:1
BY S. B. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, PA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1860.
VOL. 7.JT0. 12.
f A
MY OLD MOUNTAIH HOME. .
Though gently breaks the crested wave
Along old ocean's strand,
Though stately rivers deep and wide,
With gold-dust in their sand ;
Though brightly gleams the summer inn
On city spire and dome.
Yet, lovelier, far. to me, than these,
Is my old mount lin home.
The sunny south with orange groves,
Its sweet perfume exhales ;
The verdant plains of the great west
O'er-blown by scented gales,
.Ad boundless forests, long and wide,
Where wild beasts love to roam,
Are glorious; but I prize them less
Than my old mountain home.
These many rough and rugged hills
Incessant toil demand ;
The scanty harvest which they yield
Scarce fills the reaper's baud ;
Tet. where my footsteps ever tread,
Wherever 1 may roam,
My thoughts in love and pride will turn
To my old mountain home.
THE MYSTERIOUS LODGER.
In September, 18-52, I occupied a room in a
two story Iramo building on Stockton street,
San Francisco, in which were perhaps half a
dozen lodgers possibly more. As I seldom
visited my room during the day, and invaria
bly retired at twelve o'clock, 1 rarely met any
of my neighbors or, if I did, it was without
my knowing them. With two of my fellow
lodgers I became partially acquainted. Ore
was a middle-aged man, occupying a room ad
joining mine, and divided from it by a thin
partition. Against that thin boundary stood
our beds the middle-aged gentleman's and
mine not to exceed three inches apart. The
middle-aged gentleman was wedded to the
habit of snoring. And his was a peculiar
snore, not a periodical accompanying every
fourth or fifth inspiration, but a terrific and
uninterrupted combination of snot ts, groans
and snufiies, with the addition of teeth grind
ing and occasional plunges of the extremities
ngainst the creaking foot board. For a week
I stood np against the latter. At length. I
knockfd at the door. I was desperate, lie
ruse, struck a light, and for the first time we
met face to face. I had prepared myself to
deluge him with sarcasm to abuse him with
Billingsgate to sink him with abuse. II is
lace whs round and jcvial, and his head so en
tirely destitute of hair, that I could not sum
mon courage to utter a single harsh word.
For a moment we peered into each others
faces.
Can I do anything for yon ?" I Inquired,
Smith, tor that was his name, must have
read my thoughts must have known he snor
ed must have been aware of the object of my
visit for he immediately replied : -
" Yes, my friend, join me in a glass of bran
dy and water I have a few drops of something
genuine. Permit me to insist," he continued,
observing my hesitation, "you will sleep all
the better for it,5- and he gave a look swelling
over with commiseration.
1 meekly followed him to his sideboard, and
we pledged each other in a glass of ancient
vintage. He then pressed me to smoke a ci
gar. I could scarcely do less. Sitting on the
hide of the bed, with his rotund visage peer
ing through a gauze of smoke, and his fat
legs swinging good naturedly, Smith was a
picture. Together we would have afforded an
amusing sketch for Punch. He talked inces
santly, and !efore I lelt him we touched glasses
several times, and I resolved that he might
snore, night and day, for a year to come, and
I would not disturb him. 1 wrung his hand in
testacy of friendship, and bade him an affec
tionate good night. Smith's brandy was play
ing strange tricks with my fancy and 1 felt as
though something was whispering, as though
to"jiacietn" "Sleep no more i" l iit a can
dle, and touud it was two o'clock. Irritated
at my wakefulness, I drew my clothes on and
was soon in the street. The moon rode high
in the heavens, and the night was beautiful as
a poet's dream. Strolling around the streets
as tar as Clay, I suddenly turned the corner
and encountered a crowd of half drunken
rowdies standing in front of a house they had
either just left or were abont to enter. In the
act of retracing my steps, 1 beard some one
vxclaim in a boyish tone :
"Not to-night, gentleman, sonic o'her time,
but not to-night ; please excuse me."
The speaker iu passing along the street had
been stopped by the rowdies, and invited to
drink.
Bab !" exclaimed a number of voices "you
must come to the scratch either drink or
fight."
"But, gentlemen, 1 cannot," insisted the
stranger, struggling to free himself from the
grasp ot bis persecutors. "I can neither
drink nor fight to-night ; I am not well."
Gammon!" growled the party, attempting
to force him into the house.
I felt that, as a conservator of the peace and
champion of society, it was my duty to inter
fere. Smith's brandy told me so, and furnish
ed the nerve, in addition, to carry out the res
olution. Stalking quietly in upon the crowd,
1 iaid my hand upon the boy's shoulder, and
requested him to follow me. lie turned to
comply, when "Give him one !" yelled one of
the rowdies; and the next moment I received
a blow on the back of the neck, and found my
self leaning against the side of a house. I
was not stunned, but exasperated beyond meas
ure. The liquor of my bald headed fellow
lodger steeled my nerres to action, and 1
threw myself into a position of defence. .Not
doubting my perfect ability to scatter the
crowd over an acre of ground, I invited the
unequal contest. The appearance of a police
man saved the impending slaughter, for the
party suddenly left the field. My companion
informed the officer of what had occurred,
and he started in pursuit of the retiring row
dies.enjoining us to fight tho wav to our lodg
ings. Taking the arm of the 1 id, we proceed
ed towards my room. He was a pale faced,
intelligent looking young man of perhaps
e gbteen or nineteen years of age, remarka
bly well-bred and intelligent. He was dress
ed in good taste without affecting any of the
airs of matnrer years, and I was quite taken
wUh him. He told me at once that his name
as Richard Janson j that be was alone in
California, but not without means; that he
Ji;ed in Stockton street, and visiting a friend
inis evening, had been detained to that unusu
'inJ i? r" ln a 'ew raoment we arrived at my
joagings, and observing that he evinced little
arrl'D.ati0D to Part wlta mt 1 invited hiro to
amnr a Prtion f bed lor tbe night. He
willingly declined, stating that he was quite
Sml .? W? ; D 1 then learned, for the first
that he occupied, a room in the same
bouse, on the same floor with mvself. Thus
I became acqnaintcd with two of rav lodgers
Janson and myself olten met alter that, but
it was always in the street or on tho stairway
He never invited me to his room, or accepted
an invitation to mine. He visited me once
or twice at my office, and then remained less
than five minutes. How be spent his time
aid not inquire. lie was a mystery. 1 spoke
ot him to bmith cne day. btrange to say
that gentleman had never seen him, but from
my description of him, ventured the opinion
that he was either a gambler or a genteel pick
pocket. I was reluctantly forced to the con
dition that Smith was right, and after that I
treated the young man w ith unusual coldness
lie observed tlie change, ana Ii is looks wore
a reproach so sorrowful, that 1 half repented
having harbored the suspicion of my venerable
looking fiiend, who was fearfully averse to all
mysteries.
Occasion called nc to my room one even
ing at an earlier hour than usual. I heard i
soft rap at my door, and opening it, found
Janson standing in the entry.
"Come in, Janson," I exclaimed throwing
open the door.
"Would you not prefer taking a walk 1" he
inquired. "The night is beautiful."
"I believe not to night, I replied, "some
other time."
I was piqued that he should persist in re
maining outside the door.
"I should be much pleased to have you,"
he rejoined. I have a few words to say to you
in justice to myself, and "
'Enough," I interrupted ; "I will go."
felt assured he desired to tell me something
of himself, and I was all anxiety to bear it.
ft was unpleasant to think him a pickpocket
or a sharper, and I hoped he migLt be able to
prove to me unit he was neither.
W e left the house and proceeded along
Stockton street toward Happy Vallev. For
ten minutes not a word was spoken. Several
times he seemed on the pcint of speaking, but
he as olten checked himself.
"Unless 1 may call you one, I have not a
friend in California," at length he began;
placing his hand upon niy shoulder. 1 bowed,
but made no replv.
"You do not speak," he replied, observing
my silence. "I am to understand, I presume
that you are not to be made an exception ?"
"To be frank with vou, Janson," I replied
''there is a certain mystery about yonr move
ments calculated to give rise to suspicions
anything but favorable."
"Of what nature 1" asked my companion.
"That you are a gambler, or uvea worse," I
bluntly replied.
He smiled as he replied :
"Yes, yes, I see ; yet the suspicion wrongs
me."
"Make it appear so," I answered, "and you
shall not want a friend."
"Promise me that j'ou will not divulge what
I may tell you, or attempt by word or action
to thwart me in the accomplishment of a pur
pose to which I have pledged my soul," he
said, looking me earnestly in the face, "and
you shall have the proof you require."
"If your purpose is not criminal, I promise;
if otherwise, keep your secrets," was my an
swer. " 'Tis what you would do, or any other man
worth of the name."
"Then I promise ; here is my hand."
"Listen," he resumed, taking my arm and
walking slowly on. "I have a twin sister.
e were born in Georgia.and our parents were
the possessors of a hundred slaves. and a plan
tation large enough to give all employment.
When we were fourteen our father died. At
the age of sixteen, my sister became a convert
during a religious revival, and six months af
ter, in the face of the determined opposition
of my mother, ran away and mairicd a young
preacher, to whose eloquence the revival ow
ed its origin. My sister did not love the man.
Her feeling for him was a religious enthusi
asm a fancy wrought upon her by an unnatu
ral infatuation. Learning that they were mar
ried, my good mother sent for them,aud they
returned to receive her blessing. The plan
tation was placed in charge of my sister's hus
band, and he relinquished the gospel. He
frequently visited New Orleans, and other of
the large Southern cities, during the first year
of his marriage, but the circumstance excited
uo suspicion.
To be brief, before two years elapsed, the
large estate owned by my father was swept
from us, and we were almost bankrupt, lie
had induced my mother to mortgage the plan
tation, with the view, he said, of purchasing
more negroes to work it, but the money was
squandered, ond the slaves lie secretly sold,
by fives and tens, till less than a dozen re
mained. When asked to explain by my moth
er, he had no excuse to offer. In the midst of
this great grief, another wife of May hew that
was the villain's name suddenly made her ap
pearance at tho plantation. Learning the res
idence of her husband, but not knowing of
his second marriage, she had left South Caro
lina to meet him. My poor sister was heart
broken. Mayhew, to escape prosecution, fed
from the Stats. His first wife was sent to the
mad house, and in three months my poof old
mother was laid in the churchyard. My grief
bowed sister but I will not speak of her.
Turning the wreck of our property into money,
I started in pursuit of the scoundrel who had
dealt such a havoc with our peace. Through
a dozen States I tracked him, and returned
with my mission of vengeance unaccomplished
One year ago by accident, I learned he was in
California. As soon as I recovered from a se
rious illness under which I was laboring,
took passage for this State. I arrived six
months ago.
"He is here, for I have seen him, and he
cannot escape roe now ! He is even in this
city ; but he little dreams that the pistol is
shotted to send him to the great reckoning.
I have made few acquaintances here, having
no wish to implicate others in a work of blood
which must be mine alone. Last night I fol
lowed him from tho El Dorado, where he
spends most of bis time, to a house on Powell
street. He has visited it frequently of late,
and to-day I understand that he is paying his
addresses to a widow lady residing there. But
he will not marry ber, for another week shall
not find him alive ! You now know all. Have
I one friend in California ?"
To see so much spirit, so ninch determina
tion, so much manhood exhibited by a beard
less boy, surprised me beyond expression. X
offered the brave little fellow my hand, and
he felt that be was answered. In silence we
returned to oar lodgings. Bidding .janson
good night, I stepped into Smith's for a mo
ment. I found the old fentleuan, somewhat
agitated. He had lost a valuable diamond
pin, and freely intimated that the "sleek young
cuss," as tie denominated Janson bad stolen
it. I so strenuously endeavored to dissipate
the impression, that I verily believe he felt
inclined to transfer the odium of the supposed
theft to me. That night Smith snored louder
than usual.
Three days after, I met Janson in the street,
and learned that he had taken rooms on Pow
ell street. I did not inquire the reason I
thought I knew it.
The next day I again met him. His face
was unusually pale, yet he said he had not felt
better for years."
"There is to be a wedding in Powell street
to-morrow, at least so Mayhew says, but there
will be no bridegroom ! Do you understand "
He placed his finger significantly to his lips,
and we separated.
At eight o'clock the next evening, as Isaac
Mayhew was mounting the steps of the house
to which Janson had traced him six days be
fore, a pistol ball pierced his heart, and he
dropped dead upon the pavement. . Some un
accountable influence bad drawn me to the
neighborhood, and hearing the report of a
pistotjJanson's words flashed thro' my mind, and
I staited with a dozen others, in the direction
of the tragedy. Before I arrived on the spot
quite a crowd had collected. The body of
Mayhew was lying on the sidewalk, and over
it, in speechless agony, stood the widow
who was to have been a bride.
"Who saw this ?" inquired a policeman.
"I heard tho report of a pistol," said one
of the crowd, "and a minute after, saw a man
enter that house yonder," and he pointed to
a small frame building on the opposite side of
the street.
In an instant, the officer, followed by the
excited spectators, started for tho bouse.
Springing through the crowd. I reached the
side of the policeman, and as be knocked at
the door, I was at his elbow. I felt that Jan
son was there. The door was quickly opened,
and a well dressed lady calmly inquired the
object of the visit.
"We are looking for a man who a few min
utes since committed a murder across the
street," said the officer.
"And do yon expect to find him in my room,
sir f " returned the lady.
"No, madam," replied the policeman, rath
er politely lor one of his calling; "but I will
gianco mrougii your aparinient mereiv as a
matter of form, before proceeding to the oth
er portions of the house.'
The officer entered. I closely followed.
While lie was examining the room, I for the
first time obtained a fair view of the lady's
face. Involuntarily, I threw up my hands in
amazement. She detected the movement,
and quick as thought, placed her fingei to ber
lips. Irr a moment I comprehended all.
Richard Janson stood before me. No Rich
aid no longer, now that she had slain the des
troyer of her peace, but Martha Janson, my
former fellow lodger. Heavens what a dis
covery ! And for me to have been so con
foundedly blind, too but no matter. The
policeman searched the house, but did not
find the murderer.
Tho next day I met Martha on Montgomery
street. She smiled and bowed, and I confess
I thought her an excedingly pretty woman.
A week after she quietly left tlte State for
Georgia, where she is now residing. After
the sailing ol the steamer, I received a note
through the post office from Martha. She ex
plained all, and thanking me for the assistance
Ihadrendeied her, and the kindness shown
to her imaginary twin brother Richard.
When I informed Smith, as I did one even
ing, that the "sleek young cuss" whom he had
viewed with so much suspicion was a woman,
he wajted forme to repeat the assertion, and
then checked himself in the act of charging
rue with falsehood. The news excited Smith,
and he went to bed that night and snored as
he had never snored before.
She who was to have been the third wife of
Mayhew still lives in San Francisco. She was
married in August last. 1 met ber in the
street a few days ago. Haw vividly the sight
of her face brought lo mind the incidents I
have related ! She will read this little story,
perhaps, and learn for the first time, why she
did not become tho wife of Mayhew, the biga
mist.
THE GREAT METROPOLIS.
London now covers one hundred and twenty-
one square miles, having increased three-fold
since the year 1SOO, and bricks and mortar
still invade and capture the green fields. The
population, according to the leport of the Re
gistrar General, augments at the rate of about
one thousand per week, halt by birth and half
by immigration. Notwithstanding the enor
mous wealth of the metropolis, it is recorded
in the report of the Registrar General, as a re
markable fact, that "one in six of those who
leave the world die in one of the public insti
tutions a workhouse, hospital, asylum or
prison. Nearly one in eleven of the deaths is
n the workhouse.-' 1 his shows that poverty
follows close at the heels of wealth, and fas
tens on the multitude with relentless grasp.
Every sixth person dies a pauper or a crimi
nal ! Oan this be said of any other city cn the
globe? And how great a number there must
be who barely manage to escape this fate.
The severe competition for subsistence and
wealth, which characterizes London life, is a
terrible ordeal for any human being to pass
through, and thousands fall in the attempt,
crushed beneath the golden Juggernaut. It is
now notorious, says a London paper, that in
the largo establishments where some hundreds
of assistants are employed, the great majority
of them are broken-down tradesmen, crushed
by the competition capital. Even these occu
pations are obtained with difficulty, and the
less fortunate gradually sink lower and lower
in the scale, till they are driven into the pub
lic institutions, where they meet an untimely
death. The list is further swelled by that nu
merous class, who, born in a respectable
sphere and well-educated, sink into degrada
tion from the sheer love of display and the
vanity of living beyond their means. It is on
record that out of eight thousand convicts who
have past their probation in Pentonville, one
thousand fell through this wretched vice, and
it is stated that most of the number were "ori
ginally respectable in more than an ordinary
degree." Jbese statements teach us that the
greatness of London has been purchased at a
fearful cost in human poverty, misery and
crime, the result of its eager pursuit of wealth.
He is a brave man who isn't afraid to wear
old clothes cctil be is able to pay ior sew ones.
EARLY HISTORY OF SAW-MILLS.
In early periods, the trunks of trees were
spin with wedges into as many and as thin
pieces as possitrtfe, audif it was necessary to
nave them still thinner, they were hewn on
both sides to the proper size. This simple
and wasteful manner of making boards has
ami oeen continued in Kussia to the present
time. Peter the Great tried to put a stop to
u loromuing newn boards to be transported
on the river Neva. The saw, however, though
so convenient and beneficial has not been able
to banish entirely the practice" of splittingtim-
uer usea in rooting, or in making furniture
and utensils : and indeed, it must be allowed
that this method is attended w ith peculiar ad
vantages, which that of sawing never can pos
sess. The wood-splitters perform their work
more expeditiously than sawyers, and split
timber is much stronger than that which has
been sawn ; for the fissure follows the grain of
thf fvrkritft an1 I .... : . . i i , .
auu icaiw ii. wnuie; wnereas, me
saw proceeding in the line chalked out for it,
divides the fibers, and by these means lessens
iis cohesion and solidity. Split timber, in
deed often turns out crooked and warped;
but in many purposes to which it is applied,
this is not prejudicial, and such faults may be
amended. As the fibers, however retain their
natural strength and direction, thin boards
particulary can be bent much better. This a
great advantage in making pipe-staves, or
sieve-frames, which require still more ait, in
forming various implements of the like kind.
Our common saw, which needs only to be
guided by the hand of tho workman, "howev
er simple it may be, was not known to the-inhabitants
of America when they were subdu
ed by the Europeans.
The saws of the Grecian carpenters had the
same form, and were made in the same inge
nious manner as ours are at present. This is
fully shown by a painting still preserved a
mong the antiquities of Herculaneum. Two
genii are represented at the end of a bench,
which consists of a long table that rests upon
two fonr-footed stools. The piece of wood
which is to be sawn through is secured by
cramps. The saw with which the genii are at
work has a perfect resemblance to our frame
saw. It consists of a square frame, having in
the middle a blade, tho teeth of which stand
perpendicular to the frame. The piece of
wood which is to be sawn extends beyond the
end of the bench, and one of the workman
appears standing and the other sitting on tho
ground. The arms in wbjch the blade is fast
ened, have the same form as that given to
them at present. In the bench are seen boles,
in which the cramps that bold the timber are
stuck. They are shaped like the figure 7,
and the ends of them reach below the boards
that form the top of it. The French call a
cramp of this.kind wn raZer.
The most beneficial and ingenious improve
ment was, without doubt, the invention of
saw-mils, which are driven either by water,
wind, or by steam. Mills of the grat kind
were erected as early as the fourth century,
in Germany, on the small river Roer, or Ruer ;
for though Asonius speaks properly of water
mills for cutting stone, and not timber, it
cannot be doubted that these were invented
later than mills for manufacturing boards, or
that both kinds were -erected at that time.
The art, however of cutting marble with a
saw is very old. Pliny conjectures that it
was invented in Caria ; at least he knew no
building incrusted with marble of greater an
tiquity than the palace of King Mausolus, at
Halicarnassus. This edifice is celebrated by
Vitruvius for the beauty of its marble, and
Pliny gives an account of the different kinds
of sand used for cutting it ; for it is the sand
properly, says he, and not the saw, which pro
duces -this effect. The latter presses down
the former, and rubs it against the marble,
and the coarser the sand is, the longer will be
the time required to polish the marble which
has been cut by it. Stones of the soap-rock
kind, which are indeed softer than marble,
and which would require less force than wood,
were sawn at that period; but it appears
that the far harder glassy kinds of stono
were sawn then also, for we are told of the
discovery of a building wliidh was encrusted
with cut agate, cornelian, lapislazuli, and a
metbysts. There is, however, found no ac
count in any ot ihe Greek or Roman writers
of a mill for sawing wood, and as the writers
of modern times speak of saw-mills as new
aud uncommon, it would seem that the oldest
construction of them has been forgotten, or
that some improvement has made them appear
entirely new.
When the Infant Henry sent settlers to the
island of Madeira, which was discovered in
1420, and caused European fruits of every
kind to be carried thither, he ordered saw
mills to be erected also, for the purpose of
sawing into boards, the various species of ex
cellent timber with which the island abounded,
aud which were afterwards transported to
Portugal. About the year 1429 the city of
Breslau had a saw-mill, which produced a
yearly rent of three marks, and m 1190 the
magistrates of Erfurt purchased a forest, in
which they caused a saw-mill to be erected,
and they rented another mill in the neighbor
hood besides. Norway, which is covered with
forests, had the first saw-mill about the year
1530. This mode of manufacturing timber
was called the new art : and because the ex
portation of boards was by these means in
creased, that circumstance gave occasion to
the deal tythe, introduced by Christian III,
in the year 1515. Soon after, the celebrated
Henry Ranzau caused the first mill of this
kind to be built in Holstein. In 1552 there
was a saw-mill at Joachimsthal, which as we
are told, belonged to Jacob Gensen, mathema- !
tician. In the year 1555 the Bishop of Ely,
ambassador from Queen Mary of England to
the court of Rome, having seen a saw-mill in
the neighcorhood of Lyons, the writer of bis
travels thought it worthy of a particular des
cription, ln the sixteenth century, however,
there were mills with different saw-blades, by
which a plank could be cut into several boards
at the same time. Pighins saw one of these,
in 1575, on the Danube, near Ratisbun, when
he accompanied Charles, prince of Juliers
and Cleves on bis travels. It may here be
asked whether the Dutch bad such mills first,
as is commonly, believed. The first saw-mill
was erected ia Holland at Saardam, in the
year 1596, and the tnvention of it is ascribed
to Cornelius Cornelissen, but he is as little
the inventor as the mathematician of Joac
himsthal. Perhaps be was the first person
who built a saw-mill at that place, which is a
village of great trade, and has still a great
many saw-mills, though the number of them
is becoming daily less, for witbin the I.it
thirty years a hundred have been given up.
The first mill of this kind in Sweden was erect
ed in the year 1653.
In England ssw mills had at first the same
fate that printing bad in Turkey. When at
tempts were made to introduce them, they
were violently opposed, because it was appre
hended that the sawyers would be deprived
by them of their means of getting a subsist
ence. .For this reason it was found necessary
to abandon a saw-mill erected by a Dutch
man near London, in 1663 ; and in the year
1700, when one Houghton laid before the
nation the advantage of such a mill, he ex
pressed bis apprchensjons that it might excite
the rage of the populace. What be dreaded
was actually the case in 1767 or I7C8, when
an opulent timber merchant, by 4the desire
and approbatien of the Society of Arts, caus
ed a saw-mill, driven by wind, to be erected
at Limehouse, under the direction of James
Stansfield. who bad learned in Holland and
Norway the art of constructing and manag
ing machines of that kind. A mob assembled
and pulled the mill to pieces, but the damage
was made good by the nation, and some of
the rioters were punished. A new mill was
afterwards erected, which was suffered to work ;
without molestation, aud which gave occasion
to the erection of others. It appears, how-
ever,that this was not the only mill of the kind
then in Great Britain, for one driven also by
wind had been built at Leitb, iu Scotland,
some years before.
The application of the steam engine has in
modern times almost entirely displaced the use
ot either water or wind as the source of power
in.machiuery, in England, as most of the saw
mills now in action, especially those on a large
scale arc worked by steam. Leckman s History.
ERRORS IN DRESS.
It need not cost much money to dress well,
and on the other hand a person may be expen
sively and yet not well dressed. Foreigners
say that American ladies spend more for clo
thing and ornaments than those of any other
nation ; but they do not express the opinion
that the ladies of this country are more at
tractively arrayed than those of Europe. Some
one has made a whimsical calculation after the
following manner. "There," says he, "goes a
ady with fifty bushels of corn upon her back"
her silk dress equaled the market value of
the corn ; another had a bale of cotton in her
bosom, represented by a diamond pin ; a third
carried two tuns of hay upon her head in the
shape of a bonnet ; and another was encumber
ed with a quarter section of land in the form
of a brocade skirt. Yet not one of these per
sons was well dressed. The observer looked
upon them us he would into the window of
dry -goods store, or a jeweler's shop j he saw a
splendid display, but it attracted attention
from the wearer, fo wh"atshVcimh"Tne' Ob-1
ject to be gained by taste in dress is to adorn,
to attract attention fo the wearer, and to high
ten the pleasure of looking upon her. Now,
ir the bonnet, the shawl, the jewelry, or the
dress, is the center point of attraction, they
detract from, rather than add to the wearer's
charms. A good writer on this subject has
said : a lady is well dressed, when you cannot
remember a single article of her clothing
meaning that no one thing should be so con
spicuous as to attract attention, but that all be
suited tD tho peculiar bodily habit of the wear
er. Now, whatever fashion may dictate, it
can not make tfu same style suit a tall and a
short person. The present amplitude of crino
line gives a rather queenly air to a tall digni
fied lady, but upon a short, and especially up
on a corpulent person, its effect is ludicrous.
When narrow striped stuffs are worn, they
make a person appear taller, and a very tall la
dy should shun them unless she wishes to
bighten her apparent stature ; let her rather a
dopt wide stripes or large figures, or patterns
which. have a contrary effect. So, too, in the
matter of colors. At one time pick is the
prevailing style, and it suits a dark complex
ion quite well, but it gives a frightful greenish
hue to one of very fair or pale cheeks; such
should choose green or blue tints if they would
appear well in preference to being fast.ionable,
while darker colors are safe to nearly all. A
gain, good taste is greatly violated by a wrong
assortment of colors in diess. Thus a violet
bonnet may be entirely spoiled by blue 'flow
ers, or ayellow skirt by a pink sash. Green
associates well with violet; gold with dark
crimson or lilac; pale blue with scarlet; pink
with black and white ; gray with scarlet or
pink. The most objectionable and perhaps
the most common fault to be avoided, is want
of harmony in the richness of the several arti
cles composing the dress. Thus we often see
a costly mantilla thrown over a cheap delaine;
a gaudy bonnet accompanied by a cheap shawl ;
a splendid parasol shading a 'lady' in calico.
Such a contrast reminds one of the school boy
who invested his first half dollar in a pair of
silk gloves, and was saluted by his comrades
with the cry, "patch ou both knees, and gloves
on!" The delaine, the calico, the mantilla,
the parasol, may all be well enough by them
selves, but they do not accord well together;
for harmony is the very first essential in cor
rect taste. .1m. ,is?riciillurist.
Some time ago, the wife of a wealthy farmer
in Ohio eloped with a farm laborer. The de
serted husband obtained a divorce and plodded
orr alone. After a while the sister of the re
creant wife, living on an adjoining farm, slow
ly drew bis regard and eventually they were
married. The other day a knock was beard at
the door, and the farmer, opening it, beheld,
wan, pale and ragged, h;s truant former wife.
Her father had turned his back to her, her par
amour bad fallen into drunkenness, aud hope
less, homeless, she as a last resort turned to
her former happy home. The farmer called
bis wife; she would not see ber sister, but a
tear glistened in the farmer's eye. He sup
plied her present wants, and then built her a
cabin on the extreme end of his farm, where
by bis bounty she is living out the remnant of
ber days in remorse at her crime and folly.
Osioss fob Cattle. A writer in the Home
stead has great faith in the efficacy of a peck
of onions for ridding cows and oxen of lice.
He claims to have found them an infallible
remedy in bis practice. They also give tone
to the stomach, and are especially valuable in
hot weather, when. working cattle will lie in
the shade at noontime, and refuses to eat.
A Breckinridge contempory says that Joe
Lane will resign bis Senatorsbip rather than
represent a state which has acted so dastardly
as Oregon has. We bare no donbt bnt that the
Oregonians would admire the old man's rsi$
natian much.
THE WARSAW CONFERENCE.
The Warsaw conference is among the things
of the past. It has been held, and has termi
nated. But what was its object 1 The world
cannot be persuaded that the Czar, the Kaiser,
and the Prince Regent, with their respective
ministers, traveled hundreds of miles to mere
ly renew interrupted or failing friendships,
hunt the wild urus of the Polish forests, and
enjoy the delights of convivial intercourse.
Something of more importance must have led
to this meeting of the three sovereigns of the
great northern powers, at so critical a junc
ture. It is hardly probable that three such
champions of law and order as Alexander,
Francis Joseph, and Frederick William that
three zuch veteran diplomatists as Gortscba
koff", Recbberg, and Schleinitz, came together
and separated without having a talk about Eu
ropean politics. True, the autocrat of all the
Russias assured his Freuch brother, in an au
tograph letter, thai the conference had nothing
in view adverse to France; but, in certain ca
ses, even autocratic assurances are not entitled
to implicit credit. Beside, though the Czar
could answer for his own views, he could not,
when said epistle was written, answer for those
of others. Could he say that the Prince Re
gent's principal object had nothing in Its na
ture hostile to the Emperor Napoleon no re
lation to soliciting aid against bis designing
neighbor, should he think proper to assail
Prussia on the Rhine Could hisCzar&hip af
firm that the Kaiser did not mean to impor
tune him for succor, should Austria bo attack
ed in Venitia by Franco and Sardinia, or
should Hungary rise again in rebellion?
We may well indeed believe that no attempt
was made at Warsaw to form an offensive alli
ance against the French emperor; for that
should be the best way to raise tho tempest
which the potentates in question are so anxious
to avert; but that the hope of eliciting a pledge
of assistance from Alexander, in the contin
gencies supposed, was the chief inducements
that led Frederick William and Francis Jo
seph to Lecome parties to the conference, is
as certain as that they actually brought for
ward thereat the proposition indicated. What
entertainment was given by bis Russian ma
jesty to these Royal and imperial suitors, who
thus sought to bind him by a most dangerous
pledge, is a secret which only time and events
will fully divulge, yet it is not very difficalt
to surmise its nature.
In despite of bis pacific disposition, and
that autograph letter to Napoleon, the czar
would scarcely Temain neutral and see Prus
sia stripped of her Rhenish provinces. Hence
it may be safely assumed that the regent's
application bas not been altogether in vain,
and that he has received an assurance of aid
should France attempt to extend her north
eastern frontier to the Rhine. But as compli
- ance with the petition ot the kaiser would be,
attended with' more hazardous corrseiacnces,
and as his defeat on the Mincio or the Danube
need not alarm Alexander for the invincibili
ty of the Vistula or the Nieman, it is probable
that the Uapsburgh has not as much reason to
congratulate himself on the result of hia trip
to Warsaw as his Prussian rival. Howsoever
desirous of recdhci'iition with Austria, the
Russian Emperor was far too prtident and sen
sible a man to consent to become a partner in
the desperate fortunes of Francis Joseph, and
ajready we have remarkable, though indirect,
evidence of the kaiser's failure. While the
tyrant entertained hopes of inveigling the au
tocrat in alliance with him, all thoughts of
conceding free institutions to his subjects
were laid aside, and the empire resounded
with ihe clang of preparations for war; but
now there sudden'y appears in the li'iener Zei.
tung, the official gazette, his long promised
manifesto of reform, which -restores indepen
dence to the provincial diets; and grants many
valuable privileges to the people. This unex
pected change of policy on the part of the
Uapsburgh proclaims more loudly than could
the most explicit admission that the devices of
the despot bad f tiled him, and that he has
no longer any resource from utter vuin, save
in abject submission to the popular will.
But the Warsaw conference bas done more
than frustrate the expectations of Austria. It
has also demonstrated that.bowever well inclin
ed the northern powers are to form an alliance
a second coalition against liberty they are
totally unable to do so. The gentle Alexander
is not the man to lead the forlorn hope of
absolutism. He called bis brothrr dsepots to
gether, indeed, to take measures against rev
olution, but becoming dismayed at the start
ling prospect before him, he shrunk from car
rying out what he had contemplated, and end
ed with breaking up the reunion after cbaunt
ing a jeremiad over the evil times they have
fallen on ! Let the friends and votariea of
freedom the world over sing lo triomphe.
During the sitting of a Court in Connecti
cut, not many years ago, on a very cold eve
ning, a crowd of lawyers had collected around
the open fire that blazed cheerful on the hearth
in the bar-room, when a traveller entered, be
numbed with the cold; but no one moved to
givehim room to warm bis shins, so he re
mained in the back part of the room. Pres
ently a smart young limb of the law addressed
bim, and the following dialogue ensued .
"You look like a traveller ?"
"Wall, I suppose I am; I came all the way
from Wiscensin !" '
"What a distance to come on one pair of
legs !" ejaculated the lawyer.
"Wail, I done it anyhow," was the reply.
Did you ever pass through h 1, in any of.
your travels 7" inquired the lawyer.
"i es ; I've been through the outskirts."
"I thought likely. Well.jWriaJ.are the man
ners and customs there ? borne of as would
like to know."
"Oh, you'll find them much the same as ia
this place the lawyers tit nearest the Jire .'"
A person complained to Dr. Franklin of hav
ing been insulted by one who caiiea mm a
scoundrel. "Ah," replied the doctor, "and
what did yon call him I" "Why," said he, "I
called him a scoundrel too." "Well," re-
.umed Franklin, "I presume yon both spoko
ne iruin.
Mnch bad feeling prevails between ex-Gor-
ernor Wise and Governor Letcher, of Virgin
ia, on account of the latter having re-asserted
bis devotion to Douglas, and refused to coun
tenance extravagant military preparations to
belp forward secession.
Mr. Harris was never "more s-s-sobcr in the
whole course ot his life," bnt when Jones ask
ed bim to take a chair, be said be wcru! i ait
til! one came rccsl,"