iiiiii
! ,
B. F. SCHWEIER,
THE COXSTITCTIOS THE CXIOX AXP THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOI. XXVIII.
MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., JANUARY 21, 1S74.
NO. 3.
l'oefry,
Advice C.ratis.
Ia to am what y-ia t f D d I fceararlfhtr
Were yt la wiMt, or Im .part?
Ia lav with Poet? An yom qait
At odd With luUf, tO aaeeit
That Ja, with f-aia, ra-IUaee, erraco
Instead of the etarloB taoae ht bay.
Hare emlllag'.y aat yoar feet aad be
Toward p-ilae where each low CB-wwlBtf He?
A Po a axaker of aeree.: Om
Who da ly c dae for hia dal'y bread.
The blaed of bla heart ia rtjyiaea that caa
HI braia la feaer with fear aad mi
Laat tkat ha Bar. la epeakiair it.
The toae of the Vere which c aet Mai
i.ejewhare a t oftba li.laite
Bjejewbero aat froaa tLe raet aaa die.
Toa aed aat aaawer : I kaew year thoafLt
To tall aaa that, ft lac tbata eiat ha thaw
Waeee Mpa. Uka the threue at birde, wr amoM
Calefy far eiag-iaf. It followe eloaa
Taat G4 atte-U( thaai ta pack pltcb
Aeo-pto their eea-a far eeraice, tbaa
Mafclaf aar aaeera at a eoel ea which
8 aaa laid Bla pree.are, p-rilooe.
A&d tab, U a eeaee. la trot ; h t t b
la at -a eayrttral ; wa ehoald take
Tha world la the era : w BBaet a at n-.e
or eaee aaa eleeraace, for th eake
Of dreaaaa, aad dreaeser. Aad I optae
It weald atrika freeh heat la yoar Poet'e eeree
U yaa drtpaod eoaae aloes lata hit wioe :
They wm eaprea-y aadr a cor-.
WU1 tkat larfolble truth T thlsci
W Lira ehtaee -a year aa aetrel, rvjcir- ik-1-I
aa lack of tie eieibie oosBfurrlajta,
Tha UalUe gift! aad ffoode, thai w.J:
Ua atacka aad dleldeade? Wblrh l K -
Thaat veeTelyjad laplrat?oa r
Hard caah la baad, aad tha eeaee !a bra-l
TLat 70a ha Te (alad what yoa brir;De. f rf
1 la good, ao dtiab:, that a au ehja'.d be
Caat la each weird aad ataf alar baM
Aa dowar hta vlat-JB with Power to a
BeaTea'e epleadure fi -anti r . where r- h lw:
ealy tha f aria; ef lighted f :
Bat la a hatband we amo4,
(Lttlajr the gift T pr-jtha.'y p- :i
Tbaeala which la current ia ibe
wharefora t aboald adviae foa, dear.
T glra yoa Irrieal aagraat aaeb
AcaWiaat blat of a pradeat fear,
A witboa: woaadlaf hiai OTer.aorb
Will aerra to omlta his ineleat bf-
powa ta leraN of lesser raaxe ;
aeadlag him bark to hia rrawding tr p a.
Wlaar aad aadder fir that rfcaog.
TaUiMC tVood on the K7ir.
At one iioiot, when we supposed we
were comfortably holdics oar way in
the cbaxDfl, m torch-light flared np.snd
Hfaowed as Dearie g a acrappy bank. The
thin, Innfr irow of the boat ran npon
the land. Gangwa.va were lowered ;
piasks were ran from tlie boat's side to
the bank, two score negroes pprang
from some myRteriona recess below,
and assembled forward before the cap
rttan. The shower of harmless ("parks
from the torches oist momentary red
gleams over the rude bnt kindly black
faces. A sharp-voiced white man, whom
we learned afterwards to call the
"Wasp," because he always flew ner
roaaly about, stinginST the sprawling
negroes into activity, thrust himself
among the laborers. Twenty stings
from bis voice, and the darkey forms
plunged into the darkness beyond the
gangways. Then other torches were
placed npon the bank, and long wood
piles appeared. The Wasp flitted rest
lessly from deck to shore, while the
negroes attacked the wood-piles, and,
each taking half a dozen sticks, harried
to the deck with them. Presently there
was an endless procession of black
forms from the wood piles to theressel
and plunging back across the flickering
light, to the tone of loud adjurations
and oaths from the Wasp. Now and
then the dusky chain of laborers broke
into a rude chant, beginning with a
prolonged shout, such as
"Oh ! I los my money dare !"
and followed by a gurgling laugh, as if
the singers were amnxed at the sound
of their own Toiees. The Wasp, always
kindly and well-disposed towards the
negroes, despite his rough ways, broke
into appeal, threat, and entreaty, when
one of the darkies stumbled or lagged.
Then it was that be cried raspingly,
"You, Reuben !" "1'ou, Black Hawk 1"
with an oath. "Come on there, you
Washington! ain't you going to hear
me P Sometimes the Wasp aped among
the Degrees, singing tnem into sncn ac
tivity that a whole wood-pile vanished
as if swallowed by an earthquake. So
it was that in two hours and a half,
sixty cords of wood were transferred
from the bank to the boat, and the
Wasp, calling the palpitating wood
carriers aronnd him, thus addressed
them, "Now, you boys, listen. Ton
Black ITawk, do you hear, you and these
three, first watch I Ton, Reuben, and
these three, second watch 1" etc The
torches were dipped in the river, the
light hissed dying defiance at the dark,
and the great white boat once more
wheeled around into the channel.
S ribner't Magazine,
SfaXUabi Gamrt at Oban.
A correspondent describes the annual
celebration of the national games of
Scotland at Oban, a favorite watering
place near Glasgow. These games con
sist of manly sports, throwing the ham
mer, wrestling, running, walking, boi
intt. throwing and lif tins- heavy weights.
and are presided over by the lords of
the estates, and by them the prizes are
awarded. The gentry of the neighbor
ing counties attend, and in the evening
a hall and a display of fireworks close
the event. The people belonging to the
Marquis of Lome's estate were the prin
cipal competitors on this occasion, and
the Marquis awarded the prizes. They
were all dressed in the national costume,
the different dsns wearing three dis
tinct plaida. This Highland dress is
the aaase that waa worn in the days of
Wallace and Brace, and consists of a
black silk velvet jacket, trimmed with
gold or silver buttons; a plaid skirt
reaching nearly to the knees; a plain
sash of the same as the skirt, with
stockings reaching below the knees,
thus leaving them bare; a dirk with a
jeweled head ia atnek in the stocking,
the head just appearing above the top
of it. The Marquis of Lome appeared
in the plaid of the house of Argyll
bright scarlet and yellow. The Marquis
is an insignificant looking fellow in
comparison with the stalwart, brawny
chieftains with whom he moved about.
He is very small, with a smooth, beard
less face, very light hair, and very blue
yea. He is'diffident and shy in man
ner, and when cheered or toasted he
blushed like a girL He moved among
the people with an air of kindness, and
aeemed to much respected and beloved
by tnem. The hotel waa full of people
from the aorrounding conntry, who had
come for tha games and the balL The
yachts wen gaily decked out in colored
bunting: tha bag-pipers filled the air
with strange, wild music; and a blaze
of fire ia tha early evening kept the
scene lively until the boor for the ball,
which was bald in a canvas pavilion jost
the border of tha bay.
I'SDEB TIIE SE4T.
AS UNEXPECTED BAXLBOAD ABTEXTCBB.
"Smoking car, sir T asked the polite
porter, as he bore my raps and minor
packages along the platform. I said
yes, and he made me comfortable, and
received Lis dime. Then the guard
came to look after my well-being, bnt
got nothing more than innocent grati
tude, which was perhaps all he desired.
I have no doubt that I did him injus
tice in attributing his efforts to induce
a fat old gentleman with a congh a
lean old gentleman who was snuffy, and
a middle aged gentleman enveloped in
wraps, the lower part of whose face was
covered up like a female Turk's, an
evident window-thutter to enter my
car in order to spite me.
Duty to his employers alone made
him endeavor to fill up ; bnt the anxiety
to get as much room as possible for my
money was strong within me, and stirred
uncharitable suspicions.
You may lead a horse to the water or
un anti-nicotinian old gentleman to a
smoking-car, but you can't make him
get in ; and when each in turn put his
head into my compartment, he jibbed,
for some late occupants of it had been
cigar, not pipe-smokers, and it was
rather strong. So I was apparently
left alone alone with all the comic
weeklies, and a modern poem.
The doors were hanged to, the engine
whistled, the train began to move. It
would not stop again till we got to
Peterborough so that I was safe to be
undisturbed so far. There were several
seats, and I could occupy as many of
tnem as limited number of members
permitted. I almost wished myself an
Octopus, to take full advantage of the
situation. Calming down, 1 hung up
my hat, put on a gaudy piece of needle
work won in a bazaar ralne, lit my pipe,
cut my papers, and began to enjoy my-
sell.
I sat in the left-hand corner, with my
back to the engine, absorbed in a big
law-suit. It is great fun to read a
cross-examination, and watch bow a
clever lawyer will make an honest man
peri are himself. "It reads almost like
a crime." I remarked aloud, "but then
it is an honorable, lawful, and beneficial
crime. Soldiers kill people s bodies.
lawyers kill people's reputations all
lor the good of society in the long run.
While I was uttering the word "run,"
my ankles were grasped suddenly and
firmly; then, before I could recover
from the shock, they were jerked back
ward under the seat with such force
that I was thrown forward sprawling. I
tried to rise, but my right wrist was
seized, and the arm twisted till I was
helpless, and presently I found myself
on the floor of the caf, face downward,
a sharp knee being scientifically pressed
into the small of my back, both arms
fixed behind me. My elbows were tied
together, and then the knee was re
moved, and my ankles were secured.
During the latter operation I kicked
and struggled.
'Hum 1" said a deliberate voire,
"that will be awkward. Let's see ; ah,
these will do "
Tlicse were my sticks and umbrella,
which some one proceeded to apply
as splints to the backs of my legs,
using the straps which had kept them
in a bundle to fix them at the ankle and
above the knee. When he had done, I
was as helpless as a trussed turkey.
Then 1 was turned over carefully and
tenderly, and for the first time saw my
assailant.
He was a gentlemanly-looking man,
well dressed in black coat and waist
coat, gray trowsers, and neckcloth. His
hair and whiskers were just taming
grizzly, his chin and upper-lip were
clean shaved, liis lorenead was mgn.
his eyes prominent and fixed in their
expression, 111s nose aquuine, tiis moutn
a slit. He was of middle height, spare
but wiry ; indeed, his muscles must
have been unexoeptionally elastic and
feline for you would never have
thought, to look at him, that he could
stow himself away under the seat of a
railway car so completely.
He contemplated me with his chin in
his right hand, and his right elbow on
his left hand, and said thonghtfally :
"Just so. All for the good of society
in the long run an admirable senti
ment, my dear sir ; let it be a consola
tion to you if I should cause yon any
little annoyance."
He took a shagreen spectacle case
from his pocket, wiped the glasses care
fully with a silk handkerchief, and ad
justed them on hia nose. Then he
produced an oblong box, which be un
locked, and placed on one of the seats.
After which he sat down quickly in the
place I had occupied a few minutes
before, a position which brought him
close over my head and chest, as I lay
supinely and helpless at his feet.
"Do you know anything of anatomy?"
he asked. I was as completely in his
power as a witness in the cross-examining
counsel's, and prudence dictated
that I should be eqally ready to answer
the most frivolous and impertinent
?nestions with politeness. I said that
did not.
VAh !" said he, "well, perhaps you
have heard of the spleen? Exactly.
Xow, science hes never as yet been able
to find out the use of that organ, and
the man who bequeaths that knowledge
to posterity, would rank with the dis
coverer of the circulation of the blood,
and confer an inestimable benefit on
humanity for the remainder of the
world's lease. I propose to dissect
you."
"Ton will not get much glory by
that," I said, forcing myself to seem to
take this outrageous practical joke in
good part. "An ungrateful generation
may or may not profit by your discov
eries, but it will infallibly hang you."
"Xot so," he bluntly replied. "I am
a surgeon, who once had a very consid
erable practice, but I had to stand my
trial for an experiment, which proved
fatal, on one of my patients. The j ury,
unable to understand the sacrifices
which an earnest inquirer is ever ready
to offer at the shrine of science de
clared me mad, and I was placed in
confinement. You see that 1 can act
with impunity."
And he opened the box. I broke out
in a cold sweat Was it all real ? Conld
the man be ia earnest ? "But," said I,
"surely you can get dead bodies to dis
sect without having recourse to a
crime. And again, if generations of
anatomists have failed, in twenty thou
sand investigations, to discover the use
of the spleen if you yourself have al
ways failed hitherto why should you
suppose that this one attempt should
be more successful than the others ?"
"Because, my dear sir," said the man
with a smile of one who has caught a
bright idea, "all former investigations,
including my own, have been made on
dead subjects, while I propose to ex
amine your vital organs with a powerful
magnifying glass, while they are exer
cising their normal functions. "
"What I" I gasped. "You will never
have the berbaritv" and here my voice
choked.
"O yes. I have conanered that rrein
dice against inflicting suffering which
is natural to the mind enfeebled by
civilization. For many years I secretly
practiced vivisection upon animals ; I
once had a cat, an animal very tenacious
01 uie. under my scapcl lor a week.
But we have no time to waste in conver
sation. You will not be put to any
needless suffering ; these instruments
are not my own, blunted for want of
use ; I took the precaution of borrow
ing the case of the gentleman under
whose care 1 have been placed, before
making my escape.
While speaking thus, he took the
hideous little glittering instruments.
and examined them one by one. They
were of various appalling shapes ; and
I gazed upon them with the horrible
lascination 01 a bird under the power
of a snake. Oi one only could 1 tell
the nse a thin trenchant blade, which
cut you almost to look at it. He knelt
across me, aaranged bis implements on
a seat at his right, laid a note book,
pencil, and his watch on that to his left,
and took off my neckcloth and collar.
murmuring: "The clothes are very
much in my way ; I wish that you were
properlv prepared lor the operation.
It flashed across me in my despair
that -I had heard of madmen being
foiled by apparent acquiescence in their
murderous intentions.
"After all," I forced myself to say,
"what is one life to the benefit of the
human race ? Since mine is demanded,
by silence let me aid you. Remove
these bands, and allow me to take off
my coat and waistcoat."
lie smiled, and shook his head.
"Life is sweet ; I will not trust you,"
he said, unfastening my waistcoat, and
taming back the lapels as far as he
could. Then taking a pair of scissors,
he proceeded to cut my shirt front
away, so that presently my chest was
bared to his experiments. Whether I
closed my eyes, or was seized with ver
tigo, I do not know, but for a moment
or two I lost sight of everything, and
had visions ; a sort of grotesque night
mare it was, the figures in which I re
call bnt very indistinctly, but I remem
ber that that the most prominent of
them was a pig, or rather a pork hang
ing up outside of a butcher's shop, the
appearance of which bore a mysterious
resemblance to myself. These delirious
fantasies were dispelled by a sharp
pang the anatomist had made the first
slight incision. I saw his calm face
leaning over me ; the cruel blade with
which he was about to make another
and a deeper cut ; his fingers, already
crimson with my blood ; and I straggled
frantically. My operator immediately
withdrew his armed hand, and stood
erect. Then, watching his opportunity
he placed his right foot on the lower
part of my breast bone, so that by pres
sure he could suffocate me.
"Listen, my friend," he said ; "I will
endeavor not to injure any vital organ,
bnt if you wriggle about, I shall not be
able to avoid doing so. Another thing,
if you"
He was interrupted by three sharp
whistles from the engine, so shrill and
piercing as to drown his voice.
"Impede me by these absurd convul
sive movements, and I shall be com
pelled to sever those muscles which"
He never completed his sentence.
There was a mighty shock, a crash as if
all the world had rushed together. I
was shot under the seat, where I lay
uninjured, and in safety, amidst the
most horrible din breaking, tearing,
shrieking, cries for help, and the roar
of escaping steam.
1 had strained the bands which se
cured my elbows in my struggles, and
the jerk of the collision snapped them ;
so that when I began to get my wits
together, I found my hands free. To
liberate my legs was then an easv mat-
ter, but not so to extricate myself, the I
next thing I set about. The whole top
of the car, from where the stuffed
cushion part ends, was carried sheer
away; and amidst the debris, which
encumbered my movements, lay the ;
mangled and decapitated body of the
madman, who, intending to assail my
life, had, by keeping me down at the
bottom of the car. saved it.
yionroing.
The usages regarding mourning have
varied much at different times and in
different countries. Among the Jews,
the duration of mourning for the dead
was generally seven days, but some
times protracted to th irty. It consisted
in tearing the clothes, smiting the
breast, weeping, going barefoot, cutting
off the hair, etc, etc, etc Among the
Greeks, the period of mourning was
thirty days, except in Sparta, where it
was limited to ten. Among the Romans,
the color of mourning for both sexes,
was black or dark blue, nnder the re
public ; but under the empire, the men
only wore black, the women white. Men
also wore this mourning a few days,
women a year, when the relatios was a
very near one In modem Europe the
ordinary color for mourning is black;
in Turkey, violet ; in China, white ; in
Egypt, yellow ; in Ethiopia, brown. In
Arabia the men wear no mourning, The
women stain their hands and feet with
indigo, which they suffer to remain for
eight days, daring which time they ab
stain from milk, on the ground that its
color ill becomes their gloom. In the
Feejee islands, after the death of a
chief, a general fast until evening is
observed for ten or twenty days, the
women bum their bodies, and fifty or
one hundred fingers are amputated to
hang above the dead man's tomb. The
Sandwich Islanders paint the lower part
of their faces, and knock out their fore
teeth.
Early aid Ieate Marriage.
Marriage is conducive to longevity,
and 6houid therefore be called in to a
man's assistance as soon as he has com
pleted, or nearly completed, his studies
we say nearly completed, because, in
many cases, the companionship of a
wife is of great service in directing and
giving a higher aim to the intellectual
force. The intellectual elements of a
man's nature, without the softening and
humanizing effects of domestic love,
might, at first sight, be expected to
absorb the whole man, and render him
a giant in mental achievments. Practi
cally, it has, aa a rule, no such effect
Few monks have distinguished them
selves for original invention, for great
thoughts, for an expansive philosophy,
or anything implying superiority in the
qualities which raise one man above
another. It is beneficial to the most
active mind to have the current of
thought occasionally broken in upon,
and diverted from the channel of sys
tematic investigation into the calm,
sweet delights of home life, of wife,
children, of playful sportiveness, which
gives to man in his period of greatest
force something of the careless frame
of mind which gives freshness to his
childhood. As a rule, early marriages
are better than late ones, both mentally
and physically.
The King of Denmark is said to be
traveling in Italy incognito.
Bairenth.
Baireuth (or Bayreuth.) the quiet
Bavarian city, with its population of
twenty thousand, has frequently occu
pied a conspicuous place in the modem
history of Germany ; but it will now
attract more attention than ever before
by the great operatic festival which
Richard Wagner, the eminent composer.
will soon hold here, and for which he
has been erecting an opera-house of
larger dimensions than anv of the thea
tres now in existence. The tens of
thousands who will flock to this tran
quil and delightfully-situated place on
that looked-f or occasion will find numer
ous other subjects of interest in Bai
reuth. They will find in the old city
church the grave of the Margravine of
Baireuth, the favorite and gifted sister
offrederick the Ureat; they will be
shown the humble house in which Jean
Paul Fried rich Rich ter wrote his 'Titan.'
and where he received the great of this
world ; they will see at the royal palace
the weird picture of the White Lady,
and hear from the lips of the aged cas
tellan the story of the wicked woman
who killed her two children in order to
marry her princely lover, and who,
according to the legend, still haunts all
the palaces of her family, the Hohen
zollerns, and shows her white, ethereal
form whenever an event of extraordinary
importance is about to take place ; they
will, finally, be conducted to the sumptuously-furnished
bedroom where Xaoo-
leon L reposed in 1S03, and where the
castellan told him, before he retired for
the night, all about the White Lady,
in consequence of which the niiuhtv
imncrator passed a restless nieht. and
wrote in the moraine to the Emnress
Josephine: "Baireuth is a very pretty
place, and I ate there a good supper ;
oui ine people at tne -ralais dinned a
curious story into my ears about a
spectre that is said to walk of nights
about this old house ; and I dreamt of
the ghost, being very restless all night."
Baireuth was a village well known for
its wealthy inhabitants as early as the
time of the Emperor Henry L, but its
growth was slow, its situation making
it the ground for the hostile collissions
between the contending hosts of South
and North Germany. The ancient
chroniclers relate that Baireuth was
devastated six times in brief succession
by the plague, and that, iu 1410. it con
tained but one hundred inhabitants.
But ten years later it had already five
thousand people within its walls ; and,
in 1433, when the fierce and cruel Iroco
pius laid siege to it, and threatened to
put the whole population to the sword
unless the gates of the place were imme
diately opened, the valiant burghers of
Baireuth not only bade defiance to the
presumptuous captain, but, by a sue
cessf ul series of bold sorties, compelled
nun to raise me siece.
. The Hohenzolleras, to whom Bairenth
was ceded, introduced such excellent
institutions in the place, and afforded
commerce and industry such satisfac
tory protection, that many skilled arti
sans left the famous Nuremberg, and
opened new shops at Baireuth. The
Jews, too, found an asylum under the
liberal princes of the margravate, and,
an unheard-of event in the German his
tory of that period, in 14C2, a Christian
was burnt at the stake in Baireuth for
the assassination of a Jewish merchant.
At the same time, the physicians of
Baireuth obtained a world-wide repu
tation, and, daring the next ccnturv,
the new hospituls that were founded in
the Old World were called Baireuth
hospitals.
The Emperor Chcrles V. was enred of
inflammation of the bowels iu 103'J, by
Andreas Flammer, a learned doctor
from Bairentb, and, in commemoration
of that cure, decreed, daring the war of
Schmalkalden, when Baireuth had sided
ith the Leformed cause, that the city
8h?n,,1J, no U Backed and bnnit BS
less fortunate places,
Daring the ensuing years, Baireuth
had enlightened or luxuriant margraves.
The former endowed the town with
excellent educational institutions, while
the latter enriched it with superb struc
tures. One of them, the Margrave
George William, transformed the city
pond into a large, navigable lake, cover
ing an area of upward of one thousand
acres, and npon which he constructed a
large gun-boat
But the most prosperous and splendid
period of Baireuth was during the reign
of the Margrave Frederick, from 1735
to 17C5. Frederick was married to the
Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the
famous sister of Frederick the Great
The two declared they would make
Baireuth the Paris of Germany ; and,
if they did not succeed in attaining so
difficult an object, they certainly en
dowed the place with many noble struc
tures, and made it, in their time, for
Germany, what Weimar became, a few
years afterwards, for German art and
literature, the seat and rendezvous of
the noblest spirits of the Fatherland,
so that Frederick the Great wrote, in
1757, to his sister: "Your Baireuth puts
Berlin to the blush. But I have not
near as much money as you."
In German literature, Baireuth is
known as the city of Jean Paul. It is
true this great German thinker and
poet of the heart was not born here ;
but with special predilection to Baireuth
he wended his way in his earliest youth,
and it remained, with its lovely sur
roundings, the object of his longings,
even when he had become famous, and
was a favored guest at royal courts.
And, finally, he returned to his be
loved Baireuth, and lived there to his
last day, immortalizing the place by his
most glowing and impressive descrip
tions of its beautiful scenery. Three
monuments have been erected to him
in Baireuth. One is a small pyramid
of dark -gray marble, covering his much
frequented grave Another is a beauti
ful marble tablet on the front of the
house, in Frederick Street, 'where he
lived and wrote his noblest works. The
poet stands, on a pedestal of granite,
as he was often seen in the market-place
of Baireuth, in his long coat, with a
flower in his button-hole. In his right
hand he holds a pencil, in his left a
sketch-book. Unfortunately his faith
ful dog, without whom he never ap
peared in public, was omitted. His
study in his house on Frederick Street
is still preserved in the condition in
which it was left on his last day. Chips
without number have been cut from
the table on which he wrote "Titan,"
"Levana," "The Comet," and "The
Invisible Lodge"
Bat we must now tarn to the magnifi
cent structure which Richard Wagner,
the composer of "Tannhauser," is erect
ing in Baireuth for the projected Wagner
festival, at which, it is expected, all the
great living musical celebrities from all
countries will be present This opera
house will be the largest musical temple
of modern times. The building is now
far advanced, but, notwithstanding the
enthusiasm exhibited in the enterprise
by the friends of Wagner, some diffi
culty has recently arisen on account of
an insufficiency of funds, and there is
fear the great festival may have to be
postponed. Wagner has designed to
make this festival the crowning triumph
of his life. If the project succeeds, the
admirers of the "music of the future"
will be able to hear the compositions
01 tiieir great representative nnder cir
cumstances infinitely more favorable
and imposing than were ever accorded
to any operatic maettro before. And if
Wagner achieves his purpose, he will shed
new lustre on the city in which he reaps
tus new laurels aeiigntiui jiaireutu.
Silu ManaCtctnrea la America.
The monthly Statistics of the Silk
Association of America for November
show a decrease in the amount of ex
ports of Sl-35,317, as compared with the
corresponding month of the previous
year. The report famishes a detailed
statement of the quality and value of
the importation of silk manufacture to
this port for the month of November
from 1866 up to the present year, and
for the first eleven months in each of
the intervening years, and embraces
upwards of twenty classifications of silk
goods. The principal items of the im
portations are included nnder the de
nominations of silks proper, satins.
crapes, pongees, plushes, velvets, rib
bons, laces, silk and worsted and silk
and cotton fabrics. The value of the
importations in these goods during the
past month was $324,746, of which
85 12,375 was thrown upon the market
The largest amount of silk manufactures
imported in the month of November
during the last seven years was in 1871,
when this class of goods reached
2,012,805. The amount of imports for
the first eleven months in the year 1306
was $21,808.067 ; for the corresponding
period of 1357 it was $15.619,000 ; in
1863, S18,004,554 ; in 1869. $1,166,301,
and in 1870, $24,244,326. In 1871 the
imports during the same period rose to
$32,324,542. Daring the first eleven
months of the present year the imports
have fallen to $23,633,106, which shows
decrease of $.726,486 as compared
with the imports of the same period in
iii. mis anorus conclusive evidence
of the rapid growth of silk manufactures
in the United States during the last
twelve months. The figures quoted
represent only the foreign gold cost of
these articles, exclusive of freight and
duty. The steady increase shown in
the value of the imports of raw silk
daring the last seven years may be
taken as a further illustration of the
progress of this branch of American
manufacture While the imports in
silk goods have been decreasing, it will
be seen that there has been a yearly
increase in the value of the raw silk
imported .into this country. In 1866
the value of the imports in raw silk re
ceived at the ports of New York and
San Francisco was $1,501,803 ; in 1863,
$2,462,201, and in 1872 the value of the
imports daring the same period of the
year rose to $6,767,341. When these
f rf? !ll!?,In.C"!fna,!'tth.th!
Jf"",Ji ,u "81,, .
silk manufactured goods, it will be at
once apparent that the day is not far
distant when American manufactured
silks will be brought to such perfection
in style, texture and finish as to com
pletely shnt out the products of the
looms 01 i,cgianj, r ranee and omen
European countries.
California YTood-CIiopper.
It is in the logging camps, that a stran
ger will be most interested cn this coast;
for there he will see and feel the big
ness of the redwoods. A man in Hum
boldt county got out of one tree, lumber
cuongh to make his house and bam,
and to fence in two acres of gronnd.
A schooner was filled with shingles
made from a single tree. One tree in
Mendocino, whose remains were shown
to mp made a mils of
railroad tiee
Trees fourteen feet in diameter have ' affords an admirable picture of the par
been frequently found and cut down; tial civilization of the times, with its
the saw-logs are often split apart with ; splendor of display and its want of the
wedges, because the entire mass is too . simplest decencies 0 the present
large to float in the narrow and shallow Mattresses were first made of straw
streams, and I have even seen them ! wool, then moss came to be used, and
blow a log apart with gunpowder. A j feathers, and finally curled hair. The
tree four feet in diameter is called un- trouble with all matresses of these ma
dersized in these woods: and so skilful ! teriala is, that they become by nse
are the wood-choppers that they can
make the largest giant of the forest fall
jnst where they want it, or, as they say,
"drive a stake with the tree" The
choppers do not stand on the ground,
but on stages raised to such a height
as to enable the axe to strike in where
the tree attains its fair and regular
thickness; for the red-wood, like the
sequoia, swells at the base, near the
ground. These trees prefer steep hill
sides, aad grow in an extremely rough
and broken country, and their great
height makes it necessary to fell them
carefully, lest they should, falling with
such an enormous weight, break to
pieces. This constantly happens in
spite of every precaution, and there is
little doubt thai in these forests and at
the mills, two feet of wood are wasted
for every foot of lumber sent to market
To mark the direction line on which the
tree is to fall, the chopper usually
drives a stake into the ground 100 or 150
feet from the base of the tree, and it is
actually common to make the tree fall
upon this stake, so straight do these
redwoods stand, and so accurate is the
skill of the cutters. To fell a tree
eight feet in diameter is counted a day's
work for a man. Harper's Magazine.
How Ciaui la 9Iade.
It is very easy to make gas, bat it
costs much trouble to purify it, that it
may bum well and give off no noxious
odors. Below is a sort of gas catechism
which conveys a good deal of important
"light" on this subject:
"How do they make gas?"
"First, they put about two bushels of
bituminous coal in a long air-tight re
tort This retort is heated red-hot.
when the gas bursts oat of it as you
see it burst out of soft coal when on the
parlor-fire The gas passes off through
pipes. A ton of coal will make ten
thousand cubie feet of gas. The gas,
as it leaves the coal, is very impure."
"How do they purify it?"
"First, while hot, it is ran off into
another building; then it is forced
through long, perpendicular pipes, sur
rounded with cold water. This cools
the gas, when a good deal of tar con
denses from it and runs down ta the
bottom of the perpendicular boiler, half
full of wood laid crosswise Then ten
thousand streams of cold water are
spurted through the boiler. Through
the mist and rain, and between the wet
sticks of wood the gas passes, coming
out washed and cleansed. The ammonia
condenses, joins the water and falls to
the bottom."
"What next?"
"Well, next, the gas is purified. It
is passed through vats of lime and oxide
of iron, which takes out the carbonic
acid and ammonia."
"What next?"
"The gas is now pure It passes
I through the big station-meter, then
tnrougn tne main ana pipes, uu 11
reaches the gas-jets in your room. Then
it burns, while yon all scold because it
docs not born better."
Da Chailra has been discovered in
the interior of Norway, evidently re
gardless of lectures or lyeeums.
Concerning Beds.
During all ages, from the earliest
times, men have displayed their inven-
. : 1 . - , 1 , - , .
uoa iu uesiguing oeas wnicn snould
gratify their natural love for comfort,
for elegance, and for luxury. Ia the
pre-historio times the dwellers in the
caves most probably followed the sug
gestion given them by the animals
which they drove out from their rocky
dens, in this early stage of the "straggle
for existence," and made their beds of
leaves. From this condition to provi
ding skins for the coverings of their
conches, was a great advance, and with
their increasing ability to dominate
their surrounding conditions, and pro
vide the materials for gratifying their
natural as well as artificial wants, this
step was bat the first in a long course
01 invention and improvement applied
10 Deus.
Among the Romans and the Greeks,
as well as the other nations of antiquity,
such an appliance as a mattress was un
known. They made their beds crjon
conches of wood, which were covered
with skins, furs, woolen and other
stuffs. Their luxury in beds consisted
only in using more expensive covermga,
replaeinff a sheep's skin by a titer's or
substituting for a rough woolen blanket
one 01 liner textare, or a shawl of silk
embroidered in gold and silver thread.
These improvements, or those consist
ing in replacing the wooden bench
which formed their support with one of
oronze, or even 01 gold or silver, was
reaiiy only a display or greater wealth.
but could not be considered in these
days an advance towards securing the
advantages 01 a comfortable, luxurious,
and healthy be
In the early period of modem history,
beds were almost universally, in Eu
rope, nothing bat bundles of straw. As
late in England as the times of Queen
Elizabeth, when no carpets were used,
and the floor was strewn with rashes,
the beds were hardly anything better,
and a wooden bench, or any rude frame
work which lifted the bed above the
floor, was a luxury. Erasmus, in his
letters, describes the social condition
of the people daring the reign of Henry
VII f, and was disgusted at the state of
the floors. The rashes, he says, were
so seldom changed, and became so
damp, that the feet were constantly
kept wet, and thence colds and con
sumption were quite common. In the
dining-rooms, he speaks of the filth
collected on the floor among the rashes;
the bits of meat and bones thrown to
the dogs, who fought around the guests'
legs for them; the beer and wine emp
tied upon the floor; the slices of bread,
used as plates for eating their meat on,
and then thrown aside, altogether giv
ing as no very high conception of the
neatness and hue breeding of the time.
leth of Queen Elizabeth," an accurate
t rom JJeiarocue s tine picture of
idea cm be gained of the
trained of the beds of roy
alty at this period, and consequently
those of the common people can be im
agined. By a careful study of the
times, and from all the contemporary
evidence bearing npon this point, Dela
roche was enabled to reproduce the
scene with a truthful accuracy of detail.
! The queen is reposing upon a bed
formed by spreading cloths upon the
floor. She is covered with richly em
broidered spreads of velvet, bordered
with golden fringe. The moment chosen
is when she is upbraiding the Countess
of Nottingham for keeping back the
ring Essex had sent to his royal mistress
just before his execution. "The queen
herself is gorgeously attired, as was her
constant custom, but the comparison
between the brilliant coverings of the
bed and its position, one which now
would be considered as in the dirt
matted and hard, and have to be re
made. Besides, too, all of these ma
terials have a greater or a less tendency
to retain the bodily exhalations, and in
all public places, such as hotels, hospi
tals, and other institutions where the
beds are used in turn by a number of
different persons, the danger of conta
gion, and the difficulty in any case of
keeping the beds hygienically clean
and pure, according to the demands of
the present medical standard, is very
great, if not impossible.
Voltaire at Feruex.
Voltaire was over sixty when he built
himself thia magnificent retreat Yet
the score of years that he lived here was
probably the busiest of his life. Dur
ing the summer he composed walking
in the shadows of his trees ; in the win
ter he worked mostly in bed. He al
ways pretended ill health, but managed
to toil fourteen hoars a day. His sec
retary slept in a little recess above Vol
taire s bed-room, and at the least noise
at night came down to write nnder bis
master's dictation. In this way this
busiest and cleverest of men made up
fur the interruptions of society. Many
stories are told of the importunate who
came from far and near to see the in
tellectual wonder of his century. None
better than the following, which I have
never met in English : One day an un
known person demanded to see the
Lord of Feraex. "Tell him that I am
not here," shouted Voltaire "But I
hear him," urged the stranger. "Tell
him that I am ill, then." "I will feel
his poise; I am in that business." "Tell
him I'm dead." "I'll bury him; it won't
be the fint one, either, I am a doctor."
"Well," exclaimed Voltaire, "that's an
obstinate mortal; let him comoin. Now
Sir, do vou take me for a strange ani
mal ?" "Yes, Sir. for the Phoenix." "Do
you know, then. Sir, that it costs twelve
sols to see me ?" "Certainly ; here are
twenty-four. I'll come again to-morrow."
Voltaire was unarmed, and lav
ished all manner of politeness npon his
visitor. Ilirper't Magazine.
Proverbs.
Proverbs in general are more read
than followed. We hear often of the
expression "the more the merrier."
Now go and ask a couple of doting
lovers, if they believe in that sort of
thing. They would undoubtedly think
that two was company, and three was
a crowd. One thing is certain it is
hard, very hard to crowd that idea into
the heads of some that is or that was to
be mother-in-laws. When I sparked
Mariah McGoozleum, her dear mamma
always helped to make up the crowd.
Bat for that I might have had the gall,
if she would have had me I can't for
the life of me, see why some mammas
so far forget themselves, as to forget
that they were once girls, and once con
sidered three waa a crowd. The old
aying is that "an honest man's word is
as good as his bond," bnt that's "too
thin" (Shakespeare again) now-e-day.a
It might have been so . at the time of
the flood, when the world had a good
washing, but it won't wash now.
Youths Column.
fader The Weather.
-Dirty 'aya ha' h Se-t ember.
ApnJ, Juna aod SoTemtvr ;
Kruai Jaoaary ao to May
The raio it raineta erery day ;
All tbereat have thtrt.-ooe
V ithoot a bU-Kaed g earn of mn ;
Anil if any f taeni bail two-aDd-tbirty.
'llialv'd be Inal aa um aud tan'e a aiirtt- "
Mioic Squares. I will give three
positions of a square of four figures to
a side :
Firat poftltion.
I A 13
3 a lu u
1 7 11 IS
111 It
Second pueittt'11.
I SHU
1 1 II II
1 10 li
4 14
Tuird pnaition.
I 11 13
14 II 7
li 10
4 a I
The second position is obtained from
the first by inverting the two middle
vertical columns, and the third from
the second by inverting the two middle
horizontal columns. It will be observed
that, in the third position, each vertical
column, each horizontal column, and
each diagonal column sums up 31.
Ia a square of eight figures to a side,
invert the four middle vertical columns,
and then the four middle horizontal
columns.
In general, invert the middle half of
the vertical and horizontal columns.
After discovering this rule, I applied
it to a square of twelve fi pares to a side.
and so simple is the process that I wrote
down not the first position or the
second, bnt the third, at the very first
dash, and without mistake X subjoin
one with eight figures to a side, so that
the application of this principle may be
seen :
Third position.
1
2
5!)
60
61
C2
7
8
9
10
51
52
53
51
15
24 32 40 43
49
50
11
12
13
14
55
56
57
53
3
4
5
6
63
61
23
46
45
44
43
13
17
31
3S
37
36
35
26
25
39
30
29
28
27
34
33
47
22
21
20
19
42
41
16
Tho sum of each row is 260.
The reader may try his ingenuity in
constructing as many tables as he
pleases. Ascertain beforehand what
each column should sum up, by the
usual method of arithmetical progres
sion. I bus : the sum of the series 1, Z,
65x64
3, 4, 5, etc, to 64, is 20SO. Di-
2
viding by g, the number of vertical or
horizontal columns, we get 260 for the
sum of each. For the series 1, 2, 3, on
to 144, briefly, each vertical column
145x144
-143x6870.
2x12
I found a square of six numbers to a
side rather harder, and one of fire to a
side quite troublesome The reason
was that the above method is not appli
cable By approximating it however.
as neirly as practicable, and then using
tentative means toward the close, I
succeeded in both cases.
These tables are not useful in the
ordinary sense of that term ; they do
not teach ns how to measure com cribs
or survey farms ; bat they may interest
pupils in arithmetic and may cultivate
the necessary bnt irksome art of adding
up columns of figures. Let the teacher
take an ordinary checker-board some
winter evening, cnt oat of card or
leather sixty-four men, namely, round
pieces of the size of a nickel ; number
them from 1 to 61, and set the boys and
girls to work to construct a magic
square. My word for it they will go at
it with an interest such as the rule of
three has failed to awaken. JZnnte and
School.
Yorso Fish-Hawki The young fish
hawks are the funniest things you ever
saw, awkward, misshapen, and yet with
such a wise, dignified expression 1 1
watched for several hours a couple
learning to fly. They sat balanced un
easily on the edge of the nest, solemn
and grave as judges, and looked as if
they had come ont of the shell knowing
everything. The old birds were coaxing
and going through' various exercises
which I suppose were the first princi
ples of flying, and the young ones tilted
about and rolled over and finally got
fastened in the sharp branches of the
tree. The mother and father fussed and
scolded, "Bill ee, Bill-ee, Stu-pid-i-ty."
The young are very slow in learning to
fly, and I nave heard that they often
linger in the nest long after they are
well able to help themselves, to be fed
and waited npon, till driven away by
the parents, who beat them out with
their wings, and peck them with their
sharp beaks. I don't like to think this,
but it may be so, for one day we found
a young bird drooping on the fence
He allowed us to come very close to
him, and we discovered that his wing
was broken. It was not shot so he
mast have fallen in his effort to fly. No
birds were near him he had evidently
been deserted. He looked forlorn and
pitiful, so we took him home and pat
him in the wagon-house The children
were very attentive to him ; they eut up
fish for him pounds of it and tried to
amuse him as if he were a lamed child.
Bat it was of no use he drooped still
more, and then died, and was buried
with martial noise and pomp. He
would not have been a successful pet,
for these birds have a lonely, isolated
nature They seem to have bred in
them the wild, untamable spirit of the
wind and wave, and if deprived of their
free, soaring flight and their sportings
in air and water, they wi!l languish
and die. Si. Nicholas.
Ant axd Lioht. Did yon ever think
of the difference between air and light
in the way they come to ns ? Yon can
not catch the sunbeam in your fingers ;
yon cannot shut it up ; you cannot even
feel it It seems as thin, as intangible
as the air itself. Yet the air penetrates
everything ; it creeps through ; it glides
under; it goes behind. There is no
escaping it ; while the sunbeam is
turned aside by every obstacle What
if light moved as air does, instead of
only in straight lines? Do yon see
what would happen ? There would be
no shadow; no escape anywhere from
the piercing brightness. The thick
green leaves would not turn it aside ;
there would be no coolness of the
woods ; no "shadow of a great rock in
a thirsty land ; no nse at all for hat
brims or sun-umbrellas. Some One
seems to have planned very, wisely and
kindly, in this one little law of light to
keep ns all comfortable and happy.
Then the sunbeam itself, though it
looks like a simple gleam of brightness,
is really a bundle of different colors
tied up together, an! each color has a
different office to perform. The artist
can separate the r.iy into its original
colors, and letting tiicm fall upon his
prepared plate, will show you that it is
only one or two of the darkest rays that
have anything to do with printing his
wonderful sun-pictures.
Said Mrs. Jenks on her return from
church: "When I see the shawls of
those Johnsons, and then think of what
I have to wear, if it was not for the
consolations of religion, I don't know
what I would do." m-
"Vavieties.
A pretty foot and ankle get up stairs
easier than those not so pretty.
The Elizabeth an horse collar is the
newe t equine fashion out West
The Masonic brethren at Barlington,
Kant as, propose to build a temple
I wonld not give a straw for a man's
religion, whose very dog and cat are
cot the better for it.
Vinnie Ream has a large Newfound
land dog who paws visitors. Why won't
his mistress pause, too ?
A little girl was once asked the fol
lowing question: "What is faith?"
She replied, "Doing God's will anl ask
ing no questions."
"Aleck" says he has trouble in hia
family. His tea year old girl, Cathar
ine, dabbed herself "Kitty," and has
gone by this name, till just now little
Harry insists npon chancing his name
to "Doggie." He says "he has as good
a right to play he is a dog, as she has
to play she is s cat"
It is estimated that over 40.000 chil
dren under one year of ago, die annually
in England (including Scotland and
Ireland) of diseases prod need by im
proper diet, given them through mis
take or through ignorance, and of only
two diseases, convulsions and diarrbosa.
Besides these, many other complaints.
sometimes fatal, are produced by im
proper ieeuicg. uoaen n ora.
There appeared recently in the obitu
ary columns of the Philadelphia Ledger
notices of the deaths of ten persons
men and five women who had lived to
or beyond the advanced age of eighty
years, to wit : Iemuel Swain, aged 80 ;
Andrew W alker, 80; Lvdia P. Johnson.
80 ; Cornelius McLaughlin, 80 ; James
nuteninson. W; Sarah Ustick, 86; John
D. Shafer. 86: Mary Kodsers. 87: Mar
tha Fairies, 91; and Martha Lowry, 93.
An English woman has set an exam
ple which American husbands will
doubtless commend to their wives for
imitation. She made a will giving all
her property to het husband, directing
that her wardrobe should be sold to de
fray the expenses of her funeral, and
expressing the hope that her dear hus
band snould straightway marry some
nice young woman who would be a good
housekeeper. Such delicate considera
tion is certainly beyond praise. It is a
pity that some hnsbandi wonld not try
to emulate it
Marshal Bazaine has taken the place
of the "Man in the Iron Mask," on the
island of Sainte Marguerite, but except
as regards his innocence or guilt will
fail to furnish debating societies with
as interesting questions for discussion
as his predecessor. St Magnerite is
one of the largest of the Isles de Lerins
in the Mediterranean sea, opposite
Cannes, France. It is about three miles
long and less than a mile broad. The
Marshal has been sentenced to seclu
sion for twenty years, bat it is expected
that he will be allowed to return to
France after a few years of exile, and
if not there will probably be abundant
opportunities for him to escape con
finement presented by tha changes of
government so characteristic of French
politics.
Upon the Eubjei't of taxation, a num
ber of important decisions have recently
Deen made iy me supreme uourt 01 the
United States. One of them denies the
right of the State to tax imported goods
in the original package, on the gronnd
that the right of importation carries
with it an unrestricted right to sell the
goods. Another decision denies the
right of the State to tax national pro
perty or the national credit in the form
of the public debt, the ground taken
being that the right to tax implies the
right to destroy. Another decision de
clares that for pnrposes of State taxa
tion the port of registry of a vessel is
the domicile of the vessel. The power
of a State to tax bills of lading, or any
form of commercial paper passing be
tween the States, is denied, hence it is
a restriction on domestic commerce.
Another decision denies the extra terri
torial operation of the tax laws of the
State, it being declared that a State has
no right to tax a corporation on its
shares, bonds or coupons, which are
held outside the State.
A little circumstance has just come
to us through a friend of the parties.
wnich we are tempted to make public
It is as follows: A couple very well
known in the country are at present ar
ranging terms for a separation, to avoid
the scandal of a judicial divorce, and a
friend has been employed by that Hus
band to negotiate the matter. The
latest mission was in reference to a
valuable ring given to the wife before
marriage by the husband. For this he
would make a certain much desired
concession, i he mend made the de
mand. "What!" said the indignant
wife, "do you venture to charge your
self with such a mission to me? Can
you believe that I could tear myself
from a gift which alone recalls to me
the days when my husband loved me ?
No ! this ring is my only souvenir of
happiness forever departed ! Tis all
(and here she wept) that I now possess
of a once fond husband." The friend
insisted. The lady supplicated grew
obstinate grew desperate threatened
to submit to a public divorce as a leaser
evil than parting with the cherished
ring and at last confessed that she
had sold it six months before.
A correspondent recently wrote to the
Philadelphia Ledger an account of
what he supposed to be the fall of "a
piece of the moon," on Christmas eve,
the falling mass "leaving a bright
comet-like tail behind it" in its descant
to the earth. The direction of its fall
is not stated, bnt it is a noticeable f Jet
that the Virginia paper of a late date
give accounts of a meteorological phe
nomenon which occurred on the same
evening, and which may have some con
nection with that noticed by onr cor
respondent in Philadelphia. About
eight o'clock in the evening there waa
a great flash of light in Fauquier
county, Virginia, accompanied by a
distinct vibrating motion of the earth,
and followed immediately with a report
like that of a cannon. The light and
sound seemed to move from east to
west The falling luminous body ob
served by the correspondent was pro
bably a meteor, and the account of the
Virginia phenomenon is similar to those
given of falling asrolites. These mete
oric bodies sometimes burst with a load
noise, and their particles are scattered
over a wide extent of territory, and
sometimes the force of the explosion
grinds them into dust which falls harm
lessly and leaves scarcely any sign of
its presence There are several theories
to account for the fall of meteors, the
most plausible being that they are scat
tered fragments of nebuluoe matter,
circling throughout space, and which
are made luminous by friction from
contact with the earth'a atmosphere
whenever the orbits of tha meteoric
matter and of the earth happen to eroaa
each other.
1