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
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<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