MM
l.v mTTniiriinv n.iMo . .
nnl iSITTCIIItfSOX, Editor.
I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT THAN PRESIDENT. Heuet Clay
.V r. IltTCIIIIVSOX. Iublltier.
VOLUME 8.
VriLLIAM KITTELL, Attorney at
W t tr-i t v.
...riary
24, 18C7.'
Ofl-Y PKNLON, Attorney at Law,
I.J iUCUUUI L i fit
onice opposite tLe Bank. jan21
pEOKGE M. READE, Attorney at
I tinw, r-oensourg, a a.
a'fT. TIKRNKV, Attorney at Law,
Elicas'ourcr. Cambria county, Ta.
y-Ofict ia Colonnade Row jn24
bUNSTON & SCAN LAX, Attorneys
nt Law, Eoensonrjr, i a.
Office opposite 'the Court House.
jonssTON. pn24 ff. E. SCASH3.
viE3 0. EASLY, latorney at Law,
CarroIItown, Cambria county, Pa.
T-hitectural Drawings and Speciu-
f4 Law, Ebeusburg, Pa.
Articular attention paia xo couecuons.
p&" Office one door east of Lloyd & Co.'s
.nkinz House. yan4
V Mil EL SINGLETON, Attorney at
) I.avr, Ebensburg, Pa. Office on High
'cot. west of Foster's Hotel.
U'ill practice in the Courts of Cambria and
fining counties.
r- Attends also to the collection of claims
soldiers against the liovernmem. , Uan-
1 KOliGE W. O ATM AN, Attorney at
J Law and Claim Agent, Ebeusburg,
ctria county, Pa.
Kg Pensions, Back Pay and County, and
Military Claims collected. Real Estate
VU and sold, and payment of Taxes at
Book Accounts, Notes, Due Bills,
'.';. --M. Recollected. Deeds, Mortca-
freemen ts. Letters of Attorney, Bonds,
neatly written, and all legal uusiness
1,-,'liIy attended to. Pensions increased,
:i I'.ualized Bounty collected. jan24
DEVEREAUX, M. D., Physician
la and Surgeon, Summit, Pa.
Office east of Mansion House, on Rail
si street. Night calls promptly attended
. at hi3 office. may23
DU. DE WITT ZJilUIiJJiU
Having permanently located in Ebens-
7. offers bis professional services to the
izms of town and vicirity.
Teetb extracted, without pain, with. 2Titrov$
:ide, or Laughing Gat.
;t- Rooms over It. R. Thomas' store, High
:eet. f.epl9
DENTISTRY.
1 Tfce undersigned, Graduate of the Bal-
tiwore College of Dental Surgery, respectfully
.ft'.vtis professional services to tne citizens
f Kbcnsburtr. He has spared no means to
Loroughly acquaint himself with every ini-
roTiment in his art. lo many years 01 per
il eioerienee. he has sought to add the
parted experience of the highest authorities
i Dental Science. He simply ask3 tuat an
-portunity may be given for hi3 work to
its own praise.
SAMUEL BELFORD, D. D. S.
R'f'.rence: Prof. C. A. Harris ; T. E. 3ond,
:., Y. R. Handy: A. A. Blandy, P. II. Aus-
en, of tie Baltimore College.
if YTill be at Ebensbure on the fourth
!iouUy of each month, to stay one wjek.
Jaauurr l'-i, jaUi.
T WYb & CO., Banker
Li Ebensbcbg, Ta.
Gold, Silver, Government Loans and
o'.'-tt Securities bought and sold. Interest
Cmi on Time Deposits. Collections uiade
!s;J accessilde points in tne Lnited States,
'a General Banking Business transacted.
inuary 24, 18G7.
ir M. LLOVD k Co., itiU-cn
IT Altooka, Pa.
Drafts on the principal cities, and Silver
itlold for sale. Collections made. Mon
' receive! on deposit, payable on dcuiand,
bout interest, or upou time, with interest
fair rates. jau2
. LLOYD A 1 rc t. JOHN LLOYD, CtitUtr.
;iliST NATIONAL JiANK
Or ALTOONA.
G O VERK.VEST A GEXCV,
AND
SIGNATED DEPOSITORY OF THE UNI
TED STATES,
lr Corner Virginia and Annie 8ts., North
rd, Altoona, Pa.
TnoRizr.D Capital $300,000 00
su Capital Paid in 150, oOO 00
All business pertaining to Banking done on
" --ratjie terms,
lu'tioal Revenue Stamps of all denomina
tor alWAVtt
- V tA AA It UU
10 rrcbasors of Stamp?, percentage, in
j'M iriil ht allowed, as follow? : $50 to
it) j 2 per cent.; $10C to $200, 3 per cent.
v - J'J ant , . . r:,o.
J. LLOYD,
Sucr.ttioT of It. S. Dunn,
Dealer in
RE DRUGS AND MEDICINES, PAINTS,
WLS, AND Dl'E-STUFFS, PERFUME
RY AND FANCY ARTICLES, PURE
INES AND BRANDIES FOIl MEDI
AL PURPOSES, PATENT MEDICINES, &c.
Also:
Uer, Cap, and Note Papers,
Pens, Pencils, Superior Ink,
And other articles kept .
9
r
f
i....t- i 3 ruggisis generally.
tWdon,' prutriptin, carefutlu compounded.
vce on Jiam Street, opposite the Moun--We,
Ebensburg, Pa. fjan24
P BIIARBBTTS DYSEUT, 7W,
H. Ulan, nnrl f irr.. i ri . ' . '
h Glazing ami roper Hanging.
fca? Work done on ehortnnt; a :
tUon guaranteed. SIiod in hBPmnt nf
Hall, Ebensburg, Pa. my9.Cm
MUEL SINGLETON, Notary Pub-
lie. Ehpnahnror P
Off ,T. . ' .
-.vb on Align street, west orFoster'i Ho-
Uan24
JTAVE YOU SUBSCRIBED FOR
EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1867.
After.
After the show er, the tranquil snn ;
After the snow, the emerald leaves
Silver etars when the day is done ;
After the harvest, the golden sheaves.
After the clouds, the violet sky ;
After the tempest, the lull of waves ;
Quiet woods when the winds go by;.
. Afier the battle, peaceful graves.
After the knell, the. wedding bells;
After the bud, the radiant rose ;
Joyful greetings from sad farewells ;
After our weeping, sweet repose.
After tlie burden, the blissful meed ;
Afte.t the flight, the downy rest ;
After tae furrow, the waking seed ;
After the shadowy river restl
X2LJEtSOfi3.
"Kisses," says Sam Slick, "are like
creation, because they are made out ol
nothing, and are very pood." They aro
also like sermons, requiring two beads and
an application. As to their inveotion, it
is well known that they began with the
first courtship in the most beautiful of
gardens. The old Puritan poet has told
us concerning the kiss imprimis, with
which the pioneer lover saluted hia blush
ing bride amid the bowers of Eden
" In delight
Both of her beauty and submissive charms,
Smiled with superior love, as Jupiter
On Juno 6miles, when he impregn the clouds
That shed May flowers ; and press'd her ma
tron lips
"With kisses pure."
Some ungallant writers assert that, in
the desire of the ancients to test the so
briety of their wives and daughter?, who
it seems were apt to make too free with
the juice of the grape, notwithstanding a
prohibition to the contrary, originated a
practice reprobated by Socrates the phi
losopher, Cato the elder, and Ambrose the
saint, and lauded by lyrists and lovers
from the beginning of timo. The refine
ment of manners among the classic dames
and damsels before mentioned was proba
bly pretty much on a par with that de
picted in the Beggars' Opera, where
Macheath exclaims, after saluting Jecny
Diver, "One may know by your kiss that
your gio is excellent.'"'
Kissing, which means in LTebrew sim
ply adoration or touching with the mouth,
was always one of tho essential parts of
heathen worship, without whiih there was
no possibility of either piety or virtue, and
people were branded as atheists who
neglected to kiss their hands or the stat
uea of the gods when they entered a
temple. Indeed, the feet and knees of
the gods were often quite worn away by
the constant touch of worshiping lipa.
Among the early Christians, the kiss of
peace prevailed, and was a moat Facred
ceremony, observed on solemn occasions.
It was called sijnaculum orationin, the
soul ot prayer, and wa3 a symbol of that
mutual forgiveness and reconciliation
which the Church required as an essen
tial condition belore any were admitted to
the sacraments.
Roman civilians at length took the kiss
under their protection. Their code defi
ned with great accuracy the nature, lim
its, and conditior.a ot the rijlit of 1ci&inj.
They were very strict, and only near blood
relations might kiss the women ol a fam
ily. Tlie kirs had all the virtue of a bond
granted as a Bfal to tho ceremony of be
trothl. in con-cqueuce of the violence
done to the modesty of the lady by a kins.
If wc are to credit Scandinavian tradi
tiou, kiting was an exotic pleasure intra
duced into England bj' Roweua, the
beautiful Saxon. At a banquet given by
the British monarch in honor of his
allies, the Princes?, after pressing the
brimming beaker to her lips, saluted the
ustonUhed Voltigern with a pretty little
kis, after the manner in vogue among
the Saxons.
A Greek traveler yclept Chalcondyle?,
who visiicd our British ancestors tome
five centuries sincn, says: "A for En
glish females and children, their customs
are liberal in the extreme. For instance,
when a visitor calls at a friend's house,
his first act is to kiss his friend's wife ; he
is then a duly installed gueot. Persons
meeting ia the street follow the same
custom, and no one sees anything improp
er in the action." Another Greek trav
eler of a century later aUo advert to this
osculatory custom.. lie says : "The En
glish manifest much simplicity and lack
of jealousy in their customs as regards
females; for not only do members ot the
same family and household kiss them on
the lips with complimentary ratutations
and enfolding of the arms round the waist,
but even strangers when introduced follow
the same mode, aud it is one which does
not appear to them unbecoming."
Another commentator on this subject
is Erasmus. Writing from England to a
friend, in 1499, he says : "They have a
custom, too, which can never be sufficient
ly commended. On your arrival you aro
welcomed with kisses. On your depar
ture you are sent off with kisses. If you
return, the embraces are repeated. Do
you receive a visit, your first entertain
ment is of kisses. Do your guests depart,
you distribute kisses among them. Wher
ever you meet them, they greet you with
a kjesj ia hort, whatever way you turn,
there is nothing but kissing. . Ah, Fau?
tus, if you had once tasted the tenderness,
tho fragrance of these kisses, you would
wish to stay in England, not for a ten
years voyage, like Solon's, but as long as
you lived."
So widely spread was the osculatory
reputation of the English, that when Car
dinal Wolsey's biographer. visited a dis
tinguished French nobleman at his
chateau, the mistress of the mansion,
upon entering the apartment with her
bevy of blooming attendant damsels, thus
accosted her husband's . guest : "Form
much as ye be an Englishman, whoee
custom it is to kiss all ladies and gentle
women without offense, . and although it
be not sv here in this realm, yet will I be
so bold as to kiss you, and so shall my
maids."
Puritans, Independents, and the like,
sternly reprobated the custom ot kissing.
Here is what worthy John Bunyan had
to say on the subject: "The common
salutations of women 1 abhor; it is odious
to me in whomsoever I see it. When I
have seen good men salute those women
that they havfa visited, and that , have
visited them, 1 have made my objections
against it, and when they have answered
me that it was but a piece of civility, I
have told them that it was not a comely
sight. Some, indeed, have urged the holy
kiss; but then 1 have asked them why
they have made balks why they did sa
lute the most handsome, and let the ill
favored ones go V But notwithstanding
the efforts of the inspired tinker, kissing
continued in vogue under the reign of
William and Mary, although we find
Rustic Sprightly complaining in the Spec
tator that since the unfortunate arrival in
his neighborhood of a courtier who was
contented with a profound bow, no young
gentlewoman had been kissed, though
previously he had been accustomed upon
entering a room to salute the ladies all
around.
From the Greek anthology down to our
day, thousands of lines, good, bad, and
indifferent, have been written on the sub
ject of this chapter. A volume of the
dimensions of Webster unabridged would
scarcely contain them. Shakppeare alone
has above three hundred allusions to
kisses .in his sonnets and dramas. Per
haps the best description of kissable lips
ever written are by English and Irish
poets. Sir John Suckling paints to the
very life the pretty, pouting mouth of a
beauty, in his "Ballad on a Wedding
"Her lips were red, and one Tas thin
Compared to that was next her cb.in
, Some bee had stung it newly."
And the Irish singer hyperbolically li
kens the lips of his charmer to
"A dish of ripe etrawberries Bmothered in
cramc."
No young reader will, we suspect, be
willing to plead guilty to ever having
acted like foolish Robin, whose stupidity
has br-en immortalized iu tho followiug
half dozen liues :
"Come kiss me," said Bobin. I gently said
"nol
For my mother forbade me to play with men
so."
Ashamed by my answer, he glided away,
Though my looks very plainly advised liim
to stay,
Silly swain, not at all recollecting not he
That Iiii mother ne'er said that he must not
kiss me.1'
How differently the same thing may be
described. The great English poetess
fays :
'First time he kissed me, but he only kissed
The lingers of this baud wherewith I write;
A nd, ever since, it grew more clear and white,
Slow to world-greeting ; quick with its "OU,
list !"
When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst,
I could not wear it plainer to my 6ight
Thau that lirst kiss. The second passed in
night
The first, and sought the forehead ; and half
missed,
Falling upoo my hair. Oh, beyond meed I
That was the chrism of love, which love's
own crown,
With sanctifying sweetness, did precede.
The third upon my lips was folded down
In perfect purple state ! Since when, indeed,
1 have been proud, and said, "My love, my
own I"
Ilcrr Hacklander, writing on the sub
ject of osculation, says : "There are three
kisses by which the human race are blest;
the first is that which the mother presses
on the new-born infant's head; the second
that which the newly wedded bride be
stows on ycur lips ; the third that with
which love or friendship closes your eyes
when your career is ended." After which
rhetorical flourish, he adds : "But I,
more blest than other mortals, have to
boast of a fourth kiss of bliss, that of
'Father Radetsky !' " Hacklander wrote
a description of the battle of Navarro,
which brought him, among other distinc
tion, a Jci from the old field marshal.
The first lesson which the infant is
taught is to kiss; it ia at once the lan
guage of infancy and the currency of
childhood. The little passionless face as
it rests upon its mother's bosom is mould
ed into smiles by a kus, and thus by love's
fruit sweet echo is prodoced. Who shall
tell the mystery, the deep love and ear
nestness, the quiet joy, the proud hop of
a mother's kiss ? and what brow or cheek,
of all who have gone forth into the wide,
wide world, but wears this heavenly jewel,
as imperishable as the glance of a dia
mond f
Then there is the Jover's kiss, the first
offering h& maks upon the. altar where
he worships, and no maiden ever yet un
locked her heart, but a kiss was the first
prisoner that flew out. En passant, that
was a wonderful kiss which Fatima re
ceived from ber lover :
Last night when some one spoke his name,
Frnm my gwift blood that went and came,
A'thousand little shafts of flame
Were shivered in my narrow frame.
Oh lore I oh fire ! Once he drew
With one long kiss my whole soul through
My lips as sunlight drinketli dew.
"Another variety is the kiss universal.
It is a charming salutation common among
Indies, and occurs generally upon any en
counter, whother in public or private, and
is excessively violent at times after an
absence of three days from each other.
Tfiere is no particular form insisted upon
in this off-hand inoculation: it is simply
fire and fall back.
' - The electrical kiss is performed by
means of the electrical etoo). Let a lady
challenge a gentleman not acquainted
with the experiment to give her a salute.
The lady thereupon mounts the glass stool,
taking hold of the chain connected with the
prime conductor. The machine then being
set in motion, the gentleman approaches
the lady and attempts to imprint the
seal of affection upon her coral lips, when
a spark will fly in his face, which effectu
ally deters him from his rash intentious.
The kiss sentimental is too delicate to
have very much character. It 13 careful
where it settles as a butterfly, and is ren
dered with a sigh and upturned optics.
It occurs most commonly by pale moon
light, in grottoes and shady retreats. A
hot sun or a boiled dinner is a perfect ex
tinguisher on the kiss sentimental. It
would also be inappropriate in a thunder
shower or upon a high road.
Beautiful . and sometimes sad are the
historic kisses scattered through our liter
ature, and that of other lands. The Bi
ble abounds with them. There was the
kiss of peace which David gives to Absa
lom that wayward favorite, who was for
ever paying back his father's love and
mercy with rebellion and violence; tho
kiss with which Jacob received his blind
old father's blessing, and robbed the gen
erous Esau for the second time of his
birthright; the kiss Mary Magdalene
gives when she washes the loved feet with
her tears and wipes them with her hair.
Turning to secular history, there is the
precious kiss which Margarida gave her
troubadour lover, when "she stretched
out her arms and sweetly embraced him
in the love chamber," which coming to
Jier husband's (Raiuiond de Roussillon)
knowledge, he gave her the troubadour's
heart to eat, disguised as a savory morsel.
And there was Francesca's kiss, so sweet
and yet so sad, so guilty and so pure,
when trembling Paolo kissed her and they
read no more that day. And there are
the kisses that Antony wasted a world so
gladly for "on a brow of E-zypt;" or
rather, we suspect, on lips of Esypt; and
Othello's farewell kisses, which, tender
and heart-broken as they were, had no
magic iu them to redeem poor Desdemo
na's life. Who does not remember that
grand kiss of Coriolanus
"Long as my exile, 6weet as my revenge 1"
which exhibits such a world of character
and passion ; and sweet Romeo's dying
kiss in the vault of the Capulets, and the
famous, kiss of Bassanio ? Then there is
the kiss Marie Stuart gav Alain Char
tier, the memory of which is still fresh
after three centuries have passed away.
Do you remember it ? He was a poet
and tho ugliest man in France. The last
of his race died in Paris in November,
18G3. The Queen with her maids found
him asleep one day, and bent over him
and kissed his dreaming lips. "I kiss
uot the roan," fhe said, "I kiss the soul
that sings." Then there ia the kiss which
the fresh cheek of young John Milton re
ceived during his college days from the
lips of the hih-born Italian beauty, and
the kisses of Lawrence Sterne, concern
ing which he says, "For my own part I
would rather kiss the lips I love, than
dance with all the graces of Greece, after
bathing themselves in the springs of Par
nassus. Flesh and blood for me, with an
angel in the inside."
What kind of a kiss was it that sweet
Amy Robsart's friend Leicester placed
upon the lips of Queen Bess, and which,
according to a chronicle of the time, "she
took right heartilie V It was certainly a
bold proceeding "before folks," consider
ing who the parties were. Tho kiss that
Chastelard asked of Mary Beaton was a
notable one. Said the gallant French
man : .' ' ; ;
Kiss me with some slow, heavy kiss, that
plucks
The heart out at the lips.
WThen the Cardinal John of Lorraine
was presented to the Duchess of Savoy,
she gave him her hand to kiss, greatly to
the indignation of the irate churchman.
"How, roadaoze," exclaimed he, "am I to
be treated in this manner? I kiss the
queen, my mistress, and shall I not kiss
you, who are only a duchess f" and with
out more ado he, despite the resistance of
the proud little Portugese princes.", kiss
ed her thrice on the mouth, before he re
leased her with an exultant laugh. The
doughty Cardinal was apparently of one
mind with Selden, who thought "to kiss
ladies' hands after their lips as some do, is
like the boys who after they eat the apple,
fall to the paring."
"When Charles II. was making his tri- j
umphal progress through England, eertain j
country ladies who were presented to him, j
instead of kissing the royal hand, in their
simplicity held up their pretty lips to be
kisied by the king a blunder no one
would more willingly excuse than the
red-haired lover of pretty Nelly Uwynn.
Another poet, the countryman of Char
tier, hud two centuries later, the honor of
being publicly kissed in the stago box by
the youusr and lovely Countess de Villars ;
but in VoUaire'a case, the lady gave the
osculatory salute not of her own f ree will,
but ia obedience to the commands of the
claqueurs in the pit, mad with enthusiasm
for the poot's 'Merope.'"
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, a3
our readers will remember, gave Steel the
butcher a kiss for his vote nearly a cen
tury sicce, and another equally beautiful
woman, Jane, Ducbes of Gordon, recruit
ed her regiment in a similar manner.
Duncan Mackensie, a veteran of Waterloo,
died at Elgin, Scotland, Dec, 186G. He
delighted iu relating how he kissed the
duchess in taking the shilling from be
tween her teeth to become one of her re
gimeut the Gordon Highlanders, better
known a3 tho Niuety-second. The old
Scottish veteran ot eighty-seven has not
left one behiud him to tell the same tale
about kissing the blue-eyed Duchess in
the market-place of Duthil. Tho late
Daniel O'Connell hit upon a novel mode
of securing votes for the candidates he
had named at a certain election, which
test, considering the constitutional tem
perament of his countrymen, is said to
have proved effectual. He said in refer
ence to the unfortunate elector who should
vote against them, "Let no man sneak to
him. Let no woman salute him I" Gil
bert Stuart, the portrait painter, is said
to have once met a lady in one of the
streets of Boston, who accosted him with,
"Ah ! Mr. Stuart, I have just seen your
likeness, and kissed it because it was so
much like you." "And did it kiss you
in return V "Why, no." "Then," said
the gallant painter, "it was not like me."
All admirers of Goethe will remember
the passage in which poor Margaret says
to her lover, "What ! you can no longer
kiss 7 so short a tine away from me, my
love, and already forgotten how to kiss ?
Why do I feel so sad upon your neck 7
when in other times a whole heaven came
over me from your words, your looks, and
you kissed me as if you would smother
me! Kiss me, or I will kiss you! (She
embraces him.) O woe ! your lips are
cold are you dumb? Where have you
left yourlove ? who has robbed me of it ?"
And again, seated at her spinning wheel,
she utters her deep grief in a simple song.
My peace is gone,
My heart is sore ;
'Tis gone forever
And evermore.
For him doth my bosom
Cry out and pine ;
Oh I if I might clasp him
And keep him mine !
And kiss him, kiss him,
As fain would I,
I'd faint on hi3 kisses
Yes, faint and die!
Some of our readers who are not so
joung as they have been, may remember
the famous Yankee kis, and kiss of the
last King of England beforo he came in
his estate. While in New York, the
Prince called at n barber's shop to be
shaved. When the operation was com
pleted, he stepped up to the barber's pret
ty wile, who chanced to be present, and
giving her a kiss, remarked, "There, now,
you can Fay you have been kissed by a
member of the royal family." The bar
ber, greatly incensed by what he chose to
receive as an insult, seized the Prince, and
helping him out of the shop with his
foot, exclaimed, "There, now, you can say
that you received a royal kick from au
American freeman."
The Land DcparlnicntofPcnu
sylvania. The operations and duties connected
with tho Land Department, or Surveyor
General's office of Pennsylvania, one of
the most important departments of the
State government, arc but little under
stood by the people at large.
The system ot disposing of lands inau
gurated by William Penn and the Pro
prietary, and of necessity continued by
the Commonwealth, is one surrounded by
many objectional features, as the lands,
instead of having been previously survey
ed by the authorities, and their location
definitely ascertained and afterwards sold,
warrants for vacant land were granted,
the surveys on which were often made
years after. In many instances, for tho
officers of the land department could not
know what land was vacant, conflicting
warrants were issued, so that in some lo
calities several sets of warrants were laid
upon the same land. This has produced
much litigation throughout the State, and,,
although titles in the older counties have
been generally settled, there are and will
continue to be for years to come, cases for
adjustment by the Courts; and in order
to establish titles, innumerable copies of
applications, warrants, surveys, patents
and other official papers are required from
the Land Department.
Under our land system the application
and warrant are the inception of the litle
NUMBER 4-3
and parties desiring information in regat r.
to any tract of land, shouU give the nan: :
of the warrantee, date of the warrant, an 7. -;
county in tehuh it was located, aad then al.
subsequent proceeding-, as whether sur
vey ha been returned, patented or not,
and the amount due the State, if not ps- '
tented, can be ascertained.
Now that the real estate of the Com- -monwealth
is no longer taxed, effort
should be made to increase the revenues
from all other proper sources, and as a
very large sum is due the State on account
of unpaid purchase money for lands not
patented, public policy demands (lie prompt
payment of these claims, and tlie comple-
icvt v ituta. a ne jegisiaiure nas irom
time to time within the last forty years, '
parsed stringent laws for their collection,
but owing to the herculean task imposed '
on the department in getting out these,
claims, nearly every account involving
the closest examination of application, '
warrant, 6urvey, vouchers, blotters, day
books, journals, ledgers, and maps to as
certain the location of the land against,
which the lien is entered, the several
acts were never carried out according to
their spirit and meaning. The last act
on this subject, passed in 3Jay, 18G4, re
quires these accounts to be made out, and
liens therefor entered up in the several
counties ; and it would be well for those
interested to make a note of it, for Gene
ral Jacob M. Campbell, of Cambria coun
ty, the present Surveyor General, and
who is a thorough business man and most
efficient officer, military and civil, has
nearly completed the calculations of tho
amounts due on unpatented tracts upon
which surveys have been returned. When
completed and entered up as liens in the -several
counties, an additional fee of fit
dollars in each case will be charged .
Many persons seem to labor under an er
roneous impression that when the liens
aro entered up they can settle them at the
respective county seats. But this is not
the fact ; everything relating to them must
be transacted through the land depart
ment the object 'in entering them up
being probably to prevent alienation of
property until this just debt is paid tho
Commonwealth.
The laws relating to this important de
partment of the State government are so
numerous, in many cases conflicting, and'
in others their application so obscure, that
the next Legislature should pass a care
fully revised act, covering the necessities
that have grown up, and more clearly de
fining present laws. In doing this the
law-making power should avail itself cf
the suggestions of the Surveyor General,
as it requires much experience in the de
partment to make one acquainted with its
uecesities and yet protect existirj rights
under rcrincr laws and citterns.
In the same department are many old,
rare, and curioua document5 seme older
than the date of the first colouy under
the founder of the provinces nd many
have on them tho "stamps" that formed
one of our grievances against the "Moth
er Country." Much to connect the past
with the present is here found ; much to
remind one of the hardships and perils of
the brave pioneers who first made homes
in our dense forests, and paved the way
for the high state of prosperity and civili
zation enjoyed by their descendant.". A
regular set of books, consisting of day
book, journal, and ledger, have been kept
from the year 1719, and are found to bo
in a remarkable state of preservation.
These, together with large folios, in which
patents have been recorded, fill the greater
part of the shelving of the second floor.
From these records we ascertain that
among the quit rents imposed beforo tho
lands were declared allodial was in one in
stance that of one "red rose" annually,
and that the "father of his country" was
at one time the owner of land in Penn
sylvania, having located a tract in West
moreland county. A small circular room
up stairs is nearly filled with papers of
John Nicholson, Esq., at one time the
owner of nearly one-seventh of this State,
and also a very large land-holder in the
Southern States, and yet who was always
harrassed with debt and died a poor man.
The development of the State by Rail
roads and the consequent impetus given
to cur lumber, coal, and other mineral in
terests, has so greatly enhanced the value
of lands, a few years ago scarcely worth
the taxes assessed upon them, that tho
vacant mountain lands are being rapidly
taken up, and the people are having their
titles perfected by obtaining patent?, and
adjusting in the courts of the Common
wealth contested rights. This involves
the Surveyor General's office iu a heavy
correspondence, and the furnishing of a
great many copies of official papers.
General Robert A. McCoy, late private
Secretary to Governor Ourtin, is the effi
cient chief clerk of this department, and
to his courtesy am I indebted for tho
above interesting facts. Correspondence
Philadelphia Press.
An aerolite fell at Gardner, Me., one
evening last week. It looked like a large
globo of fire, and hissed like a rocket in
its descent. Upon examining the spot
where it fell, a substance resembling
starch was found.- .
It is not probable that the investiga
tion into the affairs of the Prioting Ba
teau will be concluded before the first of
January.
r
t
it II