a F. SCHWEIER, ' THI CONSTITUTION TH1 T5I05 AND IH1 INrO&CIMIST OF IH1 LAWS. . Editor and Proprietor. XOUXXX. MIFFLINTOAVN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA.. SEPTEMBER 7. 1876. ZTZ lLS&ZSSO. 36. 1 1 TUB EECEET OF IT. There's a word in oar language, a word of four letter. Which contains the great secret of worldly sncceea. And be who will follow the pathway it opens. Will escape much of sorrow and worldly distress. Around thia great symbol, the wondrous an- gician, . No ancient inscriptions, no mysteries lark ; Bat open and plain as the book we call sacred, In this powerful helper, this simple word wort" How many there are in our towns and our cities Who are very reluctant their fingers to sod ; Who are willinc to take any genteel position. Cut turn in disgust from the Tery word toil. Some few of the multitude may be successful. But a far greater number will certainly fail. And many will turn to the ways of transgres sors. And soma will find a home in some prison or jaiL The God who created designed us to labor ; Ha gave us the power to work if we would, And if we but strive to accomplish oar mission Success will attend us our work will be good. The labor will seem to us almost appalling. But He will sustain and help us to do ; Tears may be consumed in it ere it is finished. But cheerful endeavor will carry it through. T hen up and be doing. lifes moments are pre cious ; . Our time will be short enough, brief at the beet. Toil on and remember our work is before us ; When it is completed, then we shall find rest. Press on to the goal ; there are others besides u; We shall not succeed if our duty we shirk ; But the prize is awaiting you. firm noble toiler. So bravely, unceasingly faithfully work ! The Renled Portrait. Jennie Tilting was the dearest little woman in the world : but in these dark days she was grieving sorely for her dead husband, so sorely that tier 'good hearted brother-in-law. Edward Elting made up bis mind that it was part of his mission in life to live near ner, so that he might be able to look after the little widow and attend to her affairs. He announced bis intention in the following words: "Jeannie. I want a house, aud I have an idea about the little 'brown stone' next door. Tom Harris is going to Europe; he told me he expected to sail sometime in May. He closes his iiouse, no doubt. Xow it occurs to me that for such tenants as mother aud myself I shall send for mother he will be willing to rent the place until he returns next fall. I should 1 close at hand, my girl, and be able to keep an eye on you and the children." The convenient Tom Harris, who had not thought of the possibility of renting his house in summer, and who was looking anxiously for a responsible per- son to leave m charge, giauiy accepted Edward Elting's proposal to rent the premises for fix months. By the mid dle of May the widow Elting and her son were comfortably established there. Poor Jcannie was wonderfully sus tained by the affectionate arrangement of next door.- She "leaned upon it," she said; but to Edward Elting there was something very lonely about me strange house, with its strange furni ture, that lacked all the old associations which could make it seem like home. One evening in iate September, when the heavy storm, the "equinoctial" had brought a keen autumnal chill, while musing in the firelight of his chamber, he remembered that flippant proverb, "Lucky in cards, unlucky in love." Vntthat be itlaved cards, or that he was in love. But the adage started up whimsically aud reflected upon nis me. Rarely had a "self-made man" attained so easily, by such honorable means, a fair fortune before middle age; and rarely had a man so capable of tender affection reached Elting's age of thirty six without a taste of true love. To be snre. circumstances in part explained this: there had been so many helpless ones dependent upon mm, mere naa uwmnl no time to think of self. The half good of the flippant proverb brought no smile to Elting's face this lnvrrimr Senteniber n inn t. Xo; all -" o summer long, and at its close, when the sad scene shrouded his brother's home, there had been growing in his heart, even while he comforted others, a longing for something nearer and dearer than the love of sister and mother and brother. Perhaps the room which he occupied in the rented house had exerted some influence to the effect. If walls have ars. WI1V should they not have mouths? And these walls had much to say of delectable affection and happy married Elting himself ascrilied the pheno menon to the influence of a picture the picture of a woman's face that hung above the fire-place directly opposite his bed. Every morning that sweet, grave face was the first object that met hia eve. At nisrht. as he closed his Bible, and was about to extinguish the lamp of the reading-stand, lie gave one i,rtiiir dance to the expressive can vas. Actually the pictured countence hxl influenced his summer, -mow must the heart of a man repose itself, he thousht, with a sigh, "upon a wo man whose soul should prove soberly sweet and daintily compassionate, like the face in the picture I He arose from his musing, fastened together some little packages he had brought up town for the children, and presently, all selfish dreaming cast aside, appeared in the expectant parlor "next door." Mrs. Peter P. Perricastle was a crea ture of impulse, and some of her im t.ulses were kind. It was oue of her kind imnulses that induced her to in vite to the Perricastle summer-place, as guest for a week in July, "poor Miss Dexter." the teacher in town of a select infant class, of which the infant terri castles were members. "The truth is," said Mrs. P. to her audience of neighbors, "the girl's pale face haunts me. . Besides," sue auueu, with nnmnGrinill mixture Of UOtiVe. "she is of excellent family related to the Dexters of U ; and just now no one is with me but Sally Devereaux, whom I do not count anybody, you know." ' When the stylish envelope, with its monogram in tricolor and gilt, reached Miss Dexter, that pale young woman was bending over a desk, which had been removed for vacation from the school-room to the small upper room of a dingy boarding-house, and she was in the midst of a cum in arithmetic. Two columns to be added ; the greater part to be subtracted from by the less. The items of one column : board for an in valid mother, loans l a wayward bro ther, board and clothing for a little sister, rent for school room, and board and clothing for self. "My earnings," the other column. Add and subtract. Simple enough! The veriest tyro in that school-room tare and tret, ' the in veterate "tit-tat-too" of the infant class would have laughed at the easy task. And yet "It was one of those woman's snras . That make the angels weep." Would it ever come right? "Yes, everything comes right," : said Miss Dexter. "If it were not for this hojie, this faith in the overruling protection of heaven, I should have given up the struggle long ago." At that moment arrived Mrs. Perri castle's note. "Xot a visit I had dreamed of, dear mamma," Mary Dexter said to the in valid who was pleased and excited by the flattering request ; "not one, per haps, that I should have exactly wished ; but it seems to be a providence. And as you think so too, I will accept." "How could I have dreaded the com ing so mnch ?" was the young school teacher's soliloquy more than once the first evening after her arrival, when she found herself sauntering up aud down the broad piazza arm in arm with Mrs. Perricastle, who was all kindness to her guest. The dinner had passed charmingly. Mrs. Pericastle was ge nial; the children, rather troublesome at school, were gentleness itself as hosts. The blue muslin dinner dress, with its simple rutlle at the throat clasped by the old-fashioned brooch, had proved just the right thing. And now, upon the broad piazza, bow deli cious was the mountain air, the wilder ness of garden and vista of wooded walk, the gleam through the darkling chestnut trees of the sunset-gilded lake I "My dear," said Mrs. Perricastle, on the morrow, "if you stay awhile with me, you will have all your roses back." Four delightful days of the visit passed. Sunday morning came, and the recollection of its Saturday evening was the crowning pleasure of the week. There had been a rowing party upon the lake, and company to tea, followed by music and animated conversation in the drawing-room ; and, prominent in Miss Dexters recollection, a fascinating chat over the engravings with the young clergyman of the place. She was quite anxious to hear him preach. Altogether it was in a glow of refreshing happiness that she drove over, In the big family barouche, with Mrs. Perricastle and the little Perricastles to church. Xot in such a glow did she return. A frown of displeasure was ujon her hos tess's face, aud poor Miss Dexter was looking pale enough. "I am extremely sorry that it hap pened," the impulsive lady said, as the carriage rolled rapidly through the dis mal evergreen glen that two hours be fore M iss Dexter had thought "so ex quisite." "He is considered one of the most disreputable men in the place. Fortunately he comes here but twice a year as agent for some Xew York house. I forget the name of the firm ; but you know, of course, as you know him. I am so sorry, for every one was looking, and you had interested I had inter ested my friends in your behalf." Fritz Deming, the most disreputable man in the place, had come forward from the gazing loiterers that thronged the paved path from the church porch to the carriages, and had spoken to Miss Dexter. She had hesitated and blushed, but nevertheless lingered to talk to him and had actually kept just, too. as the Grangers' carriage was waiting to drive up Mrs. Perricastle standing at the door of the barouche, until quite an gered she sprang in, and was ready to attack at once her disconcerted guest with, "I am extremely sorry that it happened. For your sake, Miss Dexter, as well as for mine." The Sunday dinner was colder than its cold meats. Mr. Perricastle was "out of sorts." Mrs. Terricastle "re tired into herself." Mary Dexter was glad she was to go home on Tuesday instead of to stay another week, as she had been warmly pressed. But Monday morning.the weather the Perricastle weather cleared. All was again serene, and delightful was the morning drive into the heart of the mountain woods. From the very edge of the dashing, dreamy water-fall in a ravine of pines, Mary Dexter had lucked with carefulest uprooting the wild geranium and the maiden-hair fern, to take home with her as keep sakes of the inspiring spot. Dinner passed pleasantly, and Mrs. Perricastle seemed to have forgotten the visit's one marring event. She even said to her guest that afternoon, "Keep up your courage my dear girl. I have many bright plans for you this winter." After tea, when it was growing dark, the young clergyman called, ne had been passing by, and having accident ally found that day the specimen for the herbarium of which he had spoken to Miss Dexter on Saturday evening, the pretty white flowered orchid (i benaria). he had brought it for her book. But Miss Dexter was nowhere to be found. "I thought she had gone to her room Mrs. Perricastle said, nervously; "but they tell me no. A young man called, and she received him upon the piazza; in fact, he was not asked in ; my ser vants are very discriminating, and 'twas that dreadful Fritz Dcmlng. 1 only hope Miss Dexter has not been so im prudent as to go into the shrubbery at this hour, She is perfectly unsopnisti- cated. Don't you think so, Mr. Oil letter" "Perfectly." answered Mr. Gillette, absently. His eyes, stretching their gaze through the open window, were fixed on the shrubbery, ana in conver. sation he did not appear his best. 'I am extremely sorry ; I do not at all approve of this," escaped his parish ioner's lips, as Miss Dexter appeared in the shrubbery, emerging from its re mote dusk, hand in hand with the dis reputable Fritz. A prolonged good-by, and then the young school-mistress pre sented herself in the drawing-room. somewhat diffident and flushed. When the clergyman had made his adieux, Mrs. Perricastle expected an explana tion. Xone was given. 'Are you engaged to him, my dear?" she asked at last, direct. "Oh, no." "Is he a relative?" "Oh yes. He is a relative. He is a he is my brother," said Miss Dexter, blushing and then turning pale, and evidently, as Mrs. Terrycastle remem bered to remark afterward, "in the very face of the discrepancy of surname too, telling an untruth." "Please don't ask me any more," Miss Dexter plead. . - "It does not do," lamented Mrs. P. to her husband the night of her guest's departure, "to invite these people to your house. I was persuaded there should be no such familiar recognition on our part." "A very nice girl, I thought," Mr. Perricastle said. : . "Mr. Gillette was carried away by her too," observed Mrs. P., blandly. "He has fallen in my estimation. As for myself, I am too ready to show kindness. Another lesson in human nature, that's all." "Mamma, Mith Dexther'th gone home and left her wild planth," said Tommy Perricastle, peeping into the parlor the following day, while his mother was receiving a morning call. The morning caller seized upon the mentioned name at once. Her curi osity had been excited by rumors of Mrs. Perricastle's guest, and the interview with the disreputable Deming, which she had witnessed in the church porch. She had a hundred questions to ask, and, as she was not of the peace-making sort, Mrs. P., in answering these ques tions, found herself growing more and more suspicious of Miss Dexter, and mere and more, to use her own expres sion, "indignantly wrought up." The result was she felt constrained to write to several patrons of Miss Dex ter'a infant class that circumstances, singularly brought to her knowledge, complied her to believe Miss D. not the proper person to have charge of iu fant minds. "We cannot," she wrote, "be too careful into what influences we introduce these precious buds." Edward Elting did not relax his af fectionate care of the poor little widow aud her troublesome brood, who recog nized the authority of Uncle Ed, even though they rebelled against all other. One night, after an unusually severe case of discipline, during which the offenders had been sent ignomiuiously to bed, Jeannie drew her chair confid ingly near his, and said : 'Brother Ed, you are always so will ing to help people who are in trouble, I wish you would help some one who in terests me very much, or at least give me some advice how 1 may help her." Xot since her husband's d.ath had Jeannie looked so like herself as now in speaking these words. 7Ier pale face lost for the moment its expression of all-absorbing grief. "You know Miss Dexter, May's and Kittie's teacher," she went on, "or at least you have heard us speak of her. Well, she has been here to-day, and she is in great trouble. . The school was to have ojiened to-morrow, but it appears that more than half of her scholars have been taken away. She does not know why. She came to me to ask if I would send my children, in view of a possi bility that the class might not be sus tained through the term. I declare, my heart ached for her. She said not much of her troubles, but I know she has been cruelly overburdened ; she shows it, A year ago she was quite young and pretty; now she has that ohl look, the look that comes with that comes with " Jeannie paused. Her eyes filled with tears, her lips quivered. "Oh, Edward," she exclaimed, "I have been ungrateful. I knew that to day, when I was listening to that lonely oppressed girl. With my babies cling ing to me little hands on my knees, my cheeks, my breast they ought to sustain me. Ah, other hearts than mine are bleeding. I must not forget this in my desolation. I promised her May and Kittie, and perhaps little Ed die, if you think so. And I went iu to Sirs. Granger's, and she will send Lot tie. But these are very small additions only two, and she has lost sixteen." "Has she secured her class-room?" asked Edward. "I don't know; I fear not. She said something about needing the half-quarter advances. Her brotfier has just gone to Texas, I think she said, and required all the funds that had been laid aside. Oh, Edward, you under stand about business so well, I wish you could see the poor girl yourself. Could you. But no, that is asking too much. I was going to say, could you take, on your way down town to morrow, a note from me I promised to send word about Lottie Granger and so make an excuse to see her? I suppose she would be cheered by a few words of clear advice." "Why wait till to morrow?" said Edward. "Write your note, Jeannie, and I'll take it to-night " "Another proof," this elder brother thought, as he set off on his kind er rand, hurrying briskly along the rainy streets "another proof that I am needed for other people, not for myself." "An sich a fine-looking gintleman, miss, so florid-like and gin'rous," said the sympathetic maid-of-all-work, who climbed to the attic of the dingy boarding-house to deliver Mr. Elting's card. A visitor? who could it be? Mary Dexter had no callers. Time ago friends and lovers there had been what girl has them not? But for a year past her overburdening toil, her care for her mother, her wretched anxieties for her brother, had unfitted her for entertain ing any one. Even the young men of the house bad ceased to coax ner to "come down stairs evenings," or to go to places of amusement. She entered the parlor to-night in strange contrast to the gay and gaudily dressed girls who were playing whist at a corner table with two boarding house gallants. As Mr. Elting arose to receive her, and gave her his sister's note, something in his manner inspired Mary Dexter with confidence at once, nis voice she thought a wonderfully beautiful man's voice; it was used in studiously low tones, for whist at the corner table had suddenly become some thing more than whist. Quietly they talked over the business of the class opening. Mr. Elting pro mised, as it was on his way down town, to stop on the morrow and secure the school-room. The next day the pupils could be admitted, and there would probably soon be additions to their number; at all events, his sister, Mrs. Everard Elting, gladly wished, for the sake of her own children, to assume a quarter's risk. And every thing was so clear, so practical, so light-hearted, so safe! For the first time in many weeks Mary Iexter slept upon a thorn less pillow that night. And so Heaven had not forgotten to help. The poor school-mistress had found friends. Jeannie Elting was like a sister; could anything be sweeter than that? And Mr. Elting came often, very often ; the boarders in the dingy house began to make comments on the fact. When he had been thus often, she asked him once, in a sudden impulse of gratitude "Why is it that you are so kind?" And he answered, in his frank, downright way, without any conven tional ignoring, "Partly because you have become so dear to Jeannie, and partly " and then there came a strange, half-happy, half-sad expression into his face, an expression diflicult to analyze was this why Mary Dexter cogitated over it so much ? " partly be cause of the fascination of a resem blance." " Shall you ever tell me, Mr. Elting shall I ever know this friend of yours ?" But tills question she asked months biter, and tremulously too with her head turned aside, " Shall I ever know the woman whom I resemble, and for whose sake you are so kind ?" And then it was that Edward Elting, to her infinite surprise and to his infi nite surprise, caught her in his arms and said, "Darling, it is yourtelf." "Would anything induce you to sell that painting over the mantel iu the front-room of the second floor?" asked Elting about Christmas time of Tom Harris, now reinstated iu "the little brown stone nest door." "Xot any sum you could name, my dear fellow. Sell that? Why, that's my wife's grandmother," said Tom. I'm sorry,'' answered his friend, "I would rather own it than any picture iu the world. But never mind," he added quietly, "J hare the oriyinal." The original : not the wife's grand mother, dear reader, of course, but the original of the soberly sweet and dainty compassionate soul upon which a man's heart could rest. Edible Nat. The king of nuts for usefulness is the fruit of the palm the cocoanut which grows abundantly in all tropical re gions. The kernel, in its fresh state, is very nutritive, and when grated, makes excellent cakes or fritters. The milk of the cocoanut forms a delicious beverage in Its native country; a large nut, when fresh, will give half a pint of milk. When it is very young the pulp is so soft that it may be eaten with a spoon, and the shell is so thin and transparent that it may be nsed as a lantern. The oil obtained by pressure from the kernel is u.ed for burning in lamps and for making fine soap. There is no part of the tree but is employed for some use ful purpose, though with respect to fruit, the cocoanut Is one of the least productive of the palm tribe. Oue tree, in a good soil, produces about one hun dred cocoa nuts annually. Sweet almonds are nutritive, but diflicult ot digestion. The brown husk that sur rounds the kernel is unwholesome, and on account of its injurious qualities, almonds should always be blanched. This is done by simply pouring boiling water upon the kernels. Bitter al monds are poisonous to all classes of animals. . The chestnut is the most far inaceous and the leastoily of all nuts, and, therefore, is the most easy of di gest' -n though it requires roasting or boiling. In Southern Europe they form a large portion of the food of the laboring classes. The walnut is a native of Persia, and its fruit is much used in the green state as a pickle. This nut is very oily, and on the Continent its oil, when fresh, is used in cooking as a substitute for olive oil. In Switzer land, the poor people use the refuse matter, after the oil is extracted, for bread. In Xorway and Sweden, acorns are boiled and mixed with corn meal to make bread. Hazelnuts and filberts are the fruit of the same tree, the for mer in its wild, and the latter in its cultivated stite. These nuts are quite free from oil. At dessert they are gen erally eaten with salt. Frest roasted peanuts are very agreeable In their fla vor, and quite nutritive. Instead of being munched between meals, in all sorts of places, if they were etten at the table as a part of the meal and thoroughly masticated, they would prove more wholesome. Eaten with other food, as at the conclusion of a meal, nuts are wholesome and agree able, and might on account of the oil they contain, well supply the place of indigestible pastry. Caad Maaaera. It is a rule of manners to avoid exag geration. A lady loses as soon as she admires too easily and too much. In man or woman the face and the person lose power when they are on the strain to express admiration. A man makes his Inferiors bis superiors by heat. Why need you, who are not gossip, talk as a gossip, and tell eagerly what the neigh bors or the journals say ? State your opinions without apology. Statistics at the Treasury Depart ment show that bank notes wear out in three years at the most, and shinplas- ters won't hang together over iweive months. Caaat Kaaarard Laadaa Hbm. The count's residence in Brompton row is minutely described in a letter from his friend, M. Pictet, It had be fore it "a space planted with trees and sown with grass," which have long since disappeared, though the house is still there. It was enclosed with double windows, and adorned on every side with shrubs and vases of flowers, the tables on which the Utter stood be!ng perforated so as to let in the hot air which escaped by the side sashes of the windows. The count's working room on the second floor was so arranged as to command "a view of the country," the light "coming in through a set of windows arranged in the arc of a circle, through which even in the middle of the apartment, you may see a quarter of the horizon." The "illusion," adds M. Pictet, "is complete. You might suppose yourself in the country close to a garden bordered by a park. Be hind the main house is a structure of outbuildings which enclose a stable and a coach house, a chemical labora tory, etc. The two buildings are sep arated by a small garden ; but there is between them a communication by a coverered gallery, which is warmed in the winter by a pipe of hot air. All the other arrangements in the house reflected the ingenuity of its master. The mantel pieces did not project Into the rooms, and were so masked in Sum mer with painted canvas as to be con founded with the wainscot panels. These again were hung on sunken hinges, so contrived as from panels to form writing tables, and vice vena. The window sills and other recesses were ntilized as closets for clothes and books all masked in like manner. X'or was less skill displayed in the bed chambers, where the beds were concealed under the forms of elegant sofas, the mattres ses being made to fold np in such a way as to be converted by day into ottomans, so that what was a bed by night was converted after breakfast, almost with out trouble, into an ornamental piece of furniture." "The Ingenuity shown in the details of the house," he adds "is equalled only by their simplicity and tastetul application of color and form to every article." The dining room appears to have been most ingen ious in its arrangements. "Its area," writes Pictet, "is changeable at will by means of a partition of window sashes with large panes, forming a large double door, which opens on the side of case ments for the sunlight, and by which also the beat escapes iu the Winter. When the folding doors are open at right angles they correspond with the wiudows and the room is to that extent enlarged; the same doors then form two side recesses which answer for two sideboards, communicating within aud outside the room by which the service of the table is performed without the servants having to come in. Agaiu if you wish to contract the room aud to preserve its warmth by the effective agency of double windows, you can close the folding doors, and, without lepriving yourself of light and of the shrubbery which all the windows com mand, you are completely protected from all chills." M. Pictet repeatedly calls this mansion "a charming dwel ling" and "an Elysium." The house contained, also, in one of the upper floors, a concealed kitchen, which seemed to have escaped Mr. Plctet's attention, or at all events is omitted from his description. London Timr. ' Laa Lit. Everybody wants to live to be old. It is one of the first promises to men as a reward for honoring the father and mother. The man who lives to a great age is considered fortunate, and In most parts of the world is venerated, gray hair being a crown of honor. The question is an interesting one to every person : Can one by care preserve his own age? and if so, there is second growing out of this what kind of care will preserve life? There is a story told of two travelers who were on a journey together through France. One of them had a theory that by strict temperance in eating and drinking life might be prolonged, while the other held that a rational iudiilgence and enjoyment of tne good things of life were the most favored conditions for longevity. One day they came to a viyage where were two old men, each in his hundredth year. One of the travelers visited one of these patriarchs and his companion the other. Each returned, acknowl edging that his theory was wrong and his friend's correct. The first had Deen told by his centennarlan that he had preserved his life by always eating and drinking what best pleased his palate, and enjoying the pleasures of life ; while the second was told by the aged man whom he visited that extreme simplicity of diet and frugality In his manner of living had kept him in life and health. The story may be true or not; it is not Improbable. Care and moderation in all things doubtless tend to prolong life, but they do not ensure to him who practices them great age. An example often cited is that of Cornaro, a Venetian nobleman, born In 1467, and until he was 40 years old, intemperate in eating and drinking. His constitution, natu rally infirm, was impaired, and from that time he observed strict rules of living, and so he lived on until he died in his hundredth year. His temperance was not exactly in conformity with modern Xew England notions. He took rather more wine than solid food, 14 ounces day, did not expose himself to the heat of the sun nor fatigue him self, his chief labor being, after he was 83 years old, when he wrote his "Dis course on Temperate Living." This is little book which has been translated into every written language and read by millions, and yet the extreme length of human life has not been extended and the average increase is not greatly indebted to his rules. Public sanitary regulations have done more than private methods in preserving life. Sobriety is one of the virtues which tend to long life, but does not insure it. Xeither does health. Cornaro was him self an example of this. His natural constitution was infirm and for the first 40 years of his life he did not nurse it. The experience of most who have at tained great age, confirms the statement that robust health is not especially favorable to long life. A delicate con stitution is often more lasting than the most robust. The pale and sickly boy may live to be a man of extreme age, while the ruddy and robust youth is cut down in his prime by some acute dis ease or dies suddenly on the approach of old age. Health and muscularity also are not necessarily the possession of the same person. The men trained for a prize fight, a boat race, or any thing requiring great muscular exer tion, are not in a high state of health. This is evident from the fact that a trifle upsets them. There is hardly a boat race advertised but some one of the several of the crews has to find a substi tute because he is ill from a slight matter which would be a trifle to one in really good health. The race of life is not to the strong nor to the swift, and a recent writer in the Lancet, Dr. R. Southey, says that the three oldest per sons he ever knew were women and were valetudinarians, and had been so for most of their lives. Xor are the rules of health the same for all. Coma ro's rules may have preserved him and might shorten the daysof another. Rich cakes aud pastry and idleness are not usually considered to be greatly con ductive to health, and yet we have known an instance of a lady who ex isted for upwards of 90 years, whose principal diet was composed of the food mentioned and who scarcely took more exercise than the removal from her bed to her chair and from her chair to her bed. Temperance and sobriety may be favorable to long life, but they did not insure it even to the most robust and promising. The life insurance officers ask, as the most important question, of an applicant for a policy if his mother and father are living, and if not their ages at the time of death. If the parents are old or lived old, the expectation of life of the children is great. If the parents died young then there is no great hope that the children will live to a great age. The best surety to a long lived family is to have descended from ancestors of great age. Unfortunately this is not possible for all, and so the next best thing is to live a good life while it lasts, and by temperance and sobriety to make it as healthful and happy as possible, so as to transmit to posterity a better constitution than one inherits from his ancestors. I'adersad a Is Uravaeaad. A soldier who served three years under General Custer, relates the fol lowing incident which was characteris tic of his desperate and determined manner: "It was five or six years ago that we had a fight with the Chippewas on the Washita river, the expedition being led by Custer. For a longtime the General had with him on the plains three magni ficent Scotch grayhounds, by which he set great store, and for which he would accept no price. Twenty miles from the Chippewa's village we struck the trail. It was in the evening and before proceedi ng on the march, Custer ordered that the grayhounds be placed in the wagons, which were not to accompany the detachment. This was done. We took up our line of march and found the village on the Washita at midnight, the inhabitants being wrapped in slum ber, and all about the camp silent, Custer concluded to wait until daylight to make the charge, and after command ing silence all along the line, sat upon his horse like a statue waiting for the first indications of dawn. While sitting thus a slight pattering on the ground attracted his attention, and upon look ing down he perceived through the gloom one of his hounds crouching at his horse's feet, the dog having escaped from the wagon aud followed his master. The Indian village was swarm ing with dogs, and Custer knew it. He also knew that if his hound emitted the slightest yelp or bark it would agitate the entire canine force of the camp, put the Indians on their guard, and proba bly frustrate the object of the expedi tion. Slipping gently from hi horse, he grasped the dog's throat with both hands, and slowly and quietly choked him to death. So silently and quickly was it done that in the gloom that pre vailed, only a few soldiers, standing in the Immediate vicinity, preceived the desperate action. With the exception of his last fight, this engagement on the Washita was one of the most desperate ever fought on the plains, and resulted in a grand victory for the "creeping panther," the name by which Custer was known among the Indians. rascbtaw Reindeer. Iu many bleak Xorthern regions these animals are the sole support of the people. When liberated from har ness they go directly in search of food, a peculiar species of nutritious moss, which their instinct enables them to find deeply covered with snow. Some times as many as one hundred start off foraging, there being nothing provided for them by their exacting master. Like camels under similar circumstan ces, when unladen they strode off miles in different directions. When they are wanted again their seal-okin-clad drivers get behind them in several di rections, and by hallooing, throwing snowballs aud making considerable up roar, the deers are gradually driven in to a smaller circle. The herd is then encircled by a small cord, the men draw it nearer, until it strikes their long legs. They neither try to leap over nor break through it, but huddle together as close as possible. Finally the two ends meet, held by one person while the others enter under line and select the animals they want, siezing them by their horns, bringing them out and tying them to something strong enough to hold them until harnessed to a sled. The remainder again scatter in pursuit of moss. Strong, tall and fleet though they are, able, with a sweep of their antlers, to mow down a score of sturdy Xorthmen, they cower at the voice of man. Their masters are rude, harsh and unkind to them. They are so timid that the sound of the driver's voice sets them running at such speed, that they will die before halting. If their drivers continue to urge them, TelllaslaeXewe. The following illustration of the power possessed by insects to com municate their experiences to one an other is given by a lady correspondent of the Lonilon SjiectaUrr: "I was stay ing at the house of a gentleman who was fond of trying experiments, and who was a bee keeper. Uaviug read inJ some book on bees that the best and most humane way of taking the honey without destroying the bees was to im merse the hive for a few minutes in a tub of cold water, when the bees, be ing half drowned, could not sting, while the honey was uninjured, siuce the water could not penetrate the closely waxed cells, he resolved on try ing the plan. I saw the experiment tried, the bees, according to the recipe, were fished nut oi the water after the hive bad been immersed a few minutes, and with those remaining in the hive laid on a sieve in the sun to dry. But as by bad management the experiment had been tried too late in the day, as the sun was going down, they were re moved into the kitchen, to the great indignation of the cook, on whom they revenged their sufferings as soon as the warm rays of the fire, before which they were placed, revived them. As she insisted on their being taken away, they were put back into their old hive, which had been dried, together with a portion of their honey, and placed on one of the shelves of the apiary, in which were five or six other strong hives full of bees, and left for the night. Early next morning my friend went to look at the hive on which he experimented the night before, but, to bis amazement, not only the bees from that hive were . gone, but the other hives were also deserted not a bee re mained in any of them. The half drowned bees must, therefore, in some way or other, have made the other bees understand . the fate which awaited them." A Xew UtssIIss. Of all esculents the potato is the most wholesome. In Ireland a large number of the population exist solely upon this plant. It is due to a Frenchman, how ever, the discovery of improving upon the plant, and assuring iu supply con stantly through the year. An exchange says: ''Luxury, indeed, can command new potatoes at almost any time. But the soapy, insipid root, which costs so much, and is reared with so much diffi culty, is not a proper potato, or at least does not taste like one. There is always a disagreeable suggestion of the forcing pit and greenhouse, - A French peasant has met the difficulty, grappled with it, and conquered it. After trying every kind of soil in which to sow the roots, he at last hit upon the notion of employing salt, and found it to answer admirably. He made his experiment in secret, so as to be certain of success. That success is now attained, and notice has been taken by the French authori ties of the new method. The roots are planted in August, on a thin stratum of salt, each root having placed over it a pinch of compost, and the earth heaped over that. In September the ground is dug again, and in October it is weeded. In the middle of January the crop is ripe, each root bearing seven or eight potatoes attached to it. The success of the new method has only just been an nounced. Last August twelve months, the inventor laid down his roots and followed out the programme we have given. The result was that mis time, twelve months, he was able to produce to the director of the museum of natural history in Paris the first sample of this winter growth, but the Parisian profes sor would scarcely believe that the roots placed in his hands bad only just been dugout of the earth. The peasent in ventor stuck to his history, and was so imperative that the experiment was re peated last August, several witnessess being invited to assist in the planting. The result has been assured success. The whole method has been laid before an agricultural commission in Paris, aud the government has promised an adequate reward to the peasant in ventor." A Carriage Kid la aervlm. The correspondent of the London Time in Servia gives the following de scription of a native carriage in which he made his jonrneyings : "Our carriage deserves to be de scribed. It is remarkably like what we might imagine would be a gay ambu lance; indeed, one might well mistake it for a fantastic miniature hearse. It is on four wheels, low in the body, and with three windows on either side. There is room for four persons inside, with a convenient well for baggage be yond the seat which faces the horses. This, as well as the roof which covers the passengers' heads, is covered with leather. 'A leather hood descending from the roof fulls down behind, and is attached to the back of the carriage by straps. A small verandah in front covers the dri ver's seat, on which there is a space for two persons. At the back of this seat is a window, through which you can communicate with the driver. On each side without is a notification in Turkish, Servian and German that the machine isajiacre which makes journeys through Servia and Turkey. There is a scarlet curtain inside, which may be drawn completely across each window. Two horses harnessed without collars com plete the equipage. The driver in formed us at starting that in Turkey our carriage is regarded with a respect noth ing short of what Christians would re gard as veneration, in as much as it has frequently had the great honer of being retained to convey the ladies of the Sul tan's harem. "As we are not within the boundary of Turkey proper, but only in a territory which is in open revolt against its Otto man Suzerain, we thought at starting that it would be rather dangerous for us to have it supposed that the contents of the wagon were ladies on the way to the Seraglio, to we took care all day to keep the windows open, and to salute and acknowledge the salutations of those whom we met on the way. It is only a becoming tribute to Servian hospitality and politeness to say that the latter greetings were almost as frequent as the occasions of oar meeting any of the na tives or the country." KIWS EI BBUT. Chicago's lake flatting hospital furnishes cleanliness and pure air for over 300 babies per day. The Good Templars of Michigan gained one hundred and one lodges and 4500 members the past year. In Lewis ton, Me., butter has not been so cheap before for years. Country dealers are generally paying from 20 to ts cents per pound.. . Dr. Hammond, of Xew York, at one time surgeon-general of the army, is said to have an income of $60,000 a year from his medical practice, In the Jordan River, Upper Michi gan, trout abound in such numbers that recently a party of four persons, after six days fishing, caught 2,000. Chief Justice Edmund L. Gushing, of Vermont, has been the organist of the Unitarian church in Charleston, Vt, for more than forty years. The receipts for a year's license fees from gamblers in Virginia City were $29,000. The money I collected monthly, and gambling is in no way restricted. Spain is ahead of America in one thing at least, for while we puzzle over street locomotion, Madrid's omnibuses are drawn over ordinary pavements by steam engines. When the war of the Revolution began there was but one man In Massa chusetts who was worth more than $30,000; there are now forty-tive worth more than a million. Connecticut won the championship in American skill last year, having 70 patents, or one to 761 inhabitants. Ar kansas is at the foot of the class; Mas sachusetts next to the head. The Xew York yachtsmen are ' afraid to go outside of Sandy Hook since the .Mohawk disaster, and the ladies who had engaged for Summer cruises are all backing out. I'tica is to have another baby show at the Central Xew York Fair, Septem ber 7. Xine prizes, varying from sj to $25. are o He red for the prize babies born on and after January 1, 1876. The king grasshonner was caught at Owatonna, Minn. He was two incheo aud a quarter in length, five-eights of an inch across the back aud one and three-quarter inches in circumference. San Francisco has a strong man who, with 400 pounds on his back, 40O on his breast, a 200 pound bar on hi neck, and a man on each end of the bar dances, wearing shoes that weigh 75 pounds. John B. Gould, of Bellevemon, Pa. has a team of horses, one of which is twenty-eight and the other thirty-one years of age. Tney are still in active service. Their driver is eighty-two years old. It is not generally known that Oliver Wendell Holmes is the inventor of the common baud stereoscope, but such is the fact, and his work has been given to the world without the protec tion of a patent. Mortimer Benedict has been stead ily employed as driver on the road from ' Troy to La singburg, X. Y., for 26 years 11 years on the stages and 15 on the horse-cars. His trips in that time will aggregate 951,525 miles. A, white quartz rock has been dis covered in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which promises to find a ready market among Bessemer steel manufacturers, by whom it is pulver ized and used to line the steel conver ters. In the presence of Colonel Benton. U. S. A., General Franklin, Dr. Gat- ling, and others, one of the improved rapid-firing Galling guns was recently nred at the rate of 4U shots a second, or 2.J00 per minute. The gun is 10 barrel, 45 calibre. A lifeboat recently tried in London is 30 feet long, weighs two tons, and righted itself immediately when cap sized into the water. Eighteen men could not upset it, and the inventor claims that it will keep 2(10 persons above water. The wool clip of the country last yar was nearly two hundred million pi.-nds. whereas in 1S0O it was only sixty-five millions. In 1875 the country bought about fifty million dollars worth of woolen goods and eleven millions worth of wool. The new postal law is now in oper ation. Consequently all mail matter of the third class, including transient newspapers, can be transmitted through the mails at the rate of one cent tor two ounces, instead of the late rate of one ceut an ounce. The Kaleigh (X. C.) Sentinel men tions it as an encouraging fact that there is hardly a city in the South which Is not increasing in population and wealth, though times have been hard and the Southern states have beeu under a shadow for years. It is claimed that at the Oceanic, Isles Shoals, the thermometer always ranges ten or more degrees less than at the ad jacent beach-houses. One of the me thodical liostoniaus, wno nas Kent an entire season's record, voucjes for the truth of the assertion, and the fact Is worth noting. The remnant of the wreck of the yierriimc has been raised and placed in the dry dock at the Xorfolk navy-yard. The timber what there is left of it, will be utilized as the pews ot the Old South. Churcti are being, in supporting the tottering steps of those who are wealthy enough to purchase a walking stick for a relic. There are fifty-five saw mills iu Washington Territory, that cost $921,- 500, and cut about 1,000,000 feet of lumber per day. l he twenty-nve nour ing mills in the Territory include 36 run of stone, with a capacity of 834 bbls cer day, with seven not specified. and the cost of nineteen of them it given at $225,100. In Wisconsin, for the purpose of holding and managing their own pro perty, wives are, in effect, divorced from their husbands. The separate estate of a woman at the time of marriage, Is ab solutely her own ; and she may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued in respect to her own property, as though she were unmarried. As forests disappear there is a grad ual decline in the production of maple sugar and molasses. In 1S70 we pro duced 28,443,645 pounds of maple-sugar and 6,503,323 gallons of molasses; In 1860 we produced 40,120,305 pounds of sugar and 14.963,906 gallons of mo lasses a decrease oi n,o,o,;w pouuos of sugar and of 8,460,673 gallons of mo lasses in ten years. There are now in the state of Xew York alone nearly 1,000 cheese manu factories, which use the milk of more than 250,000 cows, making therefrom 80,000,000 pounds of cheese, which is 1.000 pounds for every three cows. The cheese product of the whole United States u over 250,000,000 pounds, of which 06,600,000 are exported. Eng land scarcely exports 25,000,000 while little Holland, which used to be the principal cheese producing country in the world, exports at present 60,000,000 pounds. ;sr Mi .fV i r t i . 5 J - ft '!l i!i ". IT
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers