-1
r
SCHWEIER,
THE OOHSTrnmOS THE U5I05 AID THE EHTOBOEMEHT OP THE LAWS.
Editor and Proprietor.
ii ; : .
B.P.
I
.4.
Ay
VOL. XXXIV.
DUIAXLiSD.
Tim is a- laud unknown to waking via:ou
That blooms in beauty ran ; - I
Sweet bra e blow throughout its fields eiy
sian. And stir its blossoms fair.
Tue 'jht its purple-crested moun-
And deep in shady groves
Wnere plash and trtckJs never failing toon
tains. The sleeping spirit roves.
And finds no trace of failura, sin. or sorrow
In thots snohsnted ways ;
So thought of yesterday or sure to-morrow,
Of past cr future days.
Ti ere all its failures prove but brave successes.
And all its losses gains ;
While lore with its warm brooding presence
bleeses.
And perfect peace attains.
The loved ones laid to rest with bitter weep
ing. Stand forth with shining eyes ;
The dear remembered looks so sweetly keep
ing. That grief, forgotten, dies.
All hopes of youth, all noble aspirations
To full fruition come ;
The ttruggling soul is freed from its tempta
tions, The homeless finds a home.
W hatever in the hour of daJj waking
Host dear and distant seems.
Crows real and near, an almost h3ven mak
ing That unseen word of dreams.
The White Hand-
It was many centuries ago.
In a guest chamber of a black frowning
castle, rearing itself almost within the shad
ow cf the Bohnicrwald, sat two men.
They sat in darkness, save a strange lurid
jw from a fitful fiirae, darting, tongue-
1 ' Trn -rl tli mntM1 rtf . a.-r4 nf . AV.(Snn.
d.sh of iron, shaped to the ghastly farm of
a death's head.
- Both bent intently towards the tripod, on
vhich rested the ghastly dish, the younger,
and more wicked looking of the two with
a sing-song incantation, a his breath min
gled with the deadly perfunv floating on
the tongued flame.
Presently the latter rose, his companion
i jttaTit'y following his example.
lie looked half shrinkinuly towards the
shadowy corners of ttte great chamber, and
ti en back to the dish.
'1 he spell works, my lord," he mutter
ed. "Stir not! Ppeek not, whatever you may
chance to see or hear ! What it will be, I
know not; but the shade cometh! Behold! "
And even as he spoke, a small lurid spark
suddenly glowed on the floor among the
dismal shadows.
It glowed, shivered, and swelled in height
and breadth till it stood a quaking column
of ghastly light.
Gradually the column took form, and
then quickly dissolving again into a shape
less mass, it as quickly flashed into millions
of dian.jnd-hke coruscations, from which
suddenly gloomed a tall, black, spectral
figure, shadowy as the shadows them
selves. In vain the necromancer's breathless
e impanion strove to discern a feature of the
face glooming so wierdiy there.
From the spectral form issued a deep se
pulchral voice.
"You have summoned me what would
you?" slowly and solemnly queried the
shade. '
"Power,' answered the necromancer,
briefly, in low awed tones. "Gift us with
power."
"Power to gather a soul power to pol
lute, to destroy t" ... .
'Even so, master. Even the beautiful
Leona's," returned the necromancer.
The White Hand protests her.".
"But thou art strong, master."
"The White Hand is stronger."
"Alas ! master, what shall we do !"
A little pause followed the query, and
then the voice returned:
"Love is alluring-allure by love, and
Leona may fall."
"But is there no spell, mast err
"One! Listen in silence or yoq never
will know. Take
A shivering, demoniac cry ended the sen
tence. and the black shade cowered to the
floor, while above it shone, beautiful and
shapely, a marble-white band.
Another shivering cry of mortal terror
Md pain, and the spectral light and shape,
with the marble-white hand, disappeared.
The tongued flame on the trip UP
for -instant, and then died ouU
having nothing but the deepest darkness.
ITremendousoath from the necromancer
broke the horriblelence, as he groped for
jneftEs'td XTRirt-ttlanipT
As its pale glow dispelled a few of IET
be - W JJJ
each other's ghastly faces with wild eye
For . little they stood thus, and then the
pecromancerbhs
"TnTMrS. there is a ter
med the spell M'10, yon?'
-Ki. nower against us. M'
'eenTtotbeendl Leona shall
mylord.tbeknowledgeofthespen
lost-lost for ever."
Bv love, then.
" U B-" . .ntelv uttered,
As sof tly slipped in place
wi and the next cham-
in the V man, of most venera
lf,7reoTthe communicating
ble air,
MrWill-
bBe opened door d
Warmth, ngu nter wt .
grace. - . flV - wbe, toosely corded
. white, fleugrojci .hfui
jv.., - - certain air t
at that she was sitting up
raTbonr.-th some Purpose
lneW- , ned, wd the princely old
. . the door openeo. with
entered, start forward,
twtneo v -
'with fUHng
"what i8 ,t I Tell your Leona.
- broken, so pale, and aoaad, my
the astrologer, for such be was.
"Ah !- exclaimed the maiden, a quick
alarm in look and tone.
"Even so. The stars spoke trulv. His
AIbrecht- tb eighty nccro.
"Oh my father! my father!"
. J,,Klb,reCbt' And to"niSut the spbit of
evil hath stood In invisible shape within
these walla. Tou, and you only. Leona,
can drive them forth."
"""cried the maiden, opening wide her
lovely blue eyes.
"Ay, for you it is they seek to destroy.
oa know the White Hand protects our
hoiwe, and it wiU piotect you it has this
night-but yet you must be tempted and
resist. My child, my child,you will be ter
ribly tried. Pray for help; for help you will
sorely need. The beautiful youth is the
wicked lord of Bohmerwald Cwtle,old ugly,
and satanic; but changed in public by Al
brecht's powerful spell into a being of prince
like beauty and grace. Beware, my Leona!
Ah, see! The White Hand!"
Leona looked up in a fearless but awed
silence.
As she did so, the White Hand slowly
pointed a finger towards her, and a sweetly
musical voice breathed sadly
"Beware! beware."
"You hear, my child," said the old as
trologer, with anxious eyes and voice.
"My father, rest thee In peace; I will
obey."
The astrologer kissed her brow with a
sigh, and then blessing her, retired.
The following morning rose cloudy and
cold, and the unwelcome guests prolonged
their stay, as the astrologer knew too well
they would.
For a while Leona was coldly courteous;
but ere long the deadly facinations of the
old lord of Bohmerwald began to do their
work, and Leona secretly thought
"It cannot be true. This noble youth.
with his beautiful smile, his heavenly eyes,
and great thoughts, must be what he
seems."
And the White Hand remained hidden,
though once Leona thought with a strange
pang that she heard a faint voice sighing in
far oil dying tones
"Beware 1 Beware!"
But the wicked lord's dulcet tones were
in her cars and she forgot it ins'antly.
The days pasodon.
The lord wuispc red his final words of pas
sion and entreaty.
"Fly with me, my beloved.'" he whis
pered. "Tur father will never content.
Let us hie away to a sunny land and be for-"
ever happy."
And Leona allowed herself to le entreated
to be drawn to the breast of the wic-Ved j
lord, and kiswl with his lips.
She consented. The mglit came, i he
hour drew near.
Hooded and cloaked, slie waited the last
moment.
In ti c last moment she remciiben u Lir
forgotten prayers, anil half fearfully she
Iiftf! her eye? aud hands upwards.
As the first words passed her li;is, the
White Hand trembled befjre lirr.
"Ah, help nie! " sighed leona.
"Kesist or perish !" saul the musical
voice.
Aud j Jst then, the youth she lovel en
tered.
"Come, come; my Moved, come:" he
cried.
Leona gazed upon him with a face of an-
gLLs'u. but she sighed
"Never, Xever!"
'Never: " cried the seeming youth in hsrsh
tones.
"Never"' repeated Leona, with strength
ened will and lirai voice.
"Ha! siy jou so?" shrieked the old
lord, bounding towards her in his rage.
"Seive jou your lover thus, faithless
maiden ?"
But as he dashed towards her, his youth
ful-seeming vani.-hcd.and he stood there, the
satanic old lord of Bohmerwald.
"Too late, too late, my lord . cried Al
hrecht, in terrified tonel, as Le na, with a
cry of horror, covered her eyes. Come, if
you would preserve your lire one nour
10 "adA the baflled old lord with a bowl of
rage, fled wildly after the necromancer, and
T-eona never heard OI Uiem again or rauier.
she beard that the old lord was found dead
among the rocks of the Bohmerwald two
davs later.
Tk BaildlatK-Sts Esflsad.
- ti.R nee when Stonehence
was piled up, building-atone was selected
k ..;,! nnmvHL since the outer circle
K II efwuN 1"-1 " p
f"ITnSfrihistoric monument consists of
the Saracen uouiow- D
plain; but the inner "pifhtrs are of diabese,
and have been brought from sowunknown
distance. During the middle age,-4eu
stone was frequently imported for building
churches or other impoitant architectural
works. Beiore tue aormanvxraquesi, uuw-
Vnirliah huilriinps were of wood.
ever, d " w --- -
so that "to timber a minster," not to build
a church, is the good eany xjigusn eapres-
, k ohmniflp- In chkJk distiicts.
siou u w " - '
at a biter date, broken flints were often
employed, and they give a mean appear
ance to the abbey ruins and churches at
Heading, as well as to most of the older
edifices at Brighton. Oxford, however, on
the Oolite, is, happily, of good native or
imnorU'd stone. In modern limes London,
.. ..I .,.. I,rllr ..rtk
Standing in uie mi ' '"
has lallen a victim to the miseries of stucco,
until the Oueen Anne reviviliits have en
deavored to restore an honest red brick;
whereas Edingburg, surrounded by excel
lent building-stone, has been able to do
justice to its uisgnificent natural situation,
and Aberdeen has clad itself in the stern
but not unattractive gray and blue granite.
Te the Caen stone, the Bath stone, and the
Portland stone we owe half our cathedrals
and abbeys, whose delicate tracery could
never have been wrought in Rowley rag or
Whin till basalt. The architecture of
granite or hard limestone regions is, often
massive and Imposing, but it always lacks
the beauty of detailed sculpture or intri
cate handicraft. The marble lattice-work
of the Taj or the "prentice's pillar" of
Roslyn Chapel are only possible in a soft
and pliable material.
Deeds are fruits; words are but
.leaves.
MIFFLIN1WN,
A Saeeeaaf al Wisn Farmr.
Mtss Libbii BciiooxitAXEB, whose career
as a farmer, stock -raiser and school teacher
has made her notorious in New York State,
is a woman abont thirty-eight years of age,
and affords a striking example of what a
woman with a will of her own can do to
ward getting along in the wor'd. Four
teen years ago, at the death of her father,
Johannes tschoon maker, she inherited a
large estate, consisting principally of
farming property, heavily encumbered
with debt. It was the old homestead, and
Miss Schoonmaker could not bear the idea
of seeing it pass into the hands of strang
ers, and was determined that it should not.
Although then only twenty-four years old,
and with no more practical knowledge of
life than an ordinary country lass, she as
sumed sole charge of the est ate, determined
to clear it of debt. Having an old mother
sixty-two years of age, a half sister, also
helpless from old age, the two orphan
children of a deceased brother, and a
brother in the last stages of consumption to
provide for, this made her task doubly hard.
A little experience taught Mias bchoon
maker that it was impossible to support her
large family and keep up the interest aris
ing from the heavy indebtedness of the es
tate from the resource of the farm. She
accordinginly began to devise some method
of increasing her income, and decided upon
school teaching. She was engaged to teach
in her own neighborhood at the modest
sum of eight dollars per month. In this,
as in everything else, she showed remaika
bie tact, and her salary in a short tune was
raised to forty dollars per month, bhe
has continued teaching ever since, over
seeing and directing the work of her farm,
night and morning, and during the sum
mer vacations going into the harvest field
with the farm hands to pitch on bay, rake,
bind, etc. She has earned from teaching
school over $3,500, paid off the debt of the
old homestead, and besides greatly im
proved the property. Besides teaching
and raising corn and grain, she has been
an extensive stock raiser. As a farmer
she has no superior in this section. . Her
wheat croj. averaged this year forty-two
bushel to the acre, the largest yield in the
county.
In personal appearance Mis? Schoon mak
er is tall, with a robust but comely form
and a pleasing, intelligent countenance.
She is exceedingly kind-hearted and gen
erous, and will spend her last cent for the
benefit of a needy friend or acquaintance.
A short time ago she learned that a brother-in-law
living in Pennsylvania was in des
titute circumstances. She went to him
and fouud him helpless from an incurable
disease, with a family depending upo
him. "Ben," she said, "what can I do
for you I' "Nothing, Libbie," was the
reply. "You huve your bands lull already.
We will have to go to the County-house, I
suppose." "Never. Ben, as long as Hive.
C me and enjoy the comforts of the old
homestead with me. I will keep you and
your family as long as you live." Miss
Schoonmaker has had many suitors for her
hand, but, although naturally inclined to
matrimony, she steadily refuses to marry,
on the ground that her husband might in
time object to being burdened with the
- upiKirt of the old people and her helpless
brother-in-law and his family, which might
cause domestic troubles. Besides, she says
she has enough to do now without having
to support a husband, too, which she might
nave to do if she were to marry.
la it foMible?
Old Barty Wiilard was -a wheelwright
by trade, ind, though an excellent work
man, was remarkable for his habit of pro
crastinating. He would promise and then
break his engagement over and over again
with as Utile scruple and as many "posi
tively lasts" as a theatrical star. Having
pledged his word to a very urgent cus
tomer, for the third time, he would have
his cart done by a certain day, Barty again
failed to keep his engagement, and on the
arrival of the owner tne cart was still un
finished. Well," says the customer, "you have
gut my cart done by this tune, of course?"
"Y'es," said Bar y, "i had done the
work and supposed it was quite ready for
you, when 1 discovered that I made a mis
takea very unaccountable mistake that
will put me back a fortnight. "
"Ah, indeed," said the customer, "what's
ths trouble!!"
"Why, you see," said Barty, with grav
ity, and an air of extreme vexa
tion, "you see I have made a mistake I
never made such a blunder before in my
life 1 have committed the ridiculous mis
take of timliinr butu wheels for the same
side; they are both off wheels."
"Is it possible!" said the customer, who
was thoroughly mystified, and allowed
Barty another fortnight to finish the cart.
Heating Cars by Electricity.
The new devised plan bya French engineer
for heating railway cars appears to give
satisfactory results so far. It consists sim
ply in the use for the foot-warmers of ace
tate of soda, a substance which has consid
erable latent heat, and, diasolvingat a cer
tain temperature, absorbs a large quantity
of heat, which becomes sensible during
crystal ization in cooling. All that is re
quired is to fill the ordinary cases with a
sufficient amount of the acetate, close
them, and place them in a stove at about
103 degrees. The cooling of a case thna
charged and heated takes from twelve to
fifteen hours. Twd warmers are thereafter
taken from the copartments, and placed in
a stove, where the crystals of soda acetate
ais re-dissolved, and they are then ready
for fresh use. The advantages claimed for
this system are: No necessity of chang
ing warmers every two or three hours, or
of maintaining numerous employee to at-
tssd to them, also economy in cost of heat
ing, eiC . .
Table KUqnette.
Sec that those about you are not through
before you commence eating your meaL
IX) not eat soup from the tip, but. the
side of the spoon. -
On passing your plate to be replenished,
retain the knife and fork.
Wipe the mouth before drinking.
Remove the teaspoon from the cup be
fore drinking tea or coffee.
Use the knife only in cutting the food ;
do not raise it to the mouth.
Eat slowly, as eating rapidly is un
healthy. If you find anything unpleasant in your
food avoid calling the attention of others
to iu
Close the lips when chewing your food.
Keep your elbows off the table always.
Do not speak with food in your mouth.
When asked to help your neighbor, do
not shove, but hand the plate to him.
Do not turn your head and stare about
the room.
If any one at the table makes a mistake,
take the least possible notice of it.
Industry ueed not wish.
Would you be strong, conquer your
self. A man's life Is an appendix to bis
heart.
Beauty divinity taking outlines and
color.
JUNIATA COUNTY,
The Health or Animal.
Early last spring was published from the
HsatTH Monthly an article from the pen
of Hubert T. Foote, D. V. S., on the care
of animals, in which be took the position
that horses and cattle should have shelter
that is as well provided with cleanliness and
vent dation as are our homes. The writer
undertook to show that horses are subject
to pretty much the same ills as we are, and
that tbey arc nearly or quite as sensitive to
all injurious influences. Since the new
disease has broken out among the horses of
our cities some of our metropolitan papers
have been calling attention to the same
subject which was so well presented by the
veterinarian. Dr. Foote, The New kork
Herald lately published a forcible article
upon the subject. It took the ground that
it we would have healthy horses and cattle
we must give them carefully prepared sta
bles and sheds which are free from all dis
agreeable odors or poisons or malarious in
fluences. It further called attention to the
fact that cows provide a large share of tne
food which is given to our children, and
yet, that these useful animals are often pro
vided with only filthy abodes. Those who
have visited Coney Island the past summer
will remember the immense stuffed cow
standing in a pavilion, from which milk
was taken for those who were disposed to
patronize the novelty. Many seemed to
think, and quite correctly, that they would
much rather take milk from a cleanly fount
ain or from a well polished milk-pan, than
from this effigy. But if it was possible
tor the milk in this effigy to become con
taminated by any impure matters set free
by a slowly decomposing cowakin, how
much more reasonable it is to suppose that
the milk in tne udder of a living cow should
become injuriously affected and rendered
absolutely impure by the filthy food with
which it is fed, and the filthy atmosphere
pervading the ordinary cow stable, or, still
more, those immense stables wherein are
kept hundreds of cows by those who fur
nish our citizens with an article which has
been improperly designated as swill milk !
Considering how frequently our horses are
affected by some new epidemic and bow
rapidly p'euro pneumonia is extending over
the country would it not be well for all
who have the care of such domestic ani
mals to look well to their creature comforts,
and see to it that their dwelling-places are
as well ventilated and cared for as are our
dwellings.
The 9e nt's Last Shot.
It was 10 o'clock in the morning. The
honeybees are darting over the prairie in
search of the sweet flowers, butterflies float
on lazy wings, and birds are singing their
sweetest songs. It is a scene of deepest
peace. Away to the right is the Little Bear
Umge of mountains to the lett the prairie
ocean extends as tar as the eye can reach.
Ten miles ahead is a grove ot cottoawoods
ana a spring behind the thirty half-naked
savages on horseback.
Here is a frontier scout ss the pivot on
which the scen.ry swings. On his way
from fort to fort ith despatches his trail
has been struck by a war party of Pawnees,
and they have hung to it since dark last
night, following it across the levels and
over the swells at a slow but never-ending
gallop. They knew that he was a full hun
dred miles from help, and they knew that
his bloody scalp would add another to their
trophies.
'You're a rubbed out man!" said the
scout as he looked back at dusk and saw
them coming at a slow gallop over his trail.
1 hey could not have overtaken hi"i in a
dash of two miles, but in a gallop of fifty
they would tire hiin out.
At an easy gallop of five miles an hour
the mustang forged ahead through the long
and weary night, changing his pace only
when the rider got down and ran beside hi ui.
Two miles behind him, riding thirty
abreast and covering a front of half a mile,
followed the implacable foe, gaining a little,
but ever confident.
When the sun came up from his prairie
bed not a savage was missing. The scout
turned in his saddle and counted them,
looked ahead for landmarks and coolly said;
"You took the chances and you have lost,
but you will die game."
The mustang was almost blown. For the
last half hour he bad labored heavily, and
had almost been held up by the bits.
"The grove would have been the same,"
said the cout as he drew up and dismount
ed. The Indians were two miles away. In
ten minutes th;y would be within rifle
shot. "Ciood-bye, old pard I must do it," said
the scout, as he took hold of the mustang's
head and drew his knife across the faithful
equine's throat.
He wanted a breast-work, and here he
had it. Two minutes were time enough to
cut bridle and raddle to pieces, and then he
mounted the body of his dead friend and
calmly waited the approach of the Indiads.
No shout ot triumph was sent across ine
prairie as he was brought to bay. That had,, s for the burning of kerosene are
I U .. . . TK Kail .llrffl.Mllff J1- .- - .
been a strange chase. They had suddenly
disappeared on bis trail without a sound,
seeming to rise out of some fissure in the
nower-covereu prairie vmx iuiwu
the long night had the scout heard from
them except as be dropped from the saddle
and pieced hi sear to the ground. But for
the steady thuul thud! of the horses" feet
he might have almost made himself believe
that he was being pursued by shadows.
"Sixteen bullets in this Winchester and
six in the revolver," soliloquized the scout
as the Indians were within a mile of the
spot Did they mean to ride him down?
Each rider was bent over his horse's neck,
and each horse kept the pace he had tor
hours.
Mv scalp is worth the scalp of ten In
dians! " aud the scout as he raised his rule,
"but mebbe I can t get over six or seven.
Straight at him rode the line of thirty
vHakina until he raised his nfle for a shot.
Then the band divided right afld left and
inclosed him in a circle. Not a shout from
any tongue. It might have been called a
Still hunU
The line was out of rifle-shot at first, but
It gradually worked nearer and nearer, and
at last the rep-irt of the scout's rifle broke
the stillness of the morning.
Twenty-nine left!" he said as be threw
out the empty shell.
Not a shot came from the Indians m re
ply. Every wamor threw himself on the
opposite side OI nis norse, anu me naruy
ponies followed the circle at a steady gal
lop. " l wcnty-cignt leru saia tne scout asne
fired again.
No shout or shot in reply, out the curie
was growing narrower.
'Twenty -seven lelU"
Three of the horses in the ring were gal
loping without riders.
"Twenty-six left!"
The scout had fired coolly and deliber
ately, shooting every victim through the
bead. His rifle had a longer range than
those of the Indians, but now they were
near enough to open In reply.
"Tweniy-five left!" he said as another
savage fell into the grass with a wild scream
of rage and pain.
Five of the thirty were dead. Now a
yell runs around the circle, and every horse
PENNA.. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1SS0.
turns his head towards the common centre
and charges the scout.
"Puff? bang! puff! bang! bang! bangl"
Three horses wei. t down and two more
riders fell backwards from their saddles.
Twenty-three left:" counted the scout.
as be dropped the gun and leveled his re
volver.
They were upon him, and tried to ride
over him.
"Puff! bang!" PufE bang!"
Five shots struck men or hones, and
when the hammer fell for the sixth time it
sent the last bullet into the brain of the
scout.
Nine Indians were lying dead around
the pivot, three more were wounded, and
five to six horses were disabled. All this
for a single scalp and the glory of shooting
a brave man s dead body full n arrows.
suiting off head, hands and feet, and shriek
ing like demons as the blood spurted far
over the rich green grass.
W hen they rode away the body wat a
shapeless mass. It would rest there during
the day, and when night came) the wolves
came sneaking from bidden ravines to de
vour it to the last morsel and then fight
over the bloody grass.
Planting oysters.
The wise husbandman exercises a com
mendable judgment in the prosecution of
his vocation, would he reap large and
profitable crops, the most important ele
ments in his forecasts being time, place
and method, and no question is of more
importance to him than, "How, when and
where?" If this be the case with tillers
of the soil, of how much greater import
ance is a similar nicety of adjustment and
method required by those who cultivate
the mighty depths ot the sea, where un
certainty plays so iuiportaut a partf In
oyster planting, broad-sighted proprietors
are acknowledging this and seize upon
every device known to assist them, wheth
er the product of their own research or the
experience of others, while the conserva
tive and independent planter who "takes
no stock in new-fangled notions," goes on
as he alone elects, claiming a particular
pre-eminence and success in old time phil
osophies. The planting season begins
about the 10th of July and lasts until the
latter pait of August, although the time
for commencing work should vary accord
ing to the weather a warm early spring
allowing a much earlier start than a cold,
backward season Successful growers pay
particular attention to this condition which
is an important element to successful cul
ture. First of all, the ground to be plant
ed is thickly shelled. When it is ready
for the reception of the seed, which is
spread on from sailing vessels and steam
ers, the men shoveling off from both sides
at once. In culling over slock for market,
the cuilings are spread over ground to be
seeded at any time of the year, and shell
are spread on in time for the spawning
season. The spawn is moved hither and
tuitber by the action of the tides, and re
quires peculiar conditions in order to
procure a good "set;'' the main feature
being that it becomes properly attached to
the shells, without which the work of a
whole season goes for nothing. What is
loss to one, however, is oUen gain to
another planter, the spawn frequently float
ing away to enncb neighboring grounds.
In small lots owners frequently depend on
the drift nig spawn to seed down their beds,
but this penny-wise policy is not a safe
one, the only sure method being the prop
er distribution of seed over the grouud.
The best ground is a hard or sticky bottom
which produce belter shaped shells and
finer oyuers, although the growth is slow
er than on a muddy bottom, which pro
duces a long, sotter shell which is less
marketable. In seeding new ground shout
2000 bushels of cuilings are required to
15,000 bushels or shells, and 100 bushels
of clean oysters to 1.000 bushels of shells.
EnxUsh Ivy.
The use of English ivies for the purpose
of decorating living rooms is more extensive
every year, and can not be too highly re
commended. Being very strong, they will
live through any treatment; but study their
peculiarities and manifest willingness to
gratify them, and they will grow without
stint. Most houses are too hot for them, as
indeed they are for their owners. Neither
plants nor people should have the temper
ature over sixty-five degrees Farenhcit
Take care not to enfeeble your ivies by ex
cessive watering or undue beat, and you
will see taey will not seem to mind whether
the sun shines on them or not, or in what
position or direction you train them. In
deed, so much will they do themselves to
make a room charming, that we would
rather have an unlimited number to draw
upon than anything else in nature or art.
Do you wish the ucly, plain doors, that
shut off your tiny entry to your parlrr
to be arched or curved like those in
the drawing-rooms of your richer neigh
hrra? Ruv a roiinlfl of hrnrkpts si:rh as
mtim, n. and uronr ihem in
j lbe gidp o( the door. Put in each a plant
1 of English ivy, the longer the better, then
train the plants over the top, against the
sides, indeed, any way your fancy dictates.
Y'ou need not buy the beautiful but easily
pots the flower dealer will advise; the
common glazed ones will answer every
purpose, for, by placing in each two rr
three sprays of Coliseum ivy. in a month's
time no vestige of the pot itself can be dis
cerned through their thick screen. The
English ivy, growing over the walls of a
building, instead of promoting dampness,
as most persons would suppose, is said to
be a remedy for it; and it is mentioned as
a fict that in a room where damp had pre
vailed for a length of time, the affected
parts inside had become dry when ivy had
grown up to cover tbe opposite exterior
side. Tbe close, overhauling pendant
! leaves nrevent the rain or moisture from
I penetrating the wall. Beauty and utility
. m this case go hand in hand.
. .
LearniDs; tne Bay.
j it is a strange thing how little in general
people know about the sky. It is the part
f creation in which nature has done more
for the sake of pleasing man, more for tbe
sole and evident purpose of talking to him
and teaching him, than In any other of her
works, and it is just the part in which we
least attend to her. There are not many
of her other works in which some more
material or essential purpose than the mere
pleasing of man is not answered in every
part of their organization ; bit every
essential purpose of the sky might, as far
as we know, be answered, if once in three
days or thereabouts, a great, black, ugly
ram cloud was broken up over the blue,
and everything well watered, and so left
blue again until the next time, with per
haps a film of morning and evening mist
for dew.
But, Instead of this, there la not
a moment of any day of our lives when
nature does not produce scene after scene,
picture after picture, glory after glory,
working still upon such exquisite and con
stant principles of the most perfect beauty ;
that it is quite certain it is all done for us,
intended for our perpetual pleasure by the
Great Being who made all, all worlds.
Politics ana retleoats.
Every French ruler who has run down
the road to ruin and they are not a few
who have done so have had a woman on
one side and a priest on the other, both
pushing him and asking him what be was
afraid of when he winced at the sight of
steeps bristling below with an ugly look.
Head the history of luckless Louis XVI.
The poor man saw dangers thicken around
him, he tried to conjure them, he pointed
them out to his pretty wife, Marie Antoi
nette, and to her good friend, Mme. De
Lanibelle, but both these ladies were of
opinion that Ftormclouds always blow over
if you take no notice of them. They had
never heard of forked lightnings and thun
derbolts, but had a good deal to say about
Ajax, who armed with a single buckler,
dared the elements to "come on." Ajax
must have been a lady's man.
So supremely and good an opinion of
himself as he evinced could only have been
developed by a long course of feminine
adulation, interspersed with occasional
naggings when be ventured- to doubt
whether he could withstand Jove's thun
der all by himself. For these fascinating
creatures Queens, Empresses, or she
Presidents nill nair until they make a man's
soul weary ; and if, as was the case with
Marie Antonette, they can get members of
the Chnrch militant to help them, their
courageous spirit knows no obstacles.
Marie Antoinette had redlcgged Cardinals
around her, who brought encouraging let
ters fro ii the Pope, and these being brought
before the timid King at breakfast time,
convinced him that he could only hope to
have Proviaence on his side if he struck a
combative altitude. We know how all this
ended, and we know how it fared with
another French monarch in our own times
for listening to an attractive lady now at
ChisclhursU Napoleon HI, had his doubts,
about righting the "russians, but the Em
press Eugenie had none. When Marshal
Lebueuf, the War Minister, came to tell the
imperial pair very frankly, as his duty
commanded, that he did not think the
French Army was leady, Napoleon ner
vously twisted his mustache; but the va
liant Empies flushed up and asked whether
forsooth, a Marshal of France was not
ashamed of himself for doubting the might
of bis own soldiers t the Marshal stalked
out red in the face, and upon reaching the
ante-chamber asked for a peu and sheet of
paper and wrote out his resignation, but at
his juncture the Emperor supervened with
soothing words, and pointed out that lrdies
must be humored. The Marshal hesitated
but at last gave in, because it is the nature
cf a Frenchman to let ladies have theirown
way. So to humor "Madame" an armyof
Fre nchmen marched over the border, and
soon had to march tack again faster than
they went. Are these lessons written in
letters ot flame on the walls of the Elysee I
Not they. There is a lady in that palace
at this moment who wants to see a certain
modern Hayard emulate the feats of Ajax.
Louis XVL and Napoleon HI., because
her smiles and the Pope's benediction (sent j
repeatedly by telegram) will guarantee I
him success. j
Women have always been active politi
ians in France. Tbey did strange things
during the League, arming men's hands
with daggers and promising kisses in re
ward fir assassination. One caused the
Due de Guise to be tripped up and stab
bed ; another urged on a monk to dispatch
Henry IV. Uuder the Froude, again, the
fair sex had matters all to themselves, and
achieved the great feat of setting five fac
tions by the cars without letting them
know what they were fighting about.
When the great devolution broke oct a
damsel called Thcroine de Mcricourt made
herself conspicuous in getting persons of
backward opinions prodded with spears,
and helped up the steps of the guillotine.
She was a flue type of the daik-eyed fury
who scatters slaughter about just for the
fun of the thing, and she was one of tiie
earliest promoters of that band of trico
trttc who used to sit in the public gal.
leries at the Convention, and in the Courts
of Justice, enlivening business by their
loud screams in favor of bellicose motions,
proscriptions, death sentences, and what
not. The legislators of those days used to
say that they would vote otherwise than
they diil if it were not for the women, and
the same remark might be uttered by many
Senator and Deputy in these times, when
ladies play no small part in uitluencing the
division lists.
The IVdsrft of Lebanon.
The cedars of Lebanon, once the glory
of the earth, have become like a history of
the pa-U Time was when their wide-
spreading braechea. each forming a green
plateau one above the other, nourished in
all their luxuriance and beauty on the far-
famed mountain of Lebanon, i hat wa3
the time when the monarch of Tyre a
I city then the queen of nations sent thous
and ot his workmen to leu cedars lor uie
construction of the temple at Jerusalem.
Those who would view the cedars of Leb
anon now, must lie somewhat affected by
the fewness of their number, and their de
cay and desolation. A little remnant is
lelt, and tbe traveler gazes upon them
with a leeling akin to sadness. All through
the middle ages, a visit to the cedars of
Lebanon was regarded by many persons in
the light of a pilgrimage. Some of the
trees were thought to have been planted by
King Solomon himself, and were looked
upon as sacred relics. Indeed, the visitors
took away so many pieces of wood from
the bark, of which to make crosses and
other articles, that it was feared the trees
would be destroyed. The once magnificent
grove is but a speck on the mountain side.
Many persons have taken it in the distance
for a wood of fir-trees. But on approach
ing nearer, and taking a closer view, the
cedars resume somewhat of their ancient
majesty. The space they cover is not
more than half a nuje; but once amidst
them, the .'eautiful fan-like branches over
head, the exquisite green of the younger
trees, and the colossal size of the older trees,
fills the mind with interest and admiration.
The trees are fast disappearing from the
face of the earth. Each succeeding trav
eler finds them fewer in number than his
predecessor.. There are now but seven
of the cedars remaiuing, which from their
age and experience, indicate that they had
an existence in Bible days.
Weddwea In Borneo.
On the wedding day the bnde and
bride-groom are brought from opposite ends
of the village to the spot where the cere
mony is to take place. They are made to
sit on bars of iron, that blessings as lasting
and health as vigorous may attend the
pair. A cigar and bcetleleaf, prepared
with the arica-iiut, are next put into the
bands of the bride and bride-groom. One
of the priests then waves two fowls over
the beads of the couple, and in a long ad-
; dress to the Suoreme Being, calls down
blessings upon the pair and implores that
peace and happiness attend the union.
After the heads of the affianced have been
knocked together, three or four times, tbe
bridegroom puts the prepared sirl-leaf and
cigar into the mouth of tbe bride, while
she does the same to him, whom she thus
acknowledges as ber husband.
Quarts of Diamond.
A correspondent from Kimberley, South
Africa, gives the following description of
that land of gems :
This place is about 700 miles from Cape
Town, and about 500 from Port Elizabeth.
To reach Kimberley, from Cape Town,
one has to travel through a country called
the Great Karroo, a barren, rocky tract,
with scarcely any signs of life in iL It is
aliout 300 miles through it. A more deso
late region caa scarcely be found. I do
net think I saw ten acres for a distance of
200 miles that could possibly be plowed;
and, judging from appearances, I think a
rat, to travel through the Karroo, would
need a knapsack on his back, well laden
with provisions, to sustain life on his jour
ney, unless he was of near kin to Dr. Tan
ner. Kimberley, like its surroundings, is
a barren waste, very unpleasant for a family
home.
Mo:t of the country here is worthless for
farming purposes. Water is scarce; wood
is very scarce. It is brought here by ox
wagons from a distance of one hundred
miles, and sold on the market at aucti-Hi
for from $2' to $.50 per load, according to
size and quality. None of it would be
merchantable in yojr city. Old dead
wood dug up by the roots and brought to
market, roots and ali, sells for $25 to $30
per load; and a load of live wood (unsplit),
containing one and a half cords, sells for
$40 to $50 per load.
Potatoes grow to about the size of En
glish walnuts; beets, carrots, onions, cu
cumbers and lettuce are luxuries unknown
here. The dust and dirt is fearful. I
cannot describe it and do justice to the
subject. It fills your eyes, nose and ears,
and mats your hair and whiskers; and as
for clothes, the natives, who wear none,
have the advantage, as the water is hard
and miserable, full of dirt, and sells for
sixty cents per ban el for washing purposes,
and as for drinking, something stronger is
the con.mon beverage here.
But the diamonds ! It is truly a laud of
diamonds. Already over $125,000,000
worth have been discovered. In the late
war one of the chiefs (Saccahuni) offered
a quart measure full of diamonds for a
cannon. Claims of thirty-one square feet
have sold for $48,000 per claim !
The mines are now worked by large
companies. The largest is a French com
pany. The manager informed me that
their expenses were $70,000 per n.onth.
They take out of their claims 400 loads of
diamondiferous earth per day, worth on
the average $14.40 per load. There are
several other large companies in the same
mine. A mile and a half from here is an
other mine, called Old De Beers' nune.
Three miles farther there is another one
called Du Tait's Pan; and one mile from
that is another called Bultfontein. All
these are extensively worked by large
companies.
Bultfontein mine was originally a furm,
on w hich was built a brick house; and on
the discovery of diamonds the house was
found to contain the precious gems in the
plaster used to lay the brick and in the
plastered walls, while the children plaed
with what they called "the shiney stones."
There has recently been a diamond mine
discovered eight miles from here called
Olipanbt's Fantcin.
Claims to the number of 900 have been
surveyed and sold in that mine, and people
here are wtld with speculation. An ac
quaintance of mine bought claims in Jager's '
Fantein mine, 40 miles front here, wuicb
cost him $710, and in a short time he vas
offered $33,600 for said claims. So it
seems that men arc like bubbles the world
over; some go up, and some explode finan
cially, the exploding portion being by far
t the most numerous.
The penalty for buying a diamond of a
negro is five years imprisonment at hard
labor and a fine of $2,400 for the fir-t of
fense, and ten years for the second offense;
anil yet the temptation is so great that out
of a population of 16,ixx there are over
600 now in prison for illicit diamond buy
ing and diamond stealing! Some of these
prisoners are worth from $40,000 to $200,
000. Surely the way of the transgressor
is hard.
Twenty miles from here are what are
called the River Diggings, on the Vaal
river.
Men carry diamonds in their pockets,
sport them on their fingers in rings, and in
breast pins; and what shall I say of the
ladies, in such a land of diamonds aud os
trich plumes i
The Graas Tree.
Among the anomalies of Australia is a
singular growth of the forest that deviates as
much from a tree as a kangaroo from the
ordinary types of animals, although it is
called a tree. The grass tree growj in
rocky places unfavorable for other vegeta
ble productions. Absolute barrenness is a
spot where the plant flourishes ben, appa
rently, though elements must abound there
which are appropriate nourishment. A
mass of grass looking fibers gradually rises
out of the ground, From day to day there
is an increase of bulk and height very much
resembling an elevated tuft of long grass
gracefully falling off from a central shaft.
These pendant threads arc leaves. Very
soon from the top ot the pile a slendut
slal'i shoots up perpendicularly froai four
to ten feet, terminating in a spike. Tha'
is sought by natives for spears, being hard
and somewhat elastic Within the pith is
an article of food. In the rude and savage
condition of the indigenous Australians the
grass tree furnishes a weapon of extraor
dinary usefulness for meeting the circum
stances of a barbarous state of society.
Without it no other equally efilcient instru
ment of defence against enemies, er tor
contending with ferocious animals, is at!tbxcalls not transparent, whicU led
their command.
Give Me BaXEIes.
A well-known lady artist, resident in i
Rome, relates that while, standics one day i
near the statue of the Appollo Belvidere, I
she suddenly became aware of tbe presence j a,uiooea into a natural shape out r.f van
of a country-woman. The new-comer was ; ougly c jii threads of glass. The base
a weli-to-ao-looking American woman, ana
introduced herself as Mrs. Haggles, of ,
Missouri, and then asked:
"Is this the Apollo Belvidere;
Miss II testified to the identity of the
work, and the tourist then said:
"Coosidered a great statue?'
The interrogated lady replied that it was
geuerauy vuougm to uc uue vi me master- threads are spun in a minute and each
pieces of the world. tbrcad is ten miles in length. The wcav-
"3Ianly kbeauty, and all thu sort of j in? jg doae on an ordinary loom, adapted
thing? said the lady from the land of the m gome respects, to the n quirements. TLe
setting sun, I fabric cannot be ripped or k.rn, and can to
"Yes," responded the now amazed j gpun, woven and sold at less corf than cot
artisU It is said to be one of the no- ,im iik n, -hat other fabric the firm
blest representations of the human frame,
"Well," exclaimed Mrs, Haggles, clos
ing her Badeker, and with arms akimbo,
taking a last and earnest look at the mar
bie, "I've seen the Apollo Belvidere and
I've seen Haggles, and give me Haggles."
Whoever is honest, generous, court
eous and candid.ls a gentleman.whet ti
er be be learned or unlearned, rich or
poor.
The brand of a regiment Is a pla-ioon
of itself.
NO. 51.
I
Widow Jooea'a Vuw.
Goodman Jones died at the age of fifty,
and was gathered to his fathers, leaving a
widow about his own age. About the
same time Aunt Smith died, too; and her
case was parallel to Goodman Jones's in
all except her sex; we presume that she
was gathered to her mothers. She It ft a
disconsolate widower, over whose head
just as many years had rolled, as the wid
ow Jones had counted. This was allcwjd
on all hands to be an astonishing coinci
dence. All the women pitied widower Smith,
poor man, and all the men commisei atcd
with widow Jones, poor woman. Widow
Jones bad a large farm; so had the widow
er Smith. W.dow Jones had a large adiry;
so had the widower Smith. As to the
acres of mooring, tillage, snd wood-land,
each had an equal share; and in children
Providence hail blessed both alike. "What
upon airth" could either do with these vast
possessions alone, tbe old women declared
they could not tell. This difficulty sug
gested a ready remedy, and gossips did not
let the defunct man a.id woman get cold in
their graves before they made up their
minds the relicts should be yoked together,
and the estates, hereditaments anil proper
ty, personal and real, be held in joint pro
prietorship. Matches, they said, were
made in Heaven; and that this was there
made, they considered the essential prepa
ration ot widowhood, in each case, positive
proof.
Widow Jones and neighbor Suiitli were
not long in bearing what rossip was astir;
and it had even been lnsiuuated that each
had arrived at the conclusion above named
before anybody thought of them. It is
certain that when each requested the pray
ers of the congregation that the bereave
ment might be sanctified widower Smith
looked pretty steadily over the rail of his
pew at the seat of widow Jone; and then
widow Jones moved her handkerchief from
her eyes just long enough to how her com
panion in bereavement supported himself.
After church they walked beside each other
so far as the roads lay together, and once
during the next week widower Smith paid
widow Jones a short visit of condolence.
So far so good but viits of condolence
go out of date, like almanacs, and cannot
be used as a pretext after a certain season.
Some other arrangement must be trumped
up, and widower Smith was not long in
finding it. His wagon stopped one morn
ing before widow Jones's door, and he gave
usual country signal that he wanted to see
somebody in the house, by dropping the
reins and sitting double, with his elbows
on his knees.
Out tripped the widow, lively as a crick
et, with a tremendous black nbhon on her
snow-white cap. Good morning was said
on both sides, and the wikw wailed for
what was further to be said.
"Well, Madam Jones, perhaps you dn't
want to sell one of your cows, nohow, for
nothing, anyway, do you?"
"Well, '.here, Mister Smith, youcuuldu'r
have spoken my mind better. A poor lone
woman like me does not know what to do
with so many crceturs, and I shall be glad
to trade, if we can fix it."
So they adjourned to the meadow. Far
mer Smith looked at Roan then at the
the widow; at Brindle then at the widow;
at the Downing cow and then at the wid
ow arain; and so on tbrouirh the whole
fortv.
Ths same call was made every day fir a
week, but Farmer Smith could not decide
which cow he wanted At length, on
Saturday, when widow Jones was in a
hurry to get through her hakin; for S iu
clay, and had ever so much to do in the
house as all farmer's wives and widows
have on Saturday she was a little impa
tient. Farmer Smith was as irresolute as
ever.
"That 'ere Downing cow is a pretty fair
creetur, but "
He stopped to look at the widow's face,
and then walked around ber not the wid
ow, but the cow.
"That 'ere shorthorn Durh im is n.H a
bad-looking beast, but I dunno "'
Another look at the widow.
"The Downing cow I knew long before
the late Mr. Jones bous;ht her."
Here he sighed at the allusion to the late
Mr. Jones; she sighed, and both looked al
each other. It was a very interesting mo
ment. " Id Roan Is a faithful old milch, ami so
is Bnnfde but I have known better."
A long stare succeeded this speech; the
pause was getting awkward, and at last
widow Jones broke out:
"Lord, Mr. Smith! it I'm the tow you
want, do say to!"
The intentions of widower Smith and
widow Joni s were duly published the next
day, as is the law and custom in Massachu
setts, and as soon as they were "out pub
lished" they were married.
tiarmenU of Glafti.
A short article was printed recently stat
ing that a Pittsburg firm was about to
begin manufacturing all kinds of garments
from spun glass. Specimens have now been
made and exhibited, among the articles
being a large tablecloth, a towel and a nap
kin. At first sight they could not bo dis
tinguished from the common kiml, bs:t. on
closer inspection, were found to lie marvel
lous specimens of glass manufacture. Tbe
tablecloth was about six feet square, and
white in color, save near the ends and sitlt s
where a border of delicate but pretty gretn
added a tasty finish to the entire piece.
The cloth was fringed on its four sides.
Tbe other articles were similar, save in the
! borders, which were pink and red respective
ly. Tae cloth was found to be made of
cobwebs in gossamer-like tenuity. These
frail filaments were woven together pjr
fectly, and the cloth proved to be a9 flexi
ble but sligi.t y heavier than if i' had been
composed of cotton. It w f J& that this
cloth could be washed sad ironed with
equal propriety. Feathers were exhibited,
! 0f eah feather was a piece of brass wire,
Lt which tbe millions of fibres of the
! article were conuectetL Each piece had
about the game proportions as an ostrich
feaUier. and all were wonderfully beauti-
i ful in hlle gbape. Of course the curi-
' pro of manufacture is a secret
Wlln the firm. About 230 of the fine glass
chooses to uniiaie. n neiner una crystal
cloth be either coarse or fine in texture.
when worn as a dress, ihawl or other gar
ment, it will prove itself to be just as warm
easy fitting and comfortable, in every way,
as clothing of any other kind. Some of the
wiiile neckties made from glasa, when
worn al night in a biilliautly lighted room,
sparkle and glisten like diamonds, giving a
very startling and pleasing effect. Tha
firm Is now ready for orders, and intends
placing manufactured articles upon the
market at ocee.
panted,
7 'fc.har!"
j