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B. r. SCHWEIER,
THE COMSTITUTICW THI UK ION A5D TH1 ISPOECBMEXT OF THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
TOL. XXIX.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., MARCH 31, 1875.
NO.
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POETIT.
Rack mc Asleep.
Tb subjoined poem we do not know wbo
vnito it is oue of tins most besntiful of ltd
kind we have ever eflen. We do not envy tlie
heart that does not thrill to it wild and tender
unauc.
itaclwaru. tnrn backward, oti Tune, in your
flight.
Make me a child again, jaat for to-night ;
Mother, come bank from the echolea shore.
Take me again to your heart u of yore
Kim from my forehead the furrows of care.
Smooth the silTer threads out of my hair
iTer my slumbers your loving watch keep
Kork me to aleep, mother, rock me to sleep!
backward, flow bark ward, oh, tide of the years !
I am so weary of toils and of tears
Toil without recompense tears all in vain
Take me and give me my childhood again.
1 have grown weary of dust and decs.
Weary of flinging my soul's wealth away,
Weary of sowing for others to reap ;
Kork me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep !
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrne,
Mother, oh, mother, my heart calls for you !
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Kloseomed and faded our faces between ;
Yet with stroug yearning and passionate pain.
Long I to-niglit for your presence afaiu ;
4 'one from the silence so long and so deep
Kovk me to sleep, mother, rock me to sieep !
Over my heart in the days that are flown.
No love like a mother's love ever has shown
No other worship abides and endures.
Faithful, unselfish and patient like yours.
None hke a mother can charm away pain
from the sick soul and world-weary brain ;
rilruuber'a soft calm o'er my heavy lids creep
hock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep !
Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with
gold,
rail on your shoulders again as of old
Jot it fall over my forehead to-night,
hhadiug my faint eyes away from the light
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more,
Hap'ly will throng the sweet visions of yore.
Ixwiugly, softly, its bright billows sweep
hock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep !
Mother, dear mother ! the years have been long
Hiacs 1 hut hushed to your lullaby song
Xing them, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood's years have been but a dream :
4'lasp me to your arms in loving embrace.
With your light lashes just sweeping my face.
Never hereafter to wake or to weep
Roc k me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep !
ISCLU.aKT.
How ! Trarh Folilenenn.
Those people who are continually
landing the "good old time,1 seldom
fail to contract I lie manners of Young
Americans of to-day with those of the
childreu w hen they were you up. And
intrutli.it cannot Ik-denied that the
children fifty or a hundred years ago
spoke more respect fully to and of their
parents and teachers than they do uow-a-days;
but, oh the other hand, the
loving confidence that exists between
most childreu and parents of the pres
ent time was very rare then, and the
respect with which the young treated
their elders was inspired ly fear rather
than love. .So we are left to solve the
problem of retaining the coulideuce
and friendship of our childreu, and, at
the same time, teaching them good
in aimers.
1'rof. Allen, in one of his addresses at
the Newtown institute, said that lie
had nowhere found better manners
among the children than in Friends1
households, and he thought that the
reason- for this was that there, more
than elsewhere, they were treated as
part of the family, and unconsciously
learned to extend the same considera
tion to others which they received
themselves.
tie told an amusing story of a Ihiv
who was never allowed to present him
wlf before company, because lie was
somewhat backward and presented an
awkward appearance; but on oue occa
sion he plead so hard that his mother
gave him permission to go in the parlor
if he would not speak a single word.
VVheu the guests arrived, one after
auother addressed questions to him, to
none of which he ventured a reply,
whereupon one of the visitors ex
claimed, "Why, th boy is a dunce."
At this the unfortunate youth rushed
out to the kitchen, exclaimingMother,
mother, they've found out I'm a dunce
and I didn't ojn n my mouth P
People generally act as though they
think, children have no feelings, and
have not sense enough when they are
slighted or snubbed. How nttcn do we
see iwople enter a family in which they
are acquainted, speak pleasantly to all
the grown folks, but vouchsafe not even
a imhI of recognition to the children.
Is it any wonder that boys become rude
and boorish, caring lor nobody, be
cause they are perpetually made to
feel that they are in the way, and that
nobody cares for them T Is it any
wonder that girls in their teens are so
awkward and ill at ease when they
first begin to le treated with some con
sideration f If children were treated
with the same politeness which we ex
tend to young ladies and gentlemen,
"the awkward age," when hands and
feet are such inconveniences, would
not make its appearance.
I once had in mr school a family of
children who iu variably attracted the
attention of visitors; they were not
especially pretty, nor smart, nor well
dressed, but people who saw them never
failed to remark, "What pleasant man
ners those children have." The tirst
time I visited their home I discovered
the secret. The mother, having occa
sion to pass before one of the girls, said
to her as she would have said to me,
"Excuse me for passing before you.
The mystery was solved at once; she
treated'her children as she would have
them treat her, and the consequence
was they were the best bred children iu
the neighliorhood.
Parents and teachers who forget to
say "Please," and "Thank you," to
their children, have no right to require
the children to say 'Please' and 'Thank
you' to them.
"Practice what you preach" is an old
maxim, but as good as it is old ; and
therefore the best way for parents and
teachers to inculcate politeness is "to
t polite themselves."
Unman Labor.
Human labor ia a thousand little rills
that replenish the fountain of man's ex
istence. It rends the rocks asunder to
build the marts of commerce. It sends
its tiny but powerful root into the
soil, that the crops may, in due season,
fructifj, and replenish and gladden the
earth ; it dives into the darkened mine,
where cheering sunlight never pene
trates, to bring forward some of the
most important necessaries of modern
civilization ; for where wonld that civ
ilization be without the product of
labor? As we value the product of
labor, how much more should we es
teem the intelligent agencies by which
they are produced ? In whatever
sphere of action it may be. labor is hon
orable, and there is at times a moral
heroism and spirit of self-denial exhib
ited which renders it sublime.
"Let ns pause at the grave of
Webster," said a Vermont lecturer.
"Too cold !" shouted a ma'i in the
audience, and no pause was made.
THE IXKSOWM DEATH.
A DETECTIVE S 8TOBT.
Murder had been done in Philadel
phiaor, at least, so it was supposed
and the papers were fall ef it. The
journals were divided in opinion about
the matter, some maintaining that it
was a case of simple suicide, others in
clining to the belief that there had been
fool play, and still others arguing in
favor of death from natural though un
known causes. Indeed, it would ap
pear, at first sight, as if the latter were
the true supposition, and the majority
of superficial readers and thinkers who
talked over the affair at home or in the
streets the next day, seemed to have
very little trouble in arriving at a like
conclusion.
All that was known was this : an es
teemed citizen a man of wealth and
high standing had retired to rest the
night before apparently in sound health
and good spirits, and at two o'clock the
following morning had been found dead
in bed, without one visible mark of
violence upon his person, ilia son.
who had returned home from a pleasure
party at that hour, had entered his
father's chamber to deposit the front
door key there, and had made the hor
rible discovery. This young man, a
steady, reliable and devout church
member and Sabbath school teacher,
had then aroused the house, and had
communicated the ill-tidings to the
terror-stricken family.
At the coroner's inquest I was pres
ent, and there the son after repeating
substantially what has been said above.
called the attention of the jury to the
following additional and important
facts : that on entering the chamber be
had found everything undisturbed and
as usual, that the bed-clothes even were
not rumpled, and that the position of
the deceased, as he lay, was so natural
and easy that it was not until he had
noticed the absence of the deep and
regular breathing of the sleeper that he
suspected, fur an instant, that anything
was wrong.
1 was not on the jury, but was there
at the request of the family, in my fli
cial capacity of murder-detective, and
it is needless to say that I subjected
the body snd its surroundings to the
closest scrutiny. I could discover
nothing, however, that appeared in the
least suspicions, or to warrant a sup
position of foul play. The post-mortem
examination failed equally to satisfy,
and developed no indication of poison
in the system ; but one thing it did
develop ; and that was, that np to the
time of death the internal organs of the
deceased had all been in a state of
healthy and vigorous action.
For once in my life 1 was at fault,
and must confess that I did not know
how to proceed ; but still, for all the
absence of proof, and the seeming regu
larity of things, I felt in me a deep
mistrust that murder had been done in
the premises and by no unskillful hand.
Whilst I was deliberating how to act,
the son came over and begun a conver
sation. He talked on the all-absorbing
topic of the moment, and was as ner
vous, restless and agitated as man
could be. We were walking rapidly up
and down the chamber where lay the
oorpse, still fiesh from the searching
bands of the coroner's physician, and
as we paused now and then to gaze in
its pale, inanimate face, I remarked
that my companion shook with a slight
and well-defined tremor. I made a
mental note of this, but at the same
time did not attach much importance to
it, as I considered it but the natural
effect of the trying and painful scenes
through which the son so recently
passed, and whose recollection was re
freshed by these momentary views of
the dead. I did not, of course, for a
moment imagine that the man at my
elbow was a patricide ; bnt a murder
detective, from habit, is always on the
alert, and as I had no clue whatever to
follow in this matter, I was merely
searching for one everywhere that was
all.
We continued our walk about the
room.
"This affair passes my comprehen
sion,' said L
"And mine also," said the son.
I was about taking my leave when a
small piece of red rag on the floor, just
under the edge of the Dea, attracted
my attention, and I stooped to pick it
"P- . . .. ...
ibe son observed my motion, ana
said :
"I wonder how that got there? I
have the rest of that article in my
drawer it belongs to me I"
"Do you want the piece ?" I asked.
"Not at all." he replied ; but if you
would like to have the remainder, I
will get it for you."
He left me without waiting for any
reply, and quickly returned with the
rest of the handkerchief. He handed
it to me and said as he did so :
"I am at a loss to conjecture who
could have torn that handkerchief, for
I thought it was safe in my apartment
when I went out early in the evening."
I put the piece he gave me with the
other I already had, and took my leave.
Once at home and in the solitude of
my chamber, 1 sat down at my table
and, with my face buried in both hands.
fell to thinking snd reasoning. I
thought of the scene I had just left,
and could not doubt that the verdict of
the coroner's jury would be "death
from causes unknown. I thought of
the son and of his torn handkerchief,
and I spread ont the latter before me
on the table, and fitted it to the por
tion I had found wet and limp under
the bed of the deceased. Then 1 took
the wet piece in my fingers and felt and
looked at it It did not seem to have
been steeped in water, and to the touch
it was just in the slightest way sticky.
I further remarked that it had a very
faint white tinge in spots, as if some
kind of foam had recently been upon it
Just at that instant I caught sight of a
paragraph in a daily paper lying in
front of me, and mechanically read it
The paragraph was as follows :
"A ghastly scientific discovery is re
ported from Turin, where Professor
Casturini, the celebrated oculist, has
found a way of killing animals by
forcing air into their eyes a few sec
onds, and almost without causing pain.
Experiments were recently maue at
th Rnval Veterinary School, and it is
said that they have fully proved the
truiQ oi mo tniioowH w .m.ommvm.
Within the space of a few minutes four
rabbits, three dogs and a goat were
killed in this manner. The most re
markable fact is that the operation
leaves absolutely no outward trace,"
I started np instantly after having
read this, and began rapidly to walk
the room. 1 was flushed and agitated.
Perhaps I had the key to the mystery
I was searching to solve I
"Gracious I" I thought, "if this
paragraph be true, might not the
method of destruction be applied as
fatally to man as to the inferior ani
mals ?"
I hurriedly returned to the house of
death and rang the ball.
The son answered the summons in
person.
He looked not a little surprised at
my sadden return.
"What ia the matter " he demanded.
"Nothing." said I I was quite cool
and collected by this time "I merely
wish to make another examination of
the chamber of the deceased."
He led me to it at once.
I again scrutinized the body, this
time paying more attention to the face
and head of the dead man.
There was absolutely nothing to be
seen there that had not been seen be
fore. I then pressed open the mouth
slightly with my fingers, and, as I did
so, I felt, or fancied I felt, the same
slight stickiness I had detected on the
limp piece of handkerchief. I looked
into the mouth, and nearly trembled
for joy to see there the clearly-defined
white tinge of dried foam !
For a moment I could hardly main
tain myself, and my heart beat so
loudly that I was almost afraid my
companion would hear it and grow
alarmed.
However, I did control myself, and
as soon as I could trust my voice, said :
"Is there no wsy by which this house
might be entered except by the first
story?"
"Oh, yes," returned the son, as com
posedly as ever, "there is a door in my
apartment opening on an old, unused
portico, but this has been locked and
double-bolted all winter.
This observation was just what I
wanted, for it pointed out to me a way
to obtain a view of this man's private
room, and that, too, without exciting
the least suspicion.
"Will you let me see that. door?" I
asked.
"With the greatest pleasure," said
he ; "I have already examined it my
self, and found it as secure as of old
but perhaps your more experienced eye
may detect some sign there that has
escaped me."
I followed him, and without the
slightest hesitation he led me to his
bed-chamber.
There was the door fastened as he
bad said, and I made a show of looking
at it but that was not what fascinated
me and riveted my attention at once.
The walls were full of shelves, and
the shelves were crowded with philoso
phical instruments.
I left the portico door finally, and as
I was going carelessly remarked :
"You seem to take an interest in
science ?"
"Why, yes," said he, smiling, "I do,
and I flatter myself that few men here
or elsewhere have a larger or better
collection of apparatus than I have."
I had touched him on bis particular
vanity, and knew now that I might
search unmolested, and not only that,
but with his own proper aid, for the
instrument of death.
I turned back, aa I spoke, and picked
up a pamphlet from the study-table in
the center of the room.
The book was written in the Italian
language.
I have some slight knowledge of the
tongue of the modern opera, and I read
on the title page that the work was one
on the various modes of the destruction
of animal life, and that it was by Oas-
tunui.
And Casturini was the name of the
Professor spoken of in the newspaper
paragraph.
I felt that I was working on the right
track.
I laid down the volume and gradually
turned the conversation to the subject
of pneumatics, in the course of which I
asked if my companion had Casturini'a
air-pump. He told me no, bnt that he
bad his air-syringe.
I asked to look at it
For the first time the son turned on
me a hurried glance of alarm.
But I managed to appear aa if I sus
pected nothing ss if nothing more
dangerous than love of science actnated
me iu my investigations.
And my companion was satisfied, for
he st once produced the air-syringe.
It was a strange instrument, in shape
it was like an ordinary syringe, and
such as is daily employed in medicine,
only larger, perhaps twice as large as
any of that kind I had ever seen. It
was mounted on a stand of polished
walnut, like an electric mrchine, and,
indeed, looked like one that is, a
cylindrical one. It was furnished with
a crank, by which it was worked, and
had two large, funnel-shaped mouth
pieces. These latter were not station
ary, bnt could be moved brought
nearer together or more widely sepa
rated, as circumstances required.
This, then, was the instrument of
death, and it performed its dread work
silently and surely and left no external
trace.
I touched it with a feeling akin to
horror, and asked :
"Has this no other use than to de
prive animals of life ?"
"Jtone, was the smiling response.
"Can you operate it ?"
"Better than any I ever met."
I was standing facing this man as he
made this boast
I laid my hand on his shoulder.
He started and seemed not to know
what to make of my conduct
"Tour crime is discovered, sir 1" said
I, sternly. "You are a patricide, and I
arrest you for the murder of the man
who bee in the other chamber !"
His face turned 'fairly purple with
rage and fear and then grew inky black.
He sat down in the chair without a
word.
His courage, and above all things,
his incomparable audacity, had alto
gether abandoned him at this terrible
crisis 1
I spoke to him again and again
several times, but could get no answer.
Then I rang the bell and sent fer the
coroner's physician.
He came, looked at the man still sit
ting on the chair, speechless and black
in the face, and shook his head.
"This man has lost his reason ! were
his fearful words. "What has caused
it?"
I told him, and showed him Castn-
rini's air-syringe.
We took our prisoner into custody
and conveyed him to the police station.
The ride somewhat restored him, but
he was still altogether overwhelmed
and crushed.
We left him in a cell and went our
various ways.
In the mording I was the first to call
to see him.
The officer in charge told me he had
been np the greater part of the night,
and was then sleeping.
I waited half an hour, and then, in
company with the doctor, who had by
that time arrived, went to the cell.
The man was there on the bed, lying
in his shirt and pantaloons, with his
face downward, and motionless.
The doctor touched him be was
cold and stiff. The patricide was dead.
By his side lay a paper, crashed and
rumpled, aa if in his last agonies be
had endeavored to tear it np.
I took it and read, written in lead
pencil, the following :
"The shrewdness ef the detective has
been too much for me. It waa night
when I did it, and I fancied the means
put it bevond reach of discovery.
was mistaken, and 1 pay the penalty of
that mistake freely now. That doctor
is a shrewd practitioner. A man does
not counterfeit madness with him with
impunity. Had he been as wise in his
wsy ss the detective was in his, the law
would not have been cheated of its
prey. I had my reasons for the deed.
fully as potent as those I have for this."
Here followed the signature of the
suicide, traced in full, bold band.
I turned to the physician and the offi
cer who were with me, and had read
the letter over my shoulder.
I must confess that I think my face
showed triumph triumph at having
succeeded in tracking and taking a
criminal so adroit and calculating and
possibly I had some good ground for
being elated.
I did not ask the family of the mur
dered man for a reward, but 1 carried
away the air-syringe, and I have it to
this day. 1 have made repeated expe
riments with it since it came in my
possession, and each succeeding one
bnt convinces me the more of its deadly
ana dangerous character.
There ia another thing I must say
before I close, and that is this : I have
solved the mystery of that limp piece
of handkerchief I round on the day 1
undertook the investigation of the
affair I have just been speaking of : it
was employed by the murderer to re
press and keep back the slight foam
that always flies from the mouth of the
subject whenever submitted to the ac
tion of the syringe.
I look back upon this adventure now
as one of the most important events in
my career, and I take pride in telling
it over and over again, it shows what
science is connected with the detection
of crime, and it also shows from what a
slight link a massive chain of conclu
sive evidence msy be forged.
I say I look back to it with pride,
and I can only hope that an intelligent
public will hear and approve my recital
the story of the unknown death.
How Postage K tamps are Made.
The ptatcefss of manufacturing the
little postage stamps is quite interest
ing: In printing, steel plates are used,
on which 2W stamps ate engraved.
Two men are kept at work covering
theui with the colored inks and passing
them to a man and a girl, who are
equally busy at printing them with
large rolling hand presses. Three of
these little squads are employed all the
time, although ten presses can be put
into use in case of necessity. After the
small sheets of paper upon which the
2J stamps are engraved have dried
enough they are sent into another room
and gummed, the gum used for this
puriiose is a peculiar composition,
made of the uowder of dried notataea
and other vegetables mixed with water.
which is better than any other mate
rial, for instance, gum arahic, which
cracks the paper l-adly. This paper is
also of a peculiar texture, somewhat
similar to that used for bank notes.
After having beeu again dried, this
time on little racks which are tanned
by steam power for about an hour, they
are put between sheets of pasteboard,
and pressed in hydraulic presses,
capable of applying a weight of two
thousand tous. The next thing is to
cut the sheets iu half ; each sheet of
course, w hen cut, contains a hundred
stamps. This is done by a girl with a
large pair of shears, cutting by hand
beiug preferred to that of machinery,
which method would destroy too many
stamps. They are then passed to two
other squads, who in as many opera
tions perforate the sheets between the
stamps. Next they are pressed once
more, and then packed and labelled,
and stowed away iu auother room,
preparatory to being put in mail bags
for despatching to fulfill orders. If a
single stamp is torn, or in any way
mutilated, the whole sheet of one hun
dred are burned. About five hundred
thousand are burned every week from
this cause. For the past twenty years
not a' single sheet has been lost, such
care has been taken in counting them.
1 taring the progress of manufacturing,
the sheets are counted eleven times.
Opiaru BltlTBila la rbiaa.
The Pall Mall tiazette says: "Opium
cultivation is making such progress in
China that it seems likely seriously to
effect the importation of that drug
from India. The consumption of na
tive grown opium has also, says Consul
Medhurst in his commercial report on
.Shanghai just issued, of late largely
increased, whereas the import of the
Indian drug has been stationary or
nearly so for several years past. The
usual edicts deprecating tlie cultivation
of such a pernicious drug at the ex
pense of cereals and other crops, and
prohibiting its culture under heavy
tienalties, has continued from time to
time, and influential Chinese function
aries have not failed, as heretofore, to
urge the Crown to take steps towards
rescuing the country from the too cer
tain ruin which must be the conse
quence. But all to no purpose; the
drug is so highly prized as an alterative,
and the desire for it as a sedative is so
general among all classes, while the
local executives are everywhere so easily
bribed into a connivance, that the cul
tivation is persisted in, and it will no
doubt continue to extend until effects
are produced which must eventually
exercise a vital influence upon the in
ests of the country at large. The sup
ply from India has for some time been
limited to about an equal rate year by
year, and as it is a maximum in com
mercial economy that a trade which
does not increase must of necessity
tend towards the opposite direction, it
follows that the only too probable
event we have to look forward to is a
gradual decline of our share in the
trade, whenever the Chinese shall have
learned how to grow and prepare their
produce so aa to bring it to an equality
with the Indian staple."
I Raid He.
Here is a domestic drama from Paris.
A young girl was about to be married
to a journeyman carpenter, whose suit
was by no means agreeable to her.
She had refused and protested against
the match, but her father was inexora
ble on the subject, and insisted on the
marriage, though the mother would
willingly have yielded. At length the
bride-elect appeared resigned to her
fate, and the father, pointing out the
happy result of his firmness to his wife,
triumphantly exclaimed, "I told you
so." Next day, however, the poor girl,
having left a letter at home explaining
the cause of her action, jumped off the
Bridge of Austerlita into the Seine.
She was, however, saved, and carried
nomebvtwo sailors. The father re
turned home just as the dripping girl
was placed in safety beside the paternal
hearth, when the mother, with perhaps
more point than discretion, simply ob
served, "1 told you so."
Alter the Faaeral.
It was just after the funeral. The
bereaved and subdued widow enveloped
in millinery gloom, was seated in the
sitting room with a few sympathizing
friends. There was that constrained
look, so peculiar to the occasion, ob
servable on every countenance. The
widow sighed.
"How do you feel, my dear ?" ob
served her sister.
"Oh, 1 don't know," observed the
poor woman, with difficulty restraining
her tears. "But I hope everything
passed on well.
"Indeed it did," said all the ladies.
"It was as large and respectable a
funeral as I have seen this Winter,"
said the sister, looking around npon
the others.
"Yes, it was," said the lady from the
next door. "I was saying to Mrs.
Slocum only ten minutes ago that the
attendance couldn't have been better
the bad going considered.
"Did yon see the Taylors?" asked
the widow, faintly, looking at her sister.
"They go so rarely to funerals that I
was quite surprised to see them here."
"Oh, yes, the Taylors were all here,"
said the sympathizing sister. "As you
say, they go but little ; they are so ex
clusive." "I thought I saw the Curtises, also,"
suggested the bereaved woman, droop
ingly. "Oh, yes," chimed in several. They
came in their own carriage, too," said
the sister, animatedly. "And then
there were the Randalls, and the Van
Rensalears. Mrs. Van ltensalear had
her conBin from the city with her.
And Mrs. Randall wore a heavy black
silk, which I am sure was quite new.
Did you see Colonel Haywood and his
daughters, love?"
"I thought I saw them, bnt I wasn't
sure. They were here, then, were
they?"
"Yes, indeed," said they all again ;
and the lady who lived across the way
observed :
"The Colonel wan very sociable, and
inquired most kindly about you, aud
the sickness of your husband."
The widow smiled faintly. She was
gratified by the interest shown by the
Colonel.
The friends now arose to go, each
bidding her good-bye, and expressing
the hope that she wonld lie calm. Her
sister bowed them out When she re
turned she said :
"You can see, my love, what the
neighbors think of it I wouldn't have
had anything unfortunate happen for
good deal. But uothiug did. The ar
rangements couldn't have been better." j
I think some of the people in the
neighborhood must have beeu surprised
to see so many of the np-towu people
here," suggested the ailiicted woman,
trying to look hopeful.
"lou may be quite sure of that?
asserted the sister. "I could see that
plain enough by their looks."
"V ell, 1 am glad there is no occasion
for talk," said the widow, smoothing
the skirt of her dress.
And after that the Imys took the
chairs home, and the house was put in
order.
orway.
In its general asiiect Norway presents
the most unpromising conformation of
surface for fanning oper.it ions that can
well be conceived. Mountain ranges,
with plateaus whose altitude precludes
cultivation, and from which rise
mountains that reach an elevation of
8.3UO feet above the sea, prevail gener
ally throughout the country. Except
in the south, the mountain tons are
covered with snow for the greater jKirt,
if not all the year; their slopes, when
not absolutely inaccessible, are far too
rocky and abrupt for farming settle
ments. The deeiier valleys that inter
sect these mountain ranges, and which
ramify with the contortions of these
hills, are channels up which the sea
sends its tides; aliove the level of these
fjords are other water-worn valleys,
which convey the overflow of the moun
tain lakes, sulwided by countless
streams that in varying volume leap
from the hills as waterfalls, or rush
foaming down the mountain side the
impervious primitive or metamorphoric
rocks that are characteristic of the
country not permitting the absorptiou
of the melting snows or the summer's
rains. There exists, therefore, a very
extensive superficial area that presents
physical as well as climatic diihcullies
of a character not to be surmounted by
the most enterprising cultivator. With
few exceptions, the homestead of the
Norsk farmer is built on the lower
slopes of the hills, where, in fact, the
wash of the rockv surfaces, iu broken
stone and silty soil, has accumulated to
a sutticient depth for the operation of
the plough; or on the embanked level
of loamy soil, the deposit left by an
cient rivers, or when rich lacustrine
alluvium is met with, or where mo
raines are spread out at ti e embouch
ure of glacier grooved and expansive
valleys, forming suitable sites of scat
tered hamlets and little farms.
The Reanoa M by.
Can you wonder that American wo
men so quickly lose their beauty ? Shut
up in houses nine-tenths of their time,
with either no exercise, or that which
is of a limited, irksome sameness, they
are, aa a consequence, unnaturally pale
soft, and tender ; their blood is poorly
organized and watery, their muscles
small and flabby ; aud the force aud
functions of their bodies, as a whole,
run low in the scale of life. A spurious
fullness is often seen in the outline
during girlhood, which usually melts
like snow under an April sun whenever
the endurance is put to the test, as in
performing the functions of a mother.
The change in appearance from the
maiden of one year to the mother of
the next is often so striking and endu
ring that it is difficult to believe we
are looking on the same person. The
ronnd pleasing shape ia prematurely
displaced by a pinched angularity, and
an untimely and an unseemly appear
ance of age. And it is all nonsense to
blame our climate for this sad state of
things ; blame only their hot house,
enervating mode of li.re. English ladies
of rank, who, by the way, are celebrated
for keeping their beauty even to a ripe
old age, think nothing of walking a
half dozen miles at a time ; while Amer
ican ladies would think such a thing
"perfectly dreadful." If American
women, so daintily and richly fed, will
sit in dark and sultry rooms the live
long day, they must expect to bloom
too soon, to hasten through this charm
ing period at the longest in about ten
fears and for twenty five years after,
ave the grim satisfaction of being thin
wrinkled, angular and sallow.
Three thousand bird nests have been
distributed at various points in the
parks of Ps ris. They are made for the
sparrow, titmouse, cuckoo, blackbird,
magpie and others and in the forms
respectively as the birds make them
for themselves.
A Kemarkable Relic.
The Pall Mall Gazette says: A
bronze fork with two prongs, discov
ered by Mr. George Smith in the mound
of Konyunjik, supplies food for some
reflection. If it really ia a bona fide
fork it is one of the most singular and
remarkable relics of antiquity. That
"fingers were made before forks" is a
proverb the truth of which no one, we
presume, is inclined to dispute. But
we are apt to forget how very long the
people of the west, at any rate, were
destitute of forks ; and if Mr. George
Smith's fork is a fork, aa he evidently
supposes it to be, another and a very
important addition will have been made
to the claims of Asia to early superiority
over Europe. Neither the Greeks nor
the Romans knew anything of forks for
eating, although that they had pitch
forks from time immemorial and did
not take a hint from them speaks little
for their analogical ingenuity. And,
notwithstanding that forks were known
as rare and exceptional instruments in
the middle ages, they were not used
either by carvers or eaters of meat even
so late as the early part of the sixteenth
century among the most advanced in
European nations. The Greeks had
knives for carving. But when they
fed themselves with solid food they did
it with their Angers, which they after
ward wiped on pieces of bread. When
they took soup they used either a spoon
or a bit of bread hollowed ont So
likewise the Romans fed themselves
with their fingers when they ate solid
food, and liquid food they took with a
spoon (coihh-ar). They had no forks.
although they cultivated carving as an
art with considerable assiduity.
The carptor, scissor or strncior was a
person guided by rules, who performed
his task to the sound of music, and
with appropriate gesticulation. In
Wynkyn de Worde's Bute of Keruuntfe
too, published in l&I.i, the author tells
the carver he mast "Set never on fysbe,
beest ne towle more than two fyngers
and a thombe," clearly showing that
fcrks were not in use ; and adds, "Your
knife must be fayre, and your handes
must be clene, and passe not two fyn
gers and a thombe npon your knyfe."
Yet the fork was employed for certain
purposes among our ancestors at least
two centuries before this was written.
One fork is mentioned in the wardrobe
account of Edward I, for the year 1297,
aud Edward II's favorite, Piers Gaves
ton, had (Fosdera, year 1340) "Ixois
f urshesces d 'argent pur mangier poires. "
lie urand d A ussy (tlistoire de la le
Privee des Francois," torn. Ill, page
17'.) says that forks are enumerated in
an iuventory of the jewels of Charles V
of France for 1370, and this is the only
instance be mentions during the middle
ages, tie also remarks, writing in
1M7J, that then the knife was commonly
employed to convey food to the month,
"aa it still is in England, when for that
purpose the blades of knives are made
broad aud ronnd at the end." So Mr.
Thackeray's "Snob's" friend Marrowfat
had ancient precedent at least, and
somewhat modern example, according
to Le Grand d'Anssy, to plead in ex
cuse of his memorable delinquency
with the peas.
The Menial l(ifatt of Primi
tive ,nsh.
Comprehensions of the thoughts
freneruted in the primitive man by his
converse with the surrounding world
can be hud ouly by looking at the
surrounding world from his stand
IMiint. The accumulated knowledge
and the mental habits slowly acquired
during education must le suppressed,
ami we must divest ourselves of con
ceptions which, partly by inheritance
and partly by individual culture, have
beeu rendered necessary. None can do
this completely, and few can do it even
partially. It needs but to observe what
unlit methods are adopted by educa
tors, to he convinced that even among
the disciplined the power to form
thoughts which are widely nnlike their
own is extremely small. When we see
the juvenile mind plied with generali
ties while it has yet none of the con
crete facts to which they refer when
we see mathematics introduced under
the purely rational form, instead of
under the empirical form with which it
should be commenced by the child, as
it was commenced by the race when
we see a subject so abstract as grammar
put anion the first instead of among
the last, and see it taught analytically
instead of synthetically ; we haveample
evidence of the prevailing inability to
conceive the ideas of undeveloped
minds. And, if, though they have been
children themselves, men find it hard
to re-think the thoughts of the child,
still harder must they find it to rethink
the thoughts of the savage. 1 o keep
our aulomorphic interpretations is
lieyoud our jMiwer. To hank at things
with the eyes of absolute ignorance,
and observe how their attributes and
actions originally grouped themselves
in the mind, imply a self-suppression
that is impracticable. LPopular.Scicuce
Monthly.
French Antrssomral Investl! ga
llons;. One of the Marseilles astronomers
has devised a method of determining
the apparent diameter of the stars,
which be claims to be of peculiar merit.
If, through a first-class telescope, a
star, whose angular diameter is really
nothing, be viewed through a suffi
ciently high magnifying power, the
image is seen to be a bright 8ot sur
rounded by the concentric rings of
light and shade which are called dif
fraction rings. Now, it has been shown
that these rings, if of extreme faint
ness and distance from the central spot
can ouly be formed when the angular
diameter of the source of light is nearly
insensible ; and, following out this
very unique suggestion, M. i nzeau
has applied to the Marseilles telescope
a diaphragm having two apertures for !
the observation, in a suitable manner,
of the fringes produced by the inter
ference. Now, according to this arrangement,
it is found that if a star has a certain
diameter, the fringes will disappear
altogether, and if the diameter is zero
the distances of the fringes will vary
with the distances of the two aper
tures in the diaphragm. Among the
results of the investigations in this
direction is the interesting fact that
Sirua appears to have a measurable
diameter.
Xeier Inter fere.
When you have interfered in a
family fight, and been knocked down
stairs by the brutal husband, and had
a kettle of hot water poured on you by
the ill-treated wife, console yourself
with the reflection that the memory of
noble and useful acts wrought in early
youth is like the coral islands green
and sunny amidst the melancholy ocean.
After it has happened to you several
times, you will decide that you have
laid up memories enough of that sort,
and will never interfere between man
and wife.
St Paul
puffed up."
on inflation : "Be not
lomw cotru.
Cramasr la Rhyme.
Tare ntt'e words von often see
ars artkls, a, an. and Um.
IL
A eomVa the asms of anything-.
Aa sellout or sanies, hoop or iwin.
IIL
Adjectives show the kind of sons.
A. gnat, nuau, pretty, white, or brown.
IV.
Instead of nouns the pron.n stand,
Ur bead, hM face, your aw. say hand.
V.
VM-ba tell sa snmMhlnc to be dons.
To nail, count, laajtb, ttug, jump, or run.
VI.
How things ar done, ths adverba J -11,
As alowl, OX-aJy, Id. or wrU.
VIL
Coojnnctlons tois th words together,
Aa aiea and woaiea. wind or welhrr.
vm.
Tho prcMNntk atsnda bafors
A noun, as in. or througb, Um door.
IX.
Th tatsr jertion shows awrpria.
As oh ! how protty ah ! how vat
Tbs whole are called nine parts of speech.
Whk-h reaaum. writing, speaking, leavh.
Dk kt. Cousin Lizzie was quite in
terested in the exploit of Pinky Winky :
was pleased with the plaintive voice of
little Mew from the corner, and ap
proved highly of Dottle's resolution to
stay at home and be contented after the
experiment of greased paws. She will,
however, refrain from urging the claim
of Benny ever these other household
treasures ; for she knows, by sad expe
rience the folly of such an undertaking.
She well remembers a juvenile oration
of about ten minutes, to prove the
superiority of Maltese cats over all
other varieties, and especially of her
pussy, Kitty Clover, over Jennie's
pussy ; Kitty Snowdrop.
And now little friends, allow me to
introduce no less a personage than
"Dicky." To what part of the animal
kingdom Dicky belonged may be in
ferred from the fact that he had a pair
of saucy black eyes, a black busby tail
curled gracefully over his back, and
two Uttle sharp foreteeth, with which
he could crack nuts a great deal better
than you or I with the hammer.
Dicky might well claim some literary
preeminence, and crack a few nuts for
my youthful readers, for he belonged
to good Mrs. Brown, the faithful
teacher of my early days : and besides
that waa the exact counterpart of the
little fellow who "aits up aloft" in
Webster's Speller, and watches the
melancholy catastrophe of the country
maid and her milk paiL
Dicky lived in a little tin house,
which contained parlor, bedroom and
dining-room. The last, which also
served as play-room, was a wheel, and
this Master Dicky delighted in turning
rapidly round when in a frolicsome
mood. His favorite food, besides nuts.
seemed to be the parings of boiled
potatoes.
Dicky was the especial delight of the
new scholars, who would generally
spend most of their playtime watching
his movements. And I am hannv to
say that in his behavior toward them
be was always polite and entertaining.
tie never stared at the new-comers till
they grew red in the faoe. and wanted
to hide somewhere ; or said in a lond
whisper, with a silly giggle. "What big
shoes she wears 1" "Did you ever see
such a queer-shaped nose?" "I won
der what she'd take for that brass
breast-pin ?" No, no. Dicky waa too
well bred for such things, and 1 wish
other little Dickies were hke him.
I have a suspicion that when school
waa dismissed, and the hum of voices
had ceased, Dicky was occasionally
liberated from his close quarters, and
allowed to enjoy something of his
native freedom. But this is conjecture.
Dear little squirrel ! He lived to a
good old age, a blessing and a joy ; for
among the pleasant recollections of my
childhood hours, I shall ever cherish
kindly the memory of Dicky.
A Biro's Nest. There is a pretty
nest in the museum of Brown Univer
sity, which shows what wisdom God
can give to a little bird.
The nest was hung by strings, so the
babies would be rocked to sleep by
every breeze. But as they grew heavier
the mother bird fonnd that her twig
was too weak. So she looked about
until she found a stout cord. This she
wove around the nest, and then hung it
np to a strong limb overhead. This
Bteadied it, and made all safe.
Some little swallows once built a nest
against a lime kiln. Bat the wall was
so warm the clay soon cracked and the
nest fell down. Immediately they
built it over, but again it felL Not
discouraged, they tried it a third time
with no better success.
They built a fourth nest, which re
mained firm, and in it they reared a
Uttle brood. They had found and
worked np a kind of clay that would
stand the heat. They came back the
next year and repaired their cottage
with the same clay. This they did also
the third year. After that they did not
return, having probably lived ont the
term of swallow life.
Sebiocs Accidents. What a dreadful
place a school-house muBt be, and what
shocking things happen there, if the
talk of school-children is to be relied
upon I Yesterday noon I heard a dozen
of them speaking about the various
incidents of the day. It was impossible
to catch all they said, as three or four
talked at once, but I managed to learn
these startling facts :
Nelly Jones coughed fit to ilil htr
shir !
Kitty Carson nearly died of laughing.
That Lawrence boy actually boilrd
mt with rage.
The teacher's eyes that fire.
Nelly Murray recited loud enough to
take the roof off the home.
Robby Fitz's eyes grew a big a
saucer.
Tommy Hudson almost ran hi fert
off".
Susie Jennings thought she'd burst.
Ellen Walters broke down com
pletely !
And yet it waa an ordinary school
day. St. Nichola.
CosscTwrK. '-Children," I said to a
class of little ones "what ia conscience."
I knew it was rather a hard question for
such young minds, but I wished to
draw out their thoughts.
They looked at each other, but gave
me no answer.
"I think I don't know snch a big
word as that," said one.
Then I asked if they had felt some
thing within them, when about to do
wrong, say, "Little boy, don t do so ;
it isn't right,"
Light broke over their faces at once.
"Now," I repeated, "what is eon
science?" "It's when Jesus whispers into our
hearts," said little Benny.
Waa not this a sweet answer ? Jesus
loves ua. Jeans watches over ns. Jesus
tell ns when we are about to do or have
done wrong.
A dry goods business Selling
codfish.
salt
VARIETIES.
Miss Ethereal MJdness was detained
by snow drifts.
The stamp of civilization : The
postage stamp.
If the man in the moon keeis a dog.
we will bet two to one it is a skue-trr.
rier.
A man may properly be said to have
been drinking like a tish when he liuU
he has taken enough to make his head
swim.
What throat is the best for a singer
to reach high notes with? A mr
throat.
The best thing almnt curixt is that
you bny them by the yard and wear
them out ouly by the foot.
"Boys, what ia a stratum ?" "A
layer." "Mention an example." "A
hen." ."Ys, and a ship ; she lava to."
The latetit in umbrellas is au oval
pane of glass inserted iu the front
breadth to "sight" anything approach
ing. Voltaire said of Mdlle. dn Livry :
"She was so beautiful that I raised niv
long, thin body, and stood lef.r her
like a point of admiration."
No distinction on aocouut of sex,
says Dame Fashiou. New spriug water
proofs for ladies will be made after tlie
Ulbter pattern for gentleman.
"I'd like to riva something to the
poor." remarked a Toledo lady. ' It's
hard times, au.l t.iey must lie suuvring
but I've got ( line this jlil to buy
another switch."
An Irishman giving his testimony iu
ef one of our Courts a fw day aimvt,
in a riot case, said, "Ha jabers, th
first man I suw was two brit'ks."
Mobile Heyistnr.
A sharp talking lady was reproved
by her husband, who rt quested her to
keep her tongne in her mouth. "My
dear," she said, "It's agaiuht the law to
carry concealed wcupoua.
Patient to doctors after cousultal ion:
.Tell me the worst, gciitlemiu ; am 1
going to die?" Doctors : -Ve are di
vided ou that question, sir ; but there
is a majority of oue that you will live."
YoiiBg lady Are von a goo.1 ruum-r,
Mr. Dullboy ? Mr. D.iIIU.y -Well, not
very iirstruto. 1 was once iu a iuiln
race, aud they gave me three iiarters
of the distance start, but aw 1 did
not win.
Lienten diuners are becoming futhiou
able, the aim beiug to givo as great
variety as possible, iu the kinds an. I
cookery of fish. A printed bill of farn
on one of these occasions mentioned
fifteen different li.sli served iu a multi
plicity of ways.
The Russian budget for ls7." esti
mates the entire revenue rt .V.l,:Ml,tkKt
roubles. Of this sum the dini't tui.-s
are calculated to yield 1:51, IH'i.iNkl
roubles ; the iudirect taxes, Js:)jSin,inkl
roubles :mintn, mint t and teler-ipli
'i'.Nm.lKill roubles ; the residue beiup;
derived from state property and other
sources. Compared witti the last year,
the revenue ia exectl to exhibit an
increase of nearly H' ,tt K.(X m roubles.
Pins IX, says a Uome correspondent,
is one of the readiest, one of the most
fluent speakers of the day. Oive him
a text, and with greater promptitude
than the imvrovisatori can string
verses together, he can pour forth on
the moment a flood of eloquence. He
is a bom preacher : aud had his mission
been to follow in the steps of Paul
rather than tlnwe of IVter, ht would
rank among the first pulpit orator of
the day.
A game called luiuorit is played iu St.
Louis bar-rooms. Its advantage is thnt
nothing except figures is required.
Each player puts his right baud, palm
downward, ou the bar, extending as
many fingeis as be chooses. Tlieu they
guess how many fingers t.-getbor have
out, and the oue who comes nearest to
correctness scores oue point. Tardive
points make a game, thumbs rate the
same as fingers, aud when the guesses
are equally good neither counts.
Lamora is an Italian diversion, brought
over by emigrants.
For some time past the French press
has been frequently giving accounts of
suicides, au epidemic not ouly preva
lent among the civil population, but
also in the army. The C iiurnander-in-Chief
of the Fifteenth Corps d' Ariuew
has issued an order condemning it iu
severe terms. "The soldier," he says
'who puts an end to hit life is guilty
of an act of cowardice. His hfo be
longs to God and his country." The
General has decided that every soldier
who commits Miicids shall be buried at
night without military honors and
without an escort.
The mud full, a specimen of which
has just been received at the ltriglitou
aquarium, Kngl tn l, is a cnri:ns animal
abundant in Africa but not met with
far from the equator. When the African
rivers are dried, aud their bottoms,
under the influence of the torrid aud
desicating air, are baked to a hard, dry
crust, with splits and cracks innumera
ble, the mud-fish, which were nnaMe
to retreat like the sea fishet frum the
shoaling water with au ebb tide, is
found at the depth of eigliten inches,
incrnsted in mud, where it remains for
abont three-quarters of the year and
uutil the next rainy season. When the
mud is again liquified the fish is set
free, none the worse for its l-ng im
prisonment and deprivatiou of light
and air.
In the beginning of -t a year
memorable iu the history of the ttble
turning and spirit-rapping, Augeliqun
Cotton was a girl of fourteen, living iu
the village of Bouviguoy, near I, i 1'er
riere, department of Orne, France.
She was of low stature, but of robust
frame, and apathetic to an extraordi
nary degree Ixith in body and miud.
On January 15 of the year uamed while
the girl was,-with three other, engugi !
in weaving silk threid gloves, the
oaken table at which they worked
began to move and change position.
The work-women were alarmed; w.ik
was for a moment suspended, but was
soon resumed. But, wheu Angelique
again took ht r place ; the table Ik- ui
anew to move with great violeuce ; she
felt herself attracted to it, but as soon
as she touched it. it retreated before
her, or waa even upset. The following
morning similar phenomena waa ob
served, aud before long the public was
very decided in affirming that Auge
liqne Cotton was possessed of a devil,
and that she should be brought be
fore the parish priest. But the cure
was a man of too much commvu sense
to heed their request for an exorcisai
and resolved to see the facta himself.
The girl was brought to the cure's
house, and there the phenomena was
repeated, though not with the same
intensity, as before ; the table retreated
but was not overturned, while the
chair on which Angelique was seated
moved in a eoutrary direction, rocking
the while, aud giving Angelique crrrwt
difficulty in keeping her Beat. from
Popular Hcietu:e Monthly for Miimh
.