B. F. SCHVVEIEH,
THE CONSTITUTION' THE UNION A5D THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOI XXVIII.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., MARCH IS, 1874.
NO. 11.
Poetry.
Life's Question.
Drifting away
Lik. mote on th. stream,
T-dmr' disappointment,
Yesterday'e drama ;
Ever resolving,
Verer V Mod
Sneh is oar progress :
Where is th sndr
Whirling K war
Lik. leaf on th. vial.
Points of attachment
Left daily behind;
Fixed to n. principle.
Fact to no friend
Soch oar fidelity :
Where U the end
Floating away
Like a cioad on the hill.
Pendulous, trema'.oaa.
Migrating still ;
Where to repose oarselTee?
Whllher to tend?
Sach oar cuaistency :
Where it the nd
Crystal the pavement
Seen throat; h the stream ;
F.rm the reality
Under the dream.
We may not feel it,
fitlll e mar mend.
How ve have conquered,
Kot known till the end.
Bright learea may scatter.
Sports of the wind ;
Bat stands through the wiit t
The great tree behind.
Frost shall not writhr it ;
Storms cannot bend
Bouts flrmly claeplcg
The ruck at the end.
Calm Is the firmament
Over the cloud ; -
Clear shine the stars through
The nfts of the shroud.
TKert our repose shall be.
Thither we tend
S;ite of onr waverings.
Approved at the end.
Zvlisseolltin v
Xertons Mollier.
There is a sentiment among Ameri
can women which makes it de rigueur
for a mother to have her children always
about her. If she does not nurse her
infant and modern American mothers
can rarely do that ehe has it constantly
in her presence ; and purposely employs
an ignorant and inexperienced nurse,
for the sake of having one about her
who will submit to be constantly
harassed by directions. The practical
result of this sentimental maternity is
really disastrous. American women are
nervous, American men are nervous.
Naturally they Lave nervous children ;
children of slender physique, but easily
excited iiito an exhibition of precocious
intelligence, which is considered genius.
To make it "notice" early, to make it
talk soon, and then to report its wise
and witty sayings, is the aim of the
fond American mother's life.
Instead of letting the little creature
suck its fist and grow fat, it is jumped
and danced and seesawed, confused with
unmeanirg sounds', bewildered by un
ceasing gabble. It is made to know its
"own paps and mamma" before it
kDows there are such things as papas
and mammas. It is made to repeat like
a parrot names to which it can attach
no sense or meaning, and pick the eyes,
nose, mouth, and other featnres out
of every visitor s head.
The English method of placing very
young children in the hands of expe
rienced nurses, and making them re
sponsible, is much better. The nervous
activity of the mother would then cease
to irritate, and only act as an occasional
stimulus. The child would be subject
to less excitement, less indulgence,
more regular and heathy habits. The
trained mechanism of the nurse, which
admits of little outward manifestation
of feeling, surrounds her charge with
just the quiet, unevenful atmosphere in
w hich a baby bent grows and thrives.
A large, airy nursery at the top of the
house ; a good, clean, wholesome Bel
gian, Swiss, or Swedish woman to take
charge of it ; breakfasts of oatmeal por
ridge and milk ; dinners of roast or
boiled beef or mutton and rice pudding ;
tea of bread and butter, milk and fruit,
and nocandyor"pieces"between meals ;
rides with mamma and visits at bed
time : this is the routine which Ameri
can children need, and which they must
have, to counteract the unfortunate
tendencies which so many inherit from
their parents, and which are aggravated
by sharing their bad habits, their late
dinners, and the stimulating pressure
of their constant society.
Xcwfoaodland not Part of
Canada.
On the 8th of November the general
election in Newfoundland to decide
whether the island should become a
part of Canada or remain, as now, in
possession of its responsible govern
ment, took place, and the result has
proved favorable to those opposed to
the scheme of confederation. In St.
John's, the capital of the island, a vigo
rous opposition was made to the scheme
of confederation, and not one confeder
ate was returned in that city. Ferry
land, Harbor Maine, Placentia and St.
Mary's, all returned anti-confederate
members. Trinity and Harbor Grace
have alone returned confederates, but
the greater number of the voters are
poor, and they ara absolutely con
trolled by their English employers.
The enthusiasm in St. John's over the
third and final triumph of the anti
confederates was most ardent. This
victory in Newfoundland is conspicu
ous in view of the struggles made by
Nova Scotia, New-Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island to remain in possession
of their own Parliament. That island
is to-day the only nnannexed province
in British North America.
Why "ot Karcessfal.
The young clerk marries and takes a
house, which be proceeds to finish
twice as expensively as he can afford,
and then his wife, instead of striving
to help him earn a livelihood, by doing
her own work, must have a servant to
help her spend his limited earnings.
Ten years afterward he will be found
struggling on under a double load of
debts and children, wondering why the
luck was always against him, while his
friends regret his unhappy destitution
of financial ability. Had they from the
first been frank and honest, he need not
have been so unlucky. The world is
full of people who can't imagine why
they don't prosper like their neighbors,
when the real obstacle is not in banks,
tariffs, bad public policy or hard times,
but their own extravagance and heedless
ostentation.
The doll of the period is elaborately
dressed, wears jewelry, and is too nice
to play with.
WHAT A STRASGE SAME!
"Jessie, my dear, read the deaths for
me. "It's such a dark morning I don't
seem able to see this fine print," said
old Mrs. Martin to her granddaughter.
"I guess it is a dark day," answered
Jessie pettishly. "It's too bad for the
rain to come to-day when we were going
to have a game of croquet in the park,
with the Simonsons."
"We must never find fault with the
weather, my child. Remember who
sends the rain, and think of the good it
do,- to the country. Think of all the
mills which need water to work their
machinery, and the many animals who
depend on the rain to fill the little
streams where they drink. Indeed, we
shouldn't have water enough to supply
onr own wants, only the rain falls so
abundantly. Anyhow, what are our
little amusements compared with the
interests of the great region on which
the rain falls ?"
"I didn't think of that, grandma.
Give me the paper, and let me yad for
yon. I'll try and forget my disappoint
ment." "That's a good, sensible girL TO
give yon a maxim that will always help
you : 'Make the best of it.' Now, my
dear, just read the deaths over."
Jessie read aloud till near the end of
the column, when she was struck by the
following : "On Monday, at the resi
dence of her son, Hugh Emerson, De
liverance Emerson, aged sixty."
"Vhy, grandma, what a strange
name ! Deliverance. I wonder what
the folks called her for short Del,
Liver, or Ancyf" exclaimed Jessie,
laughing.
"Hush, child ! Read that again. Is
Deliverance dead ? Why. she was a
little baby when I was engaged to your
granmatnerr lieau that again.
Jessie read the notice again, and then
said : "Then you knew her grandma?"
"Knew her child ! I should think I
did know her. Dear me, to think that
the baby I held in my arms is gone be
fore me !"
"Tell me about her, grandma. Why
did her father and mother give her such
a name 7
'It's quite a story, child."
"Well, tell it to me, please, grandma.
You know I love to hear you tell of
when you were young, and it will make
up for the game of croquet I expected
to play this morning."
'Well, let me think a moment. It
brings back the time when your grand
father and I used to stroll by the creek
and across the meadows to gather
apples. H ell, 1 was aoout seventeen.
when a family named Field came to set
! tie in our country. They were odd
i kind of people, didn't go to meeting,
: and kept somewhat to themselves. We
j all wondered what they were.and where
they came from ; but they never told
J us. Well, they had one child, a little
, baby a few months old ; and they were
i very fond of this baby ; it seemed as if
they were always playing with the child
and talking baby-talk when any of the
neighbors passed that way. The father
painted pictures of the child in various
positions, and hung the paintings np in
the sitting-room."
"Was Mr. Field a painter?"
"He knew something about it, but
couldn't make a living by it, so he took
to farming. He didn't do much at that
either ; only just managed to live, that's
all.
"But what happened to the baby,
grandma ? I'm so impatient to hear."
"Well, I'm coming to it. One June
afternoon, Ned Martin and I were near
his father's mill, on the Barton River.
He was talking about the lowness of the
water preventing the mills from work
ing. He said the men of the neighbor
hood were going to cut a trench from
Long Lake to the little lake from which
the Barton River flowed, so that they
could get a supply of water to work the
mill."
"This was in Vermont, grandma,
wasn't it ?" said Jessie eagerly.
"Yes, in the northern part of Ver
mont. Well, on the 16th of June, 1810
I remember the date better than if it
happened last year the men were cut
ting the trench, when, on a sudden.
Long Lake burst its borders and poured
down the hill between the two. What
a fearful noise the torrent made as it
rushed along. We heard the noise and
saw the furious stream, but we were not
near enough to be in danger of our
lives. The torrent rushed across the
country fifteen miles, to Lake Mem
phremagog, carrying with it rocks,
hills, forests, houses, mills, and cattle.
"When the water had subsided, it was
found that no lives were lost, except
the Fields' little baby. Their house
was swept away with the baby in it,
Mr. Field was out in the woods at the
time, and Mrs. Field had left the house
for a few minutes, to get something out
of the garden. Of course every one
gave the baby up, and Mr. and Mrs.
Field set off towards Lake Memphre
magog to seek for the body.
"Soon after they left, Ned was out in
the boat, when he saw the ruins of a
house a little in from the course of the
torrent. He doesn't know why he was
led to go and see what was among the
ruins, but he looked nnder the planks,
and saw a child nearly famished, but
still breathing. He didn't know the
child, but supposed it to be the one the
Fields had lamented so bitterly. Our
house was nearer than his, so he
brought the baby to me, and mother
warmed and fed the little creature
carefully till she became quite recov
ered, "l carried the helpless thing
about, and petted it for several weeks
till I grew very fond of it."
"But didn't the father and mother
learn that the baby was saved ?"
"Not for two yes three months.
They didn't come back, and though
several of the neighbors tried to find
them, they did not succeed. The reason
was, Mr. and Mrs. Field both took a
fever from being out in the wet looking
for their baby, and went to a cousin's
house near the Canada border."
"What a pity they didn't know I" j
"Yes, but I suppose there was a pur
pose in it alL Well, in September, Mr.
Field came back to sell bis farm. As
soon as your grandfather saw him, he
told all the good news, and led the as
tonished father to onr house, where I
put baby into his arms.
"Before Thanksgiving day came
round, the neighbors had rebuilt Mr.
Field's house, and furnished it. Ou
Thankgiving day the Fields moved in
with grateful hearts.
'We'll call the little one Deliver
ance,' Mr. Field said to Ned and me
when we were bidding him good-bye,
for she has been delivered from great
danger, and her loss and restoration
have led me from doubt into the paths
of faith and hope.'"
v i TTit J ... raiher fond of
crowding her dinner-table. Once, when
1 J A C r 1 wr w-valrasf
the company was aireaujr , r
-a a. J anrl a) " A
an unexpected guest mi,
stantlT gave her imperious oruer.
, . . ! i t" Tt mnst eer-
"iinwreii, maw xwus --- ..
tainly be made," he answered, for it
does not exm:
Mistakes la Life.
There is no more prolific cause of
repining and discontent in life than
that found in looking back upon bygone
mistakes. We are fond of persuading
ourselves ana others that could other
crises have been decided differently.
our whole course in life would have
been one of nnmingled success, instead
oi the partial failure that it so often
appears. None can tell how weight?
may be the results of even a trifling
acuon, nor now much ot the future is
bound np in every day decisions.
The great error men make in this
revision is in attributing their failures
to circumstances, instead of to charac
ter. They see the mistakes which lie
on the surface, but fail to trace them
back to the sources from which they
spring. The truth is, that crises are
the occasions for bnnrnner out predo
minating traits of character. They are
tests of the nature and qualities of the
man, rather than the causes of future
success or failure. Chances are lost
and opportunities wasted ; advisers ill
chosen, and disastrous speculations
undertaken ; nnhappy marriages con
tracted ; but there is nothing properly
accidental in these steps. They are to
be regarded as the results of unbalanced
character as much as the causes of
future misery. The disposition of mind
that led to these errors would certainly,
under other circumstances, have led to
different, but not less lamentable re
sults. We see clearly in judging of others.
We attribnte their mischances without
compunction to the faults that we see
in them, and sometimes even make
cruel mistakes in the investigation ; but
, in reviewing cur own course, self draws
' - : l - r i - ,
veil over our lmpertecuons, anil we
persuade ourselves that unavoidable
mistakes or unfortunate circumstances
are the entire cause of all our misfor
tunes. It is true that no circumstances
are always favorable ; no training per
fectly judicious; no friends wholly
wise ; yet he who is ever shifting the
blame of his mischances upon these
external causes, is the very man who
has the most reason to trace them to
his own inherent weaknesses or de
merits. It is questionable whether the habit
of looking much at mistakes, even of
our own, is a very proUtable one. Cer
tainly the practice of moaning over and
bewailing them, and charging upon
them all the evils that afflict us, is the
most injurious to our future course,
and the greatest hindrance to any real
improvement of character. Acting from
impulse and not from reason, is one of
the chief causes of these mistakes, and
be who would avoid them in the future
will submit all his sudden impulses to
the searching and penetrating ordeal of
his best reason before acting upon them.
Above all, the steady formation of vir
tuous habits, the subjection of all action
to principle rather than to policy ; the
stern and unflinching adherence to right,
so far and as fast as it is discovered,
are the best safeguards against mistakes
in life.
F.iuernon's IHjsticlsut.
I think that the mysticism of Emer
son's style was not wholly native and
spontaneous to him. But his intuitions
told him, and rightly, that without it
he could not gain his just influence ;
our community would deny him a bear
ing if he should begin by telling us
bluntly what he thought. The most
conscientious readers are often the most
bigoted. In order not to provoke the
needless enmity of these good people,
Emerson employed an exquisite obscur
antism in his style. Persons of mature
prejudices passed him by as incompre
hensible. They did not take the trouble
to understand him ; they took up the
cudgels and quarreled with enemies
whose weapons were coarse, but far less
dangerous than Emerson's enchanted
lance. But the young, meanwhile, the
ardent and delicate spirits of the times,
were reading his sayings with glowing
hearts. In them they found the cool
ness, the freedom, the mystery of
Nature; his sentences seemed to flow
down from the mountain springs. Emer
son's thought was attended to ; it gained
its deserved influence, and has colored
the better character of America. It
was the triumph of wise method. I do
not say that here a wise method was
all. Only genius could have wrought
so admirable a weapon as Emerson's
style. But it was this that gave him
opportunity. A categorical clearness
in his first volume would have been
ruinous. If vulgar people had known
what he meant, he would have been
whirled away into their gulfs of contro
versy, and we should have lost Emerson
and "the best of New England culture.
Lippincott's Magazine.
A Friend in Seed.
"Confidence," says the proverb, "is
a plant of slow growth." It is, per
haps, not best to grow at all in the
Australian bush, judging from the fol
lowing incident by a Melbourne paper
A certain person was traveling through a
lonely district, when he heard a great
outcry. Thinking bushrangers were at
work, he fired off a pistol to intimidate
them, and presently the noise ceased
and a scampering was heard. On com
ing to the open ground the traveler
discovered a man tied to a tree. "Oh,
sir," cried the victim, "I am so glad
you are come, I have been attacked by
ruffians, and they were roooing me
when they heard your pistoL" And
couldn't yon get loose, my friend?"
asked the traveler. "iNo ; they tietl me
so very tiirhtlv." "And did they rob
yoa of everything ?'' "No, only my
watch. I hey Had not time to searcn
for my money, which 1 placed in my
left boot" "How fortunate," observed
the traveler; "was the sum consider
able ?" "Over a thousand, thank hea
ven," said the poor man. "Are you
sure they are gone I asked the other.
'Oh, certain." The new comer looked
around and around, and seeing the
coast clear, said cooly, "Well, as they're
gone, I think 1 11 finish the job myselL,
And he proceeded to rob the unfortu
nate victim. London Globe.
VI ho Cares lor the Children ?
What is everybody's business is no
body's business 1 What do the children
read ? What do they get at the News
stands? Are there bad periodicals for
children as well as bad books ? Will
the Newspapers all over the land look
into this business and call attention to
it I im
c MAnihi arm vrnintr crirl in
OCVCIW uiwuiUD "t,"j J O O
o. tr-niiajw-n aa-Tii ihitfh.1 marks on her
Ottil jom-iow --
hands, feet nd side, which she asserted
. . . . 1 iL.
were the stigmata, or mar&s oi sua cru
cifixion, and which she stated to be of
miraculous origin. Many persons are
:.i !. holieved in the miracle.
The Catholic authorities, however, had
the girl placed in a convent, wuera sue
was carefully watched, and it was lately
discovered that she was an impostor, as
the marks were caused by self inflicted
wounds.
Lire in Xorthern Texas.
The climate of Northern Texas, dur
ing nine months out of the twelve, is
absolutely and perfectly delightful.
Ihere is no snch thing as intense sul
triness, for a refreshing breeze is al
ways blowing. Spring comes in April,
and enamels the prairies with a wealth
of blossoms, among which none are
more splendidly beautiful than the prai
rie plume, a plant which sends np a
lofty flower-stalk, crowning it with a
plume-like head of closely clustered
crimson flowers. These prairie plains
are destined, some time in the not far
distant future, to supersede Florida
and Minnesota as a resort for consump
tives. The dryness and equability of
the atmosphere strengthens, vitalizes.
and heals the lnngs that have become
diseased in a wet or freezing climate.
It is said that a case of consumption
never originates there ; while many who
have gone there in the last stages of it
have taken a new lease of life and lived
comfortably for fifteen or twenty years.
In such cases, however, they got the
full benefit of the healing air by breath
ing it in an undefiled state, sleeping
under a tent, or in an open log cabin.
As a farming country. Northern Texas
possesses great attractions. Its broad,
rolling prairies are easily convertible
into fields of cotton there is no clear
ing to be done, only the tall grass to be
burned off in the spring.or turned under
with a plow. And cotton grows there
beautifully. Since railroad facilities
have been introduced its culture pays
handsomely. If a farmer wants to raise
corn, oats, barley, and wheat, as well
as cotton, he ran just fence in a big
prairie field, fifty, a hundred, or three
hundred acres, as he chooses, and not
go to the trouble of "taking in" all the
land he owns. Two plowings, one with
a turn-plow, the other with a sweep,
will make a crop of cotton, though, as
in the "Old States," it does better with
more careful culture. The quick growth
of cockle-burrs and sun-flowers necessi
tates the use of the hoe more than grass
or any other kind of weeds. Corn yields
splendidly, r rom one quart of corn,
planted in May, three bushels were
gathered. Stock raising is a specialty
of Texan farmers. A herd of forty cows
will, in twenty years, produce a drove
of eight hundred ; horses increase in
the sme ratio, and both get their living
off the prairies, the owner taking no
trouble further than branding them ;
the mark generally being his own ini
tials. Colts are broken, a few at a time,
from a drove, caught with a lasso and
thrown down. An unbroken horse will
bring fifty dollars ; a broken one, seventy-five
In the spring of the year cattle spec
ulators pass through the country buy
ing up cattle for beef, giving, where
they buy a large drove, not more than
six dollars per head. A cruel custom
prevails among these cattle drovers,
which they excuse on the ground of ex
pediency. As large numbers of cows
with calves are included iu the droves,
they drive them all together for a few
days, till they come to some well-watered
timber, where, having Camped,
they shoot all the young calves, saving
their skins, which will bring them as
much money as the calves' flesh would.
They remain at these camps several
days, so that the cows may see and be
convinced that their calves are dead, as
otherwise they would not submit to be
driven. The drovers contend that it is
more merciful to kill the little calves in
this way than to wear them out by a
march of several hundred miles, as their
usual course lies northward to the track
of the Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska
Railways, where the cattle are shipped
for beef to Eastern markets. The set
tled population of Northern Texas ac
cumulate property rapidly, raise their
herds of cows and horses, and the finest
of wheat, but there is a large floating
population, constantly on the move,
who hardly pay expenses.
There are a good many Indians still
in the country. It is said that in the
part of country inhabited by the Com
anches a silver and copper mine has
been discovered, which will doubtless
be opened and worked by capitalists in
a few years. The friendly Indians who
come into the country keep np the old
system of barter, bringing venison,
hams, deer-skins, moccasins, and bas
kets to exchange for blankets, whisky,
powder, shot, corn, and flour. Their
baskets are beautiful specimens of deft
handiwork, made of aplil cane, bril
liantly colored, red, green, blue, and
yellow, with vegetable dyes. They are
made by the squaws, who, as from time
immemorial, do all the work while the
warriors hunt and ride. The price of a
basket is what it will hold of corn,
wheat, or flour. They nse no salt with
bread or meat, stripping the flesh en
tirely off the bones, and stretching it as
thin as possible to dry it. Their method
of killing a beef aptly illustrates their
savage temper, and how they educate
themselves to practice the torture.
Several of them get round the animal to
be killed, and shoot arrows at it in parts
of the body where the points of the ar
rows sticking in will only produce a
stinging, irritating sensation, and this
they will continue, laughing, yelling,
hooting, at the evident sufferings of the
victim for hours, until, indeed, they
see it droop as if about to die, then a
well-aimed arrow through some vital
part instantly dispatches it. To this
day they occasional 1 steal white girl
children and Barry them off, in order to
get a ransom for them, managing to get
the reward, on the restoration of the
child, without betraying the original
thief.
The Home of Landseer. I
The house of the late Sir Edwin Land
seer is at the end of St John's Wood
road, London. It is a long, low build
ing, standing in some acres of garden,
at the bottom of which runs the Regent's
Park Canal. The original of one of the
Trafalgar square lions keeps grim watch
from nnder a gigantic tarpaulin kennel
on any visitors approaching the house
across the gravelled conrt-yrd which
lies between it and the road. The
painting room is a large bare room' with
two high windows facing north. Great
doors with rusty hinges open into the
garden, and through them came the
horses, dogs, dead lions, and all sitters
that were not human. A bobby-horse
with a side-saddle, and all the numer
ous straps and buckles correctly ad
justed, attests the painter's fidelity to
all the minuter accessories of his art.
In one corner stands the huge couch,
covered with a tartan, on which the
painter spent many hours of the last few
j ears of his suffering life. Two busts
of the Queen, at different ages, attract
every eye, placed, as they were, in the
master's lifetime, almost in the centre
of the room ; while his stand of half
emptied color-tubes, and even the raised
chair occupied by his sitters, are just
as he left them. The walls and ceiling
are toned by age into a harmonious
gray, which did not attract the painter's
sight from his work, and pleased him
far better, so he was used to say, than
the glaring whiteness and cleanliness
dear to less artistio eyes.
twelve natives, and an ample store of
stones is kept, which they throw both
with slings and with the hand, with
great force and precision. At the foot
of each of these trees is another hut, in
which the family usually reside, the
tree house being only resorted to at
night and in time of danger. In fact,
however, they are never safe from sur
prise, notwithstanding all their precau
tions, as the great object in life among
the people is to get each other's heads.
Captain Simpson found a row of twenty
five fresh human heads fastened up
across the front of a chief's house.
Raids are made to get heads and to eat
the bodies. The heads of men, women,
and children are all taken, and the
wonder is that the island has not be
come depopulated.
The people of this and other islands
are not, however, noted tor their cou
rage. Such a thing as a stand-up fight
between tribes is almost unknown, but
they prowl about for prey, attacking
whenever they have a victim in their
power, without risk to themselves. In
some of the islands the men have long
hair, which they wear in fashions like
those adopted by the other sex in civil
ized lands, the favorite modes being
the chignon or loose down the back ;
the women, whose hair is shorter than
the men's, wear it loose and undressed.
"In their clothing there is not at
present opportunity for European or
any other fashions."
Home Life in the Hash.
The first months of this year found
us very anxious to get the log-house
finished which had been so well begun
by our four gentlemen, and as soon as
the weather moderated a little, and our
means allowed us to get help, we had it
roofed, floored, chinked, and mossed.
It was necessary to get it finished so
that we might move before the great
thaw should cover the forest paths with
seas of slush and mud, and before the
creek between us and our domicile
should be swollen so as to render it im
possable for ladies. When the work
men had finished, we sent to the nearest
town for a settler's stove ; and as the
ox team could bring it no farther than
the corner of the road which skirts one
end of my lot, your brothers had the
agreeable task of bringing it piecemeal
on their backs, with all its heavy be
longings, down the precipitous side of
my gully, wading knee deep through
the creek at the bottom, and scram
bling up the side nearest here. It was
quite a service of danger, and I felt
truly thankful that no accident oc
curred. Another important event also
took place, and this was the christening
of our dear little bush girl, who by this
time was thriving nicely.
Our Church of England clergyman at
B e kindly came over to perform the
ceremony, but as no special day had
been named, his visit took ns by sur
prise, and the hospitality we were able
to extend to him was meagre indeed.
This christening certainly presented a
marked contrast to our last. It was no
well-dressed infant, in a richly embroid
ered robe, and French lace cap like a
cauliflower wig, that I handed to our
good minister, but a dear little soft
bundle of rnmnled flannel, with inst
enough of face visible to receive the
baptismal sprinkling. We all stood
round in our anomalous costumes, and
a cracked slop-basin represented the
font. Nevertheless, our little darling be
haved incomparably well, and all passed
off pleasantly. Atlantic Monthly.
An Old-Time Rat Exterminator.
Many years ago there stood on the
bank of a river in Tyrone County, Ire
land, an old jail, which was so terribly
infessted with rats that the prisoners
were often bitten while sleeping in their
cells. Every method of extermination
had been tried without avail, and the
authorities had almost determined to
forsake the premises and leave the rats
in possession, when one day a wretched,
weird-looking old man, who was incar
cerated for some offence, requested an
interview with the Governor of the jail.
His request was granted, and when he
was alone with the Governor he stated
that he was able and willing to extermi
nate every rat from the place by the
next morning, if he might have his free,
dom in return. He also stipulated that
no questions were to be asked concern
ing his method of doing it, nor was a
single rat to be molested by anybody
during the time intervening. The cu
riosity of the Governor was aroused and
he consented to the old man's request.
He then asked the Governor for pen,
ink, and paper, which were given him.
He wrote something npon the paper and
placed it in the largest rat-hole he could
find. He invited the Governor and the
officials to assemble next morning on
the lawn in front of the jaiL At the
appointed time they were all anxiously
watching the door, when to their amaze
ment out came, first, an old gray rat
bearing in his mouth the identical pa
per which the old man had placed in
the hole, and following after him in
single file came about two hundred rats,
marching slowly onward until they dis
appeared in the distance. Never after
ware was a rat seen or heard of in the
place. This story has been handed
down through generations, and vouched
for as an authentic incident.
Three Habitation in tne South
Ht Islands.
Among the papers presented to the
British Parliament relating to the South
Sea islanders, is a report by C.iptain C.
H. Simpson, of Her Britannic Majesty's
ship Blanche, giving an account of his
visit in 1872 to the Solomon and other
groups of islands in the Pacific ocean.
While at Isabel Island, Captain Simp
son, with a party of officers, went a
short distance inland to visit one of the
curious tree villages, peculiar, he be
lives, to this island. He found the vil
lage built on the summit of a rocky
mountain, rising almost perpendicularly
to a height of eight hundred feet. The
party ascended by a native path, and
found the extreme summit a mass of
enormous rocks standing up like a
castle, among which grew gigantic
trees, in the branches of which the
houses of the natives are built. The
stems of these trees rise perfectly
straight and smooth, without a branch
to a height of from fifty to one hundred
and' fifty feet. In the one Captain
Simpson ascended, the house was just
eighty feet from the ground ; one close i
to it was about one hundred and twenty i
feet. The only means of approach to '
these houses is by a ladder made of a
creener. suspended from a rxmt within
the house, and which, of course, can be
hauled np at wilL
The houses are most ingeniously
built, and are very firm and strong.
Each house will contain from ten to
Mrs. Kevercantell hasn't heard of the
Brown girls making their debut yet,
but she don't whether it will be safe to
notice them or not, since she under
stands they are going to act in concert.
Charity.
Without the exercise of this grace it
is impossible to make domestic and so
cial life delightful. Deeds and words
of conventional courtesy, grown familiar
are comparatively empty lorms. lbe
charitable soul carries with it a charmed
atmosphere of peace and love, breathing
which, all who come within its benign
influence unfold their noblest qualities
and develop their most amiable traits.
Inharmonious influences are neutral
ized, the harsh discipline of life is
changed to wholesome training, the
crooked places are made straight, and
the rough smooth.
The uncharitable and censorious are
generally found among the narrow' the
bigoted, and those who have never read
the full page of their own hearts, or
been subjected to various and crucial
tests. How can a man whose tempera
ment is phlegmatic, judge justly of him
whose blood is fiery, whoso nature is
tropical, and whose passions mount in
an instant and as quickly subside ? How
can one in the seclusion of private life
accurately measure the force of the in
fluences those are subjected to who live
and act in the centre of vast and power
ful civil or social circles 7
No man in this country has been a
target lor so much abuse of all kinds.
and perhaps justly, as Aaron Burr. But
can any one doubt that if his mother
had lived to form bis character he would
have been a different man ? Could she
have restrained him within the bounda
ries of virtue, by the power of love and
example, and presented the Christian
faith to him in the contrite form of a
saintly and lovely life, instead of in the
harsh outlines of a doctrinal theology,
is it probable that he would have ab
jured the faith of his fathers and lived,
as he did, utterly without God in the
world ? Confided to the care of a stern
old Puritan uncle, having religion forced
upon him in its most repulsive forms of
bigotry, self-denial and dogma, no won
der a free, bold, sunny, and defiant na
ture like his revolted. We do not pro
pose to justify Aaron Burr in any of his
misdeeds, but simply to suggest ways
by which, while we hate tke sin with all
our hearts, we may still the sinner love.
Frank and expressive people are not
Bearly so liable to misconstruction as
are those who by reason of trials known
only to themselves, of adverse or pros
perous circumstances, of powerful temp
tations, or a peculiar course of life are
beyond the reach of ordinary sympathy
auJ incapable of being easily under
stood by their fellows. If a man for a
series of years gives himself to the
study of disease by the aid of the mi
croscope, and will believe nothing but
what he sees with his own eyes through
his lens, while his accurate knowledge
of disease is enlarged, and his powers
of observation and judgment strength
ened, may not his wings of faith lack
exercise and grow weak ? Some of our
scientists study so closely the silver
side of the shield, the handwriting upon
rocks and forms, the elemental consti
tution and laws of the physical world,
that they neglect the golden side where
on in letters of light is inscribed the
revelation of God himself. Shall we
condemn them for this? Nay, and yet
their indifference need not shake our
faith.
Could we know the secret influences
by which the characters of those around
us are formed, we should have a key
wherewith to decipher what is now in
hieroglyph. Wanting this we frequently
censure or condemn what could we read
we might admire or pity. "I know I'm
deceitful," said a young lady the other
day, "but father has always been so
stern, so blunt and so cross, that in
putting a pleasant face npon matters
and smothing things over, I couldn't
help becoming deceitful." The charac
ters of children and young people are
often warped in this manner, and stran
gers ignorant of their domestio history
are at a loss how to explain inconsist
ences. The best of us are bound to
confess that but for the circumstances
from birth and training we, too, might
swell the multitude of convicts that fill
onr penitentiaries.
He who carries ever with him the
spirit of boundless charity to man often
does good when he knows not of it. An
influeuce goes forth from him which
soothes the distressed, encourages the
drooping, stimulates afresh the lover of
virtue, and begets its own image and
likeness in all beholders.
Here and Hereafter.
Two glorious futures lie before us :
the progress of the race here, the pro
gress of the man hereafter. History
indicates that the individual man needs
to be transplanted in order to excel the
past. He appears to have reached his
perfection centuries ago. Men lived
then whom we have never yet been able
to surpass, rarely even to equal. Our
knowledge has gone on increasing, for
that is a material capable of indefinite
accumulation. But for power, for the
highest reach and range of mental and
spiritual capacity in every line, the
lapse of two or three thousand years
has shown no sign of increase or im
provement. What sculptor has sur
passed Phidias ? What poet has trans
cended JE jchylus, Homer, or the author
of the book of Job ? What devout as
pirant has soared higher than David or
Isaiah ? What statesman have modern
times produced mightier or grander
than Pericles? What patriot martyr
truer or nobler than Socrates? Wherein,
save in mere acquirements, was Bacon
superior to Plato? Very early in our
history, individual men beat their
wings against the allotted boundaries
of their earthly dominions ; early in
history God gave to the human race the
types and patterns to imitate and ap
proach, but never to transcend. Here,
then, surely we see clearly intimated to
us our appointed work viz : to raise
the masses to the true standard of har
monious virtue and capacity ; not to
strive ourselves to overleap that stand
ard ; not to put our own souls or brains
into a hot bed, but to put all our fellow
men into a fertile and a wholesome soil.
Enigma of Life.
The newly-elected Lord Mayor of
London, Sir Sidney Waterlow, is a
practical printer. In early life he was
an apprentice to Messrs. Harrison,
Government Printers, and through his
own exertions and ability has won
honor and distinction. During the
past few years he has devoted himself
to the welfare of the working classes
in various ways, and was the promoter
of some excellent and cheap cottages
for workingmen in various parts of the
city that has just chosen him to be its
Chief Magistrate,
Bogwood comes from the swamps of
Ireland, and is only wood that has lain
a few centuries in the strange, resinous
mud, until it is so hard and black that
it will polish finely. The mud of these
swamps will burn, and is sometimes
made into candles ; and no doubt the
whole thing is on its way to make soft
eoaL
Youths' Column.
Onr Baby.
L'ttle b'rie eyea.
Little bro a locks,
Ltttl piumf. chp.se.
Little low tricks :
Xaar na on moment the neit oat of slgbX
Who has a heart ha'f so featur ry-ligh'.
Who has a amiln half so rMbyiau-oright
AaBabjr
De- little wars
On ling the time
Odd little -says"
Not rutin rOTrj
Who eaa win hearts half so quickly na she t
Who ejch a bmrht b t of suu.hiu.caa be f
Who loves n bahj so darly an wa
oar Baby f
A Tars Story or a Camel. I dare
say many of my little readers have seen
a camel ; but I don t think they ever
saw such a funny camel as I saw in
London last year.
lasing my little son with me one
pleasant morning, we drove to the Zoo
logical Gardens in Regent's Park. These
Gardens contain the largest collection
of animals in the world. One must
spend a whole day there to see it thor
oughly. We spent a good part of the
day, and it was there that we saw this
wonderful camel.
He was a very biz fellow, and had for
his own apartment, all to himself, a
circular iece of ground surrounded by
an iron 'railing. But the remarkable
thing about him was, that he was going
through the most singular antics, racing
around his enclosure on three legs, and
dragging the other after him as if it
were broken.
A crowd of boys stood around him.
shouting with laughter at this odd per
formance ; and I soon discovered the
secret of the creature's gambols. A
little lame boy had been in the habit of
running round the circular enclosure,
rattling bis crutch against the pavement.
to the great delight and amusement of
Mr. Camel, who, after numerous visits
from the boy, had come out with this
remarkable imitation.
Now, a camel is not a graceful beast
at any time ; and when he attempts to
mimio a lame boy, he presents a very
funny appearance. I asked the boy if
he fed him often : and he said, "Oh.
ves ! 1 always bring him something to
eat."
So whether the camel had an eye to
the boy's good things, or whether he
played the mimic just for fun, we shall
never know. At all events, he did it to
perfection, and I never was more amused
in my life. The Surgery.
A Sagacious Calf. My little readers
have been told about sagacious dogs
and horses ; but have they ever heard
of a sagacious ca'f t Uacle Horace,
who lives on a farm, has one, the only
one I ever saw. Her name is Bessie,
and she is not quite a year old yet.
In the lot where Bessie is kept, there
is a trough which is usually filled with
water, so that the calves can come and
drink when they are thirsty. The other
day the trough happened to be empty
when i5essie came to drink ; an J what
do you think she did ?
hy, she put up her fore-feet into
the trough, and, reaching her head
over the fence, took hold of the pump-
handle with her mouth, and worked it
np and down just as she had seen the
folks do when they were pumping
water.
Aunt Nancy thinks that when Bessie
grows up, she will know so much that
"there will be no living with her.
lhe nursery.
"Please Take mt Kittens." Lily is
small Spanish dog. A pet cat, owned
in the same family, had two kittens
when Lily's little puppy was about
three weeks old. The cat had a basket
in one corner, the dog in the one oppo
site. Puss was a very old cat, fourteen
years ; and not only were her kittens
very feeble, but she soon louna she
could not nurse them. What did 6he
do?
She jumped out cf her basket, rubbed
her nose against the dog, purred and
looked at the kittens. Lily went to the
cat's basket, took out a kitten and car
ried it to her own ; went back and
brought the other, and then jumped in j
beside them, she washed ami nursed
them. Pussy stood up with her fore
paws on the edge of the basket a few
moments, and satisfied that they would
have loving care, purred her thanks and
walked away.
A Letter Carrier. Fido is a little
black-and-tan dog owned by a friend of
mine in W orcester. He is not usually
fond of people out of his owner's fam
ily ; bnt he hss taken a great liking to
a gentleman who lives near, and often
goes to see him.
When this gentleman wants to send a
message to any one at my friend's
house, he writes a note, ties it around
Fido's neck, and tells him to go home.
Home trots i ido. never stopping to
play, and finds one of the family. When
the note is taken, he seems to think he
has done his duty, and barks and jumps
as if very happy.
Geographical E.vioma. I am com
posed of seventeen letters.
My 9, 14, 1, 10, 12. is a city in Georgia.
My 2. 11, 4, 3, 6, 16, is a city in Texas.
My 7. 15, 12, 1, 10, 8, 16, is a city in
Nebraska.
My 2, 3, 7, 14, 13, 2, is a city in Georgia.
My 1. 14, 13, 17, 5, 15, 7, 8, is a city in
yew York.
My whole is a range of mountains in
the United States.
Answer : Catskill Mountains.
Word Square.
Worth.
A foe.
Kingly.
A likeness.
A President of the United States.
Answer : M e r i t
E a e m y
Regal
Image
Tyler
A story is told of a watchman in a
mill who made friends with a large rat
and his family. At his midnight lunch
he would give a light rap on the wall,
when out would come the rats to share
his hospitality. After finishing their
meal they would play about their ben
efactor for a while in the most sportive
and trusting manner, and taen run off
again to their hiding-places.
President Nott once said : "I want
to give you this advice, my children
don't try to be happy. Happiness is a
shy nymph, and if yon chase her you
will never catch her. Jnst go quietly
on and do your duty, and she will come
to you."
Havs- a care of your temper, for a
passionate boy rides a pony that runs
away with him. Passion has done
more mischief in the world than all the
poisonous plants that grow in it.
What is the cheapest way of procur
ing a fiddle ? Buy some castor-oil and
yoa will get a vial-in (violin !)
"Varieties.
Natural wit Humors of the blood.
Divine fisticuffs The miUa of the
gods.
The poorest diet eating your own
words.
Young ladies economy never throw
away a good match.
The spirit has moved them in Ohio
to move the spirits.
Parties with decayed teeth are not
always good stump speakers.
Ovsters are advertised at seventy-fly
cents the half dozen in Salt Lake City.
Central Falls. B, I., boasts of a 260-
pound boy, who is only 16 years old.
There is but one baby in a newly,
made Oregon town, and the neighbors
take turns borrowing it,
A 'very fashionable lady says she la
resigned to her ftte. or to as many as
she can get invitations for.
He who reforms himself has done
more towards reforming the public than
a crowd ot noisy, impotent patriots.
An Ohio lady wants a divorce, be
cause on one occasion her husband put
her to soak in the rain-water barrel.
The latest burglar-alarm Newspa
pers spread loosely upon the stairway
and in front of doorways and windows.
An Indianapolis paper attempted to
call a co temporary editor a wood-sawer,
and the more intelligent printer made
it "word-sawer."
An unfortunate swain, who was kicked
out of the house by his sweetheart's
stern parent the other night, declares it
to have been quite exit ing.
Faint not : the miles to heaven are
few and short. There are many heads
lying in Christ's bosom, but there is
room for yours among the rest.
An exchange says : "Keep an eye out
for the early resumption of specie pay
ment." Both our eyes are already out
looking for it and so are our elbows !
It is said that the street venders of
lemonade in Marseilles have struck, but
probably before striking each vender
provided himself with a "stick" in his
lemonade.
The first Russian newspaper was pub
lished over one hundred and sixty years
ago, under the special patronage of
Peter the Great, one of its principal
contributors.
Our principles are the springs of our
actions ; our actions the springs of our
happiness or misery. Too much care,
therefore, cannot be taken in forming
our principles.
A Detroit Justice of the Peace told a
girl, who appeared before, that she hsd
an artless way about her that reminded
him of a hen balanced on the top of a
picket fence, bnt he sentenced her to
"ninety days," nevertheless.
At a juvenile party, one little fellow,
rejoicing in the splendor of his new
clothes, went np to another with the
triumphant remark: "You ain't dressed
as well as I am." "Well, retorted the
other, "I can lick yon, anyhow."
The Bishop of Montreal had prohibi
ted dancing. Two officers, wishing to
obtain permission to dance the polka at
a military hall, danced it together to
show the Bishop how it was done.
After the exhibition, the Bishop gave
his permission in these terms : 'Ton
can dance the polka as long as yoa
please with each other !"
I like to hear of such a boy as this.
He is so natural that he will never get
into a book. He went into a bookstore
with his mother, and crept up to the
juvenile of the establishment with the
siy query. "Say, have yoa got any
books for bnys that ain't got any reli
gion in "em ?'' Poor little wretch. It is
not hard to imagine the weary, weary
work he has found reading.
A stock company is organizing in At
lanta, Ga., for the purpose of manufac
turing paer from palmetto, of which
t.tat section of the State abounds. A
mill of capacity sufficient to make 20,000
pounds of paper per day, is proposed to
be erected on a water power in Lowndes
County, in the midst of palmetto growth
and a sufficient quantity of this plant
grows within an area of ten miles to
supply a 20.000-pound mill a year.
An Englishman who had bnt lately
arrived in the United States was aston
ishing the unsophisticated "natives" in
Cleveland the other day by describing
the many wonders in Great Britain and
the vast superiority of the country over
"Yankeedom." Referring to London he
descanted at length upon the immense
number of buildings which the "village"
contained, concluding with a statement
relative to the enormous amount of
square miles which they covered. At
this point, however, a person in the
crowd interrupted him with the query :
"That's all well enough, mister, but
what I want to know is, has she been
fenced in yet ?"
A writer in the current Cornhill Mag
azine, discussing the claim of certain
women that, if their sex were released
from the drudgery of house-keeping
and maternity, a great deal of energy
would be set free which at present is
employed to no adequate pnrpose.says:
"To what other purposes will it then be
applied ? The answer suggested is that
ladies will then have the professions
thrown open to them, and will be law
yers, physicians, and professors. As
snning that this will take place, the
difficulty still remains. Unless crime
and disease increase in the same pro
portion, which, it is to be hope), will
not be one of the results of our Utopia,
the amount of employment for lawyers
and physicians will remain what it was;
and for every feminine laborer a mascu
line will be disDlaced."
A correspondent of the New York
Commercial Advertiser sends to that
journal the following acconnt of the
misadventures of a pet cat. He writes :
In the upper story of "one hundred and
sixty" is a hat finishing establishment,
shellac being freely used in the pro
cess, a barrel of which, in solution, is
kept standing at a warm temperature.
Our pet, while on a foraging expedition
the other night, fell into it ; scrambling
out, she made tracks for a distant part
of the room, where she sat down to re
view the situation ; and it being a cold
night, the shellac quickly set, and pussy
was fast to the floor. The porter found
her in the morning "unable to move
hand or foot or wink an eye." Being
kind-hearted, he procured some hot
water and "soaked her loose," but it
was "no go," she was as helpless aa
ever, and as fixed as a statue. With a
sorrowful face "Sam" filled a tub with
water, at a temperature of 96 degrees,
and, with the view of cleaning her, ap
plied a hot bath, and after working
something less than three hours, he
succeeded admirably ; bnt when he had
finished, there was no vestige of hair on
the cat, excepting a small tuft at the
end of the tail. Such a ridiculous look
ing object you never saw.
A
d
mil