WW the ooisnrunoi-THE uHioi-iro the eftoboekest op the laws. Editor and Proprietor. B. F. SOHWEIEB, VOL. XXXVIII. MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA., "WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 2, 1SS4. NO.l. i I J i 4 ACKOSSTHErLAISS. The plains were wide and vast and drear, Tbe mountain peaks seemed cool and near, The un hung low towrl the west, So near," we ighd," "are we to rest." hut journeying through the closing day. Our feet are weary of the way; Far, far before our aching sight The plains lie in the waning light The mountain peaks that seamed so ucar. And hold our rest forever there. Are far across the desert lands We vainly cry with lifted hands. hills that stand against tie sky, We may not reach yon ere we die; Our bt-arts are broken with the pain. For rest and iea-e we may not gain. lHti the plains we faint and fall," ur fa .vs toward the mountain tall; Our palm are claied, but not to pray; S die we w ith the ilviDr day. TUK CKI'ISE OF IUK TOM. Tl.e Tom. of Baltimore, was a saucy hermaphrodite brig, whose men took reat pride in the tnnv forty two pounder which she carried amidships. ai'J entertained also an exceeding admiration for the skill of their first lieutenant, Mr. Gale, who in all oases of emergency took upon himself the im mediate direction of that destructive engine. One extremely foggy night off Ber n n.Ia. the Tom found herself in the midst of what seemed a fleet. The liirs of a convoy always carried lights aloft after dark in order that each might know the whereabouts of the others, hut upon tlrs occasion the air was so thick with mist that no light would show unless very close at hand; so t!;.it it ias only at intervals that the crew of the priv;teer could detect the glimmer of one: yet the fact that they couM occasionally do so proved their unknown neiglil-ors to le much nearer Than ( ::ld have been wished under all ll.c imc-rtainties of the case. It ap tsaivd probable that some of the strau jeis ii!'.i,rht W merchantmen and others im-n-of war, but, of course, no definite conclusion could be arrived at in this lespect. As there fell at the motneiit an al-j most entire calm, the relative positions f the vessels could 1 changed but very s!"w'y, if at all; but the men of u.e" Tom keeping a careful silence, her proximity remained unknown to the ...-.I .ess. whatever they might be. Now and then a light would show faintly through the fog, seeming to I close to the privateer, then becoming wholly olxum! by an increasing density of the mist. The weather was precisely .in that state which is apt to keep sailors t work shifting studding sails froiE it; e side to the other of their vessel, in oiiiir to prolit by whatever light air then- may 1. as it comes now from staib.ard and now from port. Occa sionally a b-iatswain's pije wan beard; and the hollow atmosphere permitted even the words of command on board of some of the strangers to be made out with great distinctness by the priva teer's men. The sentences were some M hat i-ke these: "I.:iy h'aft, 'ere. and give a pull h'on that iiiizzen-top-s'l-'alyars! The yard's sjiggl git it h up w'ere 't belongs!" "Il'm with them larboard stun liels'Isr Small pull h'on the weather brases!' Come h'up with the fore and main tarks and h"ea.e h'aff sommut h'on the sheets:"' Height Mis: Call the watch there." The nationality of the strangers could !;o longer remain in doubt. In the morning, after the sunbeams had dispersed the tog, it was found that the licet consisted of three West India-iin-u and a seventy-four-gun ship. The man-of-war immediately gave chase to the Tom, then about three miles off. and, as the pursuer had the best of the breeze, the privateer's-men s iw themselves in a position of no little peril, lint, after the king's ship bad succeeded in decreasing the distance by a third, she ceased to gain. The chase was continued iu this manner for a numlier of hoars for the American captain, finding that the breeze bad l-c'ine steady, and conseauently that he could sail three miles to the enemy's two, slung a drag under the Tom's bows in order to deaden her headway and give the Hntoii such hope of over taking her as would cause him to con tinue the chase until he should be widely separated from the merchant man. Lit long the West India vessels were so far off that their top-masts could scarcely le seen above the bending icean; anl now the Tom began to try her gieat pivot-gun upon the seventy four. Jt was longer and heavier tlian any of the enemy's guns, and, although the distance wastwo miles, Lieutenant tiaie had strong holies of being able to make his maik somewhere about the bu-y Englishman. "lint you won't hit bino. at the first trial' said Captain Brown, the com maniler. ".No, 1 don't exjiect to," replied the lieutenant. 'I guess aliout the third hie I'll plump a shot into him. The fust may go over and the second under, but the third'll fetch him!" Mr. Gale was no boaster, and seldom undertook more than he could perform. Tne privateer was going very steadily, with but little rise and fall of the deck, so that the occasion was favorable, but still, even a big seventy-four ioumierat a distance of two miles could be no very encouraging mark for a single ciiiuou 1 a I. In those days, the big guns were not fired as now, by means of percussion caps; but a man stood by with a slow iii.uoh and clapied it upon Uie priming at the word. Mr. Gale took unusual pains in sight ing the long forty-two. Once or twice he was upon the very point of giving the order to let drive, but hesitated and siguted again, the man with the matoh ail the while standing with arm out stretched and the bright coal glowing, Now a little higher, and again a little lower, was brought the muzzle of the huge cannon, as the lieutenant squinted along the iron, till the lookers-on be came inpatient for the flash and roar. ), never mind the first shot." said the captain; "you'll have to try a good many limes before you hit the fellow!" -4i know it." said Mr. Gale, still squinting intently and never looking up; "but I want to come as near as ah, there! a little lower! 1 wan, to come as near as Fire:" Down came the burning match, and the whole vessel shook at the roar of the forty-two. For a moment the t-un.ke was blindiiftr and wnat a tmell of burnt powder there was about the deck! "1 saw a gray streak," says the cap tain; and a mighty straight one, too! but I didn't see where it ended, for the smoke was in my wav." "If the ball had struck the water." said one of the oilicers, "we should have seen it skip, I think, t had a glimpse of something between us and the enemy, but I don't know what became of it." Every one looked anxiously toward the seventy-four: and iu a minute or twosome oier.itious were observed on board of ber which made the excite ment intense, "Hello!" exclaimed Captain Brown, "what does that mean? They have lowered their head-yards and are haul ing up their foresail! My soul! they must have got that shot through their foremastl They're afraid the mast will go over, and are getting in all their head sails as fast as possible! Look at the bauds going up the forerigging! And there they sart their fore-topsail sheets! You'll see the yard alive with men in a minute!" By the time the sails were clewi-d up, those who were to furl them were lying out on the yards in long dark rows. With that numerous crew- there was a simultaneous handling of foresail, top sail, topgallant sail, aud royal as, in deed, would have been the case with all the canvass upon the ship had neces sity required it to I taken off: and even she would Lave had a large force to spare. But just as the sails had been hand somely stowed under the gaskets, the mast began to waver, r aster and faster it inclined to leeward, then, sud denly, as if the weather rigging itself bad given away, down it went with all its hamper, broken short off by the deck! It was a startling siectacle. Lowermast, topmast, topgallautniast. royalmast, yards, men, aud all, plunged splashing into the watf r. There was a most lively scrambling among the wrecked spars and rigging where the numerous fellows who had been aloft were seen like so many en gulfed rats; but, as was afterwards as certained, the casualties were fewer than might have been expected only three men being lost, although four or hve others were somewhat injured. x rom the loss of all her head canvas the seventy-four was obliged to take In all her sails ou the mizzen also, as oth erwise she would not answer her helm. She, however, kept everything set on the mainmast, and, bringing her broad side to bear on the privateer, sent the round shot whistling thick and fast. Nevertheless, the distance being some what too great for her guns, the execu tion done was very little Mr. Gale repeated his fire w ith the forty-two-pounder a dozen or twenty times; but could not succeed in bringing down another spar, although he evi dently hulled her more than once. A number of her own shot reached the privateer; oue of them rolling across the deck, wounding a marine iu the foot, and bringing up the opposite Vlank-sheer. A few of them went hustling jast with great force, while others fell shoit. "This is time lost," said Captain Brown. "You have disabled her, Mr. Gale good for you! But we have no further business here we are sure of the West Indiamen now, aud I am going after them forthwith!" The wind had freshened, ami the Tom was put in chase of the merchantmen. They were more than twenty miles off, but it was soon discovered that they had lost the breeze which was helping the privateer, aud, coming up with them nearsuuset, she captured all three. L pon a subsequent cruise, the j om, with the same oilicers as before, and with many of her forreer crew, weut ranging along the coast of Africa. Here, upon rounding a bluff which sheltered a little uiiet, ber captain aiscoverea a Guineauiau lying cozily in the b.isin, and, going in, dropped anchor within a cable's length of her. Not a soul apiieareu upon her deck, but on her stern were read the words, "Gambia Liverpool," which gave the Yankee commander all tin. information he desired. A boat was manned, and the vessel, which y as a large squaie rigged brig, taken possession of, still without arousing any one to call this summary proceeding in question. Lieutenant Gale, who was In com mand of the boat's crew, went into the cabin, where he found the English ci'.i tain lying on a transom last asleep! lie had his band on a book, which lay partly ojien. and the reading which had prob ably been a iowerful adjunct to drow siness. At all events his slumber must have been very profound, to iiave suf fered no interruption from what had been going on so near him. Opening his eyes, he stared in astonishment at the American officer, whose undress uniform had a suspicious look. "H'indeed, sir!" he said, "'ow is this? Who are you, sir, if a man may u'ask?" "I am a naval officer, sir," replied Mr. Gale. "Ah, yes! I see! On of 'is Majesty's blue-jackets, I must 'ope, sir?" "2'ot quite that, sir," replied Mr. Gale. "The majesty I serve is called 'The Sovereign people. I am first lieutenant of the privateer Tom, of Baltimore, to which vessel your brig has become a prize 1 I am sorry for your misfortune, but it is our business to make w ar on England's commerce, as it is her policy to distress us." The English captain yielded sadly to his fate. Ilis oilicers and men, he ex plained, were all gone on shore, and he himself, having had no particular busi ness on hand at the moment, had sat down to read in the cabin, and so fallen asleep. The Gambia proved to be one of the richest prizes ever captured by an American privateer. She was of about thre hundred tons burden, and had almost completed her cariro for home. Its bulk consisted mainly of palm-oil. tamarinds, aud valuable wood; but sue bad likewise an unusual amount of gold dust and ivory, with au abund ostrich leathers and various kinds of choice gum. She was, beside, a tine new vessel, upon her first voyage. The British crew, upon coming down to the shore, were much surprised to find t heir britr a prize to a xauncc l.rivateer. and would not pull off to her. The captain, at his own request, was set onshore among meni; an luepn vate effects of himself and his men restored." and several hundred dollars iu gold also returned from the cargo, in order to relieve the mariners w ho had thus lost their floating home. The captain said that himself and men would remain at a ronugese siauou at a little distance down the coast until an opiortunity should offer of getting home. Kunning along the coast of Senegam bia,tbe Tom fell Jn with a stranger a ship of three hundred and fifty tons or thereabout, well-armed and full of men. To the surprise of the Ameri cans, she hoisted a black flag! She was a pirate, in search of prey; and the captain, rightly believing that the privateer must have a good amount of gold on board, engaged her in a very spirited manner. The buccaneer was considerably suierior in force, but his meu were ' ill-disciplined, and their gunnery was wretched in the extreme. It wal now that Mr. Gale's skill with the forty-two pounder was again turned to account. After a number of broadsides had been exchanged, he suc ceeded in putting a shot into the pi rate's hull several feet below the water line. This was done as the enemy rolled In the heavy swell which hap pened then to be running, thus expos ing a part of his hull which in sneotb water would have been hidden. As the spot was again instantly sub merged, of course a perfect torrent 1 gun to pour in through the hole. Mr. Ciale knew what had been done, for, in spite of the smoke, he had seen where his great cannon-ball had struck. The pirates, finding Uieir vessel in danger of sinking, hurriedly ran inboard all the guns on that side, at the same time running out those on the opposite side hoping by this expedient to so careen the ship as to bring the hole out of water. But the moment that so much weight was shitted, over she went. - The hatches being open, the ship filled immediately, aud in less than five minutes she sank with her whole crew! The Tom had one man killed and two wounded in the engagement. J he name of the pirate ship was never ascertained, nor was that of her captain; but that she was an enemy of most gloomy aud threatening front the privateer's-men could well attest. , standing to the northward until in the track of vessels from Europe to the West Indies, our patriotic adventurers next described a heavy ship which proved a moie worthy foe, if a less des perate one. She was the Townseud, a mail iiacket, sailing between Falmouth aud Barbadoes. The English captain, feeling that he had much at stake, used every exertion to defend the property entrusted to his care. His ship carried more guns than the privateer, and they were well man aged. She had a strong crew, and. beside. many of her numerous passengers also tood part in the battle, so that, alto gether, she was a really formidable an tagonist. One of her shots, striking the Tom on thj starboard quarter. went into the cabin, where it tore through the captain's berth, and, going across to the port side, lodged iu the lieutenant s mattress. But the Tom's forty-two-pouuder made sad work on board the Townseud, cutting up her hull and siurs and spreading destruction among her de- feuders. At length, when ttieir cap tain and a number of others were killed, the Englishmen struck their colors. First, however, they threw overboard the ship's mail, in order tnat the Amer icans might nut profit by any informa tion or other matter 'hat it confined. It was not sutliciently heavy to sink immediately, aud the privateer's men, perceiving it as it floated, lowered their boat and secured iu A proposition was now made, by the officer whom the death of the English captain had left in comm uid, to ransom the ship iu order that she might proceed ou her voyage; aud the arrangement was presently effected, the sum paid being forty thousand dollars, which. considering the value of the ship and ca rgo, was not excessive. A romantic mciUeut occurred in con nection with the capture of this ship. One of the Tom's young oilicers showed much kindness to au English lad, who. although oidy a passenger, had taken a brave part iu the battle, and received a severe wound. The English youth re membered the kiudliearted. American, and a year afterward, in the West In dies, when iace had been declared,, the two again met. The American, who was a young gentleman of good parentage, and a tine education, became introduced to a sister of the youth he had befriended, and a mutual attachment sprang up between them. Six mouths later they were married; and their subsequent life, spent partly in the Barbadoes and partly in the United States, was a prosperous and happy one. So the voyages of American pnva- teer's-men were not always without associations which were softer than the roar of cannon or the call of the boat swain's pipe. There was sometimes a rainbow of this description resting upon the very smoke of battle. Jew privateers were more active than the Tom, and few had mora of roman tic novelty In their ocean record. Iter appearance is said to have been jaunty and rakish in the extreme; and oue would, indeed.be apt to guess as much. Lnndoi Itooaera. Fertiliity of thought in necessity is wonderful. A Londoner, sorely pressed for occupation aud livelihood, con ceived the idea of letting out hip ser vices to men whose somnolent aabits put the a on their employers' black iihts; so he looked about for workmen and others who wanted to be aroused at early hoars in the morning, formed a party and made occupation for him- &eli in catling bi& cli&uta at any hour they pleased, charging them two, three or sixpence, or whatever sum they might agree upon, for the week's ser vice. "Calling workmen" his aow be come an industry, sal those who pur sue it hang out Uieir plates and "anin gles" as uo the doctor, the lawyers and the architects. Home of tne 'rousing. oflices employ several men, each of whom has his route and duties, just as police cfiisers do. The occu pation is not the most desirable or con genial that could be wished lor, es pecaily in cold or stormy weather. While ever on the Surrey side of thb Thames a few years ago, at a very early hour in the morning, just before break of day, the writer saw one of these "rousers" shuffling along the streets in a most disgruntled way. His hands and arms were in his pocaets np to his elbowt, his eyes were half closed with sleep, aud he looked tne picture oi a very discontented fellow. Halting op posite one of the old-fashioned brick dwelling houses of the borough he knocked repeatedly and loudly ou the door, hallooed again and again to his client inside, and muttered and growled and grumbled at everybody in general aud this workingniaa in particular who wouldn't be satisfied with a decent, re sDcctable "rouse" without forcing him ' to wake up all London. The New Volcano. News of a remarkable voloauio out- burnt in the Arctio regions has reoently been received in San Francisco. In a letter from Mrs. Frederick Smith, to her father, Dr, J. n. Hatch, of San Francisco, dated October 1C, the writ er says that on that day a moat unusual sight was witnessed iu the heavens to the north of Ounalaska, ai l that soon afterwards the sky grew very dark, a dense black cloud covering the whole horizon and hanging so low as to permit a clone iospectioa of its composition, though this could not bs made oat at that time. TiiL cloud and its general color and outline were so unlike any thin; the writer had ever seen betore as to defy comparison. The light of the sun was completely excluded from that section, many ascribing this to a total eclipse, and others, seeing the cloud and experiencing a peculiar and very unusual beat in the atmosphere, thought the world was approaching its end. Mr. Applegate, of the signal station, predicted a heavy gale on the appearance of this phenomenal cloud; but it was not untd it broke, which occurred half an hour afterward, that its real nature was discovered. On col lapsing, the entire mass fell to the earth, enveloping everything to the depth of fcur or five inches iu a sheet of dull, grey ashes. Its volcanic origin was soon apparent; but there being no active volcano on the island, and the only mountain of any great extent, Mokashin, 5,471 feet in height, being close at hand, and showing no disturb snce, the eruption was thought to have taken place on the island of Bogoslov (God's laud), thirty miles northwest from Outialaska. Imports id been brought iu from time to time du-ing the summer by natives of the doings of the "angry mountain" of Bogoslov, ad to this volcano the cionj of ashes seems to have been attributable. In the San iraucisco Chronicle of November 28, in addition to the facts above recited, is the following inter view with Captain Hogne, of the steam er Dora, which brought the letter of Mrs. Smith from Ounalaeka. Captain Uogue said, in reply to an inquiry, that he nad been at Bogoslov twice during the past season, and added: " 'When I say that I was at Bogoslov you must not take it for granted 1 land ed there.' " 'Is it not a habitable island?' we asked. " 'At certain seasons, perhaps, bat at the time I saw it there was nothing visible there but a mass of flame and smoke, with pieces of red hot rock issu ing from the great cone iu the centre of the mass and great quantities of lava running down to the sea.' " How near did yon approach?' " 'I stood off about a mile aud a half, not daring to venture nearer. It was the grandest scene lever witnessed, and I have been pretty nearly everywhere.' " 'How long did the eruption last?' " 'I can't exactly say as to that, as 1 foaud ths ooue iu a disturbed condition, and left it next day, still in a state of eruption. I havo'learuod ttiat it hud been throwing out lava for several weeks, and that it had still continued to do so up to the date of my depart ure from Ounalasks. But what was most remarkable aud singular was a oew feature which waa then visible on the scene. A new island had sprung np not far distant from Bogoslov since my previous voyage to that spot. At Bxst 1 could not believe my souses, aud thought I had made a miaejtlculauou in taking my surroundings, but there it was, a new island, with a cone-shaped peak in the centre, 5 JO to frJO feet high' and lying only a short distance from where we itood, that portion o! its ir regular outline nearest to Bogoslov be ing but a few miles away from the old inland. ' " 'What would you consider a fair estimat of iU area?' "'Well, its irregular proportion would hardly admit of anything but a rough guess. I should think it about three-fourths of a mile iu length aud about the same in width.' " 'in what latitude and longitude was it?' " 'Well, I will tell you about that.' said the Captain. 'You see, I m.-wle calculations, but not knowing what might have happened there since, I wouldn t like to publish them, as they might mislead other navigators.' " 'D.d you meet any other tailors who had seen the laud recently thro wn np?" " 'Captain Anderson of the Matthew Turner said that he had also observed it,' replied the captain. 'His observa tion was made about the same time. but the island was then a mass of lire and smoke, and not yet in a compact state. He said that he had sailed over the same spot now occupied by the island two or three times buriug the previous season.' ' 'What do the natives have to say in regard to the pheaomenon?' 'Their information cannot generally ba depended upon, aud their knowledge of time days, weeks, and mouths es pecially seems to be sadly deficient. Xuey say, though, that the eruptions began abjut halt a year ago and have continued intermittently. This state ment has been partly borne out by re ports of white men, but all is generally vague and unsatisfactory. Oue tiling li certain, a new island has been lor jaed, and navigators sailing those seas cannot be too particular about the manner in which they approach Bogoflov.' ''The Captain went on to say that the island of Bogoslov had been uuin habited by natives and was barren of vegetation, the capture of ses-lions be ing the only industry engaged in, and tuat wholly by natives. A remarkable assertion waj made in regard to the sea- lious. Many cf them were repor ted as having been killed by the volcanic eruptions, and the sea was said to be swarming with these anitnala, The greater portion of those still alive were hairless, the heat to whioh they had been subjected having removed their outer fur, rendering tbose caught in this viciuity of no value to the hunter. "Some of the ashes which fell at Ounalaska were examined by the re porter. They were peculiar iu their lightness, and cottony appearance, and the stttemeut of their havmg been borne thirty miles in the air by a light wind may be eaauy credited. "Captain Hogue has given to his discovery the name ot New Bogoslov." TiU Government comes down bo rough on counterfeiters and keeps such a sharp eye open for bad bills, we wonder that it doesn't snpress the passing of Congressional bills. Mere's a chaLee for the Administration to make Itself solid with the people. FolM Halt Go. The German empire alone has no less than 2J,UuO miles of subterranean wire, out of a total of 152.000 miles of line. France has 7,200 miles of undergrouud wire in successful me Austria-Hun gary comes next, with 354 miles of her underground, aud Itussia follows, witii a subterraneau system covering 15o miles. We have not at hand the means of showing all the cress-country hues making np these several totals, nor it such snowing necessary at the present time, either for the purpose of making gcod the ttatements heretofore made nr of establishing the points we had in iew, which related solely to intra mural service, or the use of wires in cities. We are, however, able to name fc number cf instances where wires are carried for long distances under ground through stretches ot open coontry, iiere there are no objections to the pole-strung bnes, such as exist in populous and crowded cities. ' Between Berlin and Halle, in Ger many, there are over four hundred miles of wire, iu all. laid beneath the sur face of the earth, and working as satis factorily us the air-strung lines, with the additional advantage thit they are less liable to injury and interruption from atmospheric and other cause. In .France the telegiaph Hues belonging to the railway between Paris aud Nancy, a -distance of one hundred and seventy miles, are wholly laid under the ground. A portion of tbose belonging to the Fans. Lyons and Mediterranean rail way line are similarly constructed, aud measures are now being taken to put the system into more general operation on that route. Iu England the under grouud wires have also been worked successfully between distint po-.nts for some tirae past the lines between Liverpool and Marchester, some thirty six niiles apart, being a notable iu stance. It is, however, with the desirability and feasibility of undergrouu 1 wires in cities that the discussion of the sub ject has mainly to do at the pr sent time, aud upon this phase of the ques tion we are fortunately able to thow a good deal of positive and quite con clusive iight. An official report, pre pared some three years ago from au thentic data then obtained, showed that there were nearly 600 miles of subter ranean wires worked successfully at th"t time in the principal cities of the British islands and the continent, as follows: In London, 110 miles; in other cH&s in Oreat Britain, 12D. In Paris, ID; other cities id France, 100. In Berlin, 50; thirty-two other cities in Gvrmany, 40. In Amsterdam, 7 J; the Hague, 4; fortv-hve other places in Hooand.19. In Brussels, 31; Ant werp, 2. In various cities in Switzer land.. Kince these statistics were furnished, the underground system has been very mm h x tended in the countries named, as r oll m the cities where it was then ' othr ;Uces where the ex periment had not yet been tried, so it is quite within reason to assume that the length of wire as reported at that time had now, very nearly, if not whol ly, doubled. But the figures given above very clearly demonstrate as ta;y stand the hollowuess of the pretense set up by tne telegraph interests of this country and those serving them, that the uudergrouud svsteru is nut practic able. Tti Open Flreplxs. If there were no other thing in the esthetic renaissance to be thankful for its restoration of fireplaces to our homes would entitle it to respectful considera tion. Opon fires have more than an esthetic influence. As centres for the home circle or family semi-circle that forms them, and as disseminators of cheerfulness and content, it may be claimed that they serve au ethic pur pose. The snapping, fragrant back log, or the genial glow of cannel coal, mantl ed iu limpid flames of blue, disjKwe one to profitable reflections, to generous and sympathetic feelings, and to a placidity of mind that was fur a time supposed by tlis rushing public of the nineteenth centrry to be one of the lost arts. Gassy furnaces, cast iron stoves, and such poor pretexts as kerosene and gas radiators can never impart more than physical warmth, Mentae caloric and those airy fancies, delicate as the flames that give them cause, are not evolved by hugging stoves and sitting over registers. The cheerful effect of visible fire gives it decorative value, and it is doubtless for this reason that appro priate settings for irons and grates have recently invited the attention of archi tects and designers. Fires were almost the sole decorations, if they may be so regarded, of early settler's homes in this country, and many an old farmhouse wou'id be dismal enough to-day, but for its cosy hearth, the focus of family heart warmth. Vet a certain severe beauty was seen in many of these fire places of yore, and such beauty as they possessed is very justly perpetnated. Their brass furnishing was a more taste ful concession to the appropriate than might have been looked for among the early New Englanders, for brass ap proximates more nearly to flame, in color and brightness than any other nietaL The glitter of the flames was cheerfully repeated also in rows of pictured tile, the religious austerity of whose designs was odd when seen in contrast with a rousing fire that ought to melt austerity out of any company. Even when it flashes from a rude cavern of brick and mortar, a fire may be regarded as the eye of an apartment, giving cheer and animation to what might else be cold and lifeless. It naturally attacts the human eye, and is therefore a fitting spot about which to group objects of attractiveness and beauty. Antiquity of decoration is not amiss, so the designs be cheerful, but 1st not admiration for antiquity betay us into admiring antiquity for its own sake. Select what is beautiful and use ful in it, for a catholic spirit is the spirit of the time, but do not, as ono house-owner of my acquaintance has done, hang the ancestral pots and ket ties upon a craus over the drawing- room tire, showing them complacently to visitors as things to respect. Ha Kept His Word. A romantic episode in the lives of two lovers is at present exciting great in terest near Coalton, ; Pa. William Craig, a young farmer, and Mary Barker the eighteen-year-old daughter of Wil liam Barker, also a farmer, were to have been married on Christmas Day, 1SC3. . On the evei jig of the 7th of December in the above-named year there was a social party at Farmer Barker's house, and among Ihe guests was a young man from this village, Miss Barker danced with him twice iu succession, and young Craig reproved her for such marked attention to another and to'd her that he did not wish her to dance again with the young man in question. This aroused tbe spirit of the young lady, and she replied that she would dance with him or any one else she chose and as many times as she liked. Craig then informed her that she might do so, but that she wouldn't see him again for twenty years. To this she tauntingly replied that "he couldn't stay away from her twenty hours if he tried ever so hard." Craig went home, and the next iay lie was missing. He lived with his parents, who were unable to find any trace of him. Miss Barker vowed she never would go into or re ceive company again until he returned. As years passed by and no traces of the missing son were received, his parents came to look upon him as dead. Miss Barker, however, had a singular faith that he would come back some day, She kept her vow as to living a seclud ed life, and few people ever saw her after the night she had quarreled with her lover. Friday evening, the 7th of Dec., a stranger knocked at the door of old Mr. Barker's house and asked to see Miss Barker. He was a large, fine-looking man about forty years of age. He was admitted, aud when Miss Barker ap peared he held out his hand and said: "Mary Barker, did't I tell you that you wouldn't see me again in twenty years ?" It was William Craig. He had re turned io his parents' home in the after noon. Both his father and mother were still living. The secret of his arrival was kept, and when he appeared in so dramatic a manner in the presence of his old sweetheart she fainted in his arms. Craig's story of his disappearance and long absence was that he had gone straight to Philadelphia after leaving home, and there enlisted in the army under an assumed name. He served until the er.d of the war and was mus tered out at Pniladelphia. He longed very much to return home, but he per mitted his determination to remain away twenty years to control him, and he went directly to Nebraska. There be took up a tract of land and went to farming, remaining there untd the twen ty years was up. He resolved to time his return and the meeting of his;ld sweet heart, if sbe was still alwe and unmar ried, at as near the hour of his leaving her as it was possible to do. He came back with an ample fortune, and foand matters much as he had left them. The wedding that did not come off twenty years ago will be celebrated at the approaching Christmas. ThTrle in Ititd. "The bird business Is not a very pre Stable one cn account of the few sales made,' said a Chicago bird dealer, and we therefore have to make a pretty good profit when a sale is effect ed, lou notice we have a nnmber of mocking-birds; well. th?y are boagnt in New Orleans, anil are auout me only bird we buy there. Good canaries are more valuable there than here, and. a bird that costs li or $3 here is worth from $i to $5 there. The mocking birds cost 53 cents in the Sonth when they are bought from the merchants. These merchants are creels, who buy them fro ui the boys who make a busi ness of robbing the nests for the young birds. The boys only get from 10 to 15 cenls apioce'for them, but we don't often have the chance to buy them from the boys, as we don't wish to stay long and must get up a lot as soon as possible. The bird catchers are little oiaca ana white boys who live ou the ooast aud plantations. They atleni to it regular ly, and when they catch enough to pay they take them to the city and dispose of them to the street bird merchants. Oflalealaw has been pasted against taking mocking-birds from the planta tions, and most all of them come from the sea coast. The old ones build their nests generally in wild rose bushes, old trees and lences. They are not very particular, and make them out of sticks, which they put together in a rough manner just so they wui noid the eggs. They lay four or live, and every one hatches. In their wild btite they raise only two broods, if not dis turtoJ; but when a boy finds a nest and is careful in robbing, it he is sure of three or four broods during the season. The business is quite large iu the South, and thousands of birds are bought and sold every day. "Now, I will tell you something about parrots that will surprise you. We bur them at New Orleans, and the dealers there get them off boats which go cut on the coasts aud islands to catch them. They are not real parrots and cannot talk, but they sell just as as well, and it isn't our fault if they don't learn to talk. We pay about 83 for them down there and get 9I2 for them here. In the northern towns the people buy more birds, than they do further South, and canary and moca- lng-birds are the general favorite. Canaries command the most sales be cause we can sell them cheaper thaa the mockera." There are a set of malicious, prating , prudent gossips, both male and female, who murder characters to kill time; and who will rob a young feliow of his good name betore he has years to know the value of it. A shrewd observer once said that iu walking the streets of a slippery morn ing, one might see where the good na- tured people lived, by the ashes thrown on the ice before the door. Blame not before you examine the truth. Helie Hunters. The dealer in curiosities was turning over with narked suspicion a large group of "relics." "A curiosity," said he, "is interesting iu itself; it means something. But a reiij is almost always a worthless fragment. It is the thing from which the rillo is taken, not tbe relic itself, which is in teresting. The genuine relic hunters, though, are worth knowing; funniest chaps you ever saw. They're a race of beings by themselves. The man who sent these things here for me to buy says he's got reven boxes more of the same sort, the collection of a lifetime. Look at this chip, marked. "Piece of the Unit sleeper laid for tbe Hudson River Bail road.' On the man's list it is enterod, 'Bought 1809 50 cents.-' It may be genuiue that is, if the com pany used elm wocd for their road but if this chip is worth 50 cents, the whole sleeper must be worth several hundred dollars, and the company ought to saw it up and sell it. There's no logic in a relic hunter. The one who travelled all over the world and brought back several trunks lull of noses broken off from ancient statues, had a definite idea. His followers are curiously dilu ted specimens of their predecessor. "some of tbem, however, have spe cialties not unlike that of the nose breaker. One of the liveliest of tbe relic men collected the hats of celeb rities. I don't believe he would have given a dollar for Napoleon's grey over coat: but the hat of a President of the Urn ted States had fur him an almost priceless value. If necessary, he was was ready to suborn a great man s ser vants to get tbe wished for article. Some years ago I saw his collection. Ilis hueet specimens were at that tune placed upon Uie heads of plaster busts, and arranged iu long rows. He after wards discarded this mode of arrange ment, owing to the singular discrepan cies whiu often existed between the siaa of the two articles. He told me that Le had tried scraping down the busts, which were geuerallv much larger than the hats, but the result was to give a peculiar appearance to his collection. One or two of bis hats, notably that of Thomas H. Ben ton, were so small as to create a doubt 111 my mind as to their authenticity. 1 lehrutd afterwards that hotel seivauU aud others used to palm oil thtir owu bats uoen the collector. One of the greatest troubles with relics is tnat they seldom bear the least evidence within themselves of their genuineness. I hive seen in my day several hundreds of the pens with wluch Walter Scott wrote iVuvertt, and iu the old country Bobby Bar us' drinking glass might almost be called a staple article of commerce. V hen my poor father first took me into business he gave me aa awful talking to because I bought three locks ot Byron's hair from a relic collector, although I only paid sixpence for the thr-3e. The trouble was they were all of different shades. Poe's hair uaed to le sold largely, but 2ou can t dis- poso of it now unless you mount it very expensively In old gold; it takes best in mourning rings or pins. There was so much of Poe's hair sold that the relic trade in hair has suffered ever siuce. lhere was a time when hair rehc-hnuter would make an ef fort to secure a lock from the head of a great m in, even if the latter died as laid as the American eagle. "Bless me, if u 3ta isn t one of the twenty-five million canes that hive beea turned out of the Mount V eruon man ufactory. It is marked 'From the grave of Woehington!' And this fellow wants 5- lor it. W hats this? 'From the Colosseum, Borne.' How 'a that for a rock? Here's a rag from the dres of Mane Antoinette as she was being led to execution, and this hard-looking nip kin in a glass case is marked 'dipped 13 the blood of Lady Jane Orey. executed iu the Tower of London, August -2, 1553.' Value S3, 1 see. Now, sir. 11 you'll just take a look at that pile over there, which I haven t examined yet. you'll see a glass tube, sealed at both end-!, aud containing a burnt stick. Wait a minute aud I'll tell you ah tt it is without renting the label. It's a 'piece of charred fazot foaud ou the spot where Joan of Aro was burned.' Ah! I thought so; Ive seen oi'diof them iu my day. This is the niost precious lot of played-out relics I've seen for some time. Yet there are peo ple iu this city who are looking for just such articles, and will pay heavdy for them. "Many relic hunters go in only for mementoes, and a precious lot of rub bish these mementoes almost always are. II a man lias a fancy to gather a flower lroia the grave of Keats, in Borne, or a few leaves from Dry burgh Abb.-y, and make up a little album, it is wed enough. Bat an idiot who goes around witu a hammer chppmj oil pieces of famous bridges or churches, and even gravestones, ought to be sent to a lunatic asylum. I know a man ho ha.s a collection of bricks. Some Oue gave him a Babylonian brick one day, and it set him crazy. The secoad b.ici came from the Old South Church, in Boston, and the third from Indepen dence Hall, Phdauelphui. lie picked up enough of them iu Borne to build a ck;mney with. Two years ago he got into trouble iu Pompeii for taking some rubbish from there; but when tue au thorities found he only wanted a brick or two and was willing to pay well, they settled amicably. lie always carries a heavy steel-bound crunk witu him, aud he and his peculiar curiosities nave oiused much anxiety among Custom House oilicers. Be told me the other day, with great solemnity, that two ol his Valuable bricks had been broken by au lnftieotor. Oue was from the Col umn of Tiaian, aud the other from the fine old liomin triumphal arch in Mar seiile3. He used to hire men to pull them out for him while he remained in a doorway at a convenient distance. By the way. the old gentleman lost a box of ike il 1 br os a year ago; it was tbrown overboard by some sailors, who thought it wai dynamite. It see us that a stowaway had screwed the cover on in the befit f that it contained gold. He then made a confident of one of the sailors aud persuaded them that it was an explosive. They promised him food for the voyage if be would throw the bncks into the sea. This collector's brick from the hoase of Columbus was lost iu the same way. "The most costly of all the collec tions of useless things I ever saw was one which consulted wholly of what purported to be the bones of celebrated men. A man who ever gets this mania is incurable, and will otten go without the comforts of life to gratify the craze. Oi course such collections are seldom heard of, for the prac'.ica of robbing graves is dangerous. A Canadian gen tleman who used to call on me twice a year for fine "rattlers'- 'hat's what the v call these cheerful rens tcld me that he got the taste through hearing in his youth a graphic story about the steal ing of a boue from the grave of the Rev. George Whitefield, the celebrated English preacher, who diod near Boston a few years before the Revolutionary war. I supposed this is true. At any rate Boston was considered at one time headquarters for dealers in first-ciitas rattlers.' There is not much call for them openly, except among collectors of morbid articles connected with great criminals. The Canadian once had a bitter fight with a fellow collector. who. on visiting him, found in hia possession the skull of General file ber, who was assassinated in Curo iu the year 1300. Now, as the visitor had himself pro. cured in Egypt, at great expense, a skull of the General, the collectors be came highly excited, aud an anatomist was called in. Science decided that oue of the skulls oenfined a piece of in tegument whose chemical changes proved it to be considerably less thau six years old, while the formation of the other not only showed a decided Lyptian origin, but cmtained the teeth of a person of twenty Tears. Kleber was about fifty. But the fun niest part of it, though 1 did not daro laugh over it when the report was made, was that one ol the collectors had been cherishing the skull of a woman. "It is very sirgular how easily rui:o hunters may be fooled. Neither 01 those two men would buy any cf tue religious relics so common 111 Eampe.. But take almost any kind of a b i'e, boil it carefully to take the fat out, dry it for several days by gentle het i . ui oven, and eolor it yellow with tajiurm and Vandyke brown, and you havj a fair basis for a dicker with the be?t o. the relic hunters. The inscription tuiut be very carefuby mada on old ve luin, and odd private marks, partially obliter ated, must appear here and there ou the bone. Some dialers use a mix. uro of a mineral acid and water on p.iru o: the bone, to make them crumble e uily The articles raust be kept in heavy glaSs cases made for them, au I, if mom. ted, must show oostly work l'Le price asked must be large, and r gidiy adhered to. These devices may apoeur immoral, but it is better to use laeu than to rob a grave. "Of course most of the relic huu:or. aim to get a general collection. 1'uey wiil take a bottle of water from thj River Jordan; a piece of rotten stju from Vesuvius, gulf weed from t js At lantic ocean, or a piece of oil bara from Hyde Park. With equal oa.ma bs they wid break a piece of stone troui a statue or a public building; they woold steal a great' mail's hairbrush, o. split oil a pieoe of mahogany from bis writing-table. A list of their varied e .. lec tions wonld be very long for the aver age compass of a man's lite. Iltcj the specialists would make a tremeulous list, 1 havd kuowu meu who tok a shell or a pebble from every wcil-kuou beach they ever visited or luouuiaiu they ever ascended. Oue of tueui had a stone from the stieats of every impure ant city in Europe. The nu ab.-r 01 collectors of pipes is quite lar-. A Brooklyn minister had a haudsouic col lection of meerschaums. I fcuj oue gentleman who cared for notuu but o:d clocks, and auother who hail be tween three and lour hundred old fashioned eye-glasses aud spectacles." The Hock Ureter ol California. Ou the coast of San Luis Obispo, Cal., are found great numbers of the rock oyster, although a scieutist says it is not an oyster at all, but such is its conimnn name. 1 he i umitofti.s titu- frni:us invites the curious to study its habitat, and the epicure to feast upon its juicy body when they find it. When the ti..e is low, this mollusk m iv be found almost anywhere where the rocks project into the sea, but it requires souij knowledge of its peculiar characteris tics to know where to look. The para pholas, when a spat, swims in the sea until it strikes a rock, when it fastens and locates that spot for its home. Ap parently without shell or hard substance to bite, scratch, or bore with, the little fellow makes its way into stone and there imprisuns itself for life, taking on a shell, growing and enlarging its little cavern with its growth. How the rock oyster bores into the stone and atterward enlarges its chamber is a puzzle to scientists. When grown it is about four inches in length, is a bivalve and in form resembles a pear, the small end toward the opening in the rock, through which it thrusts its tube or siphon to draw in and ej?ct water iu which it finds Its nourishment. Iu its prison home it keeps a continual roek inj mot!on, by which it enlarges the room in which to grow. The oyster is found by discovering the little holes in the rock and breaking it open with a pick or hammer, They are found all along the Pacific coast from Cape Flat tery to Cape St. Lucas, and are plenti ful along the coast of San Luis Obispo. As an edible they are considered the best of their class, aud one knowing their locality and with means and iu d us try to quarry them out can supply himself with a feast. A Costless Drees. A very cheap and pretty wi itjrdi'jss for a young lady can ba made out of the thick, coarse gray wooleu goods, which comes at 13 aud 23 cents a jxc I. Twelve yards will make a suit, in -m 1 mg a jacket, Pat a plaiting, nvo mches deep, about the edge, tuea four tucks, and over this drop an apron front over-tlress. Make the bodice tig'tt- fltting and short, and cut the bottoai m little square scaiops. Uave t le j tcket in the Jersey shape and line it with a thickness of cottoa batting and gray silesia. Border the sleeves, uecx an t bottom with gray squirrel far at -ti a yard, three yards costing .lij. Make a little round hat o it cf scraps of the materia', and border with tue fur, ane make a mutf in the same way. lining it with siies:a or a plecj of tue material. The eost of this jt'iuty, warm aud fashionable cost line will not be more thaa S3.5J, and will look as though it cost S'iO. A costume very similar can be made out of fine flannel. i !
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers