B. F. SCHWEIER,
THE CONSTITUTION THE C5IOX AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
vol. xxvir.
MIEFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., DECEMBER 24, 1873.
NO. 52.
Poetry.
I'nnaid.
For days an I weeks uj on the lip hit bnng
A precious something for an absent ear
Some tender canG I jnce but lately sprang.
Some dear confession that but on mast
bear.
TLe heart repetts it over day bjr day,
Anl fancies bow and when the words will
fall
What answering smile upon the face will
play,
Vihai tender light will linger over all.
But eager eyes that watch for one alone "
May grow reluctant ; for the open gate
Lets in, with him, perchance a guest un
known. On whom slow words of courtesy must
- " - wait.
Or when the presence waited for has come,
It may be dull or cold, too sad or light:
A look that shows the heart away from home
Can often put the dearest words to flight.
Perhaps the time of meeting, or the form.
May chill or wither what we've longed to
say :
What fits the uniiine will not fit the storm
Wii.it btenJs with twilight, jara with noon
of day.
Again, when all thing? seem our wisa to
ecrTe,
Full opportunity may ttrike us dumb
Mny sink our precious thoughts in deep re
srre. And to the surface bid the lightest come.
And often ere our friend is out of sight.
We start: tiie thing can scarce be cred
ited We have been silent, or our words been trite.
And herd's the dearest thing of all uniaid.'
Lippincott't Magazine.
rviiscellaiiy.
Twenty Kules for Ileal! h.
L E2member the author of the laws
which govern the human body is the
author of the Ten Commandments.
2. Infidelity to the laws established
that mankind should be healthy and
happy is the greatest sin of the pre
sent generation.
3. Be cheerful, trustful of others, and
faithful to your own best conception of
duty. Never brood over troubles that
you have, and be sure you never bor
row any. '
i. Ho much in the sunlight, and pre
fer li slit-colored clothing.
5. Drones must die. Exercise liber
tlly and live. Be out-doors all you
cau while the sun shines.
C. Breathe pure air. Live with open
windows, and the windows of heaven
will be more likely to open for you.
7. Pray with a pure heart and a clean
ekiu. Bathe often.
8. Avoid stimnlation by spirits of all
kinds, strong coffee and tea, opium and
tobacco.
9. Keep the head cool, feet and heart
warm, hopes heavenward, and linger
nails clean.
10. Eat only three times daily, and
never between meals not a nut nor an
apple. Drink nothing while eating.
11. One hearty meal of meat per day
is sufficient The other two should be
spare,
12. Avoid Lite, hearty suppers, pork.
spices and popper, rich pastry, and im- j
uerfectlv cooked beans.
13. Wheat, oat and barley meal, with
beans, peas, lean meats, fish and wild
game, are the best articles of food.
1 L Fruits are cooling to the blood,
and especially adapted to warm weather.
15. Eat slowly, masticate your food
well, and eat nothing for three hours
before retiring.
10. Let tbe time spent at table be
happy. Encourage pleasant, cheerful
conversation ; joke, but do not argue.
Eest a half Lour after every hearty
meal.
17. Sleep eight hours of each day.
18. Brain, bone and muscle are built
of different material, and the brain
worker should have food different from
tbe muscle-worker. He is not thor
oughly educated who cannot select food
adapted to his needs.
19. Avoid corsets, and suspend no
article of clothing from the waist. Pro
tect every part of the body from chill
and exposure.
20. Study hygiene, attend health lec
tures and read health literature. As
yon are ignorant or intelligent in physi
ology will your habits be wise or other
wise. l'o 1 1 r a ben d."
There is, perhaps, no land where one
has a better opport unity to observe old
customs than iu Germany. We wonder
sometimes how she has contrived to
whirl through tlM giddy mazes of time
with her sister lands and yet get no more
shaken up than she has. One of these
old customs is the observance of the eve
ning before a wedding. It is called "Pol
terabeudV! The verb "to poker" means
lo make a gxeat noise, and the evening
rightly takes its name from the word. It
is a proverb here that '-the more pots
herds, the more luck; therefore the
friends cf tbe bride collect all the old I
earthenware" which is hors de coni&rct lor
household warfare, and bring it and
dash it asainst the house where the bride
lives. Old cracked plates, saucers, earth
en pots, handleless cups, and noseless
pitchers close their crippled earthly ca
reer bv the frantic plunge at the foot of
the altar of Hymen. It takes but a
short time for tiie news of the 'iwlter
abend"' to reach the ears of the street
Itoys, and then the work goes on merrily;
for when could boy nature ever resist so
. glorious an opportunity to smash some
thing One living in the house, or even
in the vicinity, feels as if Joshua with
his armed band were compassing the pre
mises for the seventh time, and as if the
walls might fall at anv moment, or as if
that mythical "bear" had at last really
got into the "china shop," so continuous
is the crash. The family are obliged to
have these tokens of good luck removed
as soon as it is light on the following
morning, or be fined, as they obstruct
the sidewalk. It often requires a horse
and cart to do it. While this strange
ceremony is taking place outside the
house, the friends of the lady have gath
ered within. No invitations are given,
but the house is thrown open, and all
the acquaintances are expected to come.
Each guest brings some gift, and the
presents are placed on a table as they ac
cumulate for the admiration of the as
sembled company. It is customary to
have some short dramatic piece or pieces
acted. These are usually prepared for j
the occasion, and weave in many a Ely
hit at the habits or tastes of the devoted
pair, or hints at the peculiar incidents
of the courtship. 1
THE FAT MAX'S DILEMMA'
An English gentleman of true John
Bull proportions weighing some eigh
teen or twenty stone had occasion some
years ago, anterior to the railroad era,
to travel in summer by stage coach from
Oxford to London. The stage carried
six inside ; and our hero engaged two
E laces (as, in consideration of his size,
e usually did) for himself. The other
four seats were taken by Oxford stu
dents. These youths, being lighter than our
modern Lambert, reached the stage be
fore he did, and each snugly possessed
himself of a corner seat, leaving a centre
seat on each side vacant. The round,
good-tempered face of John Bull soon
after appeared at the carriage-door, and
peering into the vehicle and observing
the local arrangements, its owner said,
with a smile:
"You see am of a pretty comfortable
size, gentlemen ; so I have taken two
seats. It will greatly oblige me if one
of you will kindly move into the oppo
site seat, so that I may be able to enter."
"My good sir!" said a pert young
law-student, "possession is nine-tenths
of the law. You engaged two seats.
There they are one on each side. We
engaged one each, came first, entered
reguiany into possession, and our titles
to the seats we occupy are indisputable."
"I do not dispute your title," said
the other ; "but I trust to your polite
ness, seeing how the case stands, to
enaoie me to pursue my journey.
"Oh ! hang politeness !" said a hope
ful yonng scion of some noble house.
"I have a horror of a middle seat, and
would not take one to oblige my grand
mother. It's ungrateful as well as nn
comfortable ; and, besides, one has no
chance of looking at the pretty girls
aiong me road, uood old gentleman,
arrange your concerns as you please :
stick to my corner 1" And Le leaned
back, yawned, and settled himself with
hOe!ess composure in his place.
uur corpulent menu, though a man
not easily discomposed, was somewhat
put out by this unmannerly obstinacy.
lie turned to a smart-looking youth
with a simper on his face a jelerical
student, who had hitherto""" sat in a
reverie, possibly thinking over hi9
chances of a rich benefice in the future.
"Will you accommodate me?" he
asked. "This is the last stage that
starts for London to-day, and business
01 urgent importance calls me to town.
"Some temporal affair, no doubt,"
said the graceless youth, with mock
gravity "some speculation with filthy
lucre for its object O.kkI father, at
your age your thoughts should turn
i heavenward, instead of being confined
I to the dull, heavy tabernacle of clay
that chains us to the earth." And his
companions roared with laughter at the
joke."
A glow of indignation just colored the
; stranger's cheek ; but he mastered the
feeling in a moment, and said, with
mnch composure, to the fourth:
"Are you also determined that I shall
lose my place ? Or will you oblige me
by taking a central seat ?
"Ay, do, Tom !" said his lordship to
the rersoa addressed ; "he's something
in the way of your profession quite a
physiological curiosity. Ion ought to
accommodate him."
"May I be poisoned if I do !" replied
the student of medicine. "In a dissecting-room
he'd make an excellent sub
ject. But in a coach this warm
weather, too ! Old gentleman, if you'll
put yourself under my care I'll engage
in the course of six weeks, by a judi-
j cious course of depletives, to save you,
j hereafter, the expense of a double seat!
I But, really ! to take a middle seat in
I the month of July is contrary to all the
rules of hygiene, and a practice to which
I have a professional objection !
And
the langh was renewed at the old gen
tleman s expense.
By this time the patience of the
coachee, who had listened to the latter
part of the dialogue, was exhausted.
"Harkee, gemmen !" said he. "Settle
the business as you like. But it wants
just three-quarters of a minute of twelve,
and with the first stroke of the Univer
sity clock my horses must be off. I
would not wait three seconds longer for
the King God bless him 1 'T would be
as much as my place is worth." And
with that he mounted his box, took up
the reins, bid the hostler shut the door,
and sat with upraised whip listening for
the expected stroke. .
As it sounded from the venerable
belfry, the horses, as if they recognized
the signal, shot off at a gallop with the
four young rogues, in whom their own
rudeness and our fat friend's dilemma
afforded a prolific theme for merriment
during the whole stage.
Meanwhile the subject of their mirth
hired a postchai.se, followed, and over
took them at the second change of
horses, where the passengers got out
ten minutes for luuch. As the post
chaise drove up to the inn-door two
young chimney-sweeps passed, with
their bags and brooms and their well
known cry.
"Come hither, my lads !" said the
corpulent gentleman. "What say you
to a ride?"
The whites of their eyes enlarged into
still more striking constrast with the
dark shades of their sooty cheeks.
"Will yon have a ride, my boys, in
the stage-coach ?"
'" "Ees, zur !" said the elder, scarcoly
daring to trust the evidence of his ears.
"Well, then, hostler, open the stage
door. - In with yon ! And--d'ye hear ?
be sure to take the two middle seats.
So. one on each side V . .
The guard's horn sounded, and
coachee's voice was heard :
"Ouly one minute-and-a half more,
gen'lemen. Come on !"
They came, bowed laughingly to our
friend of the corporation, and passed on
to the coach. The young lord was the
first to put his foot on the steps.
"Why, how now, coachee ? What con
founded joke is this? Get out, yon ras
cals, or I'll teach you how to play gen
tlemen such a trick again !"
"Sit still, my lads ! You're entitled
to your places. Milord, the two middle
seats, through your action and that of
your young friends, are mine. They
were regularly taken and duly paid for.
I choose that two protege of mine shall
occupy them. An English stage-coach
is free to every one who behaves qnietly,
and I am auswerable for their gopd non
duct So, mind you behave, boys. Your
lordship has a horror of a middle seat.
Prav take the corner one 1"
"Overreached, by Jove !" said the
law student. ."We give up the cause,
and cry you mercy, Mr. Bull.
"Blythe is my name."
"We cry quits, worthy Mr. Blythe."
"You forget that possession is nine
tenths of the law, my good sir, and that
the title of these lads to their seats is
indisputable. I have installed them as
my locum tenente, if that be good law
Latin. It -would be highly unjust to
dislodge the poor youths, and I cannot
permit it lou have your corner."
"Heaven preserve ua !" exclaimed the
clerical student.
"Yon are surely not afraid of a black
coat," retorfed the other. "Besides,
we ought not to suffer our thoughts to
dwell on petty earthly concerns, but to
turn them heavenward.
"I'd rather go through my examina
tion a second time than to sit by these
dirty devils," groaned the medical stu
dent.
"Soot is perfectly wholesome, my
young mend, and you wiil not be com
pelled to violate a single hygienic rule.
The corner you selected is vacant. Pray
get in."
At these words, coachee, who had
stood grinning behind, actually cheated
into forgetfulness of time by the excel
lence of the joke, came forward. "Gen
'lemen, yon have lost me a minute and
a qnarter already. I must drive on
without ye, if so be ye don't like your
company.
The students cast rueful glances at
each other, and then crept warily into
their respective corners. As tbe hostler
shut the door he found it impossible to
control his features. "1 11 give you
something to change yonr cheer, you
grinning rascal 1" said the disciple of
JSsculapius, stretching out of the win
dow ; but the hostler nimbly eluded the
blow.
"My white pantaloons !" cried the
lord. - .- . -
"My beautiful drab surtout! ex
claimed the lawyer expectant. "The
filthy rascals !"
The noise of the carriage-wheels and
the unrestrained laughter of the spec
tators drowned the sequel of their
lamentations.
At the next stage a bargain was struck.
The sweeps were liberated and dis
missed with gratuity ; the seats shaken
and brushed ; the worthy sons of the
university made up, among themselves,
the expenses of the postchaise; the
young doctor violated, for once, the
rule of hygiene, by taking a middle
seat ; and all journeyed on together,
without further quarrel or grumbling,
except from coachee, who declared that
"to be kept over time a minute and a
quarter at one stage and only three sec
onds less than three minutes at the
next, was enough to try the patience of
a saiut : that it was !"
Tbe Centennial Buildings.
The Philadelphia I'rest sayi that the
"area of ground appropriated at Fair
mount Park for the Centennial Exposi
tion is 450 acres, and is bounded by the
Schuylkill Biver on the east, Girard
avenue on the southeast, Elm avenue
on the south, and Fifty-second street
on the weft so that Ciirard avenue,
when graded and paved, as is contem
plated, wiil be the main approach to
the buildings. Elm avenue and For
tieth and Forty-first streets will also
lead to the Park, and steps have been
taken by Councils looking to the im
provement of these thorough-fares, iu
order that they may be made available
before the opening ol tne exposition.
The ground plans, as approved of by the
Commission, provides for the erection
of a machinery hall, agricultural hall.
conservatory, art gallery, and the main
exposition building. AU ol these will
be so located as to be within easy reach
of each other, and upon the most beau
tiful portion ol the park. I he grand
pavilion, or main Exposition building,
will nave a frontage ol ll.Uu feet ou
Elm avenue, or, in other words, will
extend from Forty-first street, on the
east, to Belmont avenue, and will have
depth of 1,000 feet. Immediately
north, and near to the Lansdowne drive,
it is designed to erect the art gallery.
est of the exposition building will be
the machinery and agricultural halls
the former to be 2,273 feet lng, and
the latter 1,420 feet These are to be
connected with the main buildings by a
covered passage-way, and will also be
upon Elm avenue. A better idea of the
immensity of the work to be performed
and of the extent of the ground to be
occupied will be had when it is stated
that the grand pavilion will cover an
area ot acres, which can be in
creased to 44 acres. Machinery Hall
will occupy 9.5 acres, and Agricultural
Hall 4.5 acres.
Famous Trees.
Individual trees, planted by famous
men, are still to be seen by the pilgrims
who visit their homes and haunts. In
the last century there was quite a fash
ion for planting willows. It is said
that the first weeping willow seen in
England was sent to the poet Pope, as
a present, from Turkey, by his friend.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and
planted by him in bis garden at T wick
enham. It is the famous Haiti Eaby
lunica of the Psalter, upon which, on
the banks of the Euphrates, the weep
ing daughters of Jerusalem hung their
harps. Garrick planted two willows on
his lawn, beside his Shakespeare tem
ple ; in the midst of a thunder storm,
which destroyed one ol them, the pious
and devoted widow of the great actor
was seen running up and down ex
citedly, crying out, "Oh, my Garrick !
Oh, my uarrick I liie willow, known
as Dr. Johnson's willow, at Litchfield,
was blown down long ago ; it was said,
in the Gardener't Magazine, to have
been planted by him, but it is more
probable that his admiration and talk
of it developed the legend of his plant
ing it. At the time of its destruction
it was thirteen feet in girth. Pieces of
household furniture and snuff-boxes
were made of it ; and slips from it were
planted by his admirers throughout tbe
neighboring country : an offshoot of the
old tree was planted on the same site.
Thomas Moore tells ns that wlien iiyron
first went to Newstead Abbey, Irom
Aberdeen, at the age of ten, he planted
young oak in some part ex the
grounds. He had a notion (or thought
he had) that as it nourished so should
he. ' Six or seven vears later, on revisit
ing the spot, he found his oak choked
up with weeds and almost dead.
Celling Ceadjr to be Happy.
. That is exactly what most of ns are
doing. We are not ready to be happy
to-day, this week, this year ; to-morrow
next month, another year, our cup of
joy will be run. When tne promisea
time comes, ana the acme ot our hopes
in a certain direction is reached, health
may be wanting, friends dead, aud life,
however full of all we thought would
make it rich and worth the having, be
empty and dreary. Bnt he who "takes
the best now and here" enjoys it, puts
himself into possession of that which
cannot be taken away. Certainly it is
right to provide for the rainy day in
health to prepare for sickness in yonth
to lay up for old age; but there is much
more time than many of as think while
doing this to be happy in the present,
and there are a thousand paths to hap
piness if we but have the skill and the
desire to find them.
We are too eager in the pursuit of
some far-off result to take time to be
happy to-day. How often do we look
back on years that have fled, and see
many elements of truest enjoyment,
which at the time we took no notice of,
and which, could we count them in now,
would fill our enp of joy to overflowing!
Snail we learn a lesson from this ?
Early Fruit.
It was very cold at Nice ; that is my
only excuse. Alas, by what slender
threads one's happiness depends :
It was all arranged I was to marry
Mile. Louise early in June, and the Mar
quise, her mother, was commencing to
treat me with something less than her
customary reserve. She was a terrible
woman, that Marquise. " Be treacher
ous," some one had told me. And I was
treacherous. At particularly trying mo
ments I looked in the eyes of my betroth
ed, but one can form no idea of the
circumlocution I had to employ to ex
press to the Marquise the simplest things
in life. In speaking to me of the trous
seau the word chemise made her blush,
and one day I caused her to leave the
room (I don't know why), simply be
cause I happened to mention a pair of
suspenders.
One evening Mile. Louise was even
more charming than was her wont. The
air was heavy with perfume. Coffee had
been served in the conservatory, we sat
beneath large magnolia trees, which were
fairly bowed down with fragrant blos
soms. Seated quite close to her, I sketch
ed a thousand projects for our future,
and while she listened with her great
blue eyes, fixed upon me, I gazed upon
her graceful head; her waving blonde
tress caught up from the neck; her light
robe rising in a snowy fraise at the throat
and descending to a oiiit upon the bos-
som; and I thought that in six weeks at
the longest she would be mine.
It is so difficult to siieak to young girls.
Every moment there canio to mv mind
stories which 1 louud too gay, and which
would certainly have frightened so poetic
and ethereal a nature.
So. having plunged into a senseless
anecdote which I did not know exactly
how to get out of, I said suddenly, in
order to change the conversation :
"By the way. Mademoiselle, do you
like strawberries ?"
"I adore them," she answered, with
dainty little movement of the liis :
' but I supiMise that it will be necessary
to wait a little while."
The fact is that it was only the be
ginning of April, but I thought that one
could get anything in Paris, and that
very evening I sent my friend ltavmond
the following despatch :
Send me a large lx of strawberries
from Paris at any price. Hector
Three hours afterwards I received the
reply :
Little pots make up a box. Will send
as soon as i)ssille. Bayjiovd.
Mv frientl Kavnionu was a jewel. Be
sides perfect taste and great amiability,
he was so fortunate a3 to possess Paris,
and, whenever I was away, I charged
him with my commissions, trusting as
much to him to order a coat as to for
ward me a bouquet.
The next day, early in the morning, I
received a great box, well bound, and
labelled with my address. It was enorm
ous, and it was frightful to think of the
number of little twts Raymond must
have purchased to be able to send me a
package of such respectable weight in so
short a time. Under the circumstances,
my present became a truly royal gift,
and the same day I sent it to my fiancee,
together with my daily bouquet of white
lilacs.
All that day I remained away from
Mme. de lioisenfort's, so that the effect
of my gift might be greater. The time
seemed very long. I could see Mile.
Louise oponiuji my box, the eagerness
which her feminine curiosity would be
sure to give rise to. Then I imagined
her astonishment at the sight of the con
tents. She would take a berry at randou
(the largest), hold it delicately between
her slender lingers the little finger in
the air I could see it all as though I
were there and nibble it with her white
teeth, making all sorts of grimaces as she
ate. Decidedly it was a happy thought
to send to Paris
When evening came I presented my
self at the usual hour, studiously affect
ing the indifferent air of a gentleman
who does not think lie has done anything
remarkable.'
I opened the gate, and was a little
surprised not to find Mile. Louise in the
garden. Usually she came to meet me,
and, after a cordial grasp of the hands,
we would enter the draw;ng-rooin to
gether. "Bah !" I said to myself, "I shall find
her in the green-house." And I ascend
ed the steps.
She was there, to be sure. Her face
was flushed and her eyes swollen, as
though she had been crying. As soon
as she perceived me she came forward
and said ;
"Oh ! sir ; it was very, very horrid of
you !".'
Then, throwing me a glance full of
reproach she left the place.
I commenced to feel a little uneasy
nrion entering the drawing-room. The
Marquise was staiidingbef ore theniantel
piece, erect and haughty, something like
the statue of the commander.
"You received my package?" I asked
with my most amiable air.
"Yes. sir ; yes." ground out the Mar
quise. (I awaited the key to this puzzle.)
"And." continued she, "I consider it
was a little too soon much too soon.
"Good heavens, madame, these things
have no value unless they are sent before
the time for them as early fmit, you
know."
"As early fruit, sir as early fruit !
You continue your absurd mystification.
Leave the house. Neither I nor my
daughter will ever see you again. Leave
the house !''
I was stunned. I went away complete
ly disconcerted, asking myself if it was
not some frightful dreain. Arriving at
the hotel, my servant handed me a letter
from Raymond together with a little
box :
"Mv deau Thievd : I send yon the
strawberries you wish. Forgive me for
not having sent them sooner, and more
of them, but they are yet very rare.."
Without finishing the letter, I tore
open the little box ; it contained indeed
some magnificent strawberries. What
was in the box of the previous evening,
then V
A frightful suspicion crossed my mind.
All at once I uttered a cry. There was
a postscript :
"I hope yon received last evening the
box of flannel wa stcoats."
A sheriff's officer was sont to execute
a writ against a Quaker. On arriving
at the house he saw the Quaker's wife,
who, in reply to the inquiry whether
her husband was at borne, answered in
the affirmative, st the fwme time re
questing him to be seated, aud her hus
band would speedily see him. The offi
cer waited patiently some time, but the
fair Quakeress coming into the room,
he reminded her of her promise that he
shonld see her husband. "Xay, friend,
I promised that he should see thee. He
has seen thee. He did not like thy
looks ; therefore hath he avoided thee,
and left the house by another path."
The buckwheat is
sent.
the cake" at pre-
The Devil's Canon.
IX THE CALIFORXIA GEYSER REOIOX.
There are no spouting fountains in the
canon, but numerous bubbling springs,
that sink and rise with spasmodic action.
These number a hundred or two, and are
of varying temperature and constituents.
A few are quite cold, closely adjoining
hot springs; while others have a temper
ature of 100 to 207 degrees. Some appear
to be composed of alum and iron, others
oi sulphur and magnesia, while a few
are strongly acidulous. Here the water
is pale yellow, like that of ordinary white
suipnur springs; there it is black as ink.
1 he mingling of these different cur
rents, with the aid of frequent steam
injections, intensities the chemical ac
tion, the sputter and fuming, that are
incessantly going on. These phenomena
are not confined to the narrow bed of
the gorge, but extend for a hundred or
two leet m places up its sides, which
slope at a pretty deep angle. These slopes
are soft masses of rock decomposed or
slacked by chemical action, and colored
brilliantly by crystallized sulphur, and
sulphates of iron, alum, lime and mag
nesia, ucpositeu troin the splines and
jets of steam, which are highly charged
witn them. As the rocks decompose and
leach under the chemical action to which
they are subjected, the soft silicious
mass remaining, of a puttv-like consist
ence, mixes with these salts. Some of
the heaps thus formed assume conical
shapes. They have an apnarentlv firm
crust, but are really treacherous stepp-ing-places.
One of the most remarkable
steam-vents in the canon is in the top
or such a pile, titty feet up the steep slop.
It blows like the escape-pipe of a large
engine. The beautiful masses of crystal
lized sulphur which form about it, as
about the innumerable small f umeroles
that occur along both banks, tempt one
to dare to climb, and face the hot steam;
the mass shakes beneath the tread, and is
probably soft to a great depth. Where-
ever in these soft heaps a stick is trust
in, the escaping warm air soon deposits
various salts. Of comse a walk over such
material is ruinous to lxxrt and shoe
leather, while the spkish of acid waters
often injures the clothing. Everybody
stops to gather specimens of the various
salts and rocks. The guide presents to
be tasted pure Epsom-salts (sulphate of
magnesia), and salts of iron and alum,
of soda and ammonia. Few care to taste
the waters, however, which rival in
their chemical and sanitary qualities all
the springs of all the German spas to
gether. Perhaps the most remarkable of
the Geyser springs is that called, happily
enough,, the Witches' Caldron. This is
a black cavernous ojx?ning in the solid
rock, about seven feet across, and of
unknown depth, tilled with a thick inky
liquid, boiling hot, that tumbles and
roars under the pressure of escaping
steam, emitting a smell like that of bilge
water, and seems to proceed from some
Plutonic reservoir. One irresistibly
thinks of the hellbroth in Macbeth, so
"thick and slab," aud repeats the words
of the weird sisters :
"Double, double, toil and trouble.
Fire burn an l caldron bubble."
A clever photographer, Mr. Muybridge,
conceived the idea of grouping three lady
visitors aljout this caldron, with hands
linked, and alpenstocks held like magic
wands, in which position he photograph
ed them amid the vaporous scene with
telling effect. Another notable spot is
the Devil's Grismill, where a large co
lumn of steam escapes from a hole in the
rock with so much force that stones and
sticks laid at the aperture are blown
away like bits of paper. The internal
noises at this vent truly resemble the
working of a gristmill. Milton's hero
is sponsor for another spring rr.lled the
Devil's Inkstand, notable for its black
waters, specimens of which are taken off
in small vials, and used at the hotel to
inscribe the names of guests on the re
gister. Scribncr's Monthly.
Of Cronin: Old.
When are we growing old ? A sound
judgment and strict honesty are neces
sary to answer the question fairly to
one's self. Here is what the "C'uunfry
Parson " says of it :
" By growing old I now understand
reaching a point midway between 40 and
50, not without a tendency to get nearer
the latter age, once hardly imaginable
as a personal reality. And.when one has
in this grave sense grown old, is there
any fact which is more pressed upon one
than this: that there is such a long look
back now ? The prospect stretches far.
Memory is still keen and retentive; the
distant prosiect has not faded into mist
iness; and as you go on, aud now and
then turn to look back, there is just so
much added to the view, Once it was
wonderful to hear a man tilk of what
he had done twenty years ago; still more,
what had hapiened thirty years ago; it
seemed a vast stretch of time, possible
indeed in the experience of others, but
inconceivable in one's own. For every
human being is like Sidney's shepherd
boy in this, that he fails to take in that
he will ever grow old. It seems yester
day since the writer reading for the bar
(how much English law lost in him !)
diligently frequented Westminster Hall
and the Guildhall ; and seeing vigorous
barristers roaring away to common ju
ries, or going on with a cross-cxamina-tioa
in which every question began
with the sharp and minacious Now, sir!
listened with wonder to the assurance
th it the vigorous barrister had worn a
w!g and gown for live-and-twenty years
or tive-and-thirty. Surely he ought to be
dead long ago. That was the reflection
then. It is different now. It has been
discovered that time passes away to the
amount of twenty yers or more; but
that it is really a very short while; and
it leaves the human being not so much
changed; still with the old likings, hopes,
and wishes: still with the old weaknesses
aud faults; still the same man. Further
more, as years accumulate behind one, so
does work. You have done such a deal.
It mounts np into something awful to
think of. And this though very much
of the work done leaves no permanent
trace, but just suffices to do what is re
quired by the day, and to keep the ma
chinery going. You have written four
teen letters this morning; you have visit
ed eighteen sick folk this afternoon. It
had all to be done. Had you not done
it, you would have been miserable in the
sense of duty neglected. But there is
nothing to show for it. It is not like
the abiding pages of inestimable theo
logy or mild morality, which, being
written, you lay up in a box the abiding
memorial of past labor. It frightened
one, in the old days, to hear men in
advanced life speak of the work they had
done. I remember the sense of awe with
which I heard a clergyman of about CO
years mention (with no air of recording
an exploit) that he had at one period of
his life, written one hundred and fifty
lectures on St. Luke's Gospel. I gazed
upon him with the feeling "And are you
there living to tell it ?"
"Brazen statuary" Street-corner and
church-door loafers.
The Capitol mt Waanlngton.
The Capitol with all its defects, ia the
greatest architectural triumph this
country has produced, and which can
lack a world-wide reputation only be
cause Americans themselves have not
known enough to give such to it Like
all the most famous structures, it was
not built in a day, but has grown gra
dually into its present development ;
and even unfinished as it is, hugely de
fective as it is, and with unlimited ca
pacity for additions and improvements.
it crowns the city and the landscape
with a glory unsurpassed by any secular
building in existence. It is not all of
white marble, dear reader, bnt at first
yon take it to be ; and its extent its
strength, its evident costliness, together
with its singular external beauty, quite
: it . i : . L - . ,
limine uuo wiui joyous patriotism ana
pride, and in looking at it one feels that
our money-loving and money-getting
lirother Jonathan naa the divine spark
of genius hidden somewhere within him,
alter aiL
The first surprise and exultation over.
however, a succession of mortifying
discoveries dawns upon the visitor, of
which the most crushing to me was,
that though splendidly situated upon
the ridge commanding the city, the
Capitol facet the wrong way! The front
is to the bast, and those magnificent
porticos, with their crowds of Corin
thian pillars, their sculptured pedi
ments, bronze doors, and countless
sweeping marble steps, ths bronze God
dess oi Ijiberty herself, everything,
turns its back upon the city, the river,
and tne west, and the wnole facade ex
ists for the benefit of the trees that
were idiotically planted in the East
ixipuoi grouuus just across me street
from it, and which have now grown so
great that they make a lull or three-
quarter view of the building impossible,
and so beautiful that the threatened
cutting of them down is "enough to kill
one.
Washington expected and intended
that his namesake city should grow np
in state and splendor on the hilL in
stead of down in the marshy, malarial
plain. Bat unfortunately he placed the
President's house down there, and of
course ail society inevitably clustered
about it; beside which, the original
property owners held the land about
the Capitol at such exorbitant rates
that for years people were actually
forced to purchase elsewhere.
So for a long time the hill was com
paratively abandoned, while the plain
was peopled. But the marvel of mar
vels is, why, when the Capitol Exten
sion was planned twenty-five years ago,
and men had seeu plainly where, con
trary to the original expectation, the
city had budt itself, that occasion was
not seized for making the grand facade
on the west instead of on the east front
and of placing the statne on the dome
facing in the same direction ; for now
the Goddess of Liberty looks as if.
shrugging her shoulders at the hap
hazard city behind her, nay, at the
"great sloven continent" itself, she
were gazing regretfully toward the
ocean across which she had floated
hither, and were vainly wishing herself
safe back in tbe "tight little island" of
respectabilities and proprieties that
gave her birth. Atlantic Monthly.
Tbls Will Do.
If anybody has seen a black-and-tan
dog answering to the name of "Pedro,"
roving about in Eastern North Caro
lina in company with a hard-shell turtle,
that won't answer to anything, and
certainly won't answer to tackle, as the
dog can tell yon if yon can get him to
stop long enough, please halt the elop
ing pair, as they are the property of
the editor of this paper. We are fondly
attached to tbe dog on account of his
vagabondish Bohemian habits. He
knows every dog in Craven county
by name, and is on speaking terms
with nine-tenths of the granger dogs
that come in under the wagons and in
market boats, and he knows more of
the inhabitants of this city than the
tax collectors do. The turtle sent np
by Dr. Barker, from his plantation in
Carteret county, is a more recent acqui
sition. It was placed in the back yard,
and the dog spent an hour and a half
trying to entice it to come out of its
shell and be sociable. The old iron
clad maintained his reserve, however.
until the deg crammed his nose against
the forward part and began to snuff.
The pair seemed to come to some sort
of understanding at once, for the dog
made an lmpetuons remark on a very
high key, and they both started on a
trip. hen the dog jumped oyer Dick
lierry s cook-house we thought be had
struck the Eastern current and would
get right through, but we learn since
that he changed his course and landed
in Hyde county, and was seen saunter
ing along like a whirlwind, the turtle
staying by him. We should be very
sorry to lose that dog now, as he has
acquired a very important and manly
quality. He knows more about turtles
than any other dog in Xewberne, and
it's mighty hard to find a real good
turtle dog.
Love by Wire.
The report of Mr. Scudamore, the Di
rector of Postal Telegraphs in Great
Britain, contains a romance of tbe most
original description, After saying how
succesf ul he found the system of employ
ing male and female clerks together, and
how much the tone of the men had been
raised by the association, and how well
the women perform the checking or
fault-finding branches of the work, he
goes on to speak of friendships formed
between clerks at either end of the tele
graph wire. They begin by chatting in
the intervals of their work, and very soon
become fast friends. "It is a fact,"
continued Mr. Scudamore, ''that a tele
graph clerk in London, who was en
gaged on a wire to Berlin, formed an
acquaintance with, and an attachment
for'- mark the official style of language
"a female clerk who worked- on the
same wire in Berlin ; that he made a
proposal of marriage to her, and that
she accepted him, without ever having
seen him. They were married, and the
marriage, which resulted from the elec
tric affinities, is supposed to have turned
out as well as those in which the senses
are more apparently concerned." Xor
must the prudent reader run away with
the idea that these young persons were
very rash, or that they married without
due acquaintance. For it is a fact that
a clerk at one end of a wire can readily
tell by the way in which the clerk at the
other end does his work, "whether he is
passionate or sulky, cheerful or dull,
sanguine or phlegmatic, ill-natured or
good-natured. '
The baby dog-fish hatched in the
Brighton Aquarium continue to thrive,
and are growing fast Fifty of them
are now in one of the table-tanks at the
further end of the building. They
seem early to contract the habits of the
parent fish, and are to be seen, lying
two and three together, at the bottom
of the tank.
Youths Column.
Children's Evening Hymn.
The little birds now arck tbeir iwt ;
Tbe bmbT eieepe on no ber. breast ;
Tboo glTaU all IbJ caliiiren not.
Had oitifwtmrj.
Tbe nflor prmreth on the ees ;
Tbe Uttle one at lumber's knee ;
Suw Cuuts tbe iuuBt to The,
Owl ot the weary.
The orphan rata away hia fears :
Tbe tronhleu hopes fur bDi wr t
lor bapii-r years;
Thon drttatt all tbe mourarr'R tears.
- r h learn,
God ol Hit weary.
Thon aendrat rest to tired feet.
To little tmlre slumbers sweet.
To acbing bearta reooae complete.
God of tbe weary.
In frier , perpleTity, or pain,
N' ue ever came t- Tnee in Tain ;
Tbon makest ills a Joy ag-ito,
God of the weary.
We aleep that m may wke renewed.
To serve Tuee as TUy children should.
With love, and seal, and Kralitu le.
Uud of tae weary.
"What Would You Ltkb to Bk '"
They were a comely, interestine crowd
of cousins, male and female. There
was Adolphus, Timothy and Augustus,
and the like, with a sprinkling of
Arabellas, Marias and Mary Anns, all to
match : and, as a finishing touch. Bob.
Tom, Dick and Harry. Xancy, Sally,
Polly aud Sue, were not to be forgotten
in a social gathering.
As every party has its mixeu-up plea
sures, there would be now and then a
rumpus, and a luiL W hen a retrnlar
loll did take place.said Itoger sprightly :
v nat would you like to be, Jimmy?
This question was pnt by the old
gentleman of the house, who was sitting
in an easy-chair, his foot being placed
upon a stool, for he was a Uttle goutv.
"What shonld I like to be ?" said
Jimmy.
What?"
"A soldier," he replied.
"Why shonld yon like to be a sol
dier ?" said the old gentleman.
Oh t I should like to march, and
carry a sword, and a gun. Just lend me
your crutch, old fellow," said he, seis
ing it instantly.
Xhe point accident! y struck the old
gentleman's gouty toe. This made him
grin a little bit
"Shoulder arms I said the boy.
"Oh, my toe I" savs the old man.
"Stand at ease 1 We'll finht it out
on this line ?" says the boy.
Here the old gentleman said :
"I wish I could. Now, young fellow, j
yon would UKe to De a soldier, eh ?
"les, replied the youth.
"You can't get into any saw-pits.
now-a-days," said the old gentleman ;
but yon can get a bullet through yonr
cocoanut, your ears lopped off, and the
bike. How would you like that f"
"Sot much," answered the youth.
"Then you will never make a soldier"
was the reply.
so said the gentleman with the gouty
toe.
'And what would you like to be.
Master Squibbs?" he continued, ad
dressing a cat-eyed little individual,
with a sandy complexion and white eye
brows.
"Is it me that von are talking to ?"
said he. "Why, I'm to be a lawyer.
Yon must know I am very fond of
catching flies and birds with bird-lime ;
and if the law trade comes up to that,
it will be bully for me. I sav. pappv.
yon should see me catch old Brown's
cat by the leg, going over the wall, the
other day. It was done in a moment
with a piece of cord."
'Now. you are wrong. Master
Squibbs. You must not think of going
into a legal profession on that principle.
Yon are very much mistaken ; to be a
good lawyer yon must be an honest
man. Come, now, I will tell you a
tory : I will see what sort of a judge
you would make.
"Once upon a time some boys were
playing, and had thrown their clothes
upon the ground : when the game was
over, the boys gathered np their gar
ments, and a big boy put on a little
boy's coat, now, mind : this coat was
too big for the little boy, but it exactly
fitted tbe big boy ; while tbe little boy
took np the big boy's coat which, being
too small for the big boy, exactly fitted
him (the little boy). Now, the litttle
boy made a fuss, and would not have
the great boy's coat. Supposing you
bad been a king, what would you have
done in the matter ?"
"Why, of course," said the incipient
lawyer, "I should have granted that die
big boy should have kept the little boy's
coat that fitted so well, and so with the
little boy and the big boy s coat That s
right, ain't it ?" aaid he.
"ro, sir, answered tne old gentle
man ; "tne true justice ol the case is
this, that both boys should have kept
their respective coats. The big boy
had no right to the li' tie boy's coat,
although his coat fitted the little boy,
and the little boy's coat exactly fitted
him.
Here the young lawyer stood mute.
while all present saw the reason of the
decision.
The hour of ten arrived, when the
old gentleman soon found himself all
alone in his glory. Thus a pleasant
evening was spent by the mingling of
the old and young, and in a social way
they brought together arguments.
While one taniiht wisdom, the other
learnt good-nature.
Doos. Dogs are great favorites of
mine. 1 agree with the man who said
there is no friend like a dog. Dogs are
so faithful and so forgiving. They
never get in the sulks. Tbey never
want to borrow mony, and then forget
to pay. They never go and tell tales
out of school. They may sometimes
stay ont all night, but they never expect
to be furnished with a latchkey, nor do
they come stumbling home in the morn
ing, and go to bed with their boots on,
and have a headache all the next day.
They always remember favors, and are
so thankful for them.
A dog will wag his tail ami be con
tented with a bone, end be just as
grateful to yon as though vou Lad
shared the best with him. Dogs are
always ready for a frolic, and a man or
woman, boy or girl, who cannot take
real dfelio-ht in m mno-h-anfl-tnmblA nlav 1
with a dog, must be very cross -grained,
There are some dogs, to be sure, who
are cross and snappish, and would like
nothing better than to bite you. Bnt
then I am sure this is the fault of their
bringing up. They have bad masters,
who are responsible for their bad traits.
Even the worst of dogs always has some
,i Tr.. ,ii k. ..ifh.
fn t l;a nrl l.i'a mii-r'. i
property.
A T0Tfcrr&v TtiiUmmnrier lipi n cr asked
by what method he had acquired so i
much knowledge, answered, "By not j
Koimr T.rmnfol l.v shame from aakinar !
questions when I was ignorant"
A Co.N.NicTicfT schoolboy's composi
tion upon the horse describes it as "an
animal having four legs, one at each
corner."
Got. Powers has convened an extra
ordinary session of the Mississippi
Legislature to amend tbe election laws.
"Varieties.
"What chargps !" as Aunt Fanny
says, applies to the weather. '
Tell us why it is vulgar to send a
telegram ? Because it is making use of
flash language.
What is the difference between a
jailor and a jeweler? One watches cells,
and the other sells watches.
Chas. Hall has been appointed Vice
Chancellor of Great Britain, in place ot
Sir John Wickens, deceased.
The new cantata on words from Lang
fellow's "Evangeliue," by George Car
ter, has met with success in England.
"It's really very odd. mv dear." said
an old lady one very hot day to a friend.
1 cau t bear the heat in summer, and
in winter I love it"
The family escutcheon is disnlaved
in colored embroidery on the fluttering
veils of Parisian belles. This is to keep
the men at arm's length.
Said a woman to a physician.who was
weighing two grains of calomel for a
child, "Dinnt be so mean wi' it ; it is
lor a poor latherless bairn.
Why should a gingham nmbrel'a
never be lent? Because those in the
habit of borrowing umbrellas are not
given to brin-gingliam back again. .
A robust, elderly gentleman of North
Newbury, Me., has had a handsome
monument erected to tho memory of
himself and his still living wife, leaving
the dates of death blank.
A merchant of Shanghai. China, lias
actually sent a draft to thU country to
pnrchase tickets in a lottery. This
Shanghai will crow small aud beauti
fully less for his money.
Princess Louise, daughter of Queen
Victoria, and wife of the Mirqnis of
Lorne, is said to be ornamenting her
London residence with busts and statu
ary from her own chisel.
The Young Men's Society of Cleve
land, who kept the gas turned low dnr
ing a recent lecture, evidently thonght
they had every prospect of a full supply
from other sources than the meter.
The diamonds in rock-drills are usn
ally from three-sixteeuths to five-sixteenths
of an inch in diameter, and are
very scarce and costly. They come
from Brazil, and are used without being
ground.
Detroit street cirs nre afflicted with a
ghost, iu the seuiblauce of a beautiful
lady, richly dtess-ed. Tbe peculiar
thing abont her is that rhen a conduc
tor appeals to her for the f.tre. she sud
denly vauishes a very pleasing and use
ful performance, indeed, and one which
would naturally be looked for in any
sensible ghot ,
Au angler on Trout Luke, Ontario,
lately had hia hat blown away, and
while rowing hard to recover it was
surprised to see it spinning across the
water at a tremendous r.ite. Oa over
taking it he fuiiri.l t'.mt a hurge tront
had taken au artificial fly affixed to the
hat, bnt the line broke before the troait
could be secured.
An exchange tui's ns that a negrc
stole a carpet from a Tennessee church
and cut it up into horse blankets, and
the congregation thought a person who
would do such a thing was bad euough
to require inimersiou. So they took
him over the river to immerse him, and
all the people turned ont to see it And
all would have gone well but for alittlo
incident he was held under the water
one minute too long. j
Open your watch ; yonr eye fulls on
the jewels there. But the sparkling
jewels cannot say to tiie modest coil of
steel beside them, "We have no need
of thee," for that is the mainspring.
And the mainspring cannot say to the
tiniest cog wheel, "We have no need of
thee," for without it the works stand
still. It is just so in the Church of
Christ One little worker can mar the
whole by failing to fulfil his office.
There is a place lor each.
The steps being taken toward the
complete union o all the musical socie
ties in the United States for participa
tion at the Philadelphia Centeunial
seem to have a significant bearing on
the future of art. This early provision,
if matters are wisely administered, will
insure us against the repetitiou of the
gigantic Gilmore attempts at Boston.
Something like nuity of purpose iu the
choral organization of tiie musical ele
ments, scattered through the country,
has long been needed, and it is well
that a snffijiont motive power is now
furnished. There is no reason why a
magnificent musicnl festival fully
equal, superior, iudeed, to those of
London and Manchester should not
be one of the most remarkable attrac
tions of the Philadelphia Exposition.
It is curious to read, in Mr. Mill's
autobiography, that, wheu tiie manu
script of Carlyle's "S irtor Resartus"
was put in bis hands, hn thought
slightly of it He says: "I did not,
however, deem myself a competent
judge of Cariylf. I felt that ho was a
poet, and that I was not ; that he was a
man of intuition, which I was not ; and
that as such he not only saw many
things long before iu, w hich I could,
only when they were pointed out to me,
hobble alter and prove, but that it was
highly probuble he could t-ee many
J things which were not visible to me
eveu after they were pointed out. I
knew that I c-ouid Cot s.-e round him,
and couid never tie certain that I saw
over him ; ud I never presumed to
judge liiiu w:t: any dctiuiteness untd
he was interpreted to me by one greatly
superior t ua both who was more a
poet than he, and more a thinker than
1 whose own mind and n atnre included
his and infinitely more." Iu this lust
sentence Mr. Mill refers to his wife, "to
whom," he says, "the world can never
know how much I am indebted for what
is best in my writings."
Some of tho LiH tribes in Northern
India, have a peculiar way of sending
their babies to bleep, which is thus de
scribed by a correspondent of a Bombay
paper:
"Near a hollow bamboo which
served as a fpout. through which the
0001 water of the mouu'aia stream
poured forth in a jet, was disposed the
head of au infant, who was lying cov
ered warmly aud fast a-ieep. The bam
boo spont was so placed that tne water
played upon the cro.vn of the baby's
head over a port which seemed bald of
hair, a consequence Perhaps of the ha-
bitual action of the water. The rest ol
the child's body was not touched by the
water. The children (there were two of
them) were lying oa their right side
nd perfectly still one would Uiwj in
a state of stupefaction. Tney had been
lying for an hour and a haif. we were
told, and would be there till nine at
nisrht. in all fcetween four and five
hours. I .elt the face of one of them
and fonnd it cold, and theu held the
wrist, bnt could detect no pulse. . Yet
these hill people are convinced that the
strange practice, which is qnite gene
ral, helps to strengthen' the a and
make tbe children not only healthy, but
hardy and fearless,"