n B. F. SCHWEIEB, THE OOE8T1T0TI0I-THE UII0I-A1D THE EfPOXOOCEST OP THE LAWS. Editor and Proprietor. VOL. XXXVI. MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., WEDNESDAY. JANUARY II. 1S82. NO. 1. HOMEWARD BOCND. Together they raule alone the street, THose oltMime chains called w ad and rain, playing the strangest tricks with your feet. Till too tumble and stagger again. Hot little care I While I can see A light In the window At home for roe. I hasten faster, with heart grown light, I ran alnvist see the cozy room. Defiance to yon, Worm King, to-oibt ; Yon cant keep me oat In toe gloum. For the beacon Is bright And I can see A face in the window At home tor me. Cheerily blinking the street Limps shine. Waiting to see the doors flung wide. And in the iUance of home divine Some one's waiting for me Inside. 8me one's waiting And I can see Red lips holding A klas for me ! THE tST Or SINE. 'Did you know that Tom Bailey had paused in his checks?" Yes; heard it by telephone an hour ago," The speaker was John McWillianis, and we were sitting on the piazza of his home in Bradford. "Do yon know the particulars, John?" " "Particulars? Well, I dout know as there are any. Same old story, you Know. Didn't pack the nitry-glycerine in the wagon can-fully, and when the wagon went over a log the load explo ded, and and that was alL" ITiere was no need of further expla nation, for I could reason it all out clearly enough, and could alinott fancy I saw the ghastly remains of the ill starred Tom Bailey, who went out one morning to superintend the shooting of a well, and never came back. Bailey was an employe of the Rolerts Torpedo Companj and John McWilliams, the man with whom I was iu conversation, was his Division Suieriiitendent on the same "run" or t'ustrict "Family, John?" No that is, he hadn't a wife, but he had a widowed mother and a young sister.,' "What will they do?" "O, the company won't sje them sUrve, slid, leides, I guess poor old Tom didn't die a beggar. IW old boy!" and the bjarded man at my si.le sobbed like a heart-broken child. "I never told you alont Tom and the rest of the 1mvs. did I?" continued the Borrowing man. "The rost?" "Yes there were nine of us, you V ..r Imf win flotl't know, for I have ,.eve- told a living soul This sudden death of Tom's quite unmnns me, for I now the oulv one left the las tot am nine. I waited a long while for John to gain -.1 nt his feeliners. for I knew he had a story to tell of more than usual interest It was a lieantifnl night, full of soft moonlight, and drowsy with the hum of humanity in the city beneath our feet A delicate, nlmost impercep tible mist hung alnmt the city, and tm nr ln'llsiile riazza we could see far down the valley, where the Tunnng- want str. am faintly glimmered in the nnonliirht and where the huge iron tonka of oil loomed up gloomy and i.i..v .,.;.. the mellow brightness of UUH. .,'-- the night Over at Prospect Park, on Mount Raub, the light was flashing and fWinr. while faiutly to our ears came h trai ns of a Strauss waitz. Away oil on another hill the sound of a laboring en-ine and the sound of a walking-beam told that the ponderous drill at a well 1 lowered into the earth as fast ut men working uurut and day could pink the hole. Down below, the city flashed up at us its countless lights and shadows, and faiutiy floated up the hum of business and pleasure. It was a strangely beautiful night for a story of oiL Johu spoke at last, slowly, and with evident hesitation. Yes," he said, "there were nine of us, and' Tin the last one alive. It's a queer thing, and it makes me feel very strangely; perhaps more so now that poor Tom is Is -" He couldn't bring himself to say the word; he couldn't say that his friend was dead. With a great effort he con tinued: "You doubtluss know that I was in the armv during the late war. I saw ome pretty ton-h fighting, too, and after Shiloh I was made a captain, and at the same time Tom Bailey, who was in the same company, was promoted to s lieutenancy for bravery. He de- a for there never was a M.Z,CUAY V , --- letter or a braver loy; a trifle reckless, you might say, but brave and generous to a fault At the close of the war we went home together, and with us went w was left of the company. There wasn't much, to lie sure, for we had .In,. some terrible fighting, and many of the boys had gone down through the i1pv of the shadow. Like tlie rest 01 the returned soldiers, we went into the oil country, which was just then turn ing the heads of the people, and after knocking around awhile and losing what money we had, we concluded to go into hnsiness of shooting wells. j.om anu wnt into the business ourselves, and soon hired four of the men who had betn in onr company, aud a friend of mine who had been wealthy, but was broke, to work for us. Two fishermen came alonjr that we had known Wfore, w. eHtmred them. That made nine of us and we used to live in one room and do all our own cooking, for women the oil country at that time. Everything went along finely, and we made money hand over fist Old Colonel Roberts hadn't got the mouopo- 1t of the mtro-glycerine business then, ml uit man could engage in it who cared to ran the risk. "Oar crowd was extremely fortunate at first, and we were beginning to feel that nitro-glycerine wasn't such a terri ble thing as some persona made it out Well, we worked along about six months withe ut an accident, when one day one of our men was killed while taking gly cerine from a wagon. This gave us considerable of a shock, but we laid the blame on the man's carelessness, and worked on as usual. Within a year three more of our men were blown to fragments at the same time, through pure recklessness. Noue of the men drank liquor to excess; so you couldn't attribute their death to intoxication. The rest of us were mighty carefid after that, and only stayed in the busi ness because wc could make money faster thau at any thing else. We didn't have any more accidents while we were doing business for ourselves. and we began to take courage. "When the Robert's Company gained monopolistic control of the torpedo business, the remaining gve of our crowd went to work. Everything went on swimmingly for some time, but at List three of the crowd had some trou ble real or fancied with the company, and the result was that the men quit entirely and went to moonlighting shooting wells at night in defiance of the law giving the Roberts Company the monopoly. Moonlighting is just twice as dangerous as torpedoing in the lawful way, and it wasn't long before those three fellows were blown skyward. I wasn't a bit surprised, for when a man gets down so low as to go into moon lighting when he cau make good wages at a legitimate business, I naturally look to see his death announced before a great while in the paper. "Well, that mstleft two Tom Biiiley aud 1 of the original nine that went in to the business only ft few yeara ago. One by one our boys have dropped off, until to-day I helped to bury what re mained of poor Tom. . Poor old boy! I know it wasn't his fault tr he was the most careful man I ever saw. There were nine of us when we started all banded together to work for one an other's interests and now they are all gone but me, and I am the last of nine." His uusmoked cigar slipped from his nerveless fingers and fell to the ground. He trembled violently, as with ague, a nameless horror and fear looking out of his eyesintJ vacancy. "John," said I, gently touching his arm, "come iuto tho house; it is chilly out here," "Yes, yes, let us go in. But stay 1 fee so strangely. I never thought of it before, but if my wife shoidd should see as I saw Tom Bailey to-day it would it would would kill her!" and the strong man sank into a chair, completely overpowered with the awful thought Business called me away from Brad ford and the oil country .the next day, and I did not return for some weeks. Having business at Smethport, the county seat of MeKean County, I passed through that village aud started for Bradford, by the way of the Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua Railway. When within a few miles of Bradford an acci dent happened to the hcomotive, which would delay the train several hours. Being anxious to reach the city as soon as possible, forr of the passengers, in cluding myself, started over the moun tains afoot, hoping to reach our destina tion by three o'cloc'i in the afternoon. We walked along quite briskly, and, while following the ridge of a moun tain, were hailed by a voice which I recognized as belonging to the torpedo superintendent having in charge the district adjoiuing that of John McWil liams. "Hello! come over here! the man shouted, accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. Curiously wondering what Smolley could want, we went toward him. 1 wo or three men were leaning against the stump of tree, and merely nodded as we approached. Smolley was searcuiug on the ground for something at some distance from his companions. "What's the trouble, Smolley?" and as I spoke the glycerine man raised a pained looking face, and mutely pointed his finger in the direction of the men around the stump. Hooked and saw a strange sight j The wreck of an oil derrick aud its ma chinery lay scattered over the ground in small pieces. In an instant it all came to me there had been an explosion of nitre-glycerine. The derrick had been blown to atoms and scattered far and ide; the ponderous bull-wheels were dismantled and broken into a thousand fragments. On every hand was ruin such as only uitro-glyoerine can produce The thought came, was anybody hurt? I glanced inquiringly at the three men. One of them pointed silently at a small baking-powder box lying at their feet I stepped forward. "My God! John John McWilliams? and I would have fallen bad not one of the meu supported me. The last of nine! I stood and looked down iuti a little wooden box rule! with ghastly flesh and blood and bones jl that was mortal of noble-hearted ti, McWilliams. A side of the head and face remained as nobie and hand life, but what remained of the body could have been placed in ten-quart pail. SmoL'ey came and leaned his arm against my shoulder in talent sympathy. now did it happen. Smolley?" This after long period of silence. The well made a heavy flow of gas and oil as John was lowering the torpe do, and when the shell came to the top of the hole John stood there and caught it in his hands, and as he turned to ake the thing away it exploded in his ami, with the result you see. There never was a more careful man than John." For years and years ago John Willi ams had laughed at nitro-glycerine, and had toyed with it as with a shackled monster, but at last the monster, wait ing patiently for years,had sprung Upon him and avenged its wrongs. Sorrow fully we lifted the little box and carried it homeward. Along the mountain ridge we moved, a melancholy proces sion, and when on the summit of Mount Raub we rested and looked down on the clustering buildings of Bradford. In the glory of the afternoon sun, even Bradford's homely buildings were beau tiful, the city presenting the very pict ure of loveliness of life, while over and beyond the hills, looking down in sihtat grandeur, were voiceless witnesses of God's immortality. One of tho passengers who had come with me from the train produced a pow erful field-glass. Almost mechanically I turned and looked at John Mc William's hillside home. A door was standing wide open, a lace curtain streamed idly from a window. In through the open door I could see the tea-table set and waiting. On the lawn handsome, graceful woman romped with two child ren, frequently shading her eyes with her hands and looking down the street long and earnestly. It was Mrs. Mo Williams, and she was waiting and watching for her loving husband and father who would never come again on this earth, never, nevermore. Slowly the sun crept behind the west ern hills, and, with aching hearts, we took up our burden again and prepared to descend into the city, my ears ring ing with the words of the ill-fated Johu on that night many weeks before; "If my wife should should see me as I saw Tom Bailey to day, it would it would would kill her !" The Old Sexto ti. Sot long ago a traveling agent called at Dolwon's house, Carson City, with a yard sprinkler. It was ft simple affair, only cost a dollar and a quarter, and when tested on the end of a hose could be stuck anywhere in the ground. Each evening the children came in drenched to their skin, were spanked in duo form and sent to bed, while their garments were dried before the kitchen stove. The next thing on the programme was a wo man attending to four sick children. Yesterday the door-bell rang and a . ....... tvienin man walked into tne tiarior. anu unacking a valiie, remarked : "I presume, madam, that you some times have the black-winged angel of death flap its flyers in tliis house, eh ?" The lady was forced to admit that such indeed was the case. "Here is a new style of coffin plate especially adapted to tho wants of large family. It has a place for the photo graph of the deceased. Persons looking at the corpse can compare ths waxy fea tures of tha dead with the photographic counterpart of the living, and judge at a g'auce of the change wrought by the fell destroyer." "Ah, yes, you will; they cost but a trifle and can always be kept ready for use. Ion simply lack it on me top 01 the coffin. No undertaker objects. I hear a child coughing in the next room. There is death in that cough, madam. The'-mmnions of AzrieL the destroyer, is at hand. 1 know that only last week vou brought a yard sprinkler of a little red-headed man in gray clothes. 1 keep right behind him. Every family that buys a sprinkler needs patent eoffin- plate. He lielongs to the same firm with me." Tha woman controlled her feelings sufficiently to decline.ond the man asked to be directed to the family where a death was likely to occur. Being direct ed to a house on the next street where a bull-dog was kept in the front yard, the agent skipped gayly away, whistling "The Old Sexton" in a joyous key. Children at tba liana-lag A low moan caused the city editor of a western paper, to look np from the work of writiuor a notice of Colonel Bumder, who had merely called to an uounce his arrival, declaring that these "newspaper fellows will find it out any way." Another low moan, like the coo of a wounded dove. 'Can I do anything for you madam?" She removed a tattered shawl and han derl the scribe a paper, which, in bad chirography, stated that Mrs. Milkrip pie was a poor widow with six children. I am sorry that your husband is dead madam. Died of yellow fever in Mem phia several years ago, I suppose, or was probably recognized as a at ixrais man and shot No, sir," she answered, with a sigh, "he was killed by a mule. You draw large draft on my sym pathy, madam, but I am moneyless. You have heard of Stanton t moneyless man? Well, that piece of poetic liters ture was dictated to me," You mistake me. sir. I do not want money. . . "Then you want bacon ana nour.' "No, sir. I am poor and my children are iu need, but I do not want anything to eat" "Want to get a relation out of the pe nitentiary?" "No, I have no relation there. "Then what can I do for you?" She turned loose several thimblefuls of tobacco spit and said In a low voice: "You see we are denied much of this world's amusement, being so poor. There's going to be man hung next Friday, and I want tickets of admission to the jail vard. Give me the tickets, and my poor children will aing yonr praise. We have missed all the thea ters, and u Friday will be my son Jim's birthday, and as I am too poor to give a suitable entertainment, 1 thought that I'd take the children to the hang ing." Haaallos; Millions a Day. In a amail room on me main Coor of the Custom Houe, San F randsco, and occupying the southwest corner of it the cashier, with force of fifteen clerks, re ceives all the money for duties levied by the Government on imports, excepting the small amount assessed on passeneeis' baggage, which it collected on the wharf Some idea of the amount ot business done in this office may be gained when it is stated that the money received in a tingle day hss several time lately amointed to $1,000, CX), and the number of- entries made has exceeded 1,000. The manner in which this large amount of money is handled is as follows : The merchant or broker's clerk, after first making out his entry in the rotunda of the building where the amount of duty is calculated on the entry by the entry clerks, takes bis place the line before one of the receiving clerks, and deposits the amount of his entry in a small box, and with it a ticket en which he has etitered the merchant's name, with the date and sum inclosed, whether in gold, silver, notes or certifi cates. Gutta-percha boxes are ued to prevent unnecessary noise from tne clink ing of the coin. The receiving clerk takes the box of money and hands it to a teller to count from the entry In a blotter. The teller does not look at the cah ticket until be has counted the mcney and mark ed it on the back of the ticket. He then turns it over and if the count is correct he hn-ksitand returns it to the receiving clerk, who then signs a permit for the de livery of the goods, t he entnss then go to the book-keepers, who enter the amount 'sheets." and at the close of tne cay the money is counted and compared with this rcco.-d ot the book-keepers, bo care fully is this system carried out that there is rarely a variation of a cent between the money and the accounts, and the office has thereby gained the reputation of be- ng un-re exact than any oilier similar in stitution in the country which handles such an amount of money coming in so msny different payments, from a to 5.000. bhould any discrepancy occur. the clerks carefully compare both sides of the tickets with the clerk's blotter, and then the bl uteris checked off with the book-keeper's sheet By some of these methods the error i certain to be dis covered. As account is kept of each kind of money separately, the tellers can sec at a glance if a mistake id made in the gold, silver, ctrtificates or notes. When tie coin has been counted and put in small canvas bags, it is piacea in boxes holding (20,000 in gold. These boxes are put in a hand cart outside the building aud wheeled to the sub-treasury. which gives a receipt to tne uustoin House lor each deposit .Nearly a ton of coin has to be transfer! ed daily in this manner. An officer fully armed accom panies the porters, and there are also armed men in the cashier's office. Tne cashier, clerks and tellers are men of efficiency, and the responsibility of the office makes their position more pernian- snt than that of the average Cusljm lioat; officer. The tellers acquire great skill in detecting counterfeits as well a iu rapid counting some ol the ways of counterfeiting, which came under their notice are curious. The Chinese in ban 'ranciaco are expert enough to split a 1 10 gold piece, cut out the centre, nil it with base metal and join it logeuwr so nicety that only an expert could det jet the fraud. Tne patient Chinese man also finds it profitable to sweat ' gold by shaking the coin in a bag and gathering the dust which as&anu'ates from the a brat on of the metal Another device is to file nold coin aciost the edge, thus destroying the raised nulling. All silver and nickel coins are counterfeited, from the S-cent piece to the legal tender dollar. They are first stamped from base metal and then plated with silver. Even this the counter! eiters do not buy. but obtain by immersing silver coin in acid, which removes from the coin enough silver fer the counterfeiter t use, whilo the "sweated ' silver can tiin oe passed at par. Tne cashiers office per forms only a small portion jl tne wars oi the Custom House in all it branches, but as it is one of the main-resources oi tne public purse, it is perhaps, the must in leresting. As one passes alone the dingy corridor, he catches sight of three lines of men cramped and crooked around in the little room, boys and gray haired men. with their lit le gutta percha boxes ready to be emptied iu the capacious pockets of bncle ami. There It is. Monsieur! That well-known artist A. has a reg ular Othello of a wife.for whose devotion insane iealousy is no name. The other evening when he appeared dressed and prepared to go out the following dialogue took place: "Where are you going? To dinner." "With who?" "Oh, a college friend, yon don't know him." Vnn Vnow vou ain't telhug the truth." "I swear that" Til go with yon." "You won't!" "Then youll stay at home." "Ill be spifllicated if I do." "If you stir out of this house I'll throw myself out of the window! "All richt madame! ' yelled the luiu riated artist, jamming on his hat and dashing out of the room, slamming the door. "Great heavens!" he gasps, when he hiu lieen dnar out of the wreck of his hat "I never thought she where is the it that thin?, you know? "There it is, monsieur ! And they point with awe to the lay figure which his wife had thrown out of the window on his hat with mingled orce and dexterity. Wbose to Blame? A man went off on a fishing excur sion with a party of friends. Returning at midnight he pounced on the door and awoke Lis wife. As she let him into the hall she saw that something ailed him and she cried out: "Why, H jnry, your face is as red as paint" "Guesser n't," he replied, feeling along down the hall. "And I believe yon have been drink ing," she added. "Whazzer mean by zhat?" he inquired trying to stand still. "Oh! Henry, yonr face would not look like that if yon had not been drin king. "Mi to blame?" he asked with tears in his eyes. "Sposen big base jumpnp'i hit me in th face an' male it red mi to blame? Winked at each Othe. There were several men clustering around the stove in the back room of a ( jj, neighbors by an account of a won Galveston saloon, Texas and somehow jerfui tree which he discovered several or other the subject of newspapers came ( TearB aj;o and which he has been watch up for discussion. One man said that ' cver since. He says that for three editors were more jealous thau any other lTears ft po.je through the cold class, that they never hud a good word for each other, etc A long haired youth, with a solemn, look spoke np, aud heaving a sigh, said he had had some experience with edi tors and found them the reverse; that a Texas editor was always willing to deny himself comforts for the benefit of a brother editor. "Where did that happen?" "It happened in a Western Texas town where I lived, sighed the yonng man. "I had dashed off a little poem of fifteen stanzas about 'Beautiful Spring.' Tht-re were to rival papers in the place The Bugle aud Tromlione I bud heaid that the editors were dead ly enemies and sighed to shed each oth er a gore, and I was afraid Uiat u l let the Trombone pnblish my poem fir-t there would be a deadly encounter. I j finally resolved to have it appear sim ultaneously in both papers. When I called on the euitor of the Trombone he said the editor of the Bugle had a large family, and that he would prefer it would appear in the Bugle, as iersonal ly he loved the editor of the Bugle. I went then to the Bugle man aud he said the editor of the Troml oue was his warmest personal friend, and he would be glad if I would let hm have the poem, as it would Le putting bread in his mouth and clothes on his back. So, owing to the love those two editors hod for each other, I couldn't get my poem into either of their papers, and it hasn't been published yet I never saw men so anxious to help each other out of distress," and once more the long haired poet sighed like a bellows. There was a pause and an old man ith a frost-bitten nose drawled out; "Yer never tried them editors with a cash advertisement, did yer?" The poet answered in the negative, whereat, the audience significantly nodded their heads and wiuked at enc'i other. The French Arniy. The total effective strength of the French army, in 1892, wQl amount to nearly half a million men and 126.000 horses on the active establishment, without taking into consideration the Reserve and tho Territorial forces. Of these 172.000 and 113.000 horses belong to the army, the remainder being ac counted for in the gendarmerie, who are under the same administration us the army. The infantry consists of 327.780 men, divided into lit line regi ments, 30 battallions of Rifles, four regiments of Zouaves, three African battalions, five companies of Light In fantry, tliree regiments of Spaliis, or native troops, a foreign legion of four battalions, and sixty-five sections of troops of administration, corresponding with our brigade depots. The cavalry consists ot 77 regiments, viz., 12 of cui rassiers, 26 of dragoons, 20 of chasseurs, 12 oi hussars, of chasseurs d'Afriqne, and 3 of Spahia making a total of 69. 000 men. The 38 reginieuts of artillery comprise 56 000 men, and pontooners, workmen, artificers, etc., bring the total of this branch of tho service np to 78.- 000. The Engineers are divided into four regiments, containing 11.000 men; aud the Military train consists of twenty squadrons, with a total effective strength of 11,700. To officer this army the French estimates provide for 371 gene ral officers, not so very many more than England lias to command less than halt the number of men. The title of Mar shal is still held by three officers, Mc Mahan, Canrobert, and Lebeeuf, but in future the highest rank in the army will be that of General of Division. In Swallow-Tailed Coat When M. Brisson first took toe Presid ential chair in the French Assembly vaca ted by hut predecessor, be proceeded to abandon a habit which M. Gambetta bad always scrupulously observed. He ap peared in a frock coat, instead or the orthodox evening dress, which the Cham ber had always been accustomed io see worn in this place. Kur.ticr n nee lion caused the new Trtsident to alter his mind, and he returned meekly, after very short interval, to the areas consecrat ed by former usage. The incident has not failed to set the wiseacres on an inquiry as t j the origin of these tail coots the most queer, though not the least comfortable of modern habiliments. According to the received pedigree of the garnnent, it is a direct descendant of the old French dress coat worn in the time ot Louis XIV. i he chief differences between the two are that the ancient habit had a stand-up collar. sod it was of various colors, and espe cially of brighter tinU. This oat, which is pretty familiar in prints ot the last cen tury, was made of cloth, velvet or boura can which was a mixtuie of goats -hair wool, or skin, and was often ca led canie- lot, ia imitation of camels'-hair garments worn in the East. 1 be inside of the coal was, however lined with some rxb stuff of a belter material : and it was with a view to display this lining that the top part of the coat on each side was turned back as far at passible, and kept back by buttons paced near the shoulders. In the course of time the habit altered its size repeatedly, but sever lost its essent al distinction of open facings ana swallow tails behind, called by the FrenC'j " co i't la." The color, which bsd been Itht, as aforesaid, became darker in the Revo lutionary period : and in the time of the Crst Empire blue was the favorite hue, with gold buttons, or emlrjidenei or gold, alver, or silk. Queen Victoria's eldest chil-, the Princess Royal of England, was born in 1840. The practice of burying in churches was abolished in France early in 1777, Dr. Bliss is sa;d to be writing book about the late Presidents illness. Speaker Keifer has invested a large part of his fortune in Nebraska farming land. A Wonderful Troo. A farmer living near Schooley Moun- tain. New Jersey, has greatly excited weather without shedding a leaf. It is a maple tree and its sap mkes very good maple sugar. The farmer noticed it first while following the trail of a fox up over the mountain, early in Decem ber 1878. All the other trees, even of the same species, were entirely bare, while this tree had not to all appear- ances, lost a single leaf. There were no dried leaves underneath it and the leaves on the branches were all green. It was wiUl ,p-eat difficulty that a leaf eould be DUiied from the twh? to which it was fastened, and a strong breeze, which was blowing at the time, had no effect upon the leaves. So astonished was the dis coverer of the phenomenon that he for got all about the fox he was after and the cold character of the day and spent . several hours in examining the tree. He went home greatly puzzled and returned several days later with a clergyman hy ing in the vicinuy. They determined to mark several of the leaves and see how long they remained where they were. They also resolveu to keep the thing a secret and watch its progress until spring. This they did. When April arrived the leaves which they had maaked were just as green and fresh as in December, and the tree itself was not affected in the least by the se verity of the weather and the many windy blasts. The bark was tapped every week and yielded a plentiful supply of sap;enough to keep both the farmer and the minis ter's f unities in syrup all winter long, The same has been tried ever since ; not a leaf has fa len to the best of their be lief since the day the tree was noticed, and the sap has flowed with the same regularity and profusion. As far as can be ascertained there is no cause lor the mysterious vitality of that particular maple. Thore is nothing in the soil or snb-soil to render growth more available or make the trunk and branchei better able to stand the storms and cold weath er. A number of people have lately visited the curiosity,but each one comes away perfectly mystified. At the pre sent time not another tree on the whole mountain, with the exception of several evergreens near the hotels, has a leaf on it and the trunks and branches stand out bleak and bare. This maple is in an exposed spot, unprotected from the winds and surrounded by rocks. Just why it is as it is bailies the ingenuity of all beholders, Even the December fox hunt ia cast in the shade by this per petually green maple tree. A Extraorfilnary Wound. An instance of singular tolerance of a severe wound of the brain was recently communicated by M. Dubrisay to the Societe de Medicine de Paris. A nw.u, aged 41, in an attempt at suicide, sent a small dagger through his skull into the bl ain. The weapon was ten centimetres long and one wide. He had held the dagger in his left hand and given it with the right several blows with the mallet, believing that he would fall dead at the first blow. Te his profound surprise he felt no pain and observed no particular phenomona. He struck the dagger in all about a dozen times. The man was a drunkard, but was sobor at the time of the moment of the attempt When seen abont two hours later the handle of the dagger was projecting from the skull at the junction of the posterior and middle third, a little to the middle line, and in a transverse position. The whole blade was imbedded, except a part ne centimeter in length. For half an hour unsuccessful attempts were made to get the dagger out The patient was placed on the ground, two vigorous persons fixed his shoulders, and, ailed by a strong pair of carpenter's pinchers, re peated attempts were made, but with out success. The patient and assistants were raised off the ground, but the dag ger was immovable. These attempts caused no pain. More powerful me chanical instruments were then em ployed. The patient, who walked well, and complained of no headache, was taken to a coper8miths, aud by strong pincers the handle of the dagger was fastened to a chain which was passed over a cylinder turned by steam power. The incers used for drawing out tubes of copper were so made that tie more they were pulled the tighter they grasp ed. The man was then fastened to rings fixed in the ground and the cylinder was gently set in motion. At the second turn the dagger came out The blade measured ten centimetres in lergth, of which nine had entered the interior of the skulL The patient, who had sub mitted with the greatest coolness to these manoauvres, suffered no pain or inconvenience. Some drops of blood escaped, and in a few minutes afterward the man was able to walk away to a hos pital, where he remained in bed for ten days, but without fever or pain. He then returned to his work, and the wound gradually healed. M Dubrisay en deavored by a post-mortem experiment to ascertain what parts of the brain had been injured. He drove the dagger into the bead of a cadaver in the same situa tion and to the same deptlie, and found that, without injuring the superior Ion gitndinal sinus, it had passed into the cerebral substance, just behind the as cending parietal convolution, and thus behind the motozone; the point had not reached the base. The difficulty in ex traction had been due solely to the fixa tion of the instrument by the edges o; the wound in the bone. England bought nearly half of all the vheat and flour exported from the United States last year. What to ao with Stones. One who is beginning to see the folly of building stone walls to get rid of the stones, asks what he can do with the stones if they are not laid p into fences. Almost all rocky land needs draining, or it lies very near to lands that do need it. Some writers object to the nae of stones far drains, but having had a pretty long experience with atone drains we do not hesitate to recommend their judicious use. The ditches should te dug from three to four feet deep, the deeper the better, and the stones pack ed in as solid and closely as poesible, the smaller ones being nsed to level off the top. The main point is to have the top layer of stones so fine as to keep the soil from being washed in and filling np the water course. A great many rocks which are too large to handle easily, can be sunk where they are, cheaper than they can be disposed of in any other way. Sinking rocks raises the level of the land while digging them ont lowers it unless soil is carted in for filling the holes left by the removal of the stones. Sometimes it is advisable to dig a large hole in some low spot, and then fill it nearly full of boulders, such as can be drawn from a short distance. A hrle ready dug, can be made twice as large, much easier than a new hole can be dug of the same size. On s side hill, the digging should generally be done below the rock to be snnk, as it cm be moved down easier than np the hilL There are a great many holes in muck swamps where the muck has been carted out for use in the yards and stables, whicl-, if filled with stones and then covered over with a little of the muck, would make the very best of laod for cultivation. The stones may be drawn on to the ice in winter, and left to sink into their places when the ice thaws in spring. It will be necessary to have the stones te be hauled lie on blocks, boards or small small stnnee, to prevent free ziug to the earth in winter. A great many stones of all sizes could be nsed to the best advantage in the public high ways. If the walls which now line both sides of many of onr highways, had been pnt in the middle of the road for a track, the roads would not be blocked by snow in winter, nor rendered impass able in spring when the frost is coming out At first thought, one might think that paving a country road with stones would be a visionary idea, but if the labor expended in building the tvo walls had been nsed in placing the stones in the line of travel, it might not have been much slower work. Two walls, each four and a half feet high, laid iu the middle of the road and cover ed with gravel, would make a track that would be solid and passable at all sea sons. In low places, as at the foot of hills, which need to have the grade changed, a great many stones may often lie disposed of Crushed stone ia also now nsed ex tensively for repairing old, and making new roads. Strong machines are now made, which will crush stones almost as large as man can lift and as fast as hungry hogs will eat sweet apples. The street commissioners in some of ur cities are now buying cobble stones, such as the farmers in the vicinity pick from their fields, and are paying 50 cts. ton for them at the crusher. This price pays well for carting when the distance is not too great Many farmers would do well to make permanent cart roods over their farms, by digging ' out the loam and filling in with stones, and then covering again with loam or gravel. We do not pvv suffioient attention to roads, either public or private. A Se Isouatcr. The finding of the remains of the large sea serpent in a marl pit at Marl borough, N. J., was supplemented by the discovery of the remains of another one. the last 2nd was somewnat ue composed, and only two large tusks and portions of the jawbone of the reptile were found preserved, the other bones crumbling to pieces when ex posed io the air. The bones found last week are all well preserved, and the tuaks are remarkable for their size and fine natural polish. Professor Samuel Lockwood gives the following descrip tion of the reptile: "It was ft monster of great bulk. It had two paddles well forward and two behind, the body be ing short and stout The bones of the paddles, from their size and so ldity, in dicate extraordinary propelling power, The tail wa stout, long and serpentine, but a little flattish, thus affording great aid in propulsion by a sculling move ment The neck was long, and yet thick enough to support the head high out of the water while the mon:ter was engaged in devouring its prey. The huge jaws were armed with tusks which were more formidable than those of the crocodile. The lower jaw was very singular in structure, and had a joint like an elbow. In the act of swallow ing, the reptile eould enlarge its gul let by means of this elbow joint The act of swallowing was necessarily slow. and the reptile no doubt would have had great trouble in retaining in its mouth its struggling prey if it had not been for a supplementary jaw which was nsed as a grapnel. This was armed with small teeth, which were curved in shspe. As the large jaws, with their great tusks, were being opened so as to obtain new hold, the little grapnel jaw held the struggling prey test, and the move menta alternated until the fish or other prey was forced down the great throat The enly bones of this monster reptile of the antediluvian age known are those in the marl pits, and no name has yet been found for it by the scientists. Secretary Hunt has been summoned to Boston by the sudden illness of his father. NEWS IN PiKIEF Cyprus has a population of 185,860 souls. There is red and green as well as black ebony. Candle is from a Greek word mean ing to shine. General Grant has insured his life for $100,000. The Republic of New Grenada was organized iu 1851. A cod fish produces 3,CS6,760 eggs, a mackerel 454.850. Voltaire, the great French free thinker died in 1694. General Butler is a communicant of the Episcopal church. There were z.-Mlogicol gardens in China more than 2,00 years a?o. Tin mines in Cornwall. England. have been worked for three thousand years. A Bath. Me., fisherman claims to have caught over 4.000,000 porgir s this season. Chief Justice French, of the British Supreme Count of China and Japan, is lead. Major Edwiu L. Moore, of General Lee's staff, died at Cnmlierland, Md., on Sunday. General McIowell is exjn-cted to retire from active service in the army next spring. Mr. Longfellow is now able to take long walks. His health appears to lie improving. The Mormons are obliged to pay to the church one-tenth of all they iai-e. or moke, or earn. It is found that hramlv angmeuts the rapidity and force of the pulse as much as 13 per cent Professor Goldwin Smith has finally reffused the Masterohip of University College, Oxford. The Emperor Francis Joseph has left off Bmokiug under tilt advice of the court physicians A form of $1,500 aeres ia Barry County, Missouri, is t lie devoted to the breeding of mules. The liettiu'r against Mr. Pierre Lorillard's (reruld for the Derby for nest year is only 7 to 1. Hogg.one of Scotland's sweetest sing ers, usually styled the "Ettriek Shep herd died in ltvio. The King of Sium has just purchas ed in London; through an ogeut, furni ture valued at $1,250,000. The compound lens microscope was invented by the Jansens, spectacle makers in MiddL-bury in lSvJo. Cardinal Mazeriu plaved cards on his death bed, when so weak that his hand had to lie held by others. The substitution of iron for bronze in the rusting of canou was first attempt ed in Queen Elizaletii reign. Napoleon isMied his celebrated but futile "Berlin Decree" against British commerce, November 21, 1-SOrJ. According to Ehrenberg a cubic inch of water may contain more than 800,000,000,000 of animaleulai. The train from Paris to Milan by the new S-iut Gothard route will make the journey in twenty -one hours. The Count De Perrochel. member of the Freed. Chamler of Deputies for the Department of Sarthe, is dead. During the List three years Ger many consumed 2,657,530 tons of rails. Nearly all the rails were made ok steel. Counterfeit five and ten dollar gold pieces, bearing the date of 18N), are re ported to be plentiful in San Francisco Musurus Pacha, the Turkish Am bassador to England, intends to publish a Greek translation of Dante's "lufer no. The yield of potatoes of all kinds last year in Ireland amounted to 3.6 tons per acre, against 1.3 ton the pre vious year. At a consistory to be held shortly after Christmas the Archbishop of Ar magh, Primate of all Ireland, will be created a Cardinal. The assertion is made that, at Har vard University, in the lust fifty years, no smoking student has graduated at tne bead of las doss. President Madison's home, "Mont pelier," near Orange, Va., was sold to Mr. Derrick, of Baltimore, on tho 1st instant, lit $19,000. At the village of Morita.in Echizen, Japan, a field of 900 yars square was swallowed np dnring an'earthqnake and turned into a deep hole. Travellers report that in Africa there are falls on the Zambest river five hundred fee t high, or mare thau three times the height of Niagara. The town of Yarmonth, by an an cient character, was obliged to send one hundred herrings baked in tweuty-f -ur piee and pastnee annually to the king. There is a monster orange tree near Fort Hurley, Florida, that measures: nine feet one inch in cirenmfercnee. It is over fifty years old and some seasons has liorne oyer 'JO0O orances. The Maquis de Rochambeau has lieen made an honorary nieniherof the Massa chusetts Histi,rie-.d Society. He hod formerly been a corresjioiuling mem- ler. Professor Nonleiiskiold is going to Russia where the Government wishes to consult him on the liest method of opening North Silieria to European navigation Bernharilt's season in Brussels has been extremely successful. In a single week the proceeds of seven perform ances were more than 73,000f. The Pensions Commissioner states the annual charge upon the country for pensions now at $33,000,000; but $70, 000,000 is wanted this year and $100, 000,000 next year to lring up arrears. Illuminating pa.- as mode from coal, was descrilted by Dr. Clayton in li3! I. was first used for street light ing in London in 1807. In Paris, not until 1819. A farmer living on the banks of the Conestoga, in Lancaster county. Fa., lately made and put into his barn sever al loads of hav from a meadow -situated on the bank of the stream. Haymaking in November is certainly a novelty. Chicago handles about one-third of the entire forest products of the vast pineries of the Northwest Millions of acres of timber lauds iu Michigan, Wis consin, Minnesota. Iowa, and Illinois are tributary to her market The largest room in the World un der one roof and unbroken by pillars i said to be at St Petersburg. By day it is nsed for millitary displays, by night for a vast bull-room. Twenty thousand was; tapers are required to light it i ! ,i t : f t i g i 1 ; 1 ; A
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers