YOL. 2.-I0, 33.
BT S. B. KOW.
CLEARFIELD, "WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1856.
; ...... liciit.
-- The following asquint poem, by William Pitt
Puumtr, wu some years ago pronounced by one
of tbe most eminent European critics to be the fi
nest production, of tbe suae length, in oar lan
guage: .
From the quickened womb of the primal gloom,
The san rolled black and bare.
Till I wore him a Test for his DJiiop breast
Of the threads of my golden hair ;
And when the broad tent of the firmament
- - Arose in its ejj spars,
I penciled the hue of Its matchless blue;
Acd spangled it round with stars.
X painted the flowers of the Eden bowers,
And tbeir leaves of living green ;
And mine were the dyes in the sinless eyes
" Of Eden's virgin queen ;
And when the Sand's art on her trustfal heart,
t Had fastened its mortal spell,
In the siUery sphere of the first-born tear,
To the trembling earth I fell.
When the waves that burst o'er the world accursed,
J Heir work or wrath bad sped,
' And the Ark's lone few, the tried and true,
Came forth among tho dead ;
Wim the wond'rous gleams of my bridal beams,
I bade their terrors cease.
As I wrote on tbe roll of the storm's dark scroll,
God's covenant of peaee.
Like a pall at rest on a senseless breast.
Night s funoral shadow slept ,
Where shepherd swains on the Bethlehem plains
Their Jonoly vigils kept
When I flashed on their sight tbe heralds bright
Of Heaven's redeeming plan,
At they chanted tbe morn of a Savior born :
. J J jy to the outcast man.
Equal favor I show to the lofty and low,
On the iuit and uniust I descend
E'en the blind, whose vain spheres roll in dark
ness ana tears.
See my smile, the blest smile of a fnend ;
Nay, tbe flower of tbe waste by my love is embraced,
As the rose in the garden of kings;
At the chrysalis bier of the worm I appear,
And, lo, the gay butterfly wings.
The desolate Morn, liko a mourner forlorn,
Conceals all the pride of her charms,
Till I bid the bright hours ehaae ight from her
flowers.
And lead the young Day to her arms ;
And when the gay rover seeks Eve for his lover,
And sinks to her balmy repose,
2 wrap the aoft rest by the xophyr fanned west,
In curtains of amber and rose.
From my sentinel steep, by the night-broodod deep,
I gaze with unslumbering eyo.
When the cynosure star of the mariner
Is blotted from out the sky ;
And guided by me through the merciless sea,
Though sped by the hurricane's wing1?,'
Jiii compasslcss. dark, lono, weltering bark
. To the haven home safely he brings.
X waken the flowers in their dew-spangled bowers,
The birds ia their chambers ef green,
And mountains and plain grow with beauty again,
As they bs-ik in their niatinal sheen.
O, if such the glad worth of my presence to earth,
Though fitful and fleeting the while,
"What glories must rest on tbe home of the blest,
Ever bright frith the Deity's smile.
From the Indiana (Pa.) Register.
LEWIS, THE ROBBER.
. A BEMI5ISCE.NCE.
Lewis was tho master-spirit of a gang of
highway men, who lived by robbing travellers
'and committing depredations upon residents,
chiefly between Chambersburgh and Bedford,
where they harbored in the forests of the moun
tains.. They wero a terror to the community,
" and western merchants who travelled on horse
back generally armed themselves when going
to tbe east, so as to be prepared to repel an at
tack, and for greater security sometimes went
in companies. It was understood, or at least
believed, that aome of Lewis' band were sta
tioned in Pittsburgh, where, by mixing in gen
teel society, and being unsuspected, they would
inform themselves of the time when merchants
cf that city and from parts farther west inten
ded making their semi-annual trips to Fhila-
: delphia, and would then find means to convey
tho Intelligence to their accomplices along
the road.
Lewis was a young man of handsome appear
ance and agreeable address, and it was said he
supported his mother and sisters upon tbe fruits
; cf his unlawful pursuit. His more immediate
Associates were Conner and Connelly, who, at
the time of which we are speaking, kept among
the gorges of Sideling Hill, where, at a dis
tance of several miles, from tbe public road,
they had erected a shanty, which was well sup
plied with provisions and othercomforts.wbith
r Lewis, alter remaining about Bedford and
.Bloody Bun as long as he could do so without
exciting suspicion, or until he had received
letters which he expected, would resort and
remain for day's and weeks, concerting mea
sures for robbing tome unsuspecting traveller
&r for obtaining booty in some other way. .
Persons who have travelled the turnpike be
tween McConnelsburgh and the Crossings of
the Juniata will remember Reamer's tavern on
the eastern slope of the mountain andNycum's
xn the western, the intervening distance being
about eight miles, which formerly presented
little else to the eye than scrub-oak thickets,
Interspersed with rocks and fallen timber, with
Jiere and there a slight opening, through which
the cattle feeding during the lummcr had trod-
'den paths which served tbe hunter as a guide
and passage when following the game along
the mountain range in winter. It was, indeed,
a gloomy road, with nothing to break the mo
notony, save, perhaps, occasionally the cawing
' oi a crow as she hovered overhead, or tho sud
den bound of a deer aroused from his lair by
the noise of approaching footsteps and the
lonely traveller, as he wended his way slowly
. up the steep ascent, now urging his jaded steed
to greater effort, and now relieving it by leap
ing from the saddle and walking by Its side,
would long to gain the summit, where he might
proceed more- speedily and with more comfort
t himself and bis aeiniaL
On ascending the mountain from the west,
one sees now on the south vide of the turnpike
a patch of cultivated . ground, embracing sev
eral acres, which has been cleared for a num
ber of years, but was a dense forest at the time
to which our story has reference. It was here,
immediately opposite the cleared field, that
Lewis performed one of his most daring ex
ploits, and which, led to his arrest and subse
quently cost him his life.
It appeared (rom what transpired afterwards,
that Lewis had received intelligence from some
of his gang, of an individual carrying a large
sum of money going eastward on horseback,
and that Lewis and two of his associates were
on the look-out fcr him, ready to make an at
tempt at securing the rich prize whenever it
should come within reach. From some cause
or other, however, that individual's departure
was delayed ; but about the time designated by
Lewis' spy, a Mr. McClelland, a merchant in
Pittsburg, started for Philadelphia to purchase
goods, travelling on horseback and having in
his saddlebags some two thousand dollars in
silver. lie had got to Nycum's on Saturday
evening, where be remained until Sunday mor
ning, and then early prosecuted his journey,
thinking to breakfast at Reamer's. As he was
walking his horso up the mountain and when
he had proceeded several miles, he espied,
some distance ahead, a man, who wore a sloch
ed hat and an ill-hlting, somewhat tattered
coat, walking rather awkwardly, his body in
clined forward, now shooting diagonally across
tbe road, and then, taking up and balancing
himself, moving on again in a straight line.
As McClelland neared him, tbe man once or
twice looked around, exhibiting apair ol black
ened eyes, as if he had been recently engaged
in a fight; and McClelland inferred from his
whole conduct and appearance that he had
been in company drinking and got himself
handsomely pnmmeled, without having been
sobered by the operation. As they approach
ed the summit, McClelland gained upon the
fellow, until at the point which we have been
endeavoring to describe he was about passing
him ; but at that moment, and before he sus
pected any danger, he found himself dragged
trom his horse, t ic drunken man, as he had ta
ken him to be, having sprang upon him at a
single bound, while in the same instant a man
with a cocked pUtol jumped up from cither
side of the road, the one seizing the horse's
bridle and the other coming to the assistance
of their leader, who was no other than Lewis
himself and who had assumed this disguise to
prevent suspicion. The two men who had been
lying in wait were Conner and Connelly and
there can be no doubt but some one of the
gang had seen McClelland the day or evening
before, and that they had prepared themselves
during the night to attack him in the morning.
Ilad he tarried at Xycum's until later in the
day and perchance got some company,he would
most likely have been permitted to pass unmo
lested, and tho counterfeit drunkard, who,
with painted eyes and tattered garments, had
been seen staggering along the road would
scarcely have been thought of again.
The spot was well chosen by the robbers for
the accomplishment of their purpose. On tho
north side of the road, for a distance of at least
a quarter of a mile, the woods were more open
here than at any other point on the mountain ;
and whilst McClelland was hurried off by two
of the men among the thickets his horse was
galloped at full speed through the open space,
so as to be out of sight, should any person
chance to come along the road. Having com
manded M'Clelland to observe silence it he did
not wish to have his brains blown out, they
led him onward for several miles, the other
man with the horse bringing up the rear, until
they reached the robber's hut, which had been
constructed of light logs and covered with
bark, where they halted and forthwith entered
upon an examination of their booty. After
ascertaining tbe amount, Lewis turned to Mc
Clelland and smilingly said ho was "not the
bird they had been watching for, nevertheless
these were pretty rich pickings" and he and
his associates were amply compensated there
by for their trouble. Conner and Connelly
then proposed they should put McClelland to
death alleging as a reason that if he were set
at liberty be would inform on them and might
cause their arrest ; against which Lewis stoutly
protested and at the same time banded to Mc
Clelland his watch and ten dollars, saying that
would carry him back to his family and friends.
This done preparations were made by tbe
robbers to start with the money taken from
McClelland to some place where they would
deposit it for greater security, and he was told
that if ho offered to move from the spot before
their return, his life should pay the forfeit of
his temerity. That they intended to return
has always been doubted, and it has been judg
ed, and with very good reason, that their ob
ject was to induce him to remain there during
part of the day, whereby they would have gain
ed ample time to get out of harm's way before
he could give the alarm and start anybody in
pursuit. In order to make sure work, howev
er, they produced a pint flask filled with whis
key and ordered him to drink freely, thinking
no doubt that by so doing he, a man unaccus
tomed to strong drink, Would soon fall asleep
and might not awake for many hours. McClel
land thought the liquor contained some deadly
poison and tbe robbers were taking this meth
od to get rid of hire f and knowing na was in
their power and that if his death bad been re
solved on all his pleading for life would be un
availing, he concluded to die with as little pain
as possible, and therefore, to their great sur
prise, drank the entire contents of the flask.
Fortunately, however, the liquor was not poi
soned; but the robbers thinking their prison
er had taken enough to answer all their pur
poses, now left, alter ordering him to lie down
in a corner of the cabin.
M'Clelland was now alone. The incidents
of the morning clustered around his mind, and
his distress was indescribable. Within the
space of a few hours all his earthly hopes had
been blasted. He was not only beggared, but
in all likehood doomed to die, perhaps in a few
moments, away from his friends and kindred,
where his body might become food for vultures
and wild beasts and his requiem should be
the winds as they passed howling over his
bleeching bones ! He pictured to himself the
distress of his family consequent upon his sud
den and mysterious disappearance, and their
fruitless conjectures in regard to his fate, and
then ran with his mind's eye over the pages of
their future history, lamenting their desolate
and forlorn condition as they should be drift
ing without an earthly protector on life's wide
ocean, tossed by the waves and exposed to the
tempest. But he felt admonished to dismiss
these reflections and turn unto others. Every
moment he expected to feel a deadly stupor
coming over him, and ever and anon he cast
his eyes upon surrounding objects to assure
himself that all was not a dream and that he
was still in possession of his reason. Such
was the intensity of his feelings that it conn
teracted the effects of the spirits which he had
swallowed, and impelled by that love of life
which clings unto man to his last moments, he
ventured to ascend to the roof of the shanty
and then cast inquiring looks far into the for
est, anxious to ascertain whether the robbers
had actually taken their departure or whether
they were still loitering about, awaiting his
death. In a slight opening in the woods at
the distance of half a mile he at length espied
them, pressing on with all possible speed, and
in a moment his resolution was taken to at
tempt his escape. Mounting his horse ho en
tered a ravine near by, which he judged roust
lead him in the direction of Reamer's and then
urging the animal forward as fast as the nature
of the country permitted, he kept in the ra
vine, leaping over rocks and fallen trees, and
in an incredibly short time reached the point
he was aiming for, where he gave the alarm
and urged immediate pursuit.
We may here remark that among those back
woods men who employ most of their time in
hunting and fishing, Sunday is not generally
reverenced as it should be, and it will there
fore cause no surprise to learn that when M'
Clelland arrived at the tavern just mentioned
he found there some half a dozen or more of
rugged mountaineers, who had called in for
their "bitters" preparatory to starting into the
woods in quest of game. No sooner were
they made acquainted with the robbery that
had been committed than they volunteered to
go in search of tho robbers, and in a few mo
ments bad all things in readiness and set out,
resolved to do their best.
The hunters had a general knowledge of the
topography of the mountains, directed their
steps toward a point some distance beyond
that designated by M'Clelland a3 the one
where he had last seen the robbers; having
reached which, they divided into two parties
and moved some distance apart, and in this
order had not proceeded very far when they
espied the objects of their search, by whom
they were seen' likewise at the same instant.
Tbe robbers tried to escape by running, but
before they could get beyond the reach of the
hunters rilles Lewis was wounded by a ball,
and one of the others killed, whilst the third
escaped unharmed. Lewis was secured and
carried to Bedford jail, there to await his trial,
but afterwards made his escape and was pur
sued, and whilst rowing himself across tbe
West-branch of tbe Susquehanna in a canoe,
was shot dead by one of his pursuers.
While in prison, Lewis stated that he had
concealed a large sum of money under a rock
tbe specie in a vessel and the bank bills in a
bottle near a small stream on the west of the
Allegheny mountain ; and after hi? death dili
gent search was made for the treasure, by dif
ferent persons and at different places but it is
not known that it has ever been found, and the
probability is that it had been removed by
some of Lewis' associates.
Had Lewis' mind been directed into the right
channel and subjected to a proper course of
training, he might have lived an honor to him
self and his family and been useful in his day
and generation ; but having a penchant for the
romantic and lawless, where he could indulge
his passions without restraint, be became a
lienated from society, an outcast and a by
word, and in his death we have but another
proof of the truthfulness of the proverb that
"the way of the transgressor Is hard."
Ah ornciAi. return of theJSpanish debt has
just been published in Madrid. The total a
mount of indebtedness is 13,580,466,110 reals.
Among the items is one of "inscriptions in
favor of the United States, 12,000,000 reals."
Society without children would be like tbe
earth without flowers, the sky without stars,
the heaven without angels.
THE LIFE OF A snOWMAN.
From the N. Y. Sunday Leader, March 16.
P. T. Barnum, whoa few months ago was
reputed to be worth half a million of dollars,
now comes before the Supreme Court, brought
there by some of his creditors, to explain all
about his property. He states that he sow
lives in this city, that tbe Museum, once his,
and all its curiosities, have been sold for $24,
000 j that he paid $12,000 for it fourteen years
ago, and that now he has not the least interest
in it. He says that last Juno he was worth
$500,000. His property he valued at $800,000,
and he owed $300,000. About this period the
Jeromes came along and wished him to en
dorse their notes for $100,000. Barnum did
it, and repeated his endorsement on similar
paper, as he supposed, to take up the former.
Finally he ascertained that ho bad endorsed
to tho amount of $464,000, and so far as he
knows, there may be a million of dollars of
this paper out, as he'of ten signed in blank for
the Jeromes to put in what amount they chose.
Still Barnum don't consider that he has failed,
as he says his refusal to pay these "clock
debts" of the Jerome's don't exactly consti
tute a failure. He alleges that the holders of
these obligations of his were the very persons
who induced him to become responsible for
the Jeromes.
The splendid paintings at Barnum's house
at Iranistan, ho says he sold for $2,000, tho'
they cost him $10,000. His present assets are
Crystal Palace stock, which is not worth half
as much as the skin of the celebrated woolly
horse once in his possession.
Now, whoever has read Barnum's biography
written by himself, will consider it vtry strange
that he did cot follow his own advice. Who
that knows Barnum could believe that he
would endorse the notes of a clock company
to the extent of nearly every dollar ho was
worth in the world, according to his own esti
mate of the value of his property in June last
He says he owned property which he valued
at $800,000, and it was mortgaged for about
$300,000, which left him about $500,000. At
this very time he endorsed notes for near half
a million of dollars, without even carefully
scrutinizing the responsibility of those whose
paper he put his name to. Ho even mort
gaged his property to raise $80,000 for the Je
romes in December last. There may be a
woolly horse in all this reputed failure of Bar
num after all. The Jeromes did not get this
$80,000. Barnum says he raised it in bonds
on several States, counties and towns, but a
friend of his just at this time had looked into
the affairs of the Jeromes, and told Barnum
that they were bankrupt, and he was ruined
Barnum then sold these bonds, at a loss of
$30,000, and took tho money, be says, to pay
his own debts.
There cannot be much sympathy for Bar
num. Whoever has read his biography, from
his own pen, must be satisfied that his moral
principles were never strongly developed.
His book, which he managed to sell in various
countries of the globe, has disgraced the A-
merican name. It is nothing but a history of
the art of getting money under false preten
ces ; and the author, in a moral point of view,
is no better than thousands who have suffered
the penalties of the laws for such practices
The world is always better off without such ge
niuses as Barnum. No one pretends that he
ever possessed talent in any honorable and dig
nified employment. He is a mere cunning
showman, who would seize upon other men's
ideas and apply them to the art of money ma
king without proper remuneration even in a
business point of view.
"Show me how you live, and where you live,
and where you get your means to live?" This
was ene of the questions put to Barnnm during
his examination ; and he replied to it by say
ing that be lived in this city, in Eighth street,
and kept boarders, and had no other means of
support, except some meat given to him by
his son-in-law, in Connecticut, and some vege
tables which grew on his farm last year. He
said he had a gold watch and a bieast pin,
worth tome four or five hundred dollars, which
be would produce, if required to do so. He
also casually remarked that he had two suits of
clothes and about twenty-five dollars in money.
A Max or Bosks. Here is a curious fact
for you. The flesh of a living man once grew
into bone. It seams hard to believe, but I
suppose it was so ;'for in the museum at Dub
lin, Ireland, there is, or was, the skeleton of
one Clark, a native of the city of Cork, whom
they call the Ossified Man, one of the greatest
curiosities of nature. It is the carcass of a
man entirely ossified in bis lifetime, living in
that condition for several years. Those who
knew him befoie this surprising alteration, af
firm that he had been a man of great strength
and agility He felt the first symptoms of this
surprising change some time after a debauch ;
by slow degrees, every part grew into a bony
substance, except his skin, eyes and intestines ;
his joints settled in such a manner that no lig
ament had its proper operation ; he conld not
lie 'down or rise up without assistance. He
had at last no bend in his body, yet when he
was placed upright, like a statue of stone, ho
could stand, but conld not move in the least.
His teeth were joined, and formed into one en
tire bone ; therefore a hole was broken through
them to convey liquid substance for his nour
ishment. The tongue lest its use, and his
sight left him, aome time before he expired, j
Closing Scexr or x Leoislatcrs. The
Legislature of Nebraska Territory adjourned
on tho 25th Fubruary, after repealing a law
giving women the right to vote, which "they
had passed the day before. A letter from O
maha City gives the following account of their
adjournment t
"One member called for music, another for
'drinks all round some shouted 'go it boots,
'go it, 'such is death,' let me go to the Gov
ernor and tell him he must not fool with us
any longer;' 'I move a committee be appoint
ed to inquire after the dignity of the House
I move the gentleman from Otoe be declared
a brick ; Mr. Speaker, will a game of poker
be in order 1' 'I move we take a recess for fif
teen minutes to drink ;' I move the medical
members be requested to take the pains (panes)
from tho windows, and extract the Tooth of
Time,' &c. One member set the clock going
at railroad speed to bring the hour of adjourn
ment around. Members were mixed up with
outsiders inside tho bar, some talking, some
smoking, soma walking, some perched on the
tops of the desks and chairs, and everybody
enjoying himself about as nature dictated.
The nouse had more the appearance of a pub
lic bar room than a hall of legislation. Mem
bers were called on for speeches.
About midnight the Council sent in word
they were ready to adjourn. Resolutions com
mending the clerks and officer of the TIous,
down to fireman, were passed ; but not a word
was passed for the Speaker, whom a few mem
bers took occasion to abuso in bitter and un
becoming language. In tbe midst of. confu
sion, worse confounded, tbe House adjourned.
Well Said. The Iudian in bis native con
dition, is no fool, as tbe following anecdote re
lated by a Washington correspondent of the
Baltimore "Republican" attests :
We met Col. Starabourg to-day in the ro
tunda of the Capitol, and while we were look
ing at tbe carved representations over tbe
door-ways of the rotunda, the veteran Indian
agent told us that in 1830, with a delegation
of tho Menominee Indians, be visited the Cap
itol, and explained tbe nature and design of
the stone groups in the rotunda, when the
chief, "Grizzly Bear," turned to tbe eastern
doorway, over which there is a representation
of the landing of the Pilgrims, and said,
"there, Ingen give white man corn ;" and to
the north representing Penn's treaty, "there
Ingen give um land ;" and to the West, where
Pocahontas is seen saving the life of Captain
Smith, "there Ingen save um life" and, last
ly, to the south, where the hardy pioneer, Dan
iel Boone, is seen plunging his knife iuto the
breast of one red man, while his foot is placed
on the dead body of another, "and there,
white man kill Ingen."
ACokspiract Agaisst Mr. Buchaxax. A
Washington correspondent of the New York
Courier says : "It is understood that Gener
al Pierce and Judge Douglas, or their mana
ging friends, will oppose the nomination of Mr
Buchanan, on the ground that he is not unmis
takeably committed to the repeal of the Mis
souri Compromise, and that under the circum
stances his election would be a popular rebuke
to them. This circumstance will diminish the
chances of his nomination, and it is believed
here, among tbe politicians of the classes I
have named, that these two prominent aspi
rants will combine upon a Southern candi
date, if neither of them shall be able to secure
tbe nomination. In that event, the question
will be fonnd reduced to a choice between
Hunter and Rusk. Mr. Wise is a capital, al
most irresistible stumper, and were tbe strag
gle confined to Virginia, would distance all
competition. But he cannot stump for the
Presidency, and I predict that his energy will
be found no match for the luck of Mr.Uunter."
Soxethiso or a Fawlt. A correspondent
of tbe Uroana Citizen writes from Bourbon
county, Ky., about a family as follows :
"The old gentleman is a native of Maryland,
and is now in his 70th year; was brought to the
State of Ky., when quite young, and has raised
his family in the above county, consisting of
six sons and three daughters."
He then proceeded to describe tho family,
all of whom are six feet in height, the tallest
being six feet Hi inches, and the lowest (a
daughter) six feet 2- inches the aggregate
height of the whole of them, eleven in num
ber, being seventy feet. The father weighs
200 pounds, the mother 285, and the children
from 1-50 to .296 pounds. Tbeir aggregate
weight is 2500 pounds. The writer adds :
"The family are all living except the young
est daughter, are all wealthy, and of the first
families of Kentucky. I must add, that seve
ral of the grand-children are over six and a
half feet, and still growing."
A SiEiGHnco Partt. Washington's Wrtb-
day 22d February was celebrated by the In
habitants of Madison and Clinton counties,
Connecticut, by the getting up of an old-fash
ioned sleighing p;rty. Three hundred and
fifty-three sleighs were in the procession, con
taining fifteen hundred passengers. Trades
aad professions of different kinds were repre
sented, and flags were displayed at ditferent
points along the route. . P.receeding the pro
cession was a full-rigged steamer in complete
working order, blowing off steam aa. she went
along. At sundown, a National salute of 18
guns announced the close of the festivities.
now MINERAL COAL WAS JttADE
Geology has proved that at one period there
existed an enormously abundant land vegeta
tion, the ruins or rubbish of which, carried In
to seas, and there sunk" to the bottom, and af
terwards covered" over by sand and mud-beds,
became the substance we recognize as coal.
It may naturally excite aurpriae that the vege
table remains shonld have so completely chang
ed thfir annannt character, and become black.
But this can be explained by chemistry ; and
part of the marvel becomes clear" to the sim
plest understanding, when we recall the fami
liar fact, that damp hay, thrown closely into a
heap, gives out beat, and becomes oT a dark
color. When a vegetable mass Is excladed
from tbe air, and ' subjected to great pressure,
a bituminous fermentation is produced, and the
result is the mineral coal, which is of various
characters, according as the joass has been ori
ginally intcrminglod with sand, clay, and oth
er earthy impurities. On account of the change
effected by mineralization, it is difficult to de
tect in coal the traces of a vegetable struc
ture ; but these can bo made clear in all except
the highly bituminous coking co&l, ly cutting
or polishing it down iftto thin transparent sli
ces, when tbe micro; cope shows tbe fibre and
cells very plainly. From distinct, isolated
specimens, foand ia the sand stones tsiidit the
coal beds, we discover the plants of this era.
They are almost all of simple, cellular struc
ture, and such as exist with us in small forms,
(horse tails, club mosses, and ferns,) but ad
vanced to an enormous magnitude. The rps
cics are long since extinct. The vetation :
such as grows in clusters of tropical Ulana,
but it must have been the result of a high tem
perature obtained otherwise than that of the
tropical regions now is, for the coal strata are
found in tho temperate, and even the' polar
regions. The conclusion, therefore, to which
most geologists have arrived, is, that the earth,
originally an incandescent, or highly heated
mass, gradually cooled down, until la tho car
boniferous period it fostered a growth of ter
restrial vegetation all over its surface, to which
the existing jungles of the tropics are mere
barrenness in comparison. Tbe high and uni
form temperature, combined with a greater
proportion of carbonic acid gass in the manu--factnre.
could not onlv sustain a cicaxtic acd
prolific vegetation, but would also create dense
vapors, showers and rains ; and these again gi
gantic rivers, periodical inundations, and del
tas. Thus all the conditions for extensive de
posits of wood in estuaries, would arise from
this high temperature ; and every circumstance
connected with the coal measures' points to
such conditions.
Potatoes Be it Ends vs. Seed Es ds. John
Brown, of Long Island, communicates the fol
lowing to the Granite Farmer.
"Several years ago I made some experi
ments to satisfy myself concerning tbe dispu
ted point as to which is the beSt portion of a
potato to plant in order to obtain the largest
and best yield. The exact result hasbeea
lost, and as I hare often since heard and read
assertions directly contrary to the conclusions
which I then deduced, I resolved to repeat
the experiments. Last spring I plan ted four
rows of equal length, side by aide, with two
varieties of potatoes. In one row I planted
none but the seed ends, so called, including
about one-third of the potatoes, and' in the
next row I planted the butt end of the samo
potatoes. I bad one row of seed ends and one
row of butt ends efa variety called Peach
Blows. The yield of these four rows was aa
follows: Pint eyes, butt ends, 21 7 founds
seed ends, 179 pounds; Peach blows, butt
ends, 229 pounds; seed ends, 179 pounds.--Tbe
potatoes raised from the butt ends were
much larger than those from the seed ends,
and appeared to be from a week to ten daya
earlier. This result corresponds with that of
my former experiment. Had the whole field
been planted with butt ends the yield "would
have been more than 600 bushels to the acre.
I also planted two rows next to the above, la
one of which I put only large potatoes, half
a tuber in each hill, cut length-wise so aa to
divide the eyes equally, and in tbe other row X
dropped only small potatoes, one In each hill.
From tbe former 1 dug 161 pounds, and from
the latter 134 pounds. I should add that the
average yield of the field waa about 180 pounds
to the row ; and that large (not the very lar
gest) potatoes were used for aeed cut length
wise with a half of a turber In each hill."
A Sailor was called upon tbe stand aa a
witness.
"Well, sir," said the lawyer, do yen knew
the plaintiff and defendant t" ' ;
"I don't know the drift of them word,"
answered the sailor. '
"What, sot know the mean'.s? of rfaistifT
and defiTniant 1" continued the lawyer $ a pret
ty fellow you are to come hare aa a witness.
Can you tel! mejsrhera oa bsxd tbe ship It wa
that this man struck the other one t"
"Abaft the binnfcle," aald the sailor. '
"Abaft the binnicle t ' what do y ou mean ry
that T" asked the lawyer.
"A pretty fallow yonror---f the siH-r,
"to come here a l.uvyer, a: - iw2't 2k.c viisi
abaft the binnacle mia-is." " : - -'
A wao says he knows osiy or:? better
than love, and that is to be thrown iito a pond
vi uiusu wo mui wxia in privilege or .
A - l - a ffL ... a . .
your way. eehor. .