M fat B. P. SCHWEIER, THE OOISTITTITIOI-THE UHOI AID TEE EKTOBOEXEIT OF THE LAVS. Editor and Proprietor. VOL. XXXY. MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., WEDNESDAY. JUNE 8, 1881. NO. 23. aaww i m m m swsbv . i . i av sbbv mm m, sash, ss. - . ... - V A DAT OF PROSES. Look forth, beloved, from thy mansion high. By soft am fanned. And see tbe summer with its bluest sky Snrpri-s the land ! Bee bow the bare hills baik In purple bliss Along tl e smith ; On the brown death of winter falls a kiss From summer's mouth ! From p nee that ware a song the vanished trees Their phantom bowers A murmur comes, as sought the ghosts of bees The ghosts of flowers. Though yet no blood may fill the willow rind No grass-blade start, . A drram of Uossoms fills the yearning mind. Of love my heart Look forth, beloved, through the tender air. And let thine eyes The vielete be it finds not anywhere And scentless dies, " Look ! and thy trembling Jocks of plenteous gold The day shall see And search no more where first on jonir wold The cowslips be. Look end the wandering eummer uot forlorn Shall turn aside. Content to leare her million flowers unborn. Her song untried. Drowsy with life and not with sleep or death I dream of thee. Breathe forth thy being in one answering breath, And corns to me '. Come forth, beloted ! Love's exultant sign Is in the sky. And let me lay my panting heart to thine And die! Mrs. McWllllatns' Fright. Well, sir continued Mr. McWilliama, for this was not the beginning of his talk the fear of lightning is one of the most dis tressing infirmities a human being can be afflicted with. It is mostly confined to women; but now and then you will find it in a little dog, and sometimes in a man. It it a particularly distressing infirmity, for the reason that it takes the sand out of a person to an extent which no other fear can, and it can't be reasoned with, and neither can it be shamed out of a person. A woman who could face the very devil him self or a mouse loses her grip and goes ail to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. Her fright is something pitiful to see. Well, as 1 was telling you, I woke up, with that smothered and unlocatablecry of "Mortimer ! Mortimer I" wailing in my ears, and as soon as I could scrape my faculties together I reached over in the dark, and then Baid : "Evangeline, la that you calli"gt What is the matter i Where are you ?" "Shut up in the boot-closet. You ought to be ashamed to lie there and sleep S3, and such an awful storm going on '.' "Why. how can one he ashamed when he is asleep I It is unreasonable; a man can't be asuanied when he is asleep, Evan geline. You never try, Mortimer you know very well you never try." i caught the sound of muffled sobs. That sound smote dead the sharp speech that was on my lips, and 1 changed it to "I'm sorry, dear I'm truly sorry. I never meant to act so. Come back and "Mortimer !" "Heavens! what is the matter, my ovel" "Do you mean to say that you are lu that bed yet ?" "Why, of course." "Come out of it instantly. I should think you would take some little care of your life, for my sake and the children's, if you will not for your own." 'But, mv love " "Don't "talk to me, Mortimer. You know there is no place so dangerous as a bed, in such a thunder-storm as this all the books say that; yet, there you will lie and deliberately throw away your lite for goodness knows what, utiles for the sake of arguing, and arguing, and", " "But, contound it, Evangeline, I'm not in bed now. I'm " Sentence interrupted by a sudden glare of lightning, followed by a terrified little scream from Mrs. McWilliama, and a tre mendous blast of thunder. -There! You see the result f Oh, Mortimer, bow can you be so profligate as to swear at such a time as this !" "I didn't swear. And that wasn't a re sult of it anyhow. It would have come, lust the same, if I hadn't said a word, and you know, Evangeilue at least you ought to know that when the atmosphere is charged with electricity " "Oh. yes, now argue it, and argue it, and argue it ! I don't see how you can act so, when you know there is not a lightning rod on the place, and your poor wife and children are absolutely at the mercy of Irovidence. What are you doing ? Light ing a match at such a time as this ! Are you stark mad f "Hang it, woman, w here's the harm i The place is as dark as the inside of an in fidel; and " "Put it out ! put it out instantly I Are you determined to sacrifice us all? You know there's nothing attracts lightning like a light. Air crath! boom boloomboomboum! Oh, just hear It ! Now you see what you've done !' "No, I don't see what I've done. A match may attract lightninftfor all I know, but it don't cause lightning 111 go odds cnthat. Audit didn't attract worth a cent this time; for if that shot was leveled at my match it was blessed poor markman ship about an average of none out of a possible million, I should say. Why, at DollymouDt, such niarknianship as that" "For shame, Mortimer I Here we are standing in the very presence of death, and yet in so solemn a menient you are capable of using such language as that. If you have no desire to Mortimer 1" "Well." - , "Did you say your prayers to-night ? II meant to, but I got to trying to cipher out now much twelve times thirteen is, and Fzt! boomberoom boom! bum ble umble bang Smasii ! "Oh, we are lost, beyond all help! How could you neglect such a thing at such a time as this?" "But it wasn't such a time as this. There wasnt a cloud in the sky. How could I know there was going to be all this rumpus and powwew about a little tlip like that ? And I don't think it's just fair for you to make so much out of it any way, seeing it happens so seldom; I haven't missed before since I brought on that earthquake, four years ago." "Mortimer! How you talk! Have you forgotten the yellow fever t" . "My dear, you are always throwing up this yellow fever to me, and I think it is perfectly unreasonable. You can't even send a telegraphic message as far as Mem phis without relays, so how is a little de votional slip of time going to carry bo far. I'll ManH llio mrthminlrn liMSUge it WS8 in the neighborhood; out i u ue uaugcu ... ... i - A It I'm going to be responsible for every blamed Fzt! boom teroorj-boom I boom! Oh, dear, dear, dear ! I know it struck something. Mortimer. We never shall see the light of another day : and if it will do you any good to remember, when we are gone, that your dreadful language Morti- mow f "Well! What now I" "Your voice sounds as if Mortimer, are you actually standing in front of that open fireplace?" "That is the very crime 2 am commit- ung." "Get away from it this moment. You do seem determined to bring destruction on us all. Don" you know that there is no better conductor for lightning than an open ciumney I iSow where have you got to! "I'm here by the window." "Oh, for pity's sake, have you lost your mind I Clear out from here this moment. The very children in arms know that it is fatal to stand near a window in a thunder storm. Dear, dear, I know I shall never see the light of another day. Mortimer ! "Yes." "What ii that rustling ? "It's me "What are yon doing ?" "Trying to find the upper end of my pantaloous. ' "Quick ! throw them things away ! I do believe yon would deliberately put on those clothes at such a time as tbu; yet you know woolen stuffs attract ligttning. Oh, dear, dear, it isn't sufficient that one's lite must be in peril from natural causes. but you must do everything you can pos sibly thick of to augment the diwger. Oh, don't sing ! What can you be '.hinking off'' "Now, Where's the harm In it." "Mortimer, if I have to'.d you ouce I have told you a hundred times, that sing ing causes vibrations in the atmosphere which interrupt the flow of the electric fluid, and hat on earth are you open ing that door for I "Goodness gracious, woman, is there any barm in tliat i "Harm? Ther'es death in it. Anybody that has given this subject any attention knows that to create a draught is to invite the lightning. You haven't half shut it; shut it tight and do hurry, or we are all destroyed. Oh, it is an awful tl ing to be shut up with a lunatic at such a time as this. ' Mortimer, what are you doing 7 "Nothing. Just turning on the water. This room is smothering hot and close. want to bat be my face and hands." ' "You have certainly parted with the remnant of your mind ! Where lightning strikes substance once, it strikes water fifty times. Do turn it off. Oh, dear, I am sure that nothing in this world can save us. It does seem to me that .Mortimer what was that?" 'It was a do it was a picture. Knocked it down.' "Then you are close to the wall ! I never heaid of such imprudence ! Don't you know that there is no better conduc tor of lightning than a wall I Come away from there ! And you came as near as any thing to swearing, too. Oh, how can you be so desperately wicked, and your family in such peril I Mortimer, did you order a feather bed, as I asked you to do I" "No. Forgot it." "Forgot it ! It may cost you your life. If you had a feather bed, now, and could spread it in the middle of the room and lie on it, you would be perfectly safe. Come in here come quick, before you have a chance to com mitt any more frantic indis cretions.' I tried, but the little closet would not hold us both with the door shut, unless we could be content to smother. I gasped awhile, then forced my way out. My wife called out "Mortimer, something must be done for your preservation. Give me that German book that is on the end ol the manue piece and a candle; but don't light it; give me a match; I will light it in here. That book has some directions in it." I got the book at the cost of of a vase and some other brittle things; and the madax shut herself up with her candle. I had a mo ment's peace; then she called out "Mortimer, what was that ? "Nothing but the cat." "The cat ! Oh, destruction ! Catch her, and shqt her up in the wash stand. Do be qu ick, love; cats are full of electricity. I just know my hair will turn white with this night s awiul perils." I beard the niutned sobbings again, JJut for that 1 should not have moved hand or foot in such a wild enterprise in the dark. However, I went at my task over chairs and against all sorts of obstructions; all of them hard ones, too, and most of them with sharp edges and at last I gut kitty cooped up in the commode, at an ex pense of over four hundred dollars in broken furniture and shins. Then these mufti d words came from the closet : "It says the safest thing is to stand on a chair in '.be middle of the room, Mortimer; and the legs of the chair must be insulated with non-conductors. That is, you must set the legs of the chair in glass tumblers, f Fzt! - bourn! bang ! swath ! Oh ! hear that, JJO hurry, Jiommer, neiore you aie struck." I managed to find and secure the tum bler.!. I got the last four broke ail the rest. I insulated the chair-legs, and called for furthcrinstructions. "Mortmur," it says, "Wahrend eines. Gewitters entferne man Metalle, wie x B , Hinge, Uhren, Schlu&el, etc., von sich und balte sich aucn nich an solcben Stellen auf, woviele Metalle bei einder liegen, order mt andern Koerpere verbunden siud. wie an Herdeen, Ofen,ti8engittern n. dgL What does that mean, Mortimer t Does it mean that you must keep metals about you, or keeo then away from you?" "Well, 1 Laidiy know. It appears to be a little mixed. All German advice is more or less mixed. However, I think that sentence is mostly in the native case, with a gentle genitive and accusative sifted in, here and there, lor luck, so I reckon it means that vou must keep some metals about you." "Yes: that must be it. It stands to rea son that it is. They are in the nature of lightning rods, you know. Put on your fireman's helmet, Mortimer; that is Biostly metal." 1 got it and put it on a very heavy and clumsy and uncomfortable thing on a hot night in a close room. Even my night dress seemed to be more clothing than I strictly Beeded. 'Mortimer,l thins your miu(ucuuui iu be protected. Won't you buckle on your militia sabre, please I" I complied. nv. Mortimer, you ought to have some way to protect your feet. Do, please, put on your spurs. " I did it in silence and kept my tem per as well as I could. "Mortimer, it says, 'Das Ge witter .lauten ist aehr gefahalicb, weil die Glftckl selbst, sowie der dorch das Lauten veraulasste Luftzug und die Uohe des murines ucn n,t .iTi-hAii konntcn." Mortimer, does that mean that it is dangerous not to ring the cuorcn Deus uurmg ,u-. -. "Yes; it seems to me that if that is the past participle of the nominative case singular, and I reckon it is. Yes; I think it means that oa account of the height of the church tower and the absence of -Luftzug, it would lie very dangerous (c-Ar grfahrlich) not to ring the bells in tune of a storm; and, moreover, don t you see, the very wording " "Never niiud that, Mortimer; don't waste the precious time in talk. Get the large dinner belt it is right there in the hall. (juick,Mortimer, dear; we are almost safe. Oh, dear, I do believe we are going to be saved at last: Our little summer establishment stands on top of a high range of hills, over looking a valley. Several farm houses are in our neighborhood, the nearest some three or four hundred yards away. When 1, mounted on a chair, had been clanging that dreadful bell a matter of seven or eight minutes, our shutters were suddenly torn open from without and a brilliant bull's eye lantern was thrust in at the window, followed by a hoarse in quiry: " What in the nation is the matter here!' The windows were full of men's heads, and the heads were full of eyes that stared wildly at my night dress and my warlike accoutrements. 1 dropped the bell, skipped down from the chair in confusion, and said "There is nothing the matter friends only a little discomfort oa account of the thunderstorm. I was trying to keep oC the lightning. "Thunder storm I Lightning t Why, Mr. Mc Williams, have you lost your mind! it is a beautiful starlight night; there has I en no storm. I looked out, and was so astonished could not speak for awhile. Then I said "1 do not not understand this. We dis tinctly saw the glow and the flashes through the curtains and shutters, and he.rd the thunder." One after another those people lay down on the ground to laugh, and two of them died. One of the survivors remarked : Pity you dindn't think to open your blinds and look over to the top of the high hill yonder. What you heard was a cannon; what you saw was the flash. You see, the telegraph brought some news, just at mid night : Jones' nomination and that's what's the metter!" lea, Mr. Twain, as 1 was saying in the beginning (said Mr. Mc Williams), the rules for preserving people against light ning are so excellent and so innumerable that the most incomp rebenslble thing in the world to me is how anybody manages to get struck. So saying he gathered up his satchel and umbiella, and departed; for the train had reached his town. Singing Birds. The steamers are bringing to this coun try large importations of singing birds, par. tieularl) the German ones, and the demand is equal to the supply. The bull-finch is the popular song-bird, and strangely enough having no natural song, must receive musi cal training. They will readily catch an air, and if educated in Germany are given to the sentimental music of Abt and Schu bert; but an American bird will pipe Pin afore and Polly Perkins. The ease which thev are trained makes them a favorite bird with ladies, who can give to them any fav orite song. Their song, moreover, is less shrill than that of the canary. 1 he canary is at present most valued for its color. The most expensive colors are the oiange melt ing into lemon and gray, with a blending of tints otherwise unapproachable. Such birds are valued as high as twenty-five dollars. A beautiful bird is the golden finch mule half canary, half goldfinch whose orange body has the reddteh head of the goldfinch. Another desirable hybrid is the goldfinch bullfinch. Among other birds that having phasing short songs are the dainty, white-capped nuns, one of the loveliest birds of the aviary, and the tiny strawberry finches. The best talkers among parrots are the gray parrots. At abirj store in Sixth a v.. New York, is one called Ned with decided conversational powers. One of his dialogues is, "Will you dance this evi n;ng!" "Not this evening" "Good evening." More than two hundred of these birds have just arrived here from Africa, with educations yet to be finished in Eng lish. An even better talker, it is said, is the Indian minor. These birds have won derful conversational ability beside whist ling and singing songs. Here, also, is a beautiful magpie and a starling, both of which mav be classed among the compan ionable birds. The white blackbird is here matched by a white robin, a curiosity of his kind, and a feathered Albino, with pink eyes. Among other curious birds is the crossbill, concerning which there is a le gend that his bill was twisted in endeavor to pull out the nails from the cross. Lead better's cockatoo, who. as he addresses you, raises his topknot like the feathers of a Zulu chief, and the rosellas, two beauti ful Australian birds with blue-gray breasts. A Mighty fcimanle. ioung men, what are you living fort Have you an object dear to you as life and without the attainment of which you feel that your life will have been a wide, shore less waste of shadow peopled by the spectres of dead ambitions! You can take your choice in the great battle of life. whether you will bristle up and win a deathless name and owe almost everybody. or be satisfied with scabs and mediocrity. Many of those who now stand at the head of the nation as statesmen and logicians were once unknown, unhonored and unsung. Now they saw the air in the halls of Con gress, and their names are plastered on the temple of fame. l ou can win some laurels, too, if you will biace up and secure them when they are ripe. Daniel Webster, and President Garfield and Dr. Tanner, and George Eliot were all, at one tune, poor boys. Ibey had lo start at the foot of the ladder and toil upward. They struggled against pov erty and public opinion bravely on till they won a name in the annals of history, and secured to their loved ones palatial homes. with lightning rods and mortgages on them. So may you if you will make the effort. All these things are within your reach. Live temperately on $9 per month. That's the way we got our start. Burn the midnight oil if necessaiy. Get some true noble minded young lady of your acquaintance to assist you. Tell her of your troubks and she will tell you what to do. She will gladly advise you. Then you can marry ner, and she will advise you some more After that she will lay aside her work any time to advise you. You needn't be out of advice at all unless you want to. She, too, will tell you when you have made a mistake. She will come to you frankly and acknowledge that you have made a jackass of yourself. As she gets moro ac quainted with you she will be more can did with you, and in her unstudied, girlish way, she will point out your errors, and gradually convince you, with an old chair- leg and other arguments, that you were wrong, and your past life will come up be fore yon like a panorama, and you will tell her so. and she will let you up again. Life is indeed a mighty struggle. You have seen and admired the weeping willow tree the Salix Babylonicav upon which the captive Hebrews hunc their harp when they sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept when they remember ed Zion." It is a native of the Garden of Eden, and not of America, and I will tell you how it immigrated lo this country. More than 150 years ago a merchant lost his fortune. He went to Smyrna, seaside city in Asia Minor, to recover it, Alexander Pope, one of the great poets of England, was the merchant s warm mend, and svmbathized with him in his mis fortunes. Soon after the merchant arrived in Smyrna he sent to Pope, as a present, box of dried figs. At that time the poet had built a beautiful nila at Twickenham, on the bank of the River Thames, and was adorning it with trees, shrubbery, and flowering plants. On opening the box of figs Pope dis covered in it a small twig of the tree. It was a stranger to him. As it came from the East, he planted the twig in the ground near the edge of the river, close by hi villa. The srjot accidentally chosen for the planting was favorable to its growth, for the twig was from the weeping willow tree possibly from the bank ol one of "the rivers of Babylon " which flourishes best along the borders of water courses. This little twig grew vigorously, and In a few years it became a large tree, spread ing wide its branches, and drooping, grace ful sprays, and winning the inspiration of the poet's friend as well as strangers, it became the ancestor of all the weeping willows in England. There was a rebellion in the English American colonies in 1775. British troops were sent to Boston to put down the in surrection. Their leaders expected to end it in a few weeks after their arrival. Some young officers brought fishing-tackle with them to enable them to enjoy sport after the brief war. Others came to settle on the confiscated lands of the rebels." Among the latter iwas a young officer on the staff of Gen. Howe. He brought with him, wrapped in oiled filk, a twig, from Pope s weeping-willow at Twickenham, which he intended to plant on some stream watering bis American estate. Washington commanded an army before Boston which kept the British imprisoned in that city a long time against their wilL On his staff was his stepson, John Parke Custis, who frequently went to the British headquarters, under the protection of flag, with dispatches for Gen. Howe. He became acquainted with the young officer who bad the willow twig, andlhey became friends. Instead of "crushing the rebellion in weeks," the British army at Boston, at the end of an imprisonment of nine months, was glad to fly by sea, for life and liberty. to Halifax. Long before that flight the British subaltern, satisfied that he should never have an estate in Amenca to adorn, gave his carefully preserved willow twig to young Custis, who planted it at Abing don, his estate in Virginia, where it grew and flourished, and became the parent of all the weeping willows In the United States. Sometime after the war, Gen. Horatio Gates, of the Revolution, settled on the "Rose Hill Farm," on New lork Island, and at the entrance to a lane which led from a country road to his houre be planted a twig from the vigorous willow at Abing don, which he had brought with him. That country road is now Third avenue, and the lane is Twenty- second street Gates' mansion, built of wood, and two stories in hight, stood near the corner of Twenty-seventh street and Second avenue, where I saw it consumed by Ere in 1815. The tree which grew from the twig planted at the entrance to Gates' lane remained until comparatively a few years ago. It stood on the north-east corner of Third avenue and Twenty-second street. It was a direct descendant, in the third genera tion, of Pope's willow, planted at Twick enham about 1 1 22. Bow Look Mas May Uia It was Prof. Hufeland's opinion that the limit of possible human life might be set at 200 years. This is on the general principle that the life of a creature is eight times the years of its period of growth. That which is quickly formed quickly perishes, and the earlier complete develop ment is reached the sooner bodily decay ensues. More women reach old age than men, but more men attain remarkable longevity than women. Some animals grow to be very old. Honied animals live shorter lives tlian those without horns, fierce longer than timid, and amphibious longer than those which inhabit the air. The voracious pike exists, it is said, to an age of 150 years; the turtle is good for a hundred years or more; and among birds the golden eagle is known to have lived nearly 200 years, while the sly and somber crow reaches the venerable age of a century. Passing up in the scale of life to man and skipping the patriarchs, we find many recorded instances of longevity among the classic Greeks and Romans. Pliny notes that In the reign ol the Emperor Vespasian, in the year 76, there were 124 men living in the liinlted area between the Apennines and the Po of 100 yars and upward, three of whom were 140 and four over 135. Cicero s wife lived to the age of 103, and the Roman actress Luceja played in public as late as her 112th year. Coming down to more recent times the most notable authentic instance of great age is that of Henry Jenkins, of Yorkshire, Eng., who died in 16i0, ley years old. tie was a fisherman, and at the age of 100 easily swam across rapid rivers. Another historic case is that of Thomas Parr, of Shropshire, a day-laborer, who lived to the age of 152 years. When more than 120 be married his second wife, and till 130 be could swing the scythe and wield the flu! with the best of his fellow laborers. In his 15d year Parr went up to London to exhibit himself to the King. It proved an unlucky visit, for violating the abstemious habit of a century and a half the old man feasted so freely on the royal victuals that he soon died merely of a plethora. On examination his internal organs they proved to be in excellent condition, and there was no reason why be should not have lived much longer save for this unfortunate taste of royal hospitality. Prof. Hufeland's roll of centenarians includes many more remarka ble cases, among them that of Mittlestedt, a Prussian soldier, who served 67 years under both Fredericks, fighting many battles and enduring much hard campaign ing, and who after all this married successively three wives, the last when be was 110, only two years before his death Two friend meeting, the following; colloquy ensued: "Where have you been?" "To my tailor, and I bad bard work to make him accept a little money." "You astonkh me ! Why ? "Because he wanted more?" War is a spendthrift's purte like a thunder-cloud? Bacause it U contin ually llght'ning. "A Goahborwed Foul " And it came to pass recently, that as a wealthy and benevolent citizen of Noo Or leenx opened the door of his dwelling, in order that be might proceed, as he was wont, unto his place of business, he did be hold a poor tramp reclining upon the steps before the doot. And the tramp was exceedingly lean and H-favored. His raiment it was dirty, and bis eyes tbey did have in them the sad and far-away look of a half- starved dog. And the old gentleman hove nigh unto him and spake unto him, saying, "Look re what want ye here!" And the tramp lifted up his voice and said; "W ut thou give me to eat? Even thirteen days have flown by since feed hath pissed my lips." And the heart of the O. G. was moveor with compassion even unto the bursting of his suspenders. And he called unto his ma-d-servant and commanded her, saying: "Give thou unto this poor traveler food and dnnk, of which he standeth sore in need. Verily, I know how it is myself. See that thou lettcst him eat his fill, for it is written; "It is more blessed to give than to receive." But hark ye, sirrahl Verily, the wood pile lieth nigh and unto it the ax adjacent, and when thou bast partaken of thy nil, see to it that ye repay me. even unto the hewing of wood. What savest thou, fellow? Wilt thou do this thing?" Art thou of mind to work?" And the tramo lilted np his voice ana spake unto him with tears and said: "Yes, that will II Ye bet thy socks I will I Even as thou commandedest will I obey. I will tackle the festive wood and hew it even unto the blistering of my hands." And the old mtn went his way. And the tramp doubled the tracks of the maid-servant unto the dining hall and sate down and did eat of the food which she sat before him. And be ate heartily as though be was possessed of the stomach of Doctor Tauner him who fasted forty davs of old and afterwards brought a grievous famine upon the people. And when he had risen he did basely stow the spoons and forks in his pockets. And he wunk unto himself and said, 'These will fetch cash.' For he meditated not on the baseness of the act. And he wired off his chin and pulled down bis vest and betook himself unto the woodpile aforesaid. And when he concentrated his vision upon the wood, and had sceu that it was tough even unto hickory, his heart failed him, and he leaped the fence and did ex claim: "Blamed if I'll chop if." And he went his way and was seen no more in that place forever. Now when the even bad come, the wealthy and benevolent old gent returned home and hied him straightway unto the woodpile, that he might feast his eyes upon the wood which, in his simplicity, he be lieved the tramp had hewn. But when he had drawn nigh unto it. behold! it was as he nad left it on the morn untouched by the hand of man! And he marveled greatly as one who sees thing he can't exactly get the rights of. And when he had discovered bow that the tramp had played him false, even unto the pulling of the wool over his eyes, he tore his hair and beat bis breast and kicked himself in divers places; and gave himself up to sore lamentation, crying out at the top of his voice, 'I'll be biarsted if I'll ever be such a goshburned fool again." A -orcot'a Story. 'In a diary kept by an early colonist dur ing the years 1737 to 1746, and preserved by bis descendants, occur the outlines of a remarkable story whih may be of interest to our readers. The passions and temptations of men are the same in all ages, but the half-barbarous condition of the country in those early days, and the remoteness of nations from each other, gave to human tragedies a more sombre and dramatic background. Stripped of wordy description, the inci dents are briefly as follows : Two young men, members of wealthy mercantile families in London, immigrated to Pennsylvania about the year 1700, and went into bu&inev, one as a physician, the other as a merchant. In a year or two the former, Doctor Whiting (as we shall call him, though that was not his real name), was lietrothed to a beautiful young girl in Delaware. The marriage was set lor June in the coming year. In the meantime he resolved to return to London and look after the little patrimony which had fallen to his share, and after come difficulty he persuaded his friend Truefelt, the merchant, to accompany him. A voyage across the Atlantic was then a matter of months, not to be undertaken save for important cause, and we find it set down as proof of the frivolity of the two young men that, without any real ne cessity, Truefelt consented thus to endan ger, as it was thought, bis life. While in London, Dr. biting was led into dissipation. He drank heavily, and gambled away much of the money which he had received. Of this, Truefelt was cognizant. The men sailed for home together on the barkentine Judith. Vessels never ventured alone at that time across the mighty deep. There were storms and hurricanes to face, and worse than all, the pirates, who were said, truly or not, to infest the southern coast ; a coast peopled, according to popu lar belief, by cannibals. The barkentine. was one of a fleet of ships which left port at one time, and kept together for mutual protection. Dr. Whiting and his friend quarrelled during the greater part of the voyage. Truefelt used the knowledge he had ac quired of the doctor's misdeeds in London as a rod to control him. Finallr, in a tit of passion, he declared his intention of making known the whole matter to Whitiug's be trothed. I From that moment, as the physician afterwards declared, he held Trutfelt in dire hate and dread. "I felt that by some means I must be rid of him, else I was undone." Chance put the means in his way. The fleet anchored to take in water at an un known island. The passengers landed, and the two companions strolled np into the tropical forest in company. Truefelt, over- poweied by the heat, lay down and feu asleep, charging Whiting to summon him when it was timi to return to the vessel. "Then I thought within myself, 1 ran now be clear of this man, and to I left him sleeping there, and returned to the vessel, saying that be bad fallen into the sea from the rocks to the southward, and was drowned. They would have made search for his body, but the other vessels had set , and the captain was forced in great distress of mind, unwillingly to weigh anchor." We can imagine the flash of guilty jov and relief that, at fiist, filled Whiting's breast at thus being nd of his enemy. Then, as the ship sailed out into the ocean, he remembered that this man was his fnend, and that he was left there forever. There was no possibility that he could ever es cape. The island was a savage wilderness, out of the usual track af Teasels. It was UIUIIKI uimun tJ T " T rill "Then I was beset by a great terror and agony, be says. "1 ajso thought that saw a dark figure on the shore holding out his hands to the vessel. 1 would have asked the captain to return, but dared not, know ing that it- was impossible for him to do so. ' There is no record of Truefelt's condition after he awoke and found himself deserted on this rock in the midst of the sea. He sustained life, we ate told, by mearu of the fruit and roots which grew abundantly on the island. There are one or two notes only that the diary gives of Truefelt's ex perience during his solitary life, which lasted for nearly a year. "His great fear was that he should lose the power of speech, and he was used to practice himself therein, singing and talk ing, in different voices as it were, so that one might suppose, to hear him, that he had many companions." And again : "r inuinr a cal which had escaped, probably, from some ship,, he trained it and made it his constant com Dan ion. And be was wont to think over ihe many hundreds of his friends and acquain tances; their wit, their excellent parts. their virtues, and the affection they bore him, and to reproach himself in that he had not been more grateful, saying, Out of the full world of living things, there is left to me only the hairy linibs and dumb tongue of t us poor little beast." Truefelt must have possessed a womanly. gentle nature. He does not appear to have cherished any bitterness or plan of revenge against Whiting ; his sole feeling seemed to be intense self-pity. Dr. Whiting, returning home, married. and lived in luxury, iiut his health failed He grew to be the mere skeleton of his for mer self. He gave up his connection with the church, neglected his patients, and be came a prey to an intractable gloom. At last be announced to his wile that he mu4t make a sea-voytge; that he was about to die, and God had given him a work to do before death. As soon as (he consented to this (she thinking him to be insane), he partially regained his former energy, and vigorously set on foot preparations for his voyage. Now here is the su ange part of the story, The night before the ship was to sail, Dr. W biting, returning home, was compelled to pass through a lonely part of the town, where the streets abutted oa the forest. W ithin the borders of the wood be saw a man, apparently unarmed, beset by two rutnana. Highwaymen weie common in those days in the larger colonial towns. Dr. Whiting at once attacked the thieves, and laid about him with a sword-cane which he carried. The ruffians fled, but not before they had slabbed him through the breaat. As he fell, the traveler whom he had defended caught him and supported him until the tardy watch came. The stranger was Truefelt ! Dr. Whiting, insensible from loss of blood, did not rec ognize him. Truefelt's emotions would be a strange study as he stood there holding in his arms the man who had tried to mur der kirn, and now had saved his life. He did not make himself known until he had helped the watch to carry Whiting to the stoop of his own house. Then he said, "You have risked your life to save mine. You know what you owed me. I think we can go scot-free of each other." And ending this singular homily with a laugh, withdrew. Truefelt, it appears, had been rescued by some vessel, and brought to a Northern port, from which he had found his way home. Whiting gave up his voyage. He recovered his health and with it his spirits. After a year or two, the men renewed their old intin:acy, but thty were known as more sober, honest, God fearing citizens than they had been formerly. 'Ihe truth of the strange story was never revealed until bo'.h were dead. Be Nover Squared. In the years agone, when De Witt, Clin ton Co., Michigan, was the county seat and a right smart village in the woods, or on Ihe way to be, the editor of its weekly paper had some subsribers who had paid in wood, others in produce, others in fur, and others yet who didn't pr.y at all. One of these latter classes was named Lemon, but to squeeze anything out of him was next to impossible. He had excuses at his tongue's end for not paying, and the longer the debt stood the more reasonable hU excuses seemed to his creditors. One day the editor met him on the street, and after a general greeting began on him with: "Mr. Lemon, you have been owing me for two years." "Yes, but I had bad luck in my sugar bush." "But you might have brought wood." "So I should, but I broke two new axes aud couldn't buy another." "I offered to take it out in turnips and corn." "I know, but the crows ate my corn up and the Injuns stole all my turnips." "WelLhow are you gelling along now t" asked the editor. "First-rate." "Have you a good run of sugar!" a es. "Corn doing well ?" "Splendid." "Wheat all right t" "Yes, all right." "Well, if corn, wheat, potatoes and tur nips turn out good, and you keep well.and you have no losses, will you psy jne in the fall ?" The farmer scratched his head aud took a full minute to think over it before be re plied: " That's an honest debt and orter be paid, but I won't positively agree to rquare up this fall uutil 1 know what sort of a corn season we are to have !'" It is needless to say that he never squar ed. Trees and fteaita. Everybody knows that trees take the carbonic acid thrown out in the breath of men and animals, separate it into component parts, carbon and oxygeu give back the latter to be used over again, and work up the former into wood and fruits. It is also coming to be generally under stood that forest trees do important service in promoting rainfalls, and in helping to re tain the surface water for springs, streams and general use. It is also known that certain species planted in malarial localities, help to ren der the latter healthy by somehow using up the deadly miasma. It would now appear that trees growing near drains carry of the sewerage water. A gentleman, whose cess-drain was con structed just like his neighbor's and in the same kind of soil, had found it unneces sary to clean it out, while the other had to be cleaned out frequently. An examination showed that three large trees, whose roots had penetrated into the vicinity of his second, or waste cess-pool, were clearly channel through which the waste all escaped. Whether it was changed Into plant-food, as is likely, or was exhaled through the leaves, in either case it was disposed of with equal safety. Ihe rentals Mind. The other day old Mr. Pungleuo, of Nob Hill, was commenting on the railroad velocity with which young ladies jabber to each other when they meet, without either in the least understanding or "replying to what me ouer says. "it s just a mean iaiscnood rotten up by you good-for-nothing men!" said the youngest Pungleup girl, indignantly. "All right," said herfather.bemgnantly; we 11 try an experiment. 1 see your mend. Miss Gluclserson, coming up the street. jow,l 11 wager that new walking. suit you want so mucn that you can say Roast turkey and cranberry-sauce, in re sponse to the half-dozen remarks she makes without her noticing the fact." "I never heard anything so perfectly aueurd," replie-l Miss f ; however. might as well have that suit it's just too lovely for acything so I'll just do it to teach you a lesson." "Mind, now," aid her father, as the front door bell rang, "fair play. Vou musnt change your expression in the least, and yon must repeat the sentence in your usual voice and manner that is to say, in a single breath all run together, as it were. Just then Miss Gluckerson was shown into the parlor, and through the library door old if beard Miss li exclaim. without even the smallest comma in the whole remark: "O ! you lazy thing been here a perfect age don t look on this hat perfect right going to have dowers set back and bow .changed why weren't you at the matinee I Harry was there." Roast turkey and cranberry sauce. rapiuiy inserted Miss 1 , accompanying the words with that peculiar preliminary aud concluding gurgle with wmch all women, for some occult reason, invariably adorn their conversation when desirous of being agreeable. Going to Mrs. Bladger's party !" con tinued Miss Gluckerron, with the serene rattle of a brook over the pebbles. "Molly Smith is going tbey tell me she paints pa's pioiuided me a phaeton in the spring saw ttat hateful Mrs. Guppery on the street buff overskirt and green icchiug just lancy. "Roast turkey and cranberry ' "O, George Skidmore's mother's dead. Ouch ! got a flea in my sleeve little beast just eating me up alive bury her next Sun day did you get that edging at Gimns f "Roast turkey and cran ' "The girls at Clark's are going to gradu ate next Thursday Jennie Gigglea is going to be square cut with inside illusion and white kid boots can t you come around for dinner to-morrow and stay all " Koast turkey and 'Night and show Milly your new bas que? That man with a light overcoat stared at me yesterday Jim O Neil is go ing East this candy is frightfully stale." Roast turkey ' "M thinks Mrs. urown ain't proper those ferns are just too lovely look at these cuff: clean this morning are my crimps coming out yours ain t Ldlie Skippen says you met Charlie Boggs the other night and said something nice about me tell me quick I" Roast turk " wny, now perfectly absurd vou are. Linda, interrupted the visitor, angrily. lou don t listen to a word 1 say; 1 was asking about Charles Boggs, not loast tur key. George Shelly thinks you're awful nice. JNow tell me what be did say. Good gracious! what are you hugging me fori "And, lilda, thoughtfully remarked Miss Pungleup, after the matter had been explained, and her father admitted that he had lost by a scratch, "I believe in my heart tliat if you hadn't thought about Charlie just then I shouldn't have ad any new suit this winter." How ! Whew to Cut lowers. The proper stage at which to cut flowers for decoration is the most important part of the subject of flower supply next to the production. Never cut any flowers until fully developed. Flowers which open when cut, as the gladiolus, may be exceptions to this rule, but trusses of pelargoniums and bouvardiaa should nut be cut until fully developed. .Nor is this alL Flowers are allowed to remain on the plants as long as they will continue in good condition. To gather a bloom which would kst for a week or two, and pass over a bloom which would be useless in a few days, is disadvantageous in two ways. In the first place, the young bloom is sacrificed at a time when it is not needed, and the older bloom is entirely wasted. This system will in a sbcrt time change a sufficient quantity into scarcity. Another matter can only be settled by ex perience, and that is cutting moro flowers than are required at one time. It is also quite possible to use very many more flow ers in decorating vases than are necessary, to the detriment of the flowers, which in variably last longer when thinly arranged. Every flower ought to stand entirely clear cf its neighbor. This is effected by em ploying foliage freely, filling large glasses with foliage, and then inserting the flow ers. Water is always used, as being most cleanly and keeping the flowers in good condition for a longer period than any other medium. The harmonizing and contrasting of colors is also a question of some impor tance, but In this the varied tastes of em ployers have in a great degree to be stud ied. White flowers and the few yellow ones that may be used do wll with any color; dark blue or purple flowers are not suitable at this season; pink shades are best with white or yellow flowers. All flowers, ferns and foliage should be cut with the longest possible stems. I do not strip the leaves off flower stems and f ?rus, mote especially n a denhair terns; I also have a portion of the fronds inserted in the water. These last much longer for Various purposes if cut and placed for two days in water before using. In hot rooms the glasses require periodical filling. When the flowers are freshly arranged,lhe glasses should be washed before being refilled. Many flowers hut a l-ng time at this sea ton, such as cyclamens, pelargoniums, or chids and others; these should never be left longer than three or four days without having fresh water and being re-arranged. Wedding riw Lere. Among the superstitions about pins 19 that the bride in removing her bridid robe and chaplet at the completion of the mar riage ceremony must take especially care to throw away every pin worn on this eventful day. Evd fortune, it is afflrmed, will sooner or later inevitably overtake the bride who keeps even one pin used in the marriage toilet. Woe also to the brides maids if they retain any of them, as their chances of marriage will thereby be ma terially lessened, and anyhow they must give up all hope of being married before the following Whitsuntide. On the other band, in some part of England, a bride, on her return home from church, is often at once robbed of all the pins about her dress by her single friends present, from the belief that whosoever possesses one of them will be married in the course of a year. BRIEFS. Four British M. P.'s are 88 and upward. Melikeffhis accepted the Premi ership of Russia. Boston's area has increased from 773 to 23,661 aorta. The salary of the Emperor of Russia Is JlO.ft'O.OOO. Victor Hugo has a 3S0,0C0 inter est In a Brussels bank. Licusta have devoured the rice and corn crops of Bolivia. Fishes have been taught to come when called by their names. The Jews talk of erecting a narion al synagogue in Washington. A female solder will sudor ilanrh before she will forsake her eggs. Illinois report! an Increase! r age and a damage of 22 per cent. It costs the United States I30.0JO per annum lo print Its postage stamps. ine rope Monument Fund now- amounts to about Ave thousand dol lars. The lbhabitant4 of the rlnh fess more than 1,000 different reli-' ions. Sixty tons of s'eel are aunuallv consumed In the manufacture of sreel pens. The Kinsr or Portugal $23,000 out ot his fran.-Ution of Shake speare. The governor of New York hm Issued a proclamation forbidding 1 ir teries. The total number of lanr!ia0a m,.i dialect spoken in the world amount to 3,064. The lower housa of th Mi..i,;,n legislature de'vated a woman suflrao resolution. An elephant does not strain itj rull grow th until he is sixteen or eigo teea years old. A few Florida former wh.. l.o planted arrowroot uiakn ...i, ... $1,000 on an acre. J utlge Lauibert M.00d,0oo, Is said to be Chicago's weath.esc man. The largest oranirM v..r r.-..i i Florida is sUd to have measured five invbei in diameter. Missouri aud Kansas increase in acreazaul mu.-h M. .),... age thau was expected. Oyer 1.000 Driiitlncr nk.j i. ...... been shipped from Phiia.lelphK to r ranee since the Centennial. A 60,000 acre tract of lan.i ti. Northern Pacific has been kwn r f. colony from Belfast, Ireland. It is estimated that fhU voir'j r ernal Revenue receinu will pt.-,.i those of last year by $10,000,01)0. According to the ties, this country consumes, annuallv about 324.000.0 W peundj ot coffee. " EngtUh farming lands hi preclaujd within a few years In rental value at least (S per acre per annnai. The richest man In the nr u Commodore Baldwin, who has pecu lated in real estate In San Francisco. Lord Beaccnsfleld died with band In that of two Deers whom h h-i created. No relative was in the nw.m The number of deaths from trv. tlon and of deaths accelerated by pri vation, in London, durir-g IVli Indiana reports the same acrea n winter wheat this vum ... i... . , - - -1. . cent. per England raises about l.V) noo imu pounds ot wool per year, and imporu upwards o 4,"H),0u6,UO0 pound per aunam. Florida oranges hav hn nt if the British market and are pronounced finer in quality than those of Spain or Portugal. Among the Easter nharif i Pope were the gift nt 100 beds to the poorest families In Rome, and presents to 600 families of at lease tn fmni each. Michigan's last innnrtinnmsnr i funds for the primary schools amount to $o33 234 49. which irives si (rt r. each child. Two Boston Hotels, which lat summer paid $ a ton lor their Ice, have this year contracted for their anri at$J.25perton. The Indian Coinmisslniiora racted In New York the nthr arr 20,000,000 pound of beef for Indians at $3.41 per cwt. General Sherman's Thomas, was recently admlttel to the Catholic priesthood by Archbiihop Gibbons, ot Baltimore. Montnelier. the James Madison, In Orange countv. Virginia, Is advertised to h ...i.i t auction in July next. The twenty-fourth MrH..i.. Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria bau just been celebrated. Out of 2,000 railroads in th ... try to which blank report have been sent Irom the census Bureau, over 400 failed to mae any return. The new capital at Albany, N. Y. requires at lease $2,100,000 to put the numbing touches upon it, and ic will then have cost at least $13,0O0,00J. It is said that Queen Victoria will visit italy in June, accompanied by her son Leopold, with a view of ri- cruiting the health of the Prince. One of the four known copies of the drst complete edition of Aloliere's works 7 volumes 12 mo., Iti73 was old at Paris a few days ago tor $I,9J0. Queen Victoria It so convinced tint Prince Albert caught the cold which caused his death at E.litiburg, that she has stopped only one night at Holy rood since that event. Prince BUmarek is said to have re cently purchased several estates Im mediately adjoining the old homestead, Schoenhauseu. thereby Increasing Its present area to 1,000 acres. The United States government has presented two gold medals to the Chiefs ol the Indian tribes, on Van couver isbmd who succored the crew of a wrecked American vessel last sum mer. The United Sta'ei has moie miles of telegraph line than any other coun try In the world 170.10J, oinprUin" about 300,000 miles of wire net in cluding lines used exoiusiyely lor rail road Business. In proportion to population the taxation is higher la Frauce than in England. In Frauce It is $8.25 per head ; In England, $4.33. The Interest, on the French debt new exceeds that of Che English debt. G. Phillips Beyan estimates the grand total of gold produced during the historic ages to be 3,517,093,500, and that of silver 2,82tS,230,000 mak ing the produeeof both precleus metali Ut 6,33,343,500. 4 n V -I 1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers