iit geiisiel jjjk ail
1 M . n '
B.
F. SCHWEIER,
THE OOISTrnmOI-TKE UHOI-AID THE EITOBOE1CEIT OP THE LAVS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XXXV.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA., WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1881.
NO. 20.
RAI5T DATS.
The f'ring day roee from her aleeping
" In tbe deep, dim ca?ern of mist,
With the waiting world to be keeping
' Her brief and beautiful trrxt -13ut
her iweet eyes opened weeping.
As the sunshine her pale Up kissed.
And thus she rose from bar aleeping
In tbe caverns of eastern mist.
The world bad dreamed of tbe meeting '
From tbe first of tbe f artbereat yeira ;
Bat ber band was cold to bis greet ng,
and her cheeks were bitter with teal j
ller Toice was the wind repeating
Tbe pain of tbe heart that hears ,
But the world was glad of tbe meeting
To tbe last of tbe lingi ring years.
For forth from ber tears osme flowers.
And out of ber grief delight.
And the bods swelled tinder tbe showers ;
Tbe blossoms with sandals white.
Climbed np to tbeir forest bowers.
From tbe troken seeds aud night.
But who could fi retell tbe flowers.
Or see in tbe grief delight.
Mrs. Marcbell't Bound fcirl.
"I think I'll take that one," said Mrs.
Marine MarchelL pointing with tbe end of
her finger in one particular direction.
It was quite a little life-picture tbe row
of eager-eyed girls, standing in the stuffy
little reception-room of the orphan asylum
at Bloomington, each one clad in her dingy
tray stuff gown, with a green gingham bib
apron, and hair cut close to the head a
style of coiffure which gtve an undue pre
dominance to tbe ears, and would have
made tbe divine Venus di Milo herself look
like a female pickpocket. J ust behind them
stood the matron, a fat old woman, with a
crumpled while cap, and three distinct
layers of chin, and a hungry dog, peeping
in at the half open doer, completed the
tableaux.
Deborah Dove, a stumpy girl of thirteen,
witb empurpled fingers and a blunt nose
sighed deeply; Sarah Jackson's freckled
countenance fell. The others looked stol
idly about them, indifferent as to Mrs.
Marchell's preference or neglect; and a lit
tle gray-eyed lassie at the end of the line
who had been balancing herself uneasily on
one foot, like a crane, started forward with
a half -st ifled cry of delight.
"Phoebe Lockett!" cried the matron.
"Phoebe Lockett, if that's her name,"
said -Mrs. Marchell, decidedly.
'Why, she's the smallest of the lot,'
said the matron.
And at her unconsidered words, poor lit
tle Phoebe winced and hung down her
head, as if some rude band bad struck her,
"Handsome is that handsome does," re
turned Mrs. Marchell, didactically. "Put
up her things, please, Mrs. Jenks, and let
the lady directress know that I have
decided."
As Phoebe Lockett rode away in tbe open
farm-wagon, fitting beside Mrs. Marchell's
simple figure, the farmer' wife looked
down and caught the clear eyes looking
timidly up into htrs, like wells of gray
water.
"Come," Mrs. Marchell, brusquely,
"what are you thinking about?"
"Please, ma am, said Phoebe, 1 was
wondering why on earth you chose me
when Carolina Purple was so much prettier,
and Deborah Dove a great deal taller and
stronger."
"Humph," said Mrs. MarchelL "I
chose you because I like your looks. You're
little but you're wiry; you aren't pretty as
some ot those simpenng girls, but you've
an honest look in yjur face. That's why
I chose you."
"Thank you, ma'am," said Phoebe, sim
ply. And she rejoiced fervently in her inno
cent little heart, in that she had escaped
from the iron rule, scanty fare and dis
tasteful drudgery ot tbe Bloomington Or
phan Asylum at last.
Mr. Marchell, a stout, good-humored
farmer, with a shining bald head and a
pair of iron-gray English side-whiskers,
welcomed the little girl with a kindly pat
on the head, and an admonition to "be
sure and do ber duty, and it would always
be done by her."
And Charley Marchell, the only son, and
heir of the red-br.ck farmhouse, with its
acres of golden wheat and emerald stretches
of pa9ture-land, nicknamed her "Miss
Midget" on the spot.
'Because you are such a stunted little
affair," said he.
Phoebe Lockett had not been 'bound
girl" at the Marchell farmhouse for more
than a few months, when one day, Mrs.
Marchell came into the great airy "keeping-room,"
with a perturbed expression on
her countenance.
"1 thought I heard a fiddle somewhere,"
said she.
"Just what you did hear,'' said Charley,
It's Pboebe, up in tbe garret.
"Phoebe?" ejaculated Mrs. Marchell.
"And where on earth did the get a fid
dkt "Borrowed it from old Mr. Findley,
said Charley, laughing. "You never saw
crp&tnrH an bewitched alter a fiddle as
she is.
" Nonsense. " said Mrs. MarchelL
shamlv. " Whst business has a bound
mrl witn a fiddle, or with any sort of
limbic for that matter?"
"It's no harm, wife no harm," said the
farmer, indulgently.
"But it is harm," said Mrs. Marchell.
"And I me&u to put a stop to it."
And Pho-be Lockett, seated Turk-fashion
on the floor of the old garret, with a
tuttoml fchawl wranrjed around her
shoulders, and the red, level light of the
winter sunset weaving itself around her
t!.rt antiurn curls, was interrupted in her
musical reveries by the abrupt entrance of
Mrs. MarchelL
"Give me that fiddle?" said Mrs. Mar
chelL
"Ma'am?" said Phoebe dropping the
lmw in hr kmazemeiiL
"It'a aaillv waste of time," said Mrs.
larrl.ll "traiilf lieinff sinful."
"But." Dleaded Phoebe, "I've done all
my work!'
"No matter whether vou have or nat,
said Mrs. MarchelL "There's always
vnnr rmtrhwork to do. and 'Blair's Ser
mons' to read, beside the weekly paper.
Give me that fiddle, 1 say "
Poor Phoebe gave it up, trying hard to
choke down the tears and sobs.
Old Mnfipi Mndlev. the vdlage violinist,
who officiated at dances, weduiig and
merry -makings in general, and fUed up
the interstices of his time with the making
and mendimr of shoes, looked lairiy
founded when Mrs. Marchell bounded into
his seven-by-nine shop, and flung the musi
cal instrument on the work-bench.
"Kb?" said old Moses adjusting his spec
tacles on the bridge of his nose.
"There's vour old fiddle." said Mrs.
Marchell, "and I wish, after this, you'd be
tin.l pnniifh to keen it at home, and not
ro nuttipc nonserue into my bound
haa.1!" '
'But it ain't nonsense," said oli Mosea.
jSheeot a capital idea of music, Phoebe
Nonsenae!r said Mrs. MarcholL
"And a very decent voice, if only it was
cultivated."
"Pshaw!" cried Mrs. Marchell, and she
flounced out of the shop in a rage.
But if Mrs. Marchell was the child's
temporal mistress, music was her spiritual
one. Poebe Lockett went quietly about
her work, in the years that followed, but
she could not forget the divine strains
which tbe well-rosined bow had drawn
out of the antique violin. In the red glow
of the winter sunset, that January after
noon, in the garret.
Mrs. Marchell had done up her front
hair in papers, assumed her gray flannel
dressing-gown, when, chancing to look
out of the north kitchen window, she saw.
or thought she saw the giimmer of a light
in the top window of the barn.
"I cant havs been mistaken." said Mrs.
Marchell; it aini the time o vear for
fire-flies, and will-o-the-wisps dont go
dancing and twinkling round our barn.
It's tramps that's what it is."
"Fiddlesticks!" said Mr. Marchell, sleep
ily, from ' the exact centre of downy
feather pillow.
"There was two men asked for a drink
of milk, at the buttery door. Just about
dusk," added the lady, "and 1 didn't much
like their looks at th time."
"It's all right, I dare say," yawned Mr.
MarchelL
"Well," cried the farmeress, energet
ically, 'if you don't go into it, I wilL"
And flinging her husband's shaggy over
coat around her, and taking the lantern in
one hand, she started for the barn.
She was right. There was a dim tallow
candle burning in tbe barn-chamber, and
by Us flickering light, Phcebe Lockett was
busy practicing on the violin, from some
sheets of torn and well-thumbed music.
She started up with a cry at the appari
tion of Mrs. Marchell in the doorway an
evening spectre, with a shaggy overcoat
and a dark lantern.
"Ungrateful girl?" tragically cried out
Mrs. Marchell; "bow dared you to dis
obey me?''
"I meant no harm," faltered poor Phoe
be. "1 hired the violin from the village
music store, with tbe dollar Mr. Marchell
gave me for finding his gold spectacles,
and Mrs. Musard gave me the music; and
I came out here of a night, so that the
noise shouldn't disturb you."
"Pbcebe." said Mrs. Marchell "what a
goose you are! Why don't you stick to
your needle, and your rolling pin, and
your scrubbing-brush, as other girls do?
How do you ever expect to find bread in
the strings of a fiddle?1
Phoebe hung down her head, and said
nothing m reply.
"We may as well break the charm at
once," said Mrs. MarchelL "111 take you
to the concert at Bloomington to-morrow
night. They tell me there's to be a girl
violinist there, as plays like playing; and
if that don't cure you of your silly ambi
tion, I don't know what wilL"
Phoebe Lockett crimsoned to the very
roots of the hair.
"1 I can't go !" said she. "That is,
not with you. I promised Mrs .
to go to her house; but perhaps she wil
take me. The Musards are all going to
tbe concert."
"It don't matter how you go," said Mrs
Marchell, "nor with whom so king as you
see real excellence and learn tbe foL'y of
your silly aspirations."
"But, faltered Phoebe, "why should a t
I be a good player some tune, too?"
" by shouldn t the sky fall, and we all
catch larks?" contemptuously retorted Mrs.
MarchelL "As for you, the best thing
you can do is to go into the house and go
to bed as fast as possible."
And crestfallen Phoebe obeyed.
Mrs, Marchell dressed herself in her
best black silk, to go to tbe Bloomington
concert, the nexc evening.
'For I suppose it will be something
very fine," said she. "Where s my eye
glasses, Charley? I must take them along,
if I expect to see anything, for 1 do declare
I'm getting blinder every day.
"I expect, mother," Charley had an
swered, with a little laugh, 'you'll see a
lot of things to surprise you.
The concert had proved an unusually
great attraction in the neighborhood, and
tbe hall was crowded when the Marchell
party arrived, so that Mrs. Marchell was
forced to be content with a campstool as
the verv back of tbe room.
Dear, dear! bow provoking this is;
said tbe old lady. "And Charley didn t
find the eye-glasses after alL I shan't see
a thing!"
"But you can hear, said Charley,
"Hush-sh-sh!" said his mother. "Isn't
that the violinist a pretty, light-complex-
ioned eiri. in white, with roses in her
hair? .Now, I do hope Phoebe Lockett is
here to see this.
The violinist was greeted with shouts of
applause which died away into silence as
the delicious music rose upon the air, float
ing upward like the halos we see id ancient
pictures.
It was a short canccto ana, wnen u
ended, Mrs. Marchell was in tears.
1 never thought before that I cared so
much for music." said she to Charley. But
such music as that! Do you know.
Charley, it seemed to me exactly as if my
little babv that died twenty years ago was
whisrjerine in my earl Un, U rna;ne
could onlv hear this!"
The female violinist was certainly rw
feature of the night. And at the close ol
the concert she was again and again called
before the curtain to receive the rapturous
nlniiHita of the Bloomineton public.
1 . n. .n 1 , t If 1. T I
w here s rnoeixi saiu airs, juaivuciu
standing on one of the benches to look
-round her. "Has anv one seen our
Plirelie here?"
I have." said Charley, drily. "snail
I take vou to her? here, in the little room,
.ifiz-vinincr the Staff ."
J 3 . . . . . 1 ,n A
"But what is ane uoing merci
Mrs. Marcht.lL perplexedly.
rviiintinir her bouauets. 1 suppose,
n.-r-w aairi. with the same odd liiue
1 a 1 1 ffh
a nti without further ceremony. Mrs.
Marchell was ushered into the presence of
the female viobnist herself, all in wuue,
with riVen red roses glowing in ner nair,
and cheeks aaanie wiin nappy mump.
Phnpfw!" ejaculated Mrs. MarchelL
f.irl out of breath witn asionisniuent.
This is never you r
Pbcebe flew into Sirs. Marchell's arms.
"Yes, dear, dear friend," she cried, "it
ii:" .. ... .u.
Whv didn't vou tell mei
said the
farmer's wife, reproachfully.
(timiim 1 was ao afraid that my first
would be a failure," confessed
"Ht"-'
Phrahf
"I suppose you will never come back to
the farmhouse againi saiu
Yes, I shall!" cried Phoebe. "I "hall
be your own Ptoebe atilL if only you 11
J - s .u rrrt once in
let me practice m a
7" You shall practice all over the bouse?"
cned Mrs. Marchell.
..r.Mn'i t tii vou. mother," said tn
umphant Charley, "that you'd tee some-1
thing to surprise you? But you'll be still
more surprised when "
"Charley,- don't?" cried out Phoebe,
growing rosier than ever.
"lou needn L" said Mrs. MarchelL look-
ing brightly from one to the other. "1 can
guess.
She such . little darbne. mother!"
said the young man.
And Phoebe threw both her arms around
the elder woman's neck, and whispered
soltly:
"Mother."
Wbr Kill Bates Dldnt rrr
1 say, Jim." said Ned Dalton. as he
poked up the camp fire, why didn't Bill
nates ana Hue barker get married. When
I was at the Snake Creek protracted meet
ing last spring, it sorter struck me that
they wus goin' to run the same brand."
clL" said Jim Walker, as he nillowed
his head on a saddle, 'that wus tbe eeneral
calkerlation, but it all got busted up on ac
count of.what happened at the fish try the
Jones' folks irive down a ther Soanish
Cajip on the San Bernardo."
"W hat, Bill didn't get on no hifalutin'
brazoo, like he's alien doin'. and stir up a
row!" inquired Ned.
'No, it warn't that," replied Jim. "but
it might jest as well have been, 'cause BUI
Bates' predickerment would've knocked anv
courtin' match high'n'er kite. You see, ail
ther gals from Damon's Mound aid up
along Turkey Creek wer' at the fish-fry,and
everybody was bavin' 'er hog killin' time,
but ther day was het, and while Bill Bates
wus dancin with Sue Parker every set. so
as to keep her penned up from tbe rest of
hows, be tot to sweatin' worser n er nnraer
at 'er' lection. Bill knew when he got to
sweatin' he woulun't smell good enough to
stay in company so he asked two or three
fellers who was loafin 'round watin fur the
grub to be sot out, to go up the creek a
piece and have a swim. They wus willin.
and when they got to 'er lend in ther creek
short distance from ther fish fry they
commenced to shuck their clothes. Bill he
pulled off everything 'ceptin his shirt, and
then sot down on 'er log to cool off. Thar
wus 'er yaller jackets' nest in ther log, and
ther bulge of Bill Bates' anateraiy wus
kivenng tbe hole to the nest, and while
Bill sot thar Uiem yaller jackets held 'er
convensbun or suthin' of' ther kind and
made up their minds that they wus going
to raise the blockade. I guess everybody
knows that you don't have to spit in 'er
yaller jacket's eye to make him mad, 'cause
ther insect is born mad and dies in ther
same fix. While Bill was roosting on ther
leg, scratchin' and 'er coolin' of himself,
ther yaller jackets riz in their wrath and
Bill be riz with 'em. They lifted him like
torpeder, and when he hit ther ground
was bleatin' louder'n 'er bull calf, and
'er hundred yaller jackets was up under
his shirt, spurrln' him in ther flanks, and
niakin' him buck over the ground like an
unbroke stud. He clawed at his shirt and
yelled to the boys to come and help him
knock ther dam things off, but ther boys
laid down behind logs and told him they
warn t ro durned fools. Well, ther yaller
jackets kept poppin' their spurs to him
fust on one side, then on t'other, 'till Bill
got sorter crazy, and he skedaddled down
tbe creek, beadia' square for tbe fish fry.
bue Parker, with 'er lot of other gals and
'er parcel of galoots, wus up the road pickin'
blackberries, when they suddenly heard
ther all fircdest yellin' and snortin", and
ther next instant thar wus Bill Bates ga!
lopic' by 'em faster 'n'er scared cayote and
try in' bis level best to drag hison yre
mainin' garment over his bead. The gals
weakened on ther fist glimpse and made 'er
break for tbe bush, skreamin' and askin'
what it was, kinder innocent like, and ther
fellers who was gallantin' 'em turned sorter
red in the face and said they guessed
somebody's horse broke loose somewhere
up tber cietk and that they had better go
up and help catch ther acermaL In no
time tbe whole fish fry wus talkin' of Bill
Bates' scanderlus actions, and Aunt Doro
thy Briggs said it wus a burnin' shame, and
he ouguter be hung, but W idow Bulldjck
said his daddy wus tuk down with ther
janders 'fore Bill wus bora, and went craiy
and she thought insanity wus in Burs
blood, consider in' as how she had often no
ticed a kurious look in his eye. The thing
was talked about all over tbe neighborhood
and Bill writ to Sue Parker explainin' as
how it happened, but she said he was dis
graced in the community and she didn t
want nuthin to do with him. Bill also
heard it talked around that her folks said
they'd put tbe dogs on him if he ever come
nigh the house again; and feelin' bad over
it, he jined Pete Jenning's herd, and went
up the Kansas trad. That's how Bill and
Sue Parker didn't marry."
First Kate Lack.
I bad much talk with a miner who was
on his way back to Georgia with his family
after a residence of many years in the
mining regions of the southwest. He had
been living lately in a region "680 miles
west" of some place 1 had never heard of
before. He had a dry, condensed style of
narration, as if he bad but a small stock of
language on hand, and mcst make every
word tell as much as possible. Ue thought
the rough justice of the minirg regions as
good as any; rather better, 1 suspected,
than the more elaborate and uncertain
methods of civilization; said the West was
a good country for a man to mind his own
business in, and liked life there as a whole,
but said tbe women and children get lone
some. I asked what people did there for
amusement and entertainment. "Same
as they do in other civilized countries,
o'course," be replied; which, considering
what he had told me of tbe wudness of lire
that region seemed so good an answer
that I did not push my inquiries further iu
that direction. But he went on: "Some
fools hunts cinnamon bear when they
can't find nothing else to do. Now a cin
namon bear alius minds his own business.
tbe old settlers out thar knows too
much to meddle with 'em. Its the young
chaps they're mostly too fresh to keep
long in that cumit.
"riot long ago," ne conut ueo, --some
Ecglisb fellers came out thar an' they must
have a big hunt. They wanted me to go
alone 'cause I snowed tbe country, an
thev'd never seen no cinnamon bears. But
I told em 1 naon i lost no cinnamon Dears,
an' bad't no time to hunt up other people's
stock. Ef any o' their'n was lost it was
all right for 'em to find 'em, but they must
ii . i .i . .u.
pxcoose me. vv eu, lucr wcui uu iu iuc
foot hills, an' they had mighty good luck."
Here be paused, but Knowing tnat 11 irri
tates such men to have a listener "try to
be so smart" as to anticipate what they are
going to say, I waited. "Yes, mighty good
luck. Tbe bear knocked one hoss over a
bank, an' broke tbe feller's leg an' his col
lar bone, an put his shoulder out o' place.
His boss was hurt so they had to shoot it.
'rf other chap found his bear, too, an' the
bear chawed him up, an' knocked him
around with such a looseness that he didn't
know which one of the brothers he was.
The rest o' the party bad to git some Chi
namen from miuin' camp to bring the
hunters into town on stretchers. So you
see they foun' their bears, an' had fust-rate
luck."
gadtlaa iDgeculty.
There are times and occasions in the
Uvea of most individuals when a ridden
call is made for the exercise of readiness
or impromptu Ingenuity, the importance
of which may be very great, ana which en
ables the possessor to make tbe best of
such means and appliances as may be at
band, no matter bow unpromising or ap
parently inapplicable.
A few years ago, an iron bridge of con
siderable length, the weigbt being about
two hundred tons was constructed in this
country, and erected in a remote part of
Germany. By some mishap,' the bridge,
when finished was found at some distance
out to one side, an error which tbe pro
prietor insisted should be rectified. To
take down and reercct the bndge would be
simple ruin to the contractor. But Ne
cessity is the mother of Invention, and so
it proveo. in this case. It was summer
time, and tbe contractor proceeded to find
tbe amount of expansion which was caused
by the heat of the sun over the whole
length of tbe budge. He next ascertained
what contraction took rlace in the night
by cooling. Armed with these data, he
thought it might be possible to bring the
bridge to its proper position in a few days.
The bridge of course, in its ordinary con
dition expaaced from the centre, pushing
its two ends outward, or farther apart, and
again contracting towards the centre. Tak
ing advantage of these conditions, one end
was made fast in the morning and the
bridge was forced to expand from that im
movable point, instead of from the middle,
as formerly. When tbe iron composing
the bridge bad expanded to its full extent
in tbe direction intended, that end was re
leased, and the opposite end made fast. The
bridge then contracted towards its true
position. Thus, whatever was gained by
tbe day's expansion, was secured by the
subsequent contraction when tbe metal
cooled at night; and the process beiag re
newed day by day, tbe work was success
fully accomplished.
The walls of a large building in Paris
were observed to be giving way by bulging
outwards; and the problem was to bring
them back to tbeir vertical position. For
this purpose a number of bars of iron hav
ing screws and nuts on each end were let
through the opposite walls, and across the
intervening space between them. ine
nuts and screwed portion of the bars were
outside. The bars were new heated by a
number of lamps suspended below them
until they had expanded as much as posai
ble. and tbe nut screwed up against the
outsides cf the two oppposite walls. The
lamps were next removed;whea the heated
bars in cooling gradually contracted in
tbeir length,bnnging the walls very gently,
but with irresistible force, into their nor
mal position.
An old story is told in connection witn
the expansion and contraction of materials
which may deserve a place here as an ill
ustration in point. It has been stated that
when the .Egyptian obelisk was being
erected in the square in front of St. Peter's
at Home, in the year 1505 during the reign
of Pope Sixtus V., it was first demonstra
ted that ropes under severe tension con
tracted by the application of moisture.Tbe
occasion was made one of high festival.
The architect and workman, and the other
obelisk also, received in state the benedic
tion ot the Pope, and high mass was cele
brated in SL Peter's, but every attempt
to move the pillar was unsuccessfuL All
the horses that could be found, with all
the applicances for lifting heavy weights
of that time, were put into requisition. And
it was not until more than fifty unsucceas
ful efforts bad been madr, that the huge
mass rose from the ground. Meanwhile,
the great weight stretched the ropes so
much, that when the pulley-blocks had
reached their limit in lifting, tbe bottom of
the obelisk had not reached the top of the
seat prepared for it. At that moment a
man in the crowd shouted : "Wet tbe
pipes!" The experiment was tried; the
ropes shrunk, and the obelisk gradually and
slowly rose tt the required height, and
was successfully placed on its seat.
WlMk Women's Arts.
Dame Baibara Fischer bves in the wilds
of Pennsylvania. She is a witch woman.
By far the most interesting feature of this
class of backwoods healing art is that part
which pretends to work made spells,
charms, curses, conjuration!-, and bad luck
generally on enemies and objects of bate.
Persons in need of black-art aid of this kind
travel for miles to the " hex" who has the
best reputation. Sbe generally lives alone
with her cats, her herbs, her cards, and
her "mysterious book." Not far from Lan
caster, hves an old woman, who, a ah art
time ago, had a score of men bunting gold
at midnight. The men were reputable
farmer's son, and so great was their confi
dence in the old soothsayer's story of gold
that they followed her directions with
great care, and spent night after night of
laborious wwk In seeking lor the supposed
hidden treasure, but which never was found.
Men and women came from near and far
on every sort of mission to Dame Fischer.
To a large circle of persons no physician in
the land can render such effective service.
Husbands take their wives, and fathers
then: children, to have the old woman op.
erate on them for any ailment to which
human flesh is heir. If a child is demented.
blind, dwarfed, or in any way unnaturally
afllicted, it is taken to the home of Dame
Fischer for treatment. If a farmer has his
horse stolen he consults the old woman,
and implores her aid in recovering his lost
property. She will undertake to help him
everv time. It an incendiary fire takes
place Dame Fischer is consulted. If there
is trouble among tbe stock ol any farmer
the old woman will help him out. Bhould
any farmer nave had bad luck with his
crops or his cattle he will seek the old
woman's advice, and liberally pay for all
she tells him, because she is believed to
be a good woman.
To catch a horse thief and recover tbe
stolen animal it is necessary to search the
animal's staU, and find three hairs, cut them
of equal length, knot them in the middle.
and burn them, lighting both ends at the
same time. The hairs are to be burned on
a shovel at sunset near the stable, and
whichever way the two stubs point as they
burn is the direction the thl f took. The
stub ends are then to be buried in the barn
yard where tbe sun shines. There is a
little more nonsense of this kind which con
stitute the receipt for recovering a stolen
horse. The more solid Pennsylvania far
mers, however, have organized mounted
horse-thief detective associations.
To make a dry cow productive, to clarify
milk, to increase crops, to prevent strokes
of lightning, to keep off incendiaries,
witches, evil-spirits, plagues, spooks, and
other bad luck, charms of a similar charac
ter are advised but all are different. To
name tbe many absurd details of those so-
called charms it would be necessary to
print the contents of an entire book such
as these old women use. 1 hey are printed
in the German language, and were brought
from the old country, where they are
banded down from family to family. They
are seldom, if ever brought to the light of
dav. and very few persons ever see them.
These " powwow" books are regarded a
sacred things by the owners of them, and
are stored away in secret and dark places,
and are cnlv read near midnight.
Those who desire the aid of these old
women in the performance of evil work
must be well acquainted, and must possess
the confidence of tbe old women. What
transpires at tbe interviews is a dead secret.
An old woman hears "the wish" of her
customer, receives her fee, and the visitor
departs. The old woman has assured her
visitor that all will be well. She does
nothing in his presence by which she can
be brought into trouble, yet no particulars
of the visit must ever be revealed. Bad
luck forever is tbe penalty for any breach
of faith. What orgies, incantations, spells,
con j illations, boils or stews she may after
ward go through are all done at midnight,
when no one is about. If a neighbor's
babe is to be stunted in growth; if a rival's
beauty is to fade away forever ; if tbe bus
iness of a competing merchant is to be
broken up; if a water power is to fail or a
spring to run dry; if bad lues: is to take
any shape and be visited on any object of
wrath or hate, the old woman's aid is in
voked in all sincerity, with tbe absolute
belief that the desired object will be
attained.
To secure jealousy is one of the chief ob
jects of many visitors, and to effect this
brings into play a number of unique but
most absurd practices. To separate man
and wife, the hair of a woman opposite in
color and complexion must first be obtained.
If the wife ha dark hair, light hair must
be secured, but never red hair. To work
a charm on any unfortunate and doomed
couple, it must first be learned which of the
two was born nearest running water, l bat
person must be operated upon. Something
that such persons have worn some time
must be secured and burned. The hair
must be held in the smoke and then buried
under the eaves of then house. The name
of tbe person operated on is then written
jn a piece of paper and buried anywhere In
a shadow cast by the moon. This absurd
charm is supposed to have sufficient power
to separate mat and wife.
There are several charms intended for
young lovers who have had quarrels and
who desire to make up their differences;
for the lass who wants to know whether
her laddie is sincere; for tbe jealous girl,
envious of a friend; for the anxious lover
doubling his sweetheart and desiring to
make her love more binding, and for tbe
jealous young beau whose suit has not met
with favor. lbe witch-women have a
supreme contempt for Iove-pcwder or love-
potion. They absolutely detest and ridicule
any such method of controliag or securing
the coveted love of men or women. Their
chief reliance is the potency of the witch-
hazel, a tree that grows on the mountain
side hereabouts. With its branches and
its blossoms iiiuch power !s said to be
wielded. The lass in love carries its leaves
ia her bosom, and she dreams with them
under her pillow. The powdered bark of
tbe hazel, its blossoms, sap, and root, all
are employed for special and separate pur
poses. Whatever practices are resorted to for
the purpose of destroying beauty, wither
ing forms, stunting growth, weakening
intellect, or bringing about mental or
physical disaster, are never revealed. That
efforts are made to operate in this bne of
burness is absolutely true. It is a common
thing in this section of the country to hear
persons speaking ot friends or acquain
tances as beiag bewitched; and invariably
with such complaint is coupled tbe name
of one or the other of several old witch-
women located in the mountains. It is
generally conceded, on tbe other band,
that they do a great deal of good in aiding
tbe sick, which fact goes far to protect
them from prosecution.
The Yanka Wore the Belt.
It was during tbe Crimean war lhat three
officers, one an Englishman, one a French
man, and the other a 1 ankee, who had
joined the allies, got into a dispute as to
which was tbe best swordsman. The dis
pute finally grew so hot as to end in a chal
lenge to mortal combat, the survivor to
wear the laurels. As dueling was contrary
to army regulations, and the affair coming
to tbe ear of tbe commas ding officer, he at
once took measures to put a stop to it, but
as all the officers were anxious to witness a
trial between these noted experts, he hit
upon a plan tbat would test their skill and
at the same time not transgress any of the
rules."
There were three prisoners under sen.
tenceof death, and the commander decided
to let the belligerents act as executioners,
and the one that would perform the duty
with the greatest skill should be declared
tbe victor. So on tbe day appointed a lanre
number of officers were present to witness
the trial of skill. The Englishman was
the first one called npon, and singling out
his man, drew bis sword with a flash, and
with a single stroke severed the head from
the body. Great applause followed.
Then the Frenchman s turn came next
He, drawing a narrow ribbon from his
pocket, tied it around the neck of his vie
tim; then, turning his back upon tbe pris
oner, his sword Dew from its scabbard, and
he, turning on his heel at the same time,
with one stroke cut the head from his vic
tim, splitting the ribbon through the cen
tre. Tremendous applause followed, and
tbe universal opinion was that he would
certainly be the victor.
Now came tbe '1 ankee s turn. He
calmly walked np to his man, drew his
sword with the rapidity of lightning, and
giving it a flourish around his head, sheathed
it as quickly, and, turning, saluted tbe
commander. Hisses and sroana went np
from tbe crowd, and the commander stern
ly asked him what he meant by such con
tempt. The Yankee, turning to the man
he was to have slain, said, "Will you please
to spit, sin' The man attempted to com
ply with the request, when his head rolled
off, it having been so quickly severed that
be did not know it until he went to move
his head. The Yankee wore the belt.
A ship's Log.
The speed of vessels is approximately
determined by the use of tbe log and log-
line. The log is a triangular piece of wood
about a quarter of an inch thick, so bal
anced by mean of a plate of lead as to
swim perpendicularly in the water, with
about two-thirds of it under the water. The
log-line is a small cord, one end of which,
divided into three so tbat tbe wood bangs
from the cord, as a scale-pan fiora a bal
ance beam, is fastened to the log, while tbe
other is wound round a reel in the ship.
The log, thus poised, keeps its place in the
wa'er, while the line is unwound from tbe
reel as the ship moves through the water,
and tbe length of hue unwound in a given
times gives the rate of the ship's sailing.
This is calculated by knots made on the
line at certain distances, wh le the time is
measured by a sand-glass of a certain num
ber of seconds. Tbe length between the
knot ia so proportioned to the time of the
glass that the knots unwound while the
glass runs down show the number of miles
the ship is sailing per hour. The first knot
is placed about five fathoms from tbe log,
to allow the latter to get clear of the ship
before the reckoning commences.
A Broker's Mistake.
Shortly afur the close of the war with
Mexico many Spanish and Mexican silver
dollar found their way Into the United
States, and were bought up by bankers and
money dealers all over the country. The
price paid for them varied greatly, accord.
ing to the demand and supply and the con
dition of the pieces themselves, those in
perfect preservation, of full weigbt and
without holes or other defacement bringing
more than those not so well preserve" L
Tbe person having these coins for sale
carried them about in all kinds of parcels,
using in their transportation handkerchiefs,
paper packages, old stockings, tia cans,
kettles and boxes of all sizes and descrip
tions. At tbe close of a rainy day. during
which Mr. Drexel then doing a very
modest business on Third street as a money
and exchange broker had been a large
buyer of Mexican silver, and while he was
engaged in recounting his purchases pre
paratory to settung his cash account, the
door of his banking house was suddenly
opened tj a plainly dressed man, who ex
claimed : "I only have one hundred left ;
do you want them ?"
Mr. DrexeL without raising his head, re
plied : "I'll give you fifty cents fcr them!"
"JSo." said the man. "I've sold all the
others at seventy -five cents and only have
a hundred left I
Mr. Drexel replied: "I have bought
them all dy at sixty cents, and if youis
have no boles in tbem 1 will take tnem at
the same price, and that is the most you
can get for them."
"1 never saw any with holes in them,
said tbe man.
Didn't you?" said Mr. Drexel. "Half
of what we get are full of holes, where they
have been used as buttons.
The man scratched his head a moment
and then said: "Very well; 111 bring
them in right away."
r lve minutes afterward he appeared with
a small tin kettle and walking up to the
counter said : " Where shall I put them ?"
"Pour them out here," said Mr. DrexeL
indicating a particular spot on the counter.
I, can t said the seller, "they will all
slip off on the floor I"
Mr. Drexel without withdrawing his
attention from the counting of his pur
chases of the day, called to his son Frank
to " biing a tray." When a tray was
brought it was found to have a large crack
across it, to which the man strenuously
objected, saying: "Ihey will all fall
through." This nettled old Mr. DrexeL
who, in rather sharp words, told bim "that
tray has held thousands and thousands of
them every day, and furthermore in per
emptory terms, bade him " pour thim out
quick 1"
Accordingly the kettle was raised to the i
level of the counter and one hundred fat-
raw oysters were poured into tbe cracked
tray, much to the chagrin and disgust of
the banker and his son tbe former of
whom exclaimed: "Why, those are
oysters!"
" elL said the oysterman (who knew
nothing about Mexican silver,) "what the
did you think they were ?
Instinct ol Insects and Birds-
Let us examine the marvelous instinct
of the solitary wasp in providing for the
worm tbat will issue from her eggs after
her own death. She brings grubs food
that, ts a wasp, sbe never tasted and
deposits tbem over the eggs, ready for the
larva she will never see. 1 he life history
of every insect exhibits instincts of this
perplexing description. Look at the in
stinctive character of bees in their far
sighted provisions for the future. Witness
the catterpillar, how at the proper lime it
selects a suitable situation and spins for
itself a silken cocoon. Marvelous instincts
are met with outside of the wised world ;
every httle bird is its own skillful accou
cheur. We once observed the self-delivery
of tbe chicken. The prison wall is not
burst in pieces by struggles. By a regular
series of strokes tbe shell is cut in two
chipped round in a perfect circle some
distance from the large end. The bird has
a special instrument for this work a hard,
sharp horn on the top of the upper
mandible, which, being required for no
other purpose, disappears in a few days.
Obviously each individual bird no more
acquires tbe art of breaking its way out
tbaa it furnishes itself with tbe little pick
hammer used in the operation; and it is
quite clear that a bird could have never
escaped from the egg without this instinct.
How were eggs hatched before birds had
acquired the instinct to sit upon tbem ? A
fowl that never before willingly shared a
crumb with a companion will now starve
herself to feed her chickens, which she
calls by a language sbe never before used
-may have never heard but which they
are born to understand.
The
The Kroumir of Tunis tbe noun is plu
ral, although tbe cable persists in calling
them the Kroumirs are divided like the
great Sioux family on this continent into
several septs, each Ui its head man. and
number altogether -ne 16,000 matchlocks.
To the south of theiu is the territory of the
Kakba, a kindred tribe, with 10,000 fight
ing men, so tbat even if tbe distraught bey
concludes that prudence is tbe better part
of valor and keeps out of the fight, the in
vaders have no easy task before them. The
Kroumir and the Rakba inhabit a moun
tainous region full ol innumerable fast
nesses, and are said to be even more ex
perienced hill-fighters than the Afghans,
who led the British a costly dance for three
years. Italy is the Uussia of Tunis, and if
the Kroumir make a sturdy fight of it the
radicals in the Italian chamber, backed by
Pnnce Bismarck, whose policy it is to set
the two countries by the ears, will bo doubt
be strong enough to force King Humbert
to side with them against France. M.
Crespi, the radical leader, pointed out dur
ing the ministerial cruls the otner day lhat
the French occupation of Tunis would im
pel il Italian interest in northern Africa
and threaten Sicily: and it is belitved that
Premier Cairoli must yield to the popular
agitation for direct intervention. Mean
while, although M. SL Hilaire persists in
saying that the sole object of the Tunis ex
pedition is the chastisement of the insub
ordinate tribes, the Paris papers openly de
clare that it means annexation; and this
cloud, now no bigger than a man s band.
may burst any day and involve Europe in a
struggle for supremacy in the Mediterra
nean. The Calculation of Interest.
A well-known actuary, has devised a
very simple and casi'y remembered rule
for determining how long it will take a
given sum of money to double itself at a
certain rate of interest. Divide the rate
of interest into seventy-two and the quo
tient will be the number of years to within
a small fraction. Thus, at four per cent,
interest, the answer Is eighteen years.
which is only one-quarter of a year too
great, the exact time being about seventeen
and three quarter years, tor six percent..
it may be said to be exact This ia a good
rule lot editors and other large capitalists
tn remember.
Urate? Wtaea,
As France has kicked up a row about
American bog meat, which extended even
to ringing bells through the villages warn
ing tbe citizens, it is entirely fair to warn
the American people against tbe drugged
wines of France. The ParUian, a paper
printed in English, in Pans, gives a branch
of tbe history of this manufacture of wines
sold fraudulently under the names of the
choicest brands of French wines:
The wine crop of 187a was about 25,000,
000 or 30,000,000 of hectolitres below the
average of the last ten years. The annual
consumption in France is from 40,000,000
to 45, 000, 0U) bevtoUtres. Everybody ex
pected a rise in the price of wine, and some
conscientious dealers laid in a stock from
at road. The rise in prrice, however, never
came, and the markets remained well sup.
plied. The reason was that the natural
deficit was compensated for by artificial
means. Wine was manufactured out of
dry grapes. All the raisins to be found in
Eastern ports were bought up, and wine
manufactories sprang up all over the
country. Around Paris alone there are
seven steam-power wine manufactories.
The cost of a cask of raisin wine is about
fifty francs, and it was sold at 100 francs,
thus giving a profit of 100 per cent. But
the competition has now become such that
the price of raisins has risen from 12 francs
to 75 francs the 100 kilograms. The con
sequence is lhat raisins have been aban
doned, and wine is now manufactured out
of glucose, a sugary matter obtained from
the potato, out of the residue of molasses,
out of rotten apples, dried prunes, dates,
figs, and all kinds of refuse fruit, and even
out of beet-root. These abominable liquids
are colored artificially and mixed more or
less with Spanish wines or white wine.
The adulteration and manufacture of wine
has attained such vast proportiors that the
principal dealers who had taken measures
to supply the market loyally with harvest
wine from foreign countries have takes
steps to put a stop to this gigantic fraud.
lbe imposture has reached such a pitch
lhat not one-third of the wine now drank
in PaTis is real grape wine.
The revelation of the manufacture of
French brandy are no less convincing of
the wholesale character of the frauds.
French brandy of this day is described as
an inferior spirit distilled from sugar, pota
toes, Indian corn, and whisky distilled
from barley; and this is the stuff imposed
upon the people of this country. It would
be a National blessing if there were an au
thoritative analysis made of the various
so-called French wines and brandies fraud
ulently pushed off upon the American
ieople by the wine manufacturers of
France. The drugged and poisonous stuff
is, in addition to being a commercial fraud,
also most deleterious to health and life, and
its importation should be discontinued.
No pure wines or brandies are now ex
ported from France.
A Koyal rriara.
Tbe new Czar, Alexander 11L resides
at the castle of Gatschina, thirty miles
from the capitaL Before lbe sourt re
moved thither, several hundred artisans, of
the Precobrajinsky regiment, were sent to
make tbe necessary alterations at midnight.
They assembled in a church and were
sworn to silence, death or Siberia being
the penalty of infraction of the oath. Ten
roubles were the price of each man's
silence. Tbe alterations were completed
in forty-eight hours. Yodki soon locsened
the tonguis of the workmen, and the fol
lowing ia a description of the precautions
against assassination made in the palace of
the czar. A subterranean passage leads
from the czar's room to the stables where
a number of horses are kept saddled and
bridled day and night. Sentinels are
posted at intervals of twenty yards all
around the budding. Tbe imperial bed.
room has two windows protected at night
by massive iron shutters which can only be
reached from the outside by passing
through three spacious ante-chambers, in
which are posted 80 Cossacks armed to the
teeth. They are allowed to speak and
move about in two outer rooms but in the
hail adjoining the czar's bed-room perfect
silence is maintained all night. The gen
eral on duty for the day sits in an easy
chair, his Cossacks sitting on a divan which
runs around the whole room. At the
general's right hand is a knob of an electric
apparatus which rings a bell in every guard
house wilhio the palace grounds, nben
the emperor is about to retire before shut
ting the door, he removes the outer handle
so no entrance can ba effected until be
himself personally opeas the door from
inside. Unlike his father he cannot endure
an armed soldier in his bed chamber.
A Japanese Laborer's Conns;.
Half a mile up the valley, writes a cor
respondent from Japan, I passed a cottage
standing near the pathway. Tbe little
garden in front was a mass r.f flowers,
among which was a huge plant of the ole
ander in full bloom and a perfect hedge of
the big jessamine, which scented the whole
atmosphere. Cucumbers were growing
over the side path and hedge, and a great
vegetable marrow plant had run all over
one end of the roof of the cottage. A few
tea shrubs were in full bloom in tbe gar
den. This useful species of camellia is
both pleasant to the eye and to the taste.
A pair of litt'e bantams pecked about the
garden, and one of the tailless cats peculiar
to this country basked ba tbe sun. A pretty
girl worked away at her loom under the
shade of the broad veranda; a cloth round
her waist was ber sole attire, and was
doubtless enough, ft r the day by this time
had become very warm, although the ther
urometer stood only at about seventy-eight
degrees. The elderly lady of this comfort
able little home was busy among her pots
and pans. Two or three smaller bail as
were playing with a kitten, and a baby
strapped on it tiny sister's back was en
joying itself in profound slumbet) notwith
standing the perpetual motion of its nurse.
I could not help contrasting this comfort
able, happy-looking, laborer borne by
no means an exceptional one with many
of our own squalid cottages belonging to
the same class of people.
way Can la Inula.
A Ca'cutta correspo.ideut says : ' I ex
amined the railway carriage in which I
was to journey 1790 miles to Bombay.
These cars are built with double roofs, the
outer edges turned down over the sides in
such a manner as to keep the fierce rays of
the sun from the windows of blue, red and
green glass. They are much shorter than
ordinary American cars, and a trills longer
than the English carnages. Ihere are
four doors to each carriage, opening within.
entrance and egress being from the sides.
They divided into two compartments.
one for males, the other for females. There
are five seat in each compartment, which
can be speedily converted into couches to
accommodate only five, persons. Un each
side of every compartment is a revolving
lattice which is kept constantly wettedby
a reservoir of water on the top ot the car
riage. A revolving lattice is in the form of
a spokeless wheel, and is constructed like
those used in a'l bungalow door and win
dows, of fibrous particle of bamboo, cocoa
nut and rice straw. When thoroughly
wetted, the hot air passing through becomes
cool and delicious.'
Robert Bruce suc:eeod t tha
throne of Scotland In the year 13UC.
The silver 3-cent pieces were flrt
coined in 1351.
Our dime or lO-ent piece w as first
coined In tbe year 1796.
The first tire engins drawn by
horse was used in Cincinnati.
Governor Plaisted, of M line, ha
quit the newspaper business.
In Alaska the ruling price for a
good wile is $15 in trade.
Ex-Governor Antell. of New
Mexico has a larai near Morristown,
N. J.
Tbe famous destructive earthquake
which occured i Lisbon was in tbe
year 1472.
Brad street's estimates the fo'al
yield of the cotton crop of 1SS1 at
6.2S3.403 bales.
The gold coinage at the Philadel
phia mint amounted to over $1,250,000
in March, 1S81.
A granite monument U to be erec
ted on the spot in Mexico where Maxi
milian was shot.
Between 300 and 4C0 HinJoo fami
lies in Belasore, India, have recently
abjured heathenism.
No more five cent nickel will b?
coined at present, the country bj.vin
absorbed all it will bear.
A French engineer propose the
construction or a railway viaduct
across the English Channel.
Miss Clara Louise Kellog baj
made a contract to sing twenty utghts
in Paris, and receive 1-',0jJ.
In London there are said to be li0.
000 householders of Scotch blocd, or a
Scotch population or 400,IA)0.
New York light 4U mile of
street, two and a hall miles of pier
and sixty-one acres of parks.
A bra oi Joh;ison, a survivor of the
war of 1312, died iu Wayne county re
cently at the age of 103 years.
The beautiful city of Florence,
Italy, was foundei about a century
before Christ's time ou earth.
Ireland was first called tbe Euier
aid Isle by Dr. W. Drnnnan, in nij
poem entitled "Erin" (1751-1SJ0).
The Ceylon Observer says that ia
the island 35,000 acres are planted i,(
etnehoua aud lu.OUO acres iu tea.
Plato was born April 5, 420 B. C,
and died peaceiully anions InenJi st
a weading feast April 5, 3 is B. C.
The conscience money seut to tbe
chancellor of tbe Eaglish exchequer
last year amounted to oyer $3J,0W.
Thirty-three thousand buffalohiJe
were sold ac Miles city. Moutai.a.
alone, during the past tail and w iuter.
The State or Ohio has m it Capi
tol 105 fl tgs, 137 banners, and U5 mark
ers, all prized rtlics to the Luiou sold
iers, An order has been Issued declar
ing postal card uuniai.able with any
thing but the direction on tbe ad lres
side.
Some freight from Boston reacliel
Madison, Wis , alter being lorty-jsvea.
days on the road owinjj to snow block
ade. Egbert was the first King of ail
England, and William the Conqueror
was the first Norman King ol England-
The crowns of England aud Scot
land were united In 1GJ3. Tue uuiou
of Great Britain aud Ireland w i ..t
until 151.
The California vintage for I-
estimated at over ten and a hall million
gallons, by the State Viticultoral Com
missioners.
The deposits In the savino-a h-r.t a
of Vermont have increased IW2.715 in
the past three months, and amount to
$10,2J2.407.
Colonel Thomas A. s,-ifr
bought, at a sale iu AortbiiniliriM..,i
county, Pennsylvania clock ma.le Dy
his uucle in 17'JO.
Ten million ofcatt! r ,,,.,.u
slaughtered in this country to sum.ly
the home demand lor meat, whu'ii u
valued at $4,00O,0UO.
The late Senator Oarnn tor4 ..i.,.
Is said to amount to $l,i,0Jo. All this
is in ii. e insurance except $12 ow
which is in real estate.
A bov fell over th nra....;
Kochester into tbe (Jdn mr..r
clear drop or 120 feet, ai d wa takeu
out of the water unhurt.
The number of burfiai lea ir r
don has lucrea-teJ 2(i per ceuf. siuce
ISO'J while it has decrease 1 3a per cent
in the rest ot EuglaaJ.
Thirty-four thousand
tobacco were raised on twentv ,r..
Senator Cameron's farm lu Pei.nii i.
rania. It sold for 5.ux. '
The silk industries in the Uain-.i
States last year gave employment to
34 440 operatives, who were pai l an
aggregate of $9,107,S35 in wages.
The school population at in
United States i J4.5LHJ.IS3. Of tnis
number 9,373,193 were enrolled in is;.
mere were in tnat year 271,111 te-ieu
era.
The Baldwin locomotive works, in
Philadelphia, P., have just received
an order from Mexico for two htm. Ire I
locomotives. Tuey will cost l 50 -
000.
In tbe year 1000 February will
have but tweuty-euut days, although
a leap year. This phenomenon occurs
once only in 2u0 years, and always in
tbe odd year.
Roughly commuted, about 100.000 -
009 or the world's inhabitant.; soeak
English; about 60,00o,U0U German:
about 50,000,000 French, and about.
45,000,000 Spanish.
An international convention ot
Hebrews from all portions ot tbe world
will be held in Paris, September l.'ftu,
under the auspices ol tbe Alliance
Israelite L'ulverselle.
The Princs ol IVaples, Crown
I'rinci of Italy, is so sick and puny
that it is feared he will never ascend
the throne of bis father. His l ither
aud mother were double first cousins.
Liverpool reports the arriyai of
16,7i0 head of American cattle from
New York, Boston, and Baltimore
during the past three months. The
number lost on the passage was 1,115
head.
Millions of bushels of wheat are
lying unthrashed and in good condition
in the Northwest, so tbat even in caso
ol a partial failure of tbe crop this sea
son there will be no special scarcity 6i
the staple.
The Iron and steel industries of
the United States are 1.CC5 in number,
with capital of $220,971,8S4. Penn
sylvania leads off with nearly half the
product or the country, Ohio taking
second rank.
The contract price f r the Lee monu
ment in New Orleans is $2i,474. Tue
contractor has already been paid, aj
the work went on, $19,190, and there
ia 2,328 cash on band or subscribed,
leaving but 4,9nA to be raised.
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