemption from taxation, in favor of the Pennsylvania Railroad company, aa almost to exclude bona fide competition. And yet, it ompowera ir responsible individuals to bid, for tbe purpose of spxulation, by authorizing them, if tbey Trnth and Right God and our Country. shall become the purchasers, "to assign and transfer their right to said Main Line, under said purchase, to any Railroad or Canal Com pany created by the laws of this Common wealth." The privilege of transfer, under such circumstances, without incteasingcom petition, gives color to the assertion that the bill has been so framed as to enable private parties—now engaged in procuring this leg islation—to purchuse merely for the purpose of selling at an advance, as an indemnity for their services. 2d. Because, although tho bill purports to be a sale of tbe Main Line, it, in realty, mora nearly resemblea a gijl to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, if that company should obtain it on the terms proposed. The extra ordinary extension of credit, tha low rate of interest, the release of the tonnage lax, and the exemption, forever, from all other taxation or duties for Slate purposes, will enable that company to liquidate every dollar of the pur chase money before the last payment shall mature, by merely appropriating, for that purpose, the taxes from which they are thus released. 3rd. Because the release of the tonnage tax is not accompanied with such a limitation upon the future rate of dividends of suid com pany, as will cause said release to enure to the benefit of the trade and commerce of the Slate. Such a limitation would be in accord ance with the original design of the enter prising citizens of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and of the various municipalities who sub scribed so liberally to tho Pennsylvania Rail road Company, not expecting or desiring large dividends upon their investments, but I to promote the groat objects above relorred to. 4th. Because the bill provides that in the event of the Pennsylvania Hailruad company becoming the purchaser, said company shall not only be exempt from the tonnage tax, now amounting to $226,000 per annum, but that in addition, it " ihall be released fiom the pay ment of all oilier taxes or duties to the Common wealth oil its capital stock , bonds, dividends or property," The latter amount, from which the Pennsylvania Railroad company would bo thus relieved, may be moderately estimated at one hundred thousand dollars a year. Such an exemption from taxation is not only without precedent, but should be depre cated as establishing an exceedingly dauger ous one ; and is in violation of that principle ot equality of luxation so lunuanientai in uui form of government. &th. because the bill does not contain a sufficient guarantee that tile Western division of Main Line "shall be kept in good repair and operating condition thus establishing an invidious distinction between the Eastern and Western portions of th : Stale, although both have contributed proportionally to the burden of constructing and maintaining the entire line. 6th. Because the bill doe 6 not require that the President and Directors of the company, purchasing said line, should bo citizens and residents of the State. The importance of such a requirement is manifest from the fact, that under our general law, only a majority of the Directors of Canal and llailroad com panies need be resident citizens; and by some special charters even a majority is not nec essary. In lact, the management of several of these companies is located entirely out of the State. Thus, by the provisions of this bill, the Main Line may pass into the hands of those whose rival interests and feelings would not afford any guarantee that it would be managed so as to subserve the great ob jects of its consfuction. 7th. Because, if the Pennsylvania Railroad company should become the purchaser, there should be a provision, that the State or the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, shall re lain a voice in the direction of the affairs of the Consolidated Line, irrespective of, and although they may part with, the stuck now held by them in 6aid company. So important a work should not be managed as much with reference to the interest of stockholders, as to those g-eal public objects of trade and com merce already referred to. Btb. Because the charter of any company purchasing said Main Line is made and de clared perpetual; and there is not such a proper or sufficient reservation of legislative control as to enable the Legislature, in the future, to protect the general interests of the Commonwealth and her citizens. WM. WILKIN'S, N. B. BROWNE, JOHN CRESSWELL, JR., WM. H. WELSH, JAS. H. WALTON, HENRY FETTER, THOMAS P. KNOX, JOS. LAUBACH, JONATHAN ELY, GEORGE P. STEELE, JNO. C. EVANS, GEO. W. BREWER, RICH. L. WRIGHT, IST The books, papers, drafts, notes of hand, &c., formerly the property of the Uoiicd States Bank, to the amount of forty tons, have been purchased by Messrs. Bottom & Co., of Trenton, and are to be ground up and con verted into paper. The True American says that ten tons of this vast amount is of corres pondence, autograph letters of the first states men, politicians, and financial men from this and other countries. Drafts upon the Roths- ' childs for hundreds of thousands of dollars, I certificates of stock iranslerred to leading f bankers in Europe, checks and drafts, from i Clay, Webster, Adams, Calhoun, Houston, : Crockett, Cass, &0., &c., all lie scattered, and i ready for the important transformation into - clean, unsullied white paper. This huge i mass of books and papers strikes the visitor 1 with astonishment. miscellaneous. Question of Prccedeuce with I,cities. Dr. Buird, in his late lectures, at St. Louts, related an amusing anecdote of Napoleon le Grand , and the ladies who attended his first grand reception ball at the Tuilleries. The old nobility bad departed, and everything was new. The invited gnests were mostly military officers and their wives. Some two thousand ladies were present. When supper time came, they of course took precedence of the gentlomon. A question arose who had the right to go first. The great dining room hall was thrown open, admitting them, and tho doors were then closed, and the officers of the palace found it impossible to open them. The dispute among the'la dies grew warm. One lady said the right was hers, as Iter husband was a great gen eral; but she soon found that olbors main tained, on one ground or the other, that their claims were greater. Meanwhile tho officers could not get the doors open, and, in conster nation, one of them hastened to the first consul, and asked him how they should set tle the question of precedence. "0," says Bonaparte, "nothing is easier; tell thorn the oldest is to go first." The officer reported to the ladies the first consul's decision, and instantly lliey all fell back ! This gave the officers an opportunity to gel the doors open, when, to their astonishment, none of the ladies were willing to go first. After stand ing in that ridiculous position for a moflQtl, they began to laugh heartily at their own folly, ami all marched into the diniug-ioom without delay. This, said Dr. Buird, is one of the ihousand-aiid-oue stories they tell in Paris of the "Great Napoleon," to illustrate the roudiness of his wit. A.llaudsomc Soul. One day last winter, a little boy from the South, who was on a visit to the ciiy, was ta king his first lessons in the art of "sliding down hilt," when he suddenly found his feet in rather too close contact with a lady's si'k dross. Surprised, mortified, and confused, he sprang from his sled, and cap in hand, he commenced an earnest apology. "I beg your pardon, ma'am; I am very sorry/' "Never mind that," exclaimed the lady, "there is no great harm done, and you feel -~oico than I nboUt it." " But, dear madam," said the boy, as his eyes titled with tears, "your Areas !• •tn.i I thought that you would be very angry with me for being so careless." "O, no," replied the lady, "beller have a soiled dress than a ruffled temper." " O, isn't she a beauty," exclaimed the lad, as the lady passed on. " Who? that lady ?" returned his comrade, "if you call her a beauty, you ehant choose for me. Why, she is more than thirty years old, and her face is yellow and wrinkled." " I din't earo if her face is wrinkled," re plied the hero, "her soul is handsome anyhow." A shout of laughter followed, from which the little fellow was glad to escape, lielatirig the incident to his mother, he remarked "O, mother! that lady did me good, lsha'l nev er forget it; and when I am tempted to in dulge in my angry passions, I will think of what she said, "Better have a soiled dress than a ruffled temper." Do It Yonrselves, Hoys. Why ask the teacher or some classmate to solve that problem 1 Do it youiselveH. You might as well let them eat your dinners as do your sums for you. It is in studying as in eating; he thot does it gets the benefit, and not he that sees it done. In almost any school I would give more for what the teacher learns, simply because the teacher is compelleJ to solve all the hard problems for them, and answer the questions for the lazy boys. Do not ask bim to parse all the difficult words or assist you in the performance of any of your duties. Do it yourselves. Never mind tlio' they look dark as Egypt. Don't ask even a bint from anybody. Try again. Every trial increases your ability, and you will finally succeed by dint of the very wisdom and strength gained in this efiort, even though at first the problem was beyond your skill. It is the study and not the answer that rewards your pains. Look at that boy who succeeded after six hours of hard study, perhaps. How is lit up with proud joy as he marches to his class. He reads like a conqueror, and well he may. His poor weak schoolmate, who gave up that same problem after the first faint trial, cow looks up to him with some thing of a wonder as a superior. The prob lem lies there, a great gulf between those boys who stood yesterday side by side. They will never stand together as equals again.— The boy that did it for himself has taken a stride upwards, and, what is better still, gain ed the strength of greater ones. The boy who waited to see oibers do it has lost both strength and courage, and is already looking for some excuse to give up school and study forever. CAPITAL SENTIMENT.— At a printers'annual festival in Washington City, the following were among the regular toasts: "The Constitution of the United States- Set tip by wise and patriotic found* s, imposed on the hearts of the people, and locked up in their best affections." "The Declaration of Independence,—Good standing matter, a proof duet free from errors, and a first rate copy for the setters up of Re publics." " Woman—May virtues ever occupy more space than her skirts, and her faults be of a smaller type that! her bonnet. The Infamy Consummated t The Senato having passed the bill for the sale of the Main Line of tho I'ublic Improve ments to the Pennsylvania Railroad Compa ny, with some unimportant amendments, the House concurred in the same, on Tuesday, and the bill was finally passed snd sent to tbe Governor by whom it has been signed and is therefore a law. The correspondent of the l'iltsburg Union thus speaks of the manner in which the iniquitous bill was concocted and forced through the Legislature: The bill was drawn by the enemies of the Democratic party. It was supported and de feuded by a united Republican and American phalanx, and, with the aid of a few fallen Democrats, they passed it. When it was under consideration in the Senate its friends showed their determination to pass it as it was on many occasions; and to show how little these men cared for the welfare of the Commonwealth, let me state a few facts, which are upon record, and will rise up in judgment against them here after. It was proposed to amend this bill so as to give any other party than the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the right to purchase the Main Line, if they would pay u higher price for it, and the friends of '.he bill voted the amendment down. It was proposed to amend it so ns to pro hibit the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for declaring more than eight per centum div idends, and thus protect the public against exhorbitant rates of toll, and the friends of the bill voted the amendment down. It was proposed to amend it by declaring that the money for which the Main Line was sold should be inviolably appropriated to the extinguishment of so much of the State debt, and the friends of the bill voted the amend ment down. It was proposed to amend it by reserving to the Slate the right, in case of violation of the churter of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to lako possession of this road and the Main Line, and the friends of the bill vo ted the umendmeut down. ft was proposed to indemnify the Com monwealth against all suits lor damages by injured transporters and others, after the Main Line was sold, and the friends ol the bill vo- J ted the amendment down. It was proposed to amend it by providing j that none but Pennsy lvaniane should hold j offices in the Company, hoping thereby to j protect the people against grasping and ava rioious foreigners, and the friends of the bill < ; voted the amendment down. I These ate a few among many such judi cious amendments which were defeated by the men who passed this bill, and 1 ask, in all seriousness, what can the people expect ' from a majority that will thus trample upon ' their rights, and barter them away to a mam moth corporation? The luture is dark and obscure yet, and what il will bring furib Cod only can tell. New York lloisc Market. The market still continues in a dull state — that is, horses sell lowly, though at prices somewhat higher than they were a year ago; but this because drovers have been obliged to pay higher in the country, and could not afford to bell them except at higher prices— to get which they have sometimes held on until, as lite old saying is, (he horse eats his own head off. Horse keeping is necessarily high, and loose hay sells for SI and SI 06 per cwi., and oats at 65 cents per bushel. The opinion of some of the best informed and ex perienced men iti the market is that the num ber of horses sold, and that will be sold, this spring will not much, if any, exceed one half the number usually sold in the city in corresponding periods of previous years. The largest number now selling are for (he use of city stages and railroads, and these rarely ex ceed $l5O each. There is a great deal of city work in progress, but the demand for ordioary work horses is "nothing to brag on," and the demand for fancy horses is decidedly flat. The grand difficulty appears to be that owners hold their stock higher than buyers are willing to pay. Those who need horses lor work must buy, but those who generally buv the high-priced horses are in no hurry— to-day, or to-morrow, or next week will do, , and finally, if they do meet with animals to suit their fancy and ptices to suit their purse, they don't buy at all. The truth is, there is not margin enough between the present I country and city prices to afford dealers a ! fair chance for'jockeying with customers, and | some of them won't buy without, and conse ' queotly sales are bard to effect. jy A gentleman was once walking in a street when he met a stone-cutter, whom he thus addressed : " My good fellow, if the devil was to come now, which of us would he take? 1 ' After a little hesitation the man replied— •' Me, sir." Annoyed by this answer, the querist asked him for a reason. "Because, yer honor, he would be glad to ketch mesclf, sure; and he have you at any lime." iy The fellow who is coaning Miss De meanor thinks very seriously of breaking off the engagement. iy Men are sometimes accused of pride merely because their accusers would be proud themselves if they were in their places. QT Love, the toothache, smoke, a cough, and tight boots, are things which cannot be kept secret very long. tWWhich are the two amslles: insects mentioned in the Scriptures ? The widow's "mite ' and the wicked "flea " [Two Dollars per Annua, NUMBER 20. Deal Gently with the I.llllo"Uuea. A child, when asked why a certain tree grew crooked, replied, "somebody Itod upou it, I suppose, when it was little." " He who checks a child with terror, Slops its play, and stills its song, Nut alone commits an error, But a grievous, moral unong. Give it play, and never fear it, Active hie is no defect; Never, never break its spirit; Curb it only to direct. Would you stop the flowing river, Thinking it would cease to flow 1 Onward murt it flow forever; Better tench it where to go." COURTING* I don't see why people cannot do their courting by daylight, thereby saving an ex tra of lights, fuel and forenoon naps.—A Breaifist-Table Rcmaik. Whew! preach that doctrine until your heail is grey, and you are *s toothless as a now-born babe, utid slill young folks xot.l "set up," till the stars grow tired of watch ing, and the roosters begin to crow ! There is a sort of fascination in it, a posi tive denial to the contrary notwithstanding.— An indescribable, undeniable charm, in be ing the sols occupant of a front parlor, with nothing to molest or make afraid; the sofa drawn up before the shining grate, and the lamp regulated to a steady blaze that will not eclipse the brightness of eyes, or make particularly prominent, unclassical, irregu lar features. There's something peculiarly pleasing in hearing the last pair of house hold feet take a foe line departure for the upper chambers, and feeling that the ever swinging parlor door will remain closed un til one of the paity concerned, choose to open Talk ot courting by daylight! Think of laming one's aim by quick, hasty withdraw als from around a certain waist, at the inces sant ringing of the door-bell, or seeing the puff-combs and curls fly in every direction, by a sound of coming footsteps. Imagine proud lover at the feet of fair lady, puffing forth an eloquent, long avowal, with extra ordinary expressions flitting over his face; and, at the same moment, a puzzled little countenance peering through the folding doors, wondering what makes Mr. M. "pray with his eyps wido open !" Or, more disa greeable still, have "mamma" open the door, without the prelude of a rap, of course, just at the moment you have ventured to test the temperature aud sweetness of her i daughter's lips. And Ifien Whnt rirr> in rhrt (loj- .-nnl.t nnn lake? Noi in the forenoon, eeriair.lv, whn music teachers and fashionable callers are in vogue; not in the afternoon, when one's senses are stupified by the eating of a hearty dinner; not on Sundtys, when everybody in expected to go to church; not in church, with pantomimic gestures that set the occupants of neighboring pews a starling. No! there is but one time, and that the veritable sea son set in old primitive days—a time and season for courting. An hour, when you can pinch Susie's fingers to make her tell who she loves best; look in Susie's hand to see if her fortune runs with yours, and see what letter of the alphabet is formed by the lines therein; kiss her when you pieaae, hug her when you please; and all this when the old folks are sleeping, when the sound of footsteps are scatteriug in the streets, and there is no one on earth so near Susie aa yoursell! Them's um!— Margaret Verne. ADULTERATED LIQUORS.—Dr. Hiram Cox, appointed, under the law of Ohio, Cnemical In-pec'.cr of liquors in Cinciunaii, has pub lished facts that should be engraved around the rim of every drinking glass. He states that during two years he has made 249 in spections of various kinds of liquors, and has found more than nine-tenths of them im itations, and a greater portion of them pois onous concoctions. Of brandy he has not found one gallon of pure in a hundred gal lons, but imitations having corn whiskey for a basis, and various poisonous acida for lbs condiments. Of wines, not a gallon in a thousand purporting to be Sherry, Port, Sweet Malaga, is pure, but they are made of water, sulphuric acid, alum, Guinea pepper, horse raddisb, and many of them without a single drop of alcoholic spirit. Dr. Cox warrants there are not ten gallons of gernine Pert wine in Cincinnati. He also states that in bis inspections of whiskey he has found only fiora seventeen to twenty per cent, of alcoholic spirit, when it should have been forty-five to fifty, and some of it contains sulphuric acid enough ia a quart to eat a hole through a mart's stomach. MENTAL EXCITEMENT. —Bd news weakens the aclioo of the heart, oppresses the lungs, destroys the appetite, stops digestion, and p.arliatly suspends all the functions of the system. An emotion of shame flushes the face; fear blanches it; joy illuminates it; sad aa instant thrill electrifies a million of nerves. Surprise spurs the putse into a gallop. De lirium infuses great energy. Volition com mands, and hundreds of inosclee spring to execute. Powerful emotion ofteo kills tha body at a stroke. Chilo, Diagoras and Soph ocles died of joy at the Grecian gar-ee The news of a defeat killed Philip V. The door keeper of Congresa expired upon hearing of the surrender of Corawallis. Eminent public speakers have often died in the midst of an impassioned burst of eloquence, or when the deep emotion that droduoed it suddenly subsided. Largvave, the young Parisian, died when he heard that the meat cal priie for which he had competed vraa ad judged to another
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