BY S. B. ROW. CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 0, 1860. VOL. 6.-JV0. 41. LIVE FOB SOMETHING. Lire for something, be not idle Look about thee for employ ! Sit not down to useless dreaming Labor is the sweetest joy. Folded bands are ever weary, Selfish hearts are never gay, Life for these has many duties Active be, then, while you may. Ecatter blessings in thy pathway! Gentle words and cheering smiles, tetter are than gold and silver, . With their grief dispelling wiles. As the pleasant sunshine falleth, ver on the grateful earth, So let sympathy and kindness, Gladden well the darkened earth. Hearts there are oppressed and weary ; . Drop the tear of sympathy, Whisper words of hope and comfort, Give, and thy reward shall be, Joy unto thy soul returning, From this perfect fountain head. Freely as thou freely givest, . Shall the grateful light be shed. THE DEAD ARM. 'Do you see that nrm 1" -"The convict, wasted by a fierce disease, raised himself to a sitting posture in the bed, with much labor, and lilting hi 3 Withered right arm with the other, clutched it as if he would wring it from its socket, as a traitorous mem ber of his body. . "That arm did it," and ho glared vengelul ly upon it, and shook it fiercely. "Did what ?" Did murder! Put mo here to live a bu rled life for ten Jong years. Oh ! how long they have been. I have counted them, hour after hour in niy ceil. How long can I live, at the most V 'Three hours perhaps four." - "Too long to live, but sufficient time in which to tell you my story. It you believe it, it will be more than judge or jury have done. "Would you deceive when on your death bed 1" VMy marriage, to the girl 1 had long loved, aiul who loved me with a love far exceeding my most sanguine hopes, is the point, so far as regards the nice applicability of the past events tt present certainties, at which mv narrative commences. Dating from the day of that mar riage, there begins a succession of misfortunes, that, insignificant at their birth, were gradual ly molded together by extraneous contingen cies, until they culminated in an act foul and terrible, if premeditated or intended, that has made me a branded felon. My wife and I never quarrelled. We loved and revered each other too much for either to trespass or trample upon what the other considered sacred. To be sure, in mere levi ty and exultation of spirit, we performed acts that, to persons unacquainted with us and our circumstances, might seem seasoned with ear nestness. To snch misunderstandings, by a third per son, may be attributed the origin of reports that wc, my wife and I, lived an unhappy life a life of turmoil of blows. Many aioir;d us held to such an opinion, but from mere ignorauce of the exact nature of our lives. But I, descending speedily to the grave, do declare that we never, by word or deed, trans cended the bounds of our great love for each other; or transgressed those laws that should preservo the person of the wife from blow or contumely. If it were possible to exist with out jarring discord, to turn the sweetest sym pathies into bitter hatred, ours was that exis tence. Yet it availed me not in the dark day that came upon my household ; but rather of fered opportunities by which to strengthen an apparent guiltiness. "Jessie," I said to my wife, one evening, do you stand on one side of the room, while 1 take a position on the other. Get me a ball f yarn from the basket, and then whoever is hit with the ball the greatest number of times, shall make a present to the other. A nice present, of course." "If I lose, my present will be a dressing gown," said Jessie, "but you know you'll have to pay for it." 'It will be just as acceptable," I answered. "But if I lose, you shall have that ring with the emerald and pearls." Then the soft ball of yarn flew quickly from hand to hand, we all the time laughing and talking with great glee. A knock at the door, and an acquaintance entered, finding our faces flushed with the excitement of the contesr.and each uncertain who was the vanquished. I de clared that she had won the ring, and promis ed to put it upon her finger the next day ; which day, to her, alive never came. About two o'clock that night, I was awaken ed to consciousness by one of those inexplica ble preternatural premonitions of near danger, which are often encountered, but generally in a skeptical spirit. My mind was clear to reason not having its delicate powers blunted by sleep. Scarcely were my eyes unclosed, before 1 became cog" nizant of the presence of a cold, clammy na ture, b its loathsome contact with my face, and by its pressure upon my bosom, whereby it nearly stilted the beating of my heart. Nat urally, I am no coward ; but the knowledge of the presence of this burden, combined with utter darkness, creator of fierce fear, com pletely unnerved me, and niy body shook like an aspen leaf. The quiet condition of this body, which ap pertained not to myself nor my wife its mys terious situation and above all, the moist, chilly contact with my face, deprived me for an instant of self-possctsion. The clattering of a blind, or the nibbling of a mouse, seemed ike a peal of thunder to my ears ; the over Wraine.i eye saw, or seemed to see ghostly shapes pendant from the chandeiier and bed post. 1 dared not shout aloud or change my position in bed, for fear that my throat would be clutched by the incubus that sat like a hid cons nightmare fully developed into a reality upon my chest. I experienced such sensations as does the strong swimmer, or the venturous diver, when coming into bodily contact, unforewarned, with a corpse beneath the surface of the water -when nature acts like an electric battery, and discharges volumes of fear at the slight est movement ; or like one in the dark who encounters a skeleton. ,1 was peculiarly situated ; surrounded by an Immensity of terror; expansive, inasmuch as It draped thoughts and motions in habiliments that gave them a gigantic appearance ; im mersed ia a sea of dread and doubt, and final ly completely cowed by fear. Sow reason made Itj appeals fo the fright f oett on' The mete consciousness of bodl v contact with this invisibility, suggested its substantiality, but I hesitated to make the first' movement, hostile or otherwise. There was a bait formed supposition in my mind that if stirred, there would come upon mean onse by the incubus that I could not withhold ; this hesitancy to action I partly overcame by the circumspect rising of my left arm it was free l moved my right instantly, and contempo raneously with that movement the weight upon my face was removed to my" neck. A little more stealthy investigation, still fearful of an attack by an insiduous enemy, and I found that my right hand and arm as tar as the elbow was temporarily paralyzed, or in that condi tion usually called 'asleep that the band was cold and without sensibility and that it was the object that had rested upon my face. Of course, I was much elated at the discov ery, and ashamed that I had been so easily a larmed at an accident that was susceptible of so easy an explanation, in order to give to my wife an account of the absurd occurrence, I turned over, my piesent position being a re clination upon my back. In my relief, conse quent upon what L considered a correct expla nation of my fright, the weight upon my chest naa been lorgotteu ; no, toe change of ray po sition recalled it very unpleasantly and mop portunely, even before I had touched my wile Imagine, If you can, the result of this sud den knowledge that my oppressor had cot been explained away.. Think how quickly all he reasons wliiculiaa been carelully revolved from the mental perplexities in which I had been entangled, were effectually controverted, and how absolutely mystery and, frantic horror a gain swayed the scepter. There was, then, a being or things in the room that did not belong there, never had been there previous to that night, and my deductions were faulty. The result was, that I lost all control over ruy pas sions that I was lashed into a fury of des pair, by the fear of the presence of a super natural being. Clasping the object upon my breast with my lelt hand, with my right nerved with terror knowing no restraint, and numbed to all sen sation of pain by reason of its paralysis, struck heavy, treacherous blows. It had soft hair, and at this 1 pulled and tugged, in this paroxysm of horror. In my great agony of mind, l shrieked loraid notwithstanding my efforts encountered no resistance and called to Jessie to awaken. There was no response The passive submission to blows of the object grasped by my left hand, was extraordinary tne snence or my wife unaccountable. Then, for the first time during the struggle did 1 tinnK of Jessie s remarkably sound slum ber, and connect therewith the burden. I could not seperate the identity of my wife from that of the object of my vengeance. Pushing the weight aside, I leaped from the bed and lighted the gns. My wife was dead. It was her head that I had so often fondled, playing with its silken tresses kissing those dear lips looking into those lustrous eyes that had so confidently reposed upon my breast. Yet not more than five minutes had elapsed since my awakening. I can't believe that I am her murderer, even though the law so seals me with the crime. But that arm now shrivelled and withered into its present form, came not so by a punish ment from heaven. Alter my condemnation, doubting as I did my agency in her death, yet hating the instrument that had known no pity or gentleness in its blows, I held it, that arm, as a sacrifice to my dead wife, in the fire, un til the flames sapped its life, blackened its beauty, and burned out of it all semblance of human form. These are the reasons why I hate it, and hae hated it since that night. I am thankful that mv stay on earth is so diminished. When you have lived a lite of solitude such as mine, with a doubt such as mine, for an invisible companion, you too would gladly seek its con clusion in heaven." The convict died that night. The prison warden confirmed the truth of the convict's narrative, adding that the marks of blows up on the body of his wife the absence of all cause to create a sudden death and the unfa vorable testimony of the witness who had in terrupted their amusement the evening previ ous to his wife's decease, were formidable ar guments against the innocence of the convict. That being convicted, he was sentenced to death, which sentence was afterwards commu ted to imprisonment for ten years. If the convict's story was true, and I had no reason to believe that it was false, it was cer tainly an instance of remarkable complicity of circumstances, sufficient to much embarrass both judge and jury. It was no doubt a case of uniutentional murder, committed by the convict in a state of frenzy originated and finished under the influence of a superstitious mind, too easily excited by such a situation as that in which he had been placed. There resided at Conway, N.H. a well known character the famous BillyAbbott, both small of stature, and old of his age, and who, by his humorous wit and wonderful knowledge of ev ery liUlel incident that made this or that place particularly charming and interesting to the historian and the antiquarian, so ingrafted himself into the good favors of the great ex pounder of the constitution, that he always ive him a seat m his carriage when ho rode out to visit the beauties of nature. Billy's as sociates feeling envions on account of the hon or conferred upon him by this distinguished man, one day, after Webster's departure, sar castically asked Billy, in the crowded bar room, what he and his friend Webster found to converse ajbout as they rode around the country. Billy replied, "we usually talk a bout horticulture and agriculture, the differ ent breeds of cattle and horses,and upon these subjects I derive from him a great deal of use fuljnformation ; and upon such topics I find him a little more than my match but the mo ment" said he enthusiastically, with a ges ture and a tono of voice becoming the orator himself "but the moment he alludes to the constitution, I can floor him in a minute 1" which was received with great applause, and the Banquo of Envy never again affronted Daniel's rustic favorite. A "Bridget" who, as usual, entertains an exalted opinion of the good things of the old country, was asked by her mistress if they had any piea where.she she formerly lived in Ireland?" "Yes, and sure they do." "What kind of pies?" "Magpies, mum." A soldier who was once wounded in battle, set up a terrible bellowing. An Irishman who laid near, with both legs shot off, immediately sung out "Bad luck to the likes of ye do ye think that nobody is kilt but yourself." SKETCHES OF LINCOLN AND HAMLIN. . FROM THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE. "Honest Old ABE."With this homely but most expressive phrase the people ot the .North-West are wont to designate the man whom the Convention at Chicago, selected as our standard bearer in the great contest now opening- for the redemption of the Federal Government fiom the corruption, weakness, and degradation into which loner Democratic predominance has brought it. This rude des ignation, invented by unerring popular . in stinct, expresses" thfe entire and confident af fection which the heart of the masses feel for air. .Lincoln wherever he is known ; it declares me popular certainty that his" is a nature of sterling tuflf, which may always' be lied upon for perfect integrity, and constant fidelity to uuiy. m one respect, however, it is not to be taken as a literal description ; Mr. Lincoln is not an old man either in years or in charac ter. On the contrary, he is still in the full Vieorand bloom of manlv matnritv. ' Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin Coun- , iveniucKy, r eornary iz, ibuv, and is new 51 years old. He is very probably of the face oi tne Massachusetts Lmcolns, though his pa rents were of Quaker stock, that migrated from .Pennsylvania to Virginia, whence his grand- iatner removed mlisi-'zto Kentucky, and was there surprised and killed by Indians while at work on his clearing. Like most pioneers, he left his family poor; and his son also died prematurely, leaving a widow and several children, including Abraham.then six years old. The family removed soon after to Southern Indiana, where Abraham grew to the statnre of six feet and some inches, but enjoyed scarcely better opportunities for in struction than in Kentucky. Probably six months in all of the rudest sort of schooling comprehends the whole ot his technical edu cation. He was in turn a farm laborer, a com mon workman in a saw-mill, and a boatman on the Wabash and Mississippi rivers. Thus hard work and plenty of it, the rugged expe riences of aspiring poverty, the wild sports and rude games of a newly and thinly peopled forest region the education born of the log- cabin, the rifle, the ax, and the plow.combined with the reflections of an original and vigorous mind, eager in the pursuit of knowledge by every available means, and developing a char acter of equal resource and firmness made him the man he has since proved himself. At 21, he pushed further West into Illinois, which has for the lastthirty years been his home, living always near and for some years past in bpnngheld, the state Capital. lie worked on a farm as hired man his first year in Illinois ; the next year he was a clerk in astore; then volunteered for the Black nawk war, and was chosen a captain by bis company; the next year he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Legislature ; be was chosen the next, and served four sessions with eminent usefulness and steadily increasing rcnutation ; studied law, meantime, and took his place at the bar; was early recognized as a most effective and convincing advocate before me reopie ot Whig principles and the Protective policy, and of their illustrious embodiment, Henry Clay; was a Whig candidate for Elector in nearly or quite every Presidential contest from 1836 to 18o2 inclusive ; was chosen to the XXXth Congres from the Central District of Illinois in 1846, and served to its close,, but was not a candidate for re-election ; and in 1849 measurably withdrew from politics and devoted himself to the practice of his profes sion until the Nebraska Iniquity of 1854 call ed him again into the political arena. He was the candidate of the Whigs for U. S. Senator before the Legislature chosen that year; but they were noi a majority oi tne body ; so he declined and urged his friends to support Judge Trumbull, the candidate of the anti-Nebraska Democrats, who was thus elec ted. In the gallant and memorable Presidential contest of 1856, Mr. Lincoln's name headed the Fremont Electoral Ticket ot Illinois. In 1858, he was unanimously designated by the Republican State Convention to succeed Mr. Douglas in the Senate, and thereupon canvass ed the State against Mr. D. with , an ability iu which logic, art, eloquence, and thorough good nature were alike conspicuous, and which gave him a national reputation. Mr. Douglas secured a predominance in the legislature and was elected though Mr. Lincoln had the larger popular vote, so that if the question had been decided by the majority of the people, the champion of Squatter Sovereignty and of in difference as regards the Slavery extension would not now be a Senator from Illinois. As a Presidential candfdate,Mr. Lincoln en joys peculiar advantages. While his position as a Kenul'lican renders mm satisfactory to the most zealous member of the party, the moderation of his character, and the conser vative tendencies of his mind, long approved and well known of all men in public life, com mend him to every section ot the Opposition. There is no good reason why Americans and Whigs.and in short all who are inspired rather by patriotism than by party feeling, should not rally to his support. Republicans and Conservatives, those who dread the extension of Slavery, and those who dread the progress of Administrative and Legislative Corruption, may be assured that in him both these evils will find a stern and immovable antag onist and an impassable barrier. At the same time, as a Man of the People, raised by his own genius and integrity from the hum blest to the highest position, having made for himself an honored name as a lawyer, an ad vocate, a popular orafor, a statesman, and a Man, the industrious and intelligent masses of the country may well hail his nomination with swelling tide of enthusiasm, of which the wild and prolonged .outbursts at Chicago were the fitting prelude and beginning. "1 Wc need hardly say that the election of Mr. Lincoln, though it cannot be accomplished without arduous and persistent efforts, is emi nently a thing that can be done. The disruption of the Democratic party, now perhaps less likely to bo repaired than before his nomina tion, the fact that' he was put forward by one of the doubtful States, Illinois,and nominated in great measure by votes from two others, namely, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the universal desire of the country to settle the vexatious Slavery question in accordance with the views of the Fathers all these are pow erful iu behalf of the Chicago ticket. But, as we said, efforts must be made. The organi zation must be perfected in every county, in every district. Tracts and newspapers must be disseminated. Public discussions must be held. The people must be animated, enlight ened, inspired with, a sense of the solemn da ty resting on all patriotic citizens. ! 1 ' Thus the i great Victory may be achieved, and the coun y may ue redeemed from the pernicious in uuences mat are hurrying it to ruin. Amer icans I JKepublicans I Shall not all this be accomplished ? Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin, who was nominated by the Republican Convention at Chicago lor Vice-President, was born in rans, Oxford Co., Maine, in August, 1809 and is now m the 51st year of his age. He is ty profession a lawyer, but for the last twenty jour years nas been, lor much of the time, in political life. From 1836 to 1840 he was a member of the Legislature of Maine, and for three of those years he was the Speaker of its iiouse ot Mepresentatives. In 1843 he was elected a member of Congress, and re-elected for the following term. In 1847 be was again a member of the State Legislature, and the next year was chosen to fill a vacancy, occa sioned rjy me acatn of John Fairfield, in the u ii lieu oiaies senate, in loot he was re elected for the full term in the same body, but resigned on being chosen Governor of Maine in 18o7. In the same month he was again elected to the United States Senate for six years, which office he accepted, resigning tue LfOvernorship. He is still a member of the Senate. This record Is an evidence of the confidence with which he has always been re garded by bis fellow-citizens in Maine. Up to the time of the passage of the Kansas Nebraska bill in 1854, Mr. Hamlin was a mem ber of the Democratic party. That act he re garded as a proof that the party, with which he had been all his life connected, no longer deserved the name of Democratic, and was treacherous to the principles he had so long cherished. Thenceforward he gave his sup port to the Republican party, of which he has ever since continued a faithful and distinguish ed leader. Mr. iiamun is a man or dignified presence. of solid abilities, of unflinching integrity, and great executive talent. Familiar with the business of legislation, he is peculiarly adap ted, by the possession of all these quailities, to fill beneficially for the Country, and to his party's honor, the high post for which he has been nominated. The name of Hannibal Ham tin of Maine is a fit second to that of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Closing: Scenes at Chicago. A Lincoln man who could hardly believe that the "Old Abe" of his adoration was really the Republi can nominee for the Presidency, took a chair at the dining table at the Tremont House, and began talking to those around him, with none ot whom he was acquainted, of the greatness ot the events of the day. One of his expres sion was, "Talk of your money and bring on your bullies with you I the immortal princi ples of the everlasting people are with Abe Lincoln." "Abe Lincoln has no money and no bullies, but he baa the people." A servant approached the eloquent patriot and asked what he would have to eat. Being thus recal led to temporal things he glared scornfully at the servant and roared out, "Go tq the de'il wnai ao jl want 10 eat lor i am .Lincoln is rominated, and I am going to live on air the air of Liberty." But in a moment he inquir ed tor me bin ot fare, and then ordered "a great deal of everything" saying if he must eat he might as well eat "the whole bill." He swore he felt as if he could 'devour and di gest an Illinois prairie." And this was one of thousands. Poisoned bt a Snake. The Abbeville. S. C, South, of the, 18th instaut, says that some three weeks ago a son of Peyton W. Bailey. residing near Sylvan Grove post office, in Dale county, being m the woods with his dog, sup posed by the barking of the animalr that he had puisued a rabbit to a hole under a clay root. Putting in his hand to feel for the rabbit. he was bitten by a snake, which had taken refuge there. The lad, feeling his "dancer. bound his arm tightly with one of his suspen ders above the wound, and ran forborne, but fell from the effects of the poison before he reached there. His cries, however, attracted the attention of the family, and he was borne home and whisky freely administered, until it produced its usual effect. His arm, however, below the bandage swelled, turned black and burst, and alter living two days he expired. The snake was dug out and dragged from its den, and found to be a very old rattlesnake, full of poison, larce quantities beinjr forced from its mouth by the pressure of the rope around his neck, used to draw him out. Novel Marriage. A couple were married by Justice Purdy yesterday, says the Detroit Free Press, of the 26th ult., one of whom was a female, aged fifty-eight, and the other a ver dant looking young man, of about eighteen. He maintained and stuck to it, that he was thirty-seven years old, and in order to make up the deficiency, she brought her years down to forty-five. The dodge did not work, and, upon being informed that they must make oaths to the facts, they, declined, and reques ted to be united without any questioning. The young fellow said he had no particular objec tion to telling his age, but the lady was cap tious, and refused to divulge until she was in formed that she must give up all hope of pos sessing the youngster as a penalty. She said he didn't amount to much as a man, but then he would be handy to have around, and she thought she might as well take him, as she had more money than she knew what to do with, and wanted somebody to spend it. The bridegroom looked as if he might fulfil the duty with a little judicious training. The steamship Great Eastern is being rapid ly prepared for her trial trip across the Atlan tic, and it is expected she will be completed in the beginning of this month, so as to ac company the Prince of Wales in his visit to our continent, in July. Her proprietors hav ing sent word to New York city that she would come there if it were possible to get her into the harbor, the Board of pilots have returned an answer that they will navigate her right straight up to "Gotham," if she does not draw more than 26 feet of water. It is believed the Knickerbockers' will yet see the 'Leviathon.' A well primed lover of the bottle who had lost his way, reeled into a teetotal grocery and biccuped, "Mr. do you a keep anything good to take here 7" "Yes," replied the temperance shopkeeper,' "we have excellent cold water the best thing you could have." "Well, I know it," remarked Tipsy ; "there is no one thing that's done so much for nav igation as that." "And I Lave no doubt," added the shopkeeper, "that a liberal use of it would help your navigation amazingly." THE LOSS OF LIFE BY WAR. Here is its chief aim; and terrible has been its success in this respect. Even its inciden tal havoc of life, has sometimes been almost incredible. It has entirely depopulated im mense districts. In modern, as well as in an cient times, large tracts of land have been left so utterly desolate that a traveler might pass irom village to village, even from city to city, without finding a solitary inhabitant ! The war of 1756, waged in the heart of Europe, left in one instance no less than twenty con tignous villages without a single man or beast ! Tho thirty years' war, in the 17th century, re duced the population of Germany from 12,000,- 000 to 4,000,000, three-fourths ; and that of Wirtemberg from 500,000 to 48,000, more than nine-tenths ! lhirty thousand villages were destroyed ; In many others the population en tirely died out; and over districts, once studded with towns and cities, there sprang up immense forests. Look at the havoc of sieges in that of Lon donderry, 12,000 soldiers, besides avast num ber of inhabitants ; in that of Paris, in the 16th century, 30,000 victims of mere hunger; in that of Malplaquet, 34,000 soldiers alone ; in that ot Ismail, 40.000; of Vienna, 70,000: of Ostend, 120,000; of Mexico, 150,000; of A cre, 300,000; of Carthage, 700,000 ; of Jerusa lem, 1,100,000. Mark the slaughter of single battles at Leponto, 2o,000 ; at Austerlitz, 30, 000 ; at Eylau, 60,000 ; at Waterloo and Qua tre Bras, one engagement in fact, 70,000 ; at Borodino, 80,000; at Fontenoy, 100,000; at Arbela, 300,000 ; at Chalon, 300,000 of Attil- la's army alone ; 400,000 Usipetes were slam by Julius Ciesar in one. battle, and 430,000 uermans in another. lake only two cases more. The army of Xerxes, says Dr. Dick, "niust have amounted to 5,283,320; and, if the attendants were only one-third as great as common at the present day in Eastern countries, the sum total must have reached nearly six million. Yet, in one year, this vast multitude was reduced, though not entirely by death, to J00,000 fighting men, and of these only 3,000 escaped destruction Jenghiz-khan, the terrible ravagcr of Asia in the 13th century, shot 9 ,000 on the plains of Ncssa, and massacred 200.000 at the storming ot Kharasm. in the district ot Herat, he butchered 1,600,000, and in two cities with their dependencies, 1,4 60,000. During the last twenty-seven years of his long reign, he is said to have massacred more than half a million every year ; and in the first 14 years, he is sup posed, by Chinese history, to have destroyed not less than eighteen millions; a sum total of 32,000,000 in forty-one years 1 What a fell destroyer is war I Napoleon's wars sacrificed full six millions, and all the wars consequent on the French Revolution, some nine or ten millions. The Spaniards are said to have destroyed in forty-two years more than twelve millions of American Indians Grecian wars sacriSed. fifteen millions; Jewish wars, twenty-five millions; the wars of the twelve Caesars, thirty millions in all: the wars of the Ramans before Julius Ceesar, sixty mil lions; the wars of the Roman Empire, of the Saracens and the Turks, sixty millions each ; those of the Tartars, eighty millions ; those of Africa, one hundred millions. "If we take in to consideration," says the lparned Dr. Dick, "the number not only of those who have fallen in battle, but of those who have perished through the natural consequences of war, it will not perhaps be overrating the destruction of human life, if we affirm that one-tenth of the human race has been destroyed by the rav ages of war; and, according to this estimate, more than fourteen thousand millions of human beings have been slaughtered in war since the beginning of tho world." Edmund Burke went still further, and reckoned the sum total of its ravages, from the first, at no less than thirty-five thousand millions ! English journals record an instance in which, upon the trial of a will case, the witness had the best of it. He was a Mr. Gale, and on be- ng put upon the stand, declined to an swer any questions until he had received his fee. After a long wrangle as to the amount to which he was entiled, the Court ordered that be should be paid, fortime and expenses, .16. As another witness was ready, Mr. Gale stood aside ; but, on being again called and questioned, declined to answer because he bad not received tho money. The amount was finally handed to him, and then the ques tion was repeated when it appeared that he new nothing whatever on the subject. It is needless to add that Mr. Gale was a lawyer, and a sharp one at that. . . The First Vine. When Noah planted the first vine and retired, Satan approached and said, "I will nourish you, charming plant." He quickly brought three animals a sheep, a lion, and a bog and killed them one after a- nothernear the vine. The virtues of tho blood of these three animals penetrated it, and are still manifest in its growth. When a man drinks a goblet, he is then agreeable, gentle and friendly : that is the nature of the lamb. When he drinks two goblets he is like a lion. and says "Who is like me ?" He then talks of stupendous things. But when he drinks more, his senses forsake him, and he wallows in the mire like a bog. Typographical errors come in odd some times. The other day we were reading a des- j cription of enthusiastic demonstrations at a political gathering, when the type went on to say "The air was rent with the snouts of three thousand people 1" A still more ridiculous "bull" was once made by the foreman of a daily office in Indianapolis. In making up the forms he accidentally placed a large display line belonging to a stage advertisement, over a patent medicine. In the paper he was sur prised to read : " Through by Daylight! Braggs' Celebrated Pills." Doke8tic Bears. Once upon a time there lived a couple known far and wide for their interminable squabbles. Suddenly they chang ed their mode of life, and were as complete patterns of conjugal felicity as they had for merly been of discord. A neighbor anxious to know the cause of such a coversion, asked the gude wife to explain it. She replied, "I and the old man have got on well enough to gether ever since we kept two bears in the house." "Two bears I" was the perplexed re- j reply. "Yes, sure," said the lady, "bear and forbear." The Troy, N. Y., blacksmith, who made 240 shoes in ten hours, has been beaten. James II. Simpson, of -Plessia, Jefferson county, turned out in the short space of eight hours 243 horse shoes, which were pronounced good... DETERI0EATI0N OF THE" SOIL. The Baltimore Rural Register says: "In this new country, upon which the first Euro pean settlements were made but a little more than two centuries ago, go where we will, east of the Allegheny mountains, we are constant ly meeting with old fields, worn into gullies, or covered with sedge, and perfectly valueless in their present condition for agricultural pur poses. In England on the contrary, during the last half-century, the crops instead of di minishing in quantity, have been increased in the product to the acre by more than 50 per cent. Yet the land there has been under cul tivation more than a thousand years. Now it has been repeatedly demonstrated that by pur suing a similar system, eur soils are capable of raising as large an amount of grain- or hay to the acre as those of any other country. The remarkable decrease in our aericaltnral nro- ducts which statistical tables indicate, can proceed from no ether cause than careless ano! slovenly farming. The fatal defect iu the old system of farming with us was. that it did not take into due consideration the injurious influ ence excited by our climate upon surface con stantly exposed to an almost tropical heat in the summer season. At an earlier day tobae co was our staple production. It was what wheat has since become the planter's money crop; and high prices and a steady demand stimulated him to cultivate in a negligent manner as many acres of chis plant as the num ber of his field hands would admit of putting under the plow. A succession of crops taken from the same field, without rest or intermis sion, speedily wore the life out of it. Fresh- lands were cleared, which were subjected to the same ruinous mode of treatment, until in the course of a few years, thousands of acres of as fertile soil as the world could boast h- came but little better than a sterile waste. Where the fields were not sufficiently exhaust ed to be thrown entirely out of cultivation, corn succeeded tobacco ; and shallow plowing, and the sun, the wind, the rain, and the frost acting continually upon the exposed surface. completed the work of destruction which reek- less tillage had commenced. If there had been instituted, from the beginning, a proper rotation of crops ; if tap-rooted plants had been allowed to succeed, fibrous-rooted plants: if the manure ot the barn-yard, and the wood ashes of the house fires, had been husbanded : it shells, or lime, or marl had replaced the al kaline constituents which had been taken from the soil by previous crops; if plaster bad been permitted to exert its singular influence upon me growing clover, and if the latter, instead 01 being cut and carried off the land, had been turned under it, those fields now lookinz so barren and forlorn would have been more fer tile at this day than they were when the plow turned the first furrow in the virgin soii." "Great Men never swell. It is ouly threo cent individuals, who are salaried at the rate of two hundred dollars a vear. and dine on potatoes and dried herring, who put on airs. flashy waistcoats, swell, puff, blow and endea vor to give themselves a conseanential ap pearance. No discriminating person can ever mistake the spurions for the cenuine articla. The difference between tho two is as ereat as that between a bottle of vinegar and a bottle of the pure juice of the grape." In the U. S. Senate, on the 28th nit.. Mr. Hammond, Democrat, advocated the restora tion of high rates of postage, on the eround that the Post-Office Department does not Dav its expenses. Of course it does not, when Democrattc Postmasters, like Isaac V. Fowler of ew 1 ork city, steal at the rate of S 150,000 apiece. Wouldn't it be better to stop the stealing rather than add to the taxes of the people t We should think so J Dew has peculiar properties. It differs from fine rain and common moisture because it ia never deposited on any surface except it is colder than the snrrounding atmosphere. Most dew is deposited in clear nights when the greatest amount of radiation goes on. It nev er falls copiously in places screened from the clear sky ; a thin piece of muslin, suspended over a delicate flower, will prevent the dew beidg deposited upon it. John C. Heenan has written a letter to the London Times, complaining of his inability to come to any arrangement with Sayers for a re newal of the contest. He says be is willing to accept the proposition that he and Sayers should have a belt apiece, got up by publio subscription, the true champion's belt remain ing in the hands of tho editor of Bell's Life, to be fought for again. "Pray excuse rue," said a well dressed young man to a young lady in the second tier or boxes at a theatre. "I wish to go ud stairs and get some refreshments don't leave your seat." A sailor seated in the box near his girl, and disposed to go and do the same thing, arose and. said "Harkee, Moll, I am going aloft to wet my whistle don't fall overboard while I am gone." A thin old man, with a rag-bag in bis band. was picking up a large number of pieces of whalebone which lay on the street. The de posit was of such a singular nature that we asked the quaint-looking gatherer bow he sup posed they came there. "Don't knew," he re plied in a squeaking voice; "I 'spect some unfortunate female was wrecked hereabout." An honest Dutchman, in training his son in the way in which be should go, frequently ex ercised him in Bible lessons. On one of these occasions he asked him : "Who was dat vould not shleep mit Botipher's vife T" "Shoseph. "Dat's a goot boy. Veil vat vas de reason he vould not shleep mither?" Don't knowi sphose he vasbn't sbleepy." In Germany, wooden bridges are not allowed to be erected on any of the railroads, because they begin to decay from the moment they are put up, and grow more insecure every day. 1 ---a,, 11 f , The recent change in the style of female costume appears at once prudent and amiable i it is a sign that the ladies consider that their charms have been too Long Wasted. ' ' "Mother," said a little urchin, about five years of age, "why don't the teacher make me moniter sometimes r 1 can lick every boy In my class but one !" ; An Exchange says : A party ot our friends chased a fox thirty -six. hoass- They actually' "run. the, tfiing into tho ground" 1 )
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers