v T 1 B. F. SCIIWEIER, THE COUSTITUTIOS-THE TT5TI05 A5D THE EUrOSCISIEUT OF THE LAWS. Editor trad Proprietor. V I vol: xxxii. MIFFLIXTWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1S7S. NO. 47. MI1I1SCII IF ONLY YOU WERE HK&8. If yon were here to-night. If I might lift my longing eves to but Tour dreamy eyes dowo-looking on my face. With their half-veiled, half smiling tenderness. Oh, first, and best, and dearest, oan yon guess Bow. in my lonely heart, yonr altar-flams Weald leap to sudden glorious fire, and alums All these sad, darkened hours of fear and blame, . If only yoa were here ? If yoa were here to night. Here, oloee beside me, while the soft rain falls Aud through the darkness the sweet church bell calls. And all the quiet world takes on repose, qo, warmest heart, if yoa were here so doss, Xht I might lean down on your breast, M hat could I ask of sweeter calm or rest, bo, in God't hap y world, could be more blest? If only you were here? If yoa were here to-night. Oh, love ! my lore, my love, so far from me! T nrouh all diridiug apace, where'er yon be. My winded thoughts fly fs-t, and far.and free, (seeking, like birds, to And their sheltered nest. Oh, gentle heart, make such a welcome guest. Across the lonely world, I know not ahere, I send the longing silence of a prayer. If only you where here. Harley's Chances. Prior to the great financial crash of 137, Joshua Martin was deemed the most prosjierous merchant in the then frontier city of St. Joseph, Wis. He was uoted for his sterling integrity and stainless character, and, if he reveled iu wealth, he did not parade it before the eyes of the jieople. lie came to St. Joseph in 1831, and at once began ro amass a fortune. Those w ho pretended to know said that the merchant operate 1 in Kastern slcks. and that the hulk of his wealth was staked among the bulls and bears of Xew York. ' The memorable crash of that decade w hich embraced the dates above writ ten ruined Joshua Martin. He had staked everything in Eastern securi ties, and he suddenly found himself a comparative beggar. Poor, blinded man. He could save nothing from the wreck, and he sat among the ruins of his fortune, like Marius amoug those of Carthage Forced to relinquish the imposing residence which.in his eager ness to delve deejier into stock, he had uior:gaged away, he was obliged to re move his family, consisting of a wife and one daughter, to an humble dwell ing, and from the date of that removal the Martins wern uo more mentioned In the fashionable society of "St. Jo." The troubles of the bankrupt's fam ily did not end here. The blow killed the merchant. Though a strong u-an, he could not bear up under his loss. If a few thousand had been taken from him at interval, he might have recov ered and regained his lost position, but the destruction of tens of thousands at one sw eep of the waves overwhelmed him. He sank rapidly and died, leav ing his family to buffet the waves of the world, and to do the best they could among those who had once knelt at their feet.but w ho now did not deign to recognize them on the streets. When a rich man suddenly becomes poor, the grave is the best place for him. It is a house of refuge, where he Is safe from the scorn ot those whose equal and superior in social position he once was. Mother and daughter took quite readily to their new life. They sold much of the gorgeous furniture which had ornamented their late home, but kept the piano and a few other pieces which Maumee loved. Maumee Martin hal grown to be witching womanhood during her life In St. Joseph, and her accomplishments rivaled her beauty. After the death of her father after her transformation into the child of a d.-spied bankrupt she did not shrink from the duties that fell to her lot. She must live; she mut earn her daily bread,and a week after the change of life we find Maumee Martin plying the seamstress' needle or giving lessons In music to a few children whose par ents sent them to her because she taught cheaper than regular precep tors. By and by the house w hich they oc cupied w as sold over their heads, but the new owner a great, middle-aged, and somewhat handsome, man assu red them that they should not be put out. The new owner was a stranger In St. Joseph, but immediately purchasing the property above mentioned, he opened a commission store, and at once drew a thriving patronage about him. Andreas Harley, for such was his name, came often to the house of the Martins', and rerts went abroad to the effect that he intended to wed the bankrupt's widow. 'My chances are decidedly good," said the merchant one evening, as he bent over the counting-room desk. The girl appears coy. but she will come about in time. People think that f. fier the w idow. but I never en tertained a thought in that direction. The beauty of the dauguter woii.-j .h. .'i.lnw'a most devoted adorer . , tk.i rit-l'a a heautv. Sue to ner smi-. nvf,.-. Mrs. Harley; she shall. Yes." after a long pause, and as he slowly turned from the desk, "Harley, vonr chances are good-ieciicuiy iood. You own their home, and in the depth of winter yon can turn them out. if Maumee becomes stubborn and says no. . , He was the sole occupant of the large counting-room, but as he erased the threshold and turned to lock the door, he heard a footstep and voice down the aisle. . 'Hold a moment, Mr. Ilarley. ' ite open the counting-room door, please. 1 wish a few words with you." He did not reply, hut stepped Into the cosy counting-room closely followed by Phillip Lee. "Well?" he inquired, turning sud denly upon the handsome young clerk, "speak quickly, Lee; I must be going. "All I desire to say is that aome 1 the funds of the house have mysteri ously disappeared' "What? Say that again boy." The young man repeated his words, and added : "One afternoon while you were ab sent East, I .laced $950 in the safe, and the follow ing morning 15 were miss ing." "You have committed au error iu counting, possibly." "If I caunot count money correctly when it is before my eyes I deserve to be thrown out of employment," said the youth, in an insulted tone. "Sev eral times during your absence have 1 policed the peculations of some un known person." "Who had access to the safe?" "I held the keys, sir," answered Phillip quickly. "I have not missed them for a single moment. But the safe lias been opened by keys." Andreas Harley dropped his head in deep thought, while the clerk stepped to his desk and summed up various col umns of figures on the back of an en velope which he drew from an inner pocket. "Three hundred dollars have been purloined within four weeks," said Lee, turning from his desk. -"It staggers me," returned Harler, "but we will watch the thief, and if w e catch him he shall have his reward." The merchant began buttoning his coat, aud the clerk walked from the room. Andreas Harley heard him close and lock the outside door of the store, and then stepped toward the dei-k, his dark eyes tiled upon au ob ject which lay thereon. It was an envelope Uhii which Philip Lee had been figuring. "I'll look at his figures," he mur mured, but the next moment he turned the envelooe and stared at the super scription. It was merely "Phillip Lee, Present," hut the chirography startled the merchant. Those delicately formed letters he had encouutered before. And after closing the counting-room door. he half fearfully drew the letter from its hiding place. For a moment his eyes remained fixed upon the brief communication, w hen he started from the desk, while some thing like an oath fell from his lips. "So, Miss Maumee Martin," he said, hurling the letter to the floor and ga ting angrily at it, "you possess a lover beside Andreas Harley. Girl woman I w ill not supmit to this. If you pre fer the employe to the employer, you must hunt another home. But by the heavens, you shall not wed him as he stands before the world now. He has held the keys to the safe. He has robbed it ! The crime shall be fastened upon him. Harley's chances do not look so bright now, but I fancy that a little sternness will bring the girl to terms. She's a beggar now, almost. Does she want to marry another?" Then he picked the letter up, read it again, and placed it on the desk where the youth had left it. The contents of the missive did not amount to much. It was merely a re ply to one which, during business hours, Phillip Lee had sent her, but the appellation of "Dear rhillip" had opened a mine of information to An dreas Harley. He had never encoun tered his clerk at the home of the Mar tins. They had spoken of him but once or twice, and then casually, and he had suspected nothing until the letter was thrown In his way. Several days of quiet preceded the bursting of the storm. Clerk and employer encouutered each other often, but no uuusual words passed between them. It was evident that Andreas Harley was displeased at something, but he took care to conceal his displeasure as much as possible. The night following the one that wit nessed the scene in the counting-room described alove wituessed the roboery of the safe. This time $30 were abstracted, and Andreas Harley called one of the clerks Theodore Mason, to his side, and ac quainted him with the facts. Mason, upou being asked if he sus pected anybody, said "Lee!" The merchant started at the announce men, but a flush of triumph stole to his temples. "Isaw Lee standing by the store last r.Ight at eleven, w hile I was going home from the club." continued Mason, evin cing an eagerness to unburden himself of something that prayed upon his mind. "He did not sjieak as I passed him, but perhaps he did not see me, as it w as raining and he trarried his um brella low a little lower than was ne cessary, 1 faucy." "I am on the right trail," said An dreas Harley, exultingly. "And yet," feigning a sorrowful tone, "I do not want to think the purloiuer Is rhillip Lee." Xordo I," said Mason; "but cir cumstances condemn him. I could tell you more. Mr. Harley, but I do not like to sneak against rhillip." Andreas Harley persuaded Theodore Mason to unburden his mind much further concerning Phillip Lee, and that night the accused clerk found hiiu- f in the clutches of the law. The arrest was so quietly conducted that the public was unaware of the transaction until the moruing papers i.laeed it before their eyes. Flushed wltn triumpii, aduu.h- . . . . . . ii I,r on the morning louowins i iui.ijt Lee's arrest, hasteueu to tiie uomc oi alie Martins. He often made such calls - T . . . i i. r on his way to the store, and this morn- ... ..i . '.. f,n,;i0 ing he louiHl me oaiiarujn i.n.... hIvhs d to see him. Maumee was iu the parlor preparing for her class in innsic, and Andreas n..,io,r thnncrht she looked lovelier than ever in her plain dress and unnet I, sir- He did not doff his overcoat; he said he had not long to stay ; he had stepped in to impart a piece of information which might interest the tenants of his ,l The bankrupt's daughter wondered what the news might be, as Andreas Harley drew a moruing journal from his pocket. "I am sorry that I have occasioned this paragraph," he said, touching the top of a column of city news, "but I could not help it." Mkumee took the paper, and in a mo ment mastered the account of Phillip's arrest. 'Mr. narley, can you not be mista ken?" she asked, when she looked up from the paper with pallid face. "Xo, Maumee; the proofs are con vincing against him," heanswered,and then, while the fair girl's head lay on her bosom, and her eyes, swimming with tears, fell to the floor, be left bis chair and came to her side. "Girl !" he said, "is Phillip Lee any thing to you?" Maumee quickly drew her hand from his grasp and started to her feet. "He is something to me," she cried, facing the merchant, through whose scheming she seemed to have seen in stantly, "lie is much to me and more, Andreas Harley, he never robbed your safe!" The merchant for some moments did not know what to say, but at last he found his tongue. "Girl, he is guilty, I greatly regret to say ; but you can save him." "How, Mr. Harley?" "By becoming my wife. I can liber ate him, and on such conditions the doors of the jail shall be open to him !" Fire Hashed in Maumee Martin'sdark eves. "Andreas Harley,,' shesaid, "yonder is the door tnat leads into the street," and with quivering finger she ioiiited to the portal. "This house is mine." "1 care not." "I cau turn you out into the snow." "There is the door. I wish to live under such bounty as yours no longer.' "I will not go until you promise to be liy w ife," said the merchant stern ly. At that moment the widow entered the room, aud Maumee sprung into the chamber w hich her mother had just vacated. An instant later she reappeared. bearing a musket of quaint aud clumsy workmanship. 'Go, Andreas Harley:" she cried, in a determined tone. "Mother, please open the door for the plotter." Wonderinr what had transpired to mar the friendship existing between Maumee and the merchant, Mrs. Mar tin opened the parlor door aud Andreas Harley,with clenched hands and venge ful visage, strode from the room. Xo sooner had he departed than Mau mee dropped the gnu and threw her self into her mother's arms. "Oh, mother! mother!" she cried. "how swiftly one misfortune follows another. But," and she lifted her head, "Phillip shall not be condemned ! He shall not fall the victim of a con spiracy never ; Yet that dav the Martins were driven from beneath the roof which had shel tered them since their first great mis fortune, and they found a temporary abode with Phillip Lee's widowed mother. Maumee soon learned the particulars of her lover's arrest and preliminary examinatfon, and the following day she purchased a pistol with a portion of her musical earnings. When night came she made her way to Theodore Mason's chamber, and star tled the clerk with her abrupt appear ance. I lie voung man s lace assumeu a deathly hue, and Maumee's mental ejaculation was: "I've found the right man." She knew much of Theodore Mason's habits, and she judged him to be the robber of the merchant's safe. At the first he denied the charge, but when he saw the pistol clutched by the girl's fair, white hands, he changed his tone. He wrote his confession on paper. and Maumee called a young lawyer into the room to witness the signature. The confession implicated Andreas Harley. The clerk had been detected iu his crime by the merchant, who had promised to pardon him if be would aid him to convict Phillip, who, in time, edded Maumee Martin. Young Mason was permitted to es cape, and when Harley heard of the confession he hastily disposed of his store and followed him. The guilty clerk left behind him the skeletou keys w ith w hich he had opened the safe, and thev still hang in the luxurious home of Phillip Lee. now one of Chi cago's merchant princes. FroTtdence. Vn lunsr since a man stopped at the little w indow of a little branch office in the "Hub," the inhabitant evidently of little sidiere of his own, outside of which he was lot iu the mazes of life. -Is this the telegraph office!" he asked hesitatingly. The voung lady operator sali-ueu mm of the tact. "1 w ant to telegraph," he proceeded, crou-im' confidential. "1 want to tele graph to my wife and tell her I missed ihe train." 'You w ill have to write if on one of those blanks," said the oerator, cool ly; eutirely unimpressed oy ue iio sender) exciting event. "Oil, well. 1 guess you'd better m-i-ii it. 1 can write" (evidently thinking it necessary to establish the fact before proceeding farther), out. (flatteringly) "you can fix it up better than I ean." Whom is the message eoing to?" asked the operator, as she armed herself with pen and blank. - - "To my wife in Providence," he ronlied. with the most sublime inno- The operator looked at htm doubtrul-lj- "What Is the address? To whom is the ie message poinff?" The man eved her with great aston ishment, "I told you," he said, raising his voice as if lie thought her afflicted with deafness, "to my wife in i rovi tnre ' "I am afraid." the operator replied, trying to speak ironically, "that the message might not De receivea 11 bu muuuI In tbstwav. Providence is a small Dlacc. I know, but it might po- tslble go to some other man i wue. Thm Doomed Building. The other day a tall, double-breasted individual, with a white choker and a Quaker bat on, stepped into the Halifax Custom House and beckoned Mr. Morris over to the corner of the room. Mr. Morris responded promptly, and the "double-breasted" man addressed him as follows : "Were you aware, sir, that this buil ding will be one mass of ruins in twen ty minutes time?" "What are you giving me?" said Mr. Morris. "1 am giving you the straight 'Up, and if you take warning in time you will live to thank me for my timely hint." At this point Mr. Morris began to look serious. "Do you remember." continued the "double-breaster," "about seven years ago, a building in Boston, known as 'Scollays,' tumbled into dust, twenty five uiii.utes after the inmates were warned?" "Come to think of It," said Mr. Mor ris, "1 do remember a leetle something about that." "Well, sir, I was the man who warn ed the inmates ot that building. By so doing I saved forty-seven lives. Every seven years, I save forty-seven lives, and if 1 had lime to-day I would explain to you the different places 1 saved that number of human beings in, for the last fifiy-6ix years. Buc your time Is short. You have just fifteen minute left to warn your leilow co-laborers. And, mark me, I depend upon you to warn every soul in this building, now many men are employed iu this tuaguif icent structure?" "Forty-seven in all, I believe." "Strauga, very strange," muttered "white choker," in a melancholy tone. Then turning to Mr. Morris, imploring ly, "I beg ot you, my dear sir, to hasten and warn the inmates in time; so good bye, sir. If you take my advice, in twelve minutes time you will be show ering blessings upon me." Mr. Morris gazed ou the stranger as he departed, auu proceeded to tell the rest of the clerks all about his interview with this mysterious prophet. All hands listened intently till Mr. Morris got through, when a Mr. Crouan si.oke up and said he remembered all about the Scollays building affair, as he was in Boston at the time it happened. Some laughed, while others said it was most lunch-time, and they slipped out to lunch. It is a very strange thing to record, but it is nevertueless true, that in five minutes after the stranger left there was not a man in that building. All hands got good positions on the iron railing opposite, before the general public were aware of what was about to happen The police were the first to get wind of it, and they formed a hollow square around the building to keep the pedes triant and teams from being cruhed Crowds soon gathered around the doomed edifice and remarks like the following could be heard all over the lot: "There she topples!" "Did you see the chimney?" "Why don't she drop?" "Will she ever tumble?" etc., etc. "Time!" shouted a man with a red nose, as he held a "bull's-eye" watch in hand, I suppose he was official lime- keeper. Five, ten, fifteen minutes after time was called wasted away, and yet the doomed building never as much as staggered. One by one the spectators sneaked off, and quiet was again restor ed. It may not be out of place Just here to remark that, while the building was getting ready to tumble, etc., the cash- box In the long room sneaked off with $h67 in iu Found at Last. "Mister, no doubt you have all the lcarniii' that's required in a school teacher, but it wants more than learnln' to make a man able to teach school in Cranberry Gulch. You'll soon find that out if you try. We've had three who tried it on. One lays there In the graveyard ; another lost his eye and left ; the last one opened school and left be fore noontime for the benefit of his health, he hasn't been back since. Now you're a slender build, and all your learnin' will only make it worse, ror an our young folks are roughs and don't stand no nonsense!" This was what one of the trustees of the district said to my friend Iiarrj Flotee, when he made application for the vacant losition of U acher. "Let me try. 1 know I am slender, but I am tough, and 1 have a strong will," said Harry. "Jest as you like. There's the school house, aud I'll have notice given if you want it done," said the trustee. I do," said Harry, "and I 11 open next Monday, at 9 a. m. The notice was given, and there was a good deal of excitement in the gulch aud along the Yuba fiats. More than fifty voung people of both sexes made an excuse to drop into the tavern to get a sight at the fellow who thought he could keen school in that district, and many a contemptuous glance fell on the slender form aud youthful face of the ould-be teacher. Eight o'clock on Monday morning came, and Harry Flotee went down to the school-bonse with a key in one hand and a valise in the other. "Beady to slope, if he finds we are too much for him," said a cross-eyed. broad-shouldered fellow of eighteen. The school-house was unlocked and the new tearher went t the desk. Some of the young folks went In to see what he was going to do, though school was not called. Harry opened his valise and took out a large belt. Then after buckling it around his waist, he put three Colt's navy revolvers there each of six barrels, and a bowie-knife, eighteen inches in the blade. "Thuuder! He means business." muttered the cross-eyed chap. The new teacher now took out a square card about four inches eaeh way, walked to the other end of the school house and tacked It up against the wall. Keturniug to hit desk, he drew a revol ver from his belt aud quick as thought sent ball after ball into the card, till there were six balls in a spot not much larger than a silver dollar. By this time the school-bonse was half full of large boys and girls. The little ones were afraid to come. Then the teacher walked half way down the room with the bowie knife in his hand and threw it with so true a hand that it stuck quivering in the very center of the card. He left it there and put two more knives of the same kind in his belt and quietly reloaded his yet smoking pistol. "King the bell; I am about to open school !" He spoke to the cross-eyed boy, the bully of the crowd ; and the boy rang the beil without a word. "The scholars will take their seats; I open school with prayer," be said sternly, five miuutes later. The scholars sat down silent almost breathless. After prayer the teacher cocked a revolver and walked down the floor. 'We will arrange the classes," he said. "All who can read, write aud spell, will rise, of them we will form the first class." Only six got up. He escorted them to upper seats, aud tben he began to examine the rest. A whisper was heard behind him. In a second he wheeled, revolver in hand. "Xo whispering allowed here!" he thundered, and far an Instant his revol ver lay on a level with the cross-eyed boy's head. "I'll not do so any more," gasped the bully. "See that you do not. I never give a second warning," said the teacher, and the revolver fell. It took two hours to organize the classes, but when done, they were well organized. Tben came recess. The teacher went out too, for the room was crowded and hot. A hawk was circling overhead high in air. The teacher drew a revolver, and the next second. the hawk came tumbling down among the wondering scholars. From that day, on, Harry kept school for two years in Cranberry Gulch, his salary doubled after the first quarter, and his pupils learned to love, as well as respect him, and the revolvers went out of sight within a mouth. They had found a man at last who could keep school. Thi is a fucr. Bismarck's hirt of 31aU. I ii the beginning of IS0O, when the feeling between Prussia and Austria had become a very bitter one, a young Hungarian magnate desired an audi ence ot Hi-iinarck. tins same young man. Baron , was known in his na tive country as a very eccentric person age, lie hail not paid a sinirio tanning iu the hie of taxes during the long reign of absolutism ; his hind had ben left uncultivated to savo his being oblig ed to pay any dues. Ou lieitig admitted to Bismarck's presence, he stepped up to the latter and informed him that he had invented a shirt of mail that was not only bullet-proof but was not uu comfortable to wear. The Chancellor smiled, upon which the magnate ob served that he wore such afhirt, and requested Bismarck to test itspo vers of resNtanee. The Chancellor is not a man to be trifled with, and seeing be had not a fool before hi in, seized his revolver and fired five .-hot successive ly at his visitor. The latter remained unharmed and immoveable, while the bi I lets sti tick h i m a nil tell to t hegrnti nd Hereuon, he showed the Chancellor hi invention. It was a shirt of many folds sown together. The elasticity and denseness of the stuff gave it such a powerful resistance. The Hungarian noblemen now advised the Chancellor to accept his Invitation, and, when the latter inquired what was to be the price of it, he said "Beat the Austnans." "We shall do that ill any case," replied Bismarck. Some days after this occur rence. Blind uiadcau r.ttemptou Bis marck's life, firing five shots at the lat ter at a distance of two or three paces only. The newspapers stated that the Chancellor appeared quiet, cool, and eveu smiled while being shot at. Xol one of the bullets had hurt him. A month later Bismarck had kept his promise the Austnans were beaten. The Munl-lbh, The sword-lisli weighs from 100 to COO lbs. Their onlv known breeding- ground is in the Mediteranean. There the same lish are found weighing half a pound; from that they go up to very heavy measurement. It is naturally Inferred from this that all our sword fish are Mediterranean products. What mysterious ocean current guides them over here? Or is it the instinct that teaches them that here they will find the mackerel and menhaden that they feed on ? One can almost imagine that the game of flight and pursuit kept up bv these two species starts at Gibraltar and is run to Block Island every year. The sword-fish darts upon a school of iu prey, aud by skilful use of iu sord wouuds those that it afterward captures and eats. L'util this season nobody ever thought of catching it except by liar poons. This year, however, it has tak en the baits of the trawls bottom lines of the Cape Ann cod fishermen, aud many sword-fish have been caught in that novel way. What they come up and "sleep" for is one of the puzzles of their nature. They come and go as the mackerel aud menhaden do. and from that it is naturally concluded that they snd their time, chasing these small fish. What with sharks, sword-fish. pontiles, bluefish, sea-gulls, eagle and seines, and all the rest, after them. the fish of the herring tribe have led such lives of flight and terror that it is no longer a wonder that the movements of any school of them seeiu always guided by an inherent idiocy. It is less strange of them that they are all the while victims than that being caught by millions yearly, they should steadi ly Increase. There were never more menhaden on our coast than this year. Discreet wives have sometimes nei ther eyea nor ear. The Mocking-Blrd During the hot-spell I removed my writing materials to the front porch, overlooking the lake, and a bright view of shining water, broken by islands of oak, hickory, magnolia and the far line of crankling coast, with tree trunks visible in the clear air, two miles away. Try to distinguish such objects across the Ohio, at Cincinnati, a dark mass of foliage, not a light background. There are mocking-birds nestled in the orange trees all about me, who keep up a con stant medley of song. One fellow es pecially, likes to perch on the castle's topmost peak and sing his very heart out. My appearance on the porch this morniug was a signal for a rapturous shout among them, for these birds learn to know that you like their voices, as well as any prima donna at Springer Hall. One voice I distinguished, par ticularly, by the rapidity with which its trouUuiet rau from one to another ; wren , finch, linnet, chick, partridge were all run together lu a marvelous phantasy of notes. As the hearing of oue ear is slightly affected, I wa at loss to get his position, and stepped from the porch to see if he was on his favorite perch on the pi-aks, as I did so, I saw his grace ful gray coat and white lining fluttering on a pine. But soon as the gay fellow saw that I noticed him, he went mad with vauity and conceit. Down he jumped on lower branches, nntil he was just above my head, executing a variety of fantastic trills, and fluttering and throwing his body about in a state of intense excitement. A fellow likes to be appreciated, and know it, in this world. I whistled back and he stopped, cocked his head aside, as if to say," fry that again old fellow, but you don't do it right; here's the way," then off he went, l'liey are very fearless. One flew into the room and I caught it on the window pane. In five minutes or less, holdiug it by the feet, it wa eating rice from my open hand. But the wild bird dies in confinement; and even ol the young taken from the nests, five out of six are lost in raising. It is pititui to see the mother bird come to the cage to feed those taken in this way ; and a popular superstition asserts that the mother bird poi.-ons her young, cap tured and caged, if you let her at them. Poor thing! I suppose the worst to be said of her Is, that in her over anxiety, she over-ieeds them. An Afrirau Village. Stanley, the A mean traveler, give? the follow Ing account of an African village. Itcousi.stsof a number of low, comical grass huts, ranged around a circular common, in the centre of which are three or four tig trees, kept for the purpose of supplying shade to the community aud bark cloth to the chief. The doorwars to the hut are very h w, being scarcely thirty inche high. The common fenced round by tiie grass hurs very plainly shows the ocherous color of the soil, and it is so well trodden that not a blade of grass thrives upon it. On presuming myselt in the common I attracted out of doors the owners and ordinary inhabitants of the huts, until I found myself the cen tre of quite a promiscuous population of naki-d men. women and children. Though 1 had appeared here for the purpose of studying the people of Uhombo aud making a treaty of peace with the chief, the villagers seemed to think I had come but to make a free ex hibition of myself as some natural mon strosity. I saw before me au hundred lieings of the most degraded and un presentable type it is possible to con ceive, and. tho' I knew quite well that some thousands ot years ago the begin ning of this now wretched type of hu manity and myself were the same, a sneaking inclination to disbelieve II possesses me strongly, and I would now eveu willingly subscribe some small amount ot silver moner for him who could but assist me to coniravert the discreditable fact. But common sene tells me not to take into undue consid eration their squalor, their ugliness, or nakedness, but giiage their true posi tion among the human race by taking a view of the cultivated fields and gar dens of Uhomlw, and I am compelled to admit that these debased specimens of humanity only plant such vegetables as I in v si' ll' should cultivate, were I compelled to provide for my own sns tenauce. I see, too, that their huts, though they are of grass, are almost a: well made as the materials will permit, and indeed. I have olten slept in worse .speak unto them in the dialect of meiim a id teum, aud it w ill soon appear that thev are intelligent enough on that point. Moreover, the muscles, tissue and fibers of their bodies, and their or gans of sight, hearing, smell or motion are developed as In us. Onlv in taste aud judgment, based upon a larger ex :erience in power of expression, in moral, and intellectual culture are we suiierior. I strive, therefore, to inter est invself In mr gross and rudely- shaped brothers and sister. Almost bursting Into a laugh at the absurdity, 1 tnrn towarj an individual whose age marks him as one to w hom respect is due, and say to him in the usual man ner of greeting: "My brother, sit down by me on this mat, and let lis be sociable." And as I say it 1 thrust into his hand 20 cowries, the currencv of the land. One look at his hand as he extended it made me suppose that 1 could carve a better- looking hand than his out of a piece of rhinocerous hide, While speaking, I look at his face, an uglv and extravagant mask, clumsily manufactured from some strange, dark brown materia!. The lips proved the thickness of skin which nature had en dowed him with, and by the obstinacy with which they refused to meet each other the form of the mouth was but ill-defined, though capacious and gar nished with its full complement of well-preserved teeth. His nose was so flat that I inquired In a perfectly in nocent manner as to the reason for such a feature. "Ah !" said he, w ith a sly laugh, "it is the fault of my mother, who, when I was young, bound me too tight to her back.. His hair had been compelled to obey the capricious fashion of his country, and was, therefore, worked np into furrows and ridges, and central cones, bearing a curious resemblanie to the formation of the land about Ubombo. I wonder if the art grew by perceiving Nature's fashion aud the moid of his country. Descending from the flee, which wascrude.large-featured.rough-hewn, and bore witness to the posses sion of much sly humor ami a kindly disposition, my eyes fastened on his naked body. Through the ocherous daubs I detected stransre freaks of pricking on it. circles, squares and crosses, and traced with wonder the manv hard lines and puckers created by age, weather, ill-uage aud rude keeping. His leet were monstrous abor tions, the soles as hard as hoofs; and his legs, high up as the kuees, were plastered ith strata of dirt. His loin cover, or queer "gil ding taekle," need not be described. They were absolutely appailing to good taste, aud the most ragged British beggar or Neapolitan lazzarone is sumptuously nay, regally clothed In comparison with this "king in Uhombo. If the old chief appeared so unprepossessing, bow cau I paint w ithout offence my humbler brother and sisters ho stood around us? As I looked at the array of faces I could only comment to myself, "Ugly ug lier ugliest." As 1 looked at their nude aud filthy bodies, and the enor mous dugs that hung down the bosoms of the women, and the general inde cency of their nakedness, I ejaculated Fearful !" as the sum total of w hat I might with propriety say, and what, indued, is sufiiciently descriptive. How Needles are Slade. AH needles are made out of steel wire hich is furnished of various sizes. The wires hnving been cut and straight ened, are first roughly ground by wa ter-power, and tiien pass into the hands of the dry grinder, who sits before his grindstone pointing each wire (which is to make two needles) at both ends. A fan wheel as he works, drives the deadly dust away from him. The wages of the needle pointer remain the same as of old, but each man is taxed about twenty-five cents a week for extra ex pense of life saving machinery. Xext, the two jointed wires are "guttered" iu a stamping machine and then the pyes are punched. The twin needles are then separated, but they look rough and rusty, and are soft enough to bend at a touch. Thev are hardened by being heated red hot, and then plunged into cold wattr. iney are sui'eeqnei.iiy tempered by a great heat on a metal plite: if they get too little heated they b-nd ; if too much they break. Lastly, they uio't be polished. For very su perior needles this has to be done six times, for uone less than three. The polishing 's accomplished in a sort of mangle, by oil, soap and emery. Each polishing requires eight hours; and when 11 I finished tiiey have still to be clewed, dried, sorted aud put up for sale. EBVct of Electricity on Vesetaliou. Probably everyone wuo has entered a wood or forest ha noticed the stunted or scraggy growth of the underwood, and the cause of that peculiar condition has always been attributed to trio fact that the shrubs or smaller trees were overshadowed by the foliage of the lai- gcr ones and deprived of the light and air necessary to their full development. M. Grandeau. Professor ot the Ecole Forestiere, states that his researches on I the subject led him to the conclusion that, although a certain effect was to be attributed to that cause, it was not suf ficient to account for the great depreci ation In the vegetation. Alter long reflection he came to the conclusion that the large tree acred as conductors of electricity and thus deprive J the undergrowth of an element necessary to their full development. In order to test his views, he tried a series of ex periments on various plant, but we need only refer to one, which although not the most striking, will fully eluci date the principle he advances, the means he emploved and the results ob tained. In April, 1877, he took two tobneco plants, eaeh weighing three and a half gramme, and having four leaves. They were both planted in boxes containing moull of identical qu-dity, and placed side by side in a position favorable to their growth. But one of them had placed over it a cage. consisting of four iron rods, one meter, fifty centimeters high, joined at the top and covered with wire gauz, which permit'ed the free circulation of air, light and water, but completely iro- teetod the slant from the action of at:uo'pheric electricity. They were left uninterfered with until the middle of Aurust. when the results obtained were as follows; The plant in open air had attained a height of three fe.-t five inches, whil ; the other was only two feet four inehes; the former weighed 273 grammes and the latter 110 grammes, when dried, their respective weights were thirty grammes and fifteen and a half grammes. Similar experiments made with maize and wheat gave pre cisely analogous results, so that M. Grandeau has ome to the conclusion that the electricity of the atmoihere is equally necessary to vegetal .'.-n aa sunlight, air and water. Seeing The Ichthyosaurus. Her Majesty yueen Victoria and the Prince Consort once paid the British Museum a visit. While they were tu the department now presided over by Prof. Owen, the attention of the royal pair was directed to an ichthyosaurus, which, it w ill be rememliered, was dis played on the wall. Just at that mo ment Mr. Konig entered the room, when Sir Henry presented hlro, as the then head of the department to the Queen and the Prinee. The latter, whose ear was struck by the German name, desired to know from whence in Germany he came, and tsked "From what part?" Konig, supposing the in quiry to refer not to himself but to the fossil, replied : "From the blue lias at Lyme Regis, in Iiorsetshire, your Koy af Highness." Sir Henry said that the Queen was especially diverted by the malapropos reply, and laughed near- j tily Aa Exeltins Bide. "My home," said a tram p, In Chicago, is a few miles west of Philadelphia, Pa., and my father, a farmer there, is com fortably situated in a financial point of view. Last February on my return from school, I conceived the idea ot going west to California. I could not bear the idea of settling down to a farmer's drudging lite, as my father and grand father had done, and so, against my fa ther's wishes, I packed my trunk and started tor San Francisco, with $2J0 aud a through ticket in my pocket. I in tended to engsge in so rue mercantile pursuit upon my arrival there, which took place in due time. Within three weeks I had run through with my litrle sum of money and then cast about for something to do. I at first tried to ob tain a clerkship, but could find no va cancies, and finally left the city through fear of being run in by the authorities as a vagrant. I went up near Sacra mento and engaged with a farmer at a few dollars a month, but a I was total ly untie for farming, having doue but little of it my en'pioyer, wl o worked some sixty hands, discharged me at the end of the first month. I tramped then until harvest set in, but I was utterly worthless as a pitcher of grain on one of the large wheat wagons and took to tramping again. I beat my way to Virginia City and from there to Salt Lake, thence up to Ogden and took a job of section work ou the Central Pa cific ruilroad. I soon tired of that, and breaking open a car of silks one nignt did not steal any stole a riJe to. Che yenne. There the cars were inspected, I was detected and fired out. Then 1 wandered down to Denver, doing odd jobs, just making a living, nothing m re, and there the first of the present month found me. I was growing more vagabondish every day, and concluding that the west was no place for Chris Brown your humbie servant set about devising a plan to get back east. In my wanderings around the Kansas Pacific depot and yard, I had observed that there was quite a space underneath the body of tiie coaches and the brake beams and platform supports, and one day I secured a short, strong piece of plank and Investigated the matter per sonally. The plank worked nicely, so, providing myself with som-i corJs and a few soda crackers, I weut down to the depot to await the departure of the night passenger train east-bound. A soon as It was made up, 1 crept under the next to the rear car, unobserved, and adjusting my board, making it fast with the cords I had provided for that express purpose, anxiously awaited the signal that would send me or. my jour ney. It came in due reason, and was presently one cf the grandest surprises of my life. As tiie train gathered mo mentum it gathered dust also, and with in a very lew moments I was blinded. That was undoubtedly the most terrible night I ever experienced, and 1 aux iously awaited the coming of the dawn. Such a horrible din and clatter came up from the track, aud how rough it all was. Every moment 1 expected to ba dashed in pieces, for the train ran at a great rate of speed, and I felt as if it was bound to leave the track and crush me like au egg-shell. It passed through the night as it always doe., and ui'irmng brought a little com lor l with it, and I ate my crackers with the koowlrdge that 1 was traveling home ward -s no man had done before me. All that day I rode, all the next night a, until we hud entered eastern Kan a:ut and I was discovered by the wheel inspectors, and taken out nearer dead than aiive. One of the inspectors was a man with a white heart, aud he took me home and let me stay there until I ha 1 recovered from, the shock and eaten several meals, and then he got me a pass some way or other, and 1 came on to Sc. Louis. I have made a few cents since my arrival, but not having a dime to-night that Is what it takes to lodge at the Bethel 1 came up here to the stAtion." "What do you intend to do in the future; tramp always?" Inquired the reporter. "Xo, sir," was the answr, "I have a cousin In Seymour, Indiana, and if I can only beat my way to that point I will borrow a few dollars and go home." A Clergyman's Soak Stuir. An exceedingly learned but somewhat stately clergyman, who preached last Sunday evening, in oue of our very costly and fashionable churches, told, by way of illustration, one of the most remarkable snake stories that ever found its way into the American pulpit. He said that he had read it some where, but he omitted to say where, It was to the effect that an eagle, spying from his lofty perch a snake which was crawling ou the earth, sw.Kped down for the reptile, caught it in his beak and began to soar alolt. The eagle was proud of his prize, but the snake objected to thus being made game of, and began to wind itself around the extended and widely flapping wings of the noble bird. The noble bird thereupon found himself crippled and powerless to fly according to ins customary manner. The hideous reptile wound itself more and more around the wings of the noble bird. Noble bird found it more and more dif ficult to fly. Hideous reptile took a few more turns around noble bird's wings and pinioned them aimost to his side. Noble bird struggled and could hardly fly at all. Hideous reptile took some more turns around noble bird's wings, and noble bird was unable to make any motion of his wings whatever. There upon Loble bird, made a captive by the creature he had pounced upou for his own, tumbled lifeless to the ground. A lawyer's little daughter, who had list, ened with breathless interest to the narration, turned to her father and asked, "Pa, what became of the snake?" It is computed that Minnesota is ca pable of producing 700,000,000 bushels of wheat annually, and that the water power of Minneapolis alone can manu facture half of it into flour. Hate no one hate their vices, not I themselves. s. - ."St? (Til V on i. it- m ' Jo ii m T ff'r r ,; r.t I I '4. . i' ' tJ t J7 '.ah.--. . rjxfS"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers