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TEE 005STITUTI05-THE UHOI-AID THE EUTOEOEMEHT OP THE LATE.
B. F. SCHWEIER,
Tjklitor and Proprietor.
VOL. XXXVIII.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PKNNA.. WEDNESDAY. MAHCII 12, ISS4.
NO. II.
BECABErTL WHAT YOU SAt.
In speaVin of a person's fault.
Pray Uou't fortet your own,
Uememter those with homes of glass
Should never throw a stone.
If w have nothing else to do,
Than talk of those who sin.
Yes, better we commence at home,
And from that point begin.
We have no ripht to judjre a man
Until he's fairly tnd;
Should we not like hi company,
We know the world ia wida.
Some may have faults, and w ho has not?
The old as well as youug;
Perha we may, for sunlit we know,
Have tilty to their one.
Ai t'XWILXIXQ KESTITCTIOX.
.-5
I Poor May Lakeinan! People piiied
I her when she caine forth from the
I old home came forth to commuience
J the world miew, and to pick her ow n
!way through the tangled obstacles that
ever beset the life-path of the poor and
friendless. She had friends who were
ready to bestow ujwn her of their heart
, wealth; but none were at hand who
I could lift Ler over the deep, dark
chasm which had intruded between
j herself and the promises of the future,
i Old Aaron Donberg had died, aud
I had been buried; aud his will had beeu
read, by which it was made to appear
that all his wealth had been bequeathed
to his step-soD, Gaspard. Beally'this
step-sou's name was (iaspard Graui
inont, but he had changed his surname
to Donberg.
Aaron Donberg had been twice mar
ried, but he had never had a child of
his own. 11 is second wife had been a
widow, with one child by a former hus-
Jband: and uaspard was that child.
Once, while Gaspard was quite young,
o;d Donberg had been taken very sick,
and fancied himself dying. In this
i condition he sent for a notary, aud
i made his will, by which he gave his
proi-erty all to Gaspard, his wife to
I have the use of a certain portion while
she uvea. Uut Aaron Don berg did not
then die. lie got well, and lived to
discover that his step-sou was a very
mean, false, aud con'.empible fellow.
In time his wife died, aud at the same
time lie heard of the death of his only
sister, lie kuew that his sister had let ta
daughter, and he sent for that daughter
to come and live widi him. Aud she
came and this was May Lakeman.
She was sixteen then a bright, happy
faced, pure-eyed, vigorous girl, who
found the greatest sum of joy in mak
ing those around her joyous.
Aaron Donberg very soon came to
love May dearly; aud she certainly
loved him. She became mistress of his
household, and an entirely new house
hold it because under her management.
Aud, f urtheruiore, Aaron came to dis
cover joys and blessings in life which
he never discovered before.
Gaspard went irom bad to worse aft
er May came. At first he sought to
make love to her; but she repulsed him
in disgust, and he then persecuted her.
A little while so, and then old Donberg
turned him out of doors. lie did not
kick bun out; but he gave him a thou
sand dollars, and told him to go.
Time passed on, and May was hap
py and contended. She had plenty
to occupy her mind, and she knew how
to turn labor into pastime.
A widow named 1'rindle whose lias
band had been lost at sea, tad long
been in the habit of coming to Don
berg's house to work as occasion re
quired. This widow had a sen Jack
a wild, wayward fellow; frank, genial
wave and true hearted, and withal,
handsome, lie followed the sea as his
father had done; but his voyaging was
ujxia the coast, so he was often at home.
lie saw May Lakeman and loved her,
and, in return, sue loved turn. VY hen
her uncle asked her about it she replied
that she loved Jack PnntUe because
she couldn't help it. She knew he had
faults; but in her eyes they were as the
blemishes uton the uncut diamond
And Uncle Aaron, knowing some
thing of Jack s good qualities, he said,
Weil, well, we'll send the lad off up
on a long voyage, and if he comes
back a true man, we'll see.'
So Jack Prindle Lad gone to India,
and taken May's haart with hnn.
The years passed, and in time it was
generally believed that Aaron Donberg
would leave all his wealth to May
Lakeman. lie never told Mary
that he should do so; but he
use! often to pat her upon
the head, and kiss her, and tell her that
she suouta una tnat ne loved ner as
though she had been his own child.
Hut May aid not think of her ancle's
money. She was happv in her labors
of duty and of love; and if the thought
ot the luture it was in connection with
her tar-oll sailor-boy.
At le.igthwut n May had lived with her
uncle tue years, the old gentleman was
taken sxs, and the doctors said he
could not lecover. While he was con
fined to his bed his t-tep-son returned.
proferS:ng great penitence, aud begging
that he lii.ghL be allowed to do his part
toward rendering comfortable
the la t days of the good
old man. 21 r. lAinberg could not find
it m his heart to turn him away, so he
suuere ; una to remain. in a very
guarded manner Gaspard renewed his
pio.e-Oations of love to May; but she
saw thr.iugh the lbnisy covering of
f alsehood, aud spumed him as she had
done before.
At length Aaron Donberg died, and
wueu i e bad been buried, his private
ee.-K was opened, and bis will was fonnd
the old will, by which he had be
queathed his property to Gaspard!
People were surprised. It was be
lieved that a new will had been made,
anu mat Alary iikemau was the heir.
Old servant declared that Mr! Don
berg h;ul sought for the first will, that
he might destioy it, but had not been
able to hud it. All was darkness and
doubt. Uncle Aaron had been reticent,
evidently not wishing tliat May should
Poeitiveiy kn w of his intent, lest she
might leel that she was bound to his
service, and thus her labors ceased to
be of pure love.
The notary was dead he had died
twd month's before Doiiber's decease.
The two subscribing witnesses to the
second wiil or, those who wete sup
Posed so to have been had gone, no
one knew whither. It was whispered
that Gasnard had bought them off.
And so after due examination, the
old will was accepted as the true one,
and Gaspard Grammont, under the
name of Gaspard Donberg, took charge
of the property. Once more he offered
his hand to May; and once more she re
fused him, and weut outto battle
with the world rather than remain be
neath the same roof with Gaspard
Grammont.
Hut not long in the glooM not long
alone. There was a light rising in the
East. A shiD came in from mum, ami
the .commander thereof was Jack
Prindle the same brave, frank, hand
some fellow, but grown now to be strong
and stalwart mau. And the first love
of his ereat heart was as pure and
fresh asin the brieht morning of -its
birth. May nestled to his bosom aud
told him her story. And he heard the
story from others.
Now, I think I may say with truth
that Capt. Jack Prindle cared but very
little for Aaron Donliere's wealth,
since he possessed the only blessiug he
had ever hoped for tioui the household
Uut he did not like that his sweet love
should suffer great wrong; and, more
over, he knew that Gaspard was a con
suniate villain, and he wished to ex
pose and punish him; or. at, least he
wished to circumvent him.
Capt. Jack made himself thoroughly
acquainted with all the circumstances
bearing upon the case and then he pre
pared for action.
'If your uncln left such a will as we
have sioken of.' he said to May, 'be
sure Gaspard has not destroyed -it.
know bun well; aud I know that lie is
coward of the creeping, sneaking
kind. If he was going to do murder,
he would do it by poison. II is baud
would fail him in the attempt to strike
a strong blow. If he lias disposed of the
second will. I think he has hidden it,
at least for a time. The burnuig of it
would be a bold ciime; but i 1 hiding it
he pursues a safer course, Miould the
witnesses to said will ever turn up, or
should anything occur to render the
fact of Mr. Douberg's having made
such a will positive, he would hold the
matter in his own hands. He could at
the last moment, allow the will to
be produced, aud thus go free. At all
events, my darling, I shall proceed upon
that tack, and I am sadly out et
my reckoning if I do not run Gaspard
Grammont by the board, and bring him
to a 8;eedy surrender.'
May kissed her lover, and said she
did not care for her uncle's wealth
now.
lf I have your love all the same
dear Jack, what care I for all the woild
beside!'
Only this my precious one,' he re
plied, returning the kiss, 4we will if
possible, right a great wrong.'
Gaspard Grammont sat in the apart
ment which had once been Aaron Dou
berg's "snuggery," a library, a smok
ing room, and a napping room a room
large and airy, with a deep bay-window
looking uion the park, and upon the
Like, and furnished for entire comfort
and ease. But Gaspard Grammont did
not appear to have found much com
fort. The servants shunned him, and
the neighbors sought not his society.
lie had resolved that as soou as the bus
iness pertaining to the settlement of the
estate under the will had been favora
bly closed by the surrogate, he would
sell off the proerty aud remove to
some distant part of the country, lie
was sitting in the great easy-chair in
which old Aaron had once sat; and he
was thinking what steps he would take
for the selling of the estate after the
surrogate's work should have been done,
when the door was unceremoniously
opened, and Captain Jack Prindle en
tered. He started to his feet in alarm,
but the intruder waved him down.
Don't be alarined, Mr. Grammont '
'Vonljerg, if you please, sir.'
'It's all one to me; but I choose to
call you by the name your father and
your mother gave you. Hold on just a
moment.'
'Ha! "What! Iu the name of all
that'
Captain Jack turned and waved his
hand again. He had locked tha door,
and put the key into his pocket.
'My dear sir,' he said, in the coolest
and politest manner possible, 'you must
excuse me. I have locked the door be
cause I have business of the utmost
importance to transact, and because
would not be interrupted.
Gaspard Grammont was frightened.
In the other years he had known Jack
Prindle lor a bold, reckless, strong
youth, totally regardless of personal
danger in the pursuit of a cherished
purpose, and never a friend to himself.
lie sat back in the great chair, aud
awaited the result.
Captain Jack did not sit. He stood
before the villain, and looked him
steadily iu the face.
'Gaspard Grammont, 1 will be very
brief. I think you would prefer to have
it so?'
The false heir gasied an affirmative
auswer. And the stout sailor pro
ceeded,
We will have no argument no dis
cussion not a word! I regard you as
a pirate, and as 1 would approach a pi
rate I approach youl 1 know your lile
as a low. worthless thing, and
I would shoot you as I would
shoot a highwavman who sought
to rob me! I have come hither for a
purpose, and I have counted the cost.
.Now, Gaspard Grammont, listen:
'Aaron JJouberg made a will by
which his property was left to May
Lakeman; and you know what has be
come ot that wiil lioidi it you
move from that chair except to obey
me, you dier
And thus speaking. Jack irindie
drew a heavy pistol from his deep side
pocket and cocked it; and with a steady
hand, and a keenly Hashing eye, he
pointed the muzzle at the bosom of the
trembling wretch.
'lou Bee. Gaspard Grammont what a
fearful cost I have counted; but be
sure I shall not back down. If you
produce that will, you may live. If
you refuse to produce it, you shall die
where you sitl See yonder clock,
mark where the second-hand now halts.
I give you two minutes. Produce the
will, or '
The wretch raised his hands.and cried
for mercy. He would have sworn that
he knew nothing of a second will, but
Captain Jack stopped him.
JSot a word, Gaspard Grammont,
save of promise to produce the wilL
am in earnest I am desperate! I
know you have seen it. Mark the
baud of the clock! One minute more!
If those second hands flee and find vou
speechless, God lave mercy on your
soul r
One last despairing glance at the
avenger, standing there so stern and so
relentless, with the death-sentence in
his naming eye, and the culprit's cra
ven spirit broke down.
'In mercy's name ,
'Avast! Look! In ten secondj the
end has come!"
Hold! I will surrendir! I will con
fess all if'
'If what?'
'It you will let me go unscathed of
the law!'
So be it,' replied Capt. Jack without
lowering bis pistol. 'If you will pro
duce the missing testament, it shall be
al owed to apiear that you found it ac
cidentally, aud volutarily restored it.
On these conditions will ycu live?'
Yes r
Capt. Jack waitedunlil his eyes had
rested upon the will by which May
Lakemau was made the heir, and then
he put up his pistol and departed.
lb people had wondered when they
heard that Gaspard was the heir, they
wondered still more when this new
thing came out, that Gaspard Gram
mont had found the second will, by
which the great property was left to
May Lakeman, and had voluntarily
surrendered it to the Surrogate. Peo
ple, sought to find him, that they might
praise him for his magnanimity; but
they found him not. He had gone away.
none knew whither he had gone never
to return.
'Dear Jack,' said May, as she nestled
in ner nusbaiid's embrace they were
in the snuggery, in the bend of the
great bay-window, and Jack hail been
telling the story of his interview in
that same room with Gaspard. Would
you rer.lly have shot him?"
'What does my darling think about
it?' '1 think, Jack, that you could do
a very bold daring deed; but I do not
think you could do a bad one.'
'And you think it would have been
wrong to have shot Gaspard if he had
refused to give up the will?
'O! how can you ask mc? Dear
Jack, if his blood had been upon your
hands'
iiiiMi, uarungi l knew my man;
and I knew also, my own weakness;
and, to guard against accident, I
threatened the poor wretch with an
empty pistoL
Wandering Pla&ta.
Every p'ant once had it own home,
ust as every man has hi own father
land. But very much as men have
done, many of them have gone wander
ing about the world and ard found grow
ing far from home. They have jour
neyed in various ways, soxe as little
feathered seeds carried by the wind,
while others have beeu borne by birLj
ot passage lrom countrr to country.
They l.ave been swept far from their
native haunts by the wates of over
flowing rivers: they have floated away
on the waves of the sea; even animals,
as well as birds, have aided in their
migrations. For the most pirt, how
ever, man himself has carried the
plants from one land to another, some
times purposely, oftener by aocilont.
1 do not know of anything th tt would
ba more inter eating, if tVy cul J sneak.
thau to listen t the conversation of the
Bowers of a conservatory, esp ially if
th y were talking of their old horn-s.
or of what befell them ou their jour
neys through the world. As they axe
not rifted with the powers of sbeecli
we nn.il I hhvo to do ti e talking our-
selvis, which, though it may not be as
pleasant, w..l txrve a purpose quite as
well.
Myrtie is' descended iu a straight line
from the shrubs which flouiished around
the marble temple of Hellas, and whose
leaves wreathed the brow of tbe cham
pions who conquered at the Isthniiau
games. That young citrou tree, on the
lower shell, sprang from a seed brought
by a Bhip lrom bicily. The tree from
which it was placked grew near Euna's
classic plain, and in sight of the fiery
crater ot .mount JUtna, Tku rose bush
standing uttweeu them, filled with love
ly blossoms, was once at home ia tho
gardens of Cashmere, and perhaps sa7
the pageant of the dark-eyed Noar
mahal when she rowed over the roee
covereu lake in her fairy barge. The
carueiha yonder received its name from
a priest, who, returmu from a mis
sionary journey to China, brought it
with him us a memento of someob.ique-
eyeo celestial, llna mountain rose,
whose purple blossoms rival the camellia
in beauty, has wandered clear from the
shores of the Eaxine, and the ancestors
of this superb rhododendron grew upon
the heights or the Himalaya m A or t her u
Here is a wonJerful passion flower.
winding about a pillar near the corner.
Once it irrew in the dark wilderness of
a lirazilian forest, twining like a living
thing upward on the giaut tree. Long
ago Spanish monks earned it away with
me m to ivarope and said:
"This flower u a great marvel of cre
ation. In its blossoms are represented
all the instruments Used in the martyr
dom ot Jesus the nails, the epeara.
and the crown of thorns; and upou the
crown even the drops of blood are to be
seeu.' Tlh flower hta already m id o
known, symbolically in those distant
lauds, the suilerings of our Lord before
the foot cf a Christian preacher ever
uou tuem.
Aloe trees came from cuttings brought
years ago Ircm the Cane of Good Hope,
Look ut this stately dUuiia, which looks
as u n had bean reared in a roy al court,
it has traveled ail the way from the
tropio plains of America, where long
belure the eyes of the swart Genoese.
it gazid wonderingly on Aztec or Peru
vian magnilicence, in the nnt-biown
hands ot some dusky 'maid of Moute
zuma'a court, or the Inca's palace of
the sun. That serpent cacius, winch
stretches downward from the luuikiug
basket above our beads came lrom the
same region, for its ancestral borne was
on the dry rocks of Peru, where the
llama wanders and the condor nests.
Here are lloweis. too. from Southern
Europe, others from Asia; wnde the
beautiful acacia tree, whica lifts its
graceful foliage aboe the neighboring
olives, had iu homo on the banks oi
the sunny .Nile, where the pyramids hit
their eternal shadows.
These hot-house plants, growing and
blossoming here so peaceiudy together.
have been gathered from every conti
nent and zone. The auricula, whose
ancestors the chamois cropped upon tha
slopes of the towering Alps, mingles lis
periame with the manilia fragrance of
the heliotrope, of whose leaves iu its
native liauuts the Peruvian marmot bio
blea. iiy what strange accident, in an
swer to Low many motives, aud to serve
what varud interests of men, havj thee
plants come into companionship. The
soeds of the beau til ul persicaria (poly
yutiuin ortcnlale) were procured by &L
lournefort from tue garden of the luree
Ciiarches near Mount Ararat, the spot
on which the ark is eupiHAed to nave
rested, and presented to the superin
tendent of the Jar din des Plautes in
Paris.
Otb.r People' Letter.
TLere is no trait more valuable than
a determination to persevere when tbe
right thing ia to be accomplished.
Ever, life is walled with the gates
of progress, and to a man's touch bang
their latch-strings of opportunity.
' She certainly writes a beautiful hand.
remarked one yonng gentleman lightly,
after examining the pink-colored and
d duty rose-scented sheet of note paper
wliiuti his fnead had jnst handod him.
The recipient of the letter was one of
thooe jolly good fellows who receive
goodly numoer of missive from tbe
fair sex, and the note ws only a formal
ueciiuat-iou oi an invitation, so there
was no iudelieaoy in showing it.
'Oli, yes, it a nice hand very pret-
ry writing, sul the ptrty addressed
"but it a fact that I havj received
notes from fifteen to twentv different
women in the la-it six months, all
dresse-l an-l written ia precisely the
same hand, ihe truth of it is that
there is a man in this city making
fortune writing othr peop'i' letters "
ihe deuce you say I Who can
be?"
"A you'ig mau named Markrson
who has his headquarters ou Waluu
stivck
To the reporter who hoard tho con
versation enough was learned to giy
him au idea. He at once il-jtortniue
to call upou him and learn the partioa
iara ot nis strange cal.lug. .vir. Jt. was
louud m rathe a omelv little short ou
Walnut street, the entrance to which
was partly barred by the bulletin boards
ooutauiing d. spiny copies of flash liter
ature, while the show window was
p icked a- th ilioia novels aud light read-
tug. Ike frizzly -headed youth who
stood behind the couuter wheu the re
porter luquired for Mr, Markesou
pointed toward a gentlem in iu the rear
of the store who was busily engaged at
a uess witn notes piiod up on evjry
si i.
"Vt hat can I do for you?" he asked
politely, but stid with the air of a mau
who d m t want to lie bothered.
"1 want you to write ma a note.'
"Have yoa a oop? he askeX
"No. but I will dictate to you."
"All right, but proceel ouicklv. for I
have loU uf Imsiuess on han-L V hat
do yon want, a business hand?"
lea, a busiuess hand will do."
Ou commercial note?"
Yes."
Well, go ahead."
...
ia a very lew ru miles tue letter was
wntteu, addressed to a fictitious person,
ana seaiea. it was wntt ju iu a b.auti
iui uunuiess nauu, every letter being
auuo -i periect y lormed.
"How much?" asked the reporter.
'Twenty-five cents, please."
xne amount was pud, aud the letter
writer was asked hen ho would be at
liberty for a few niouieuta. Half an
hour later was appointed, aud the jour
nalist returned.
Now 1 wash you would tell me how
you became a letter-writer, an 1 ho run
worked up sucu a business as yoa seem
to have?"
"Oh, that u easy to cxplnu. Six
years ago 1 was a common card-writer,
and wsut to the cou ty fairs and exhi
bitions writing sards. For a while I
wrote card ou the streets ia Cuicinua:i.
aud a g eat many people employed me
to write letters for tuem. It struck me
that it would be a good idea to wors up
a iraue oi mat kanu, aud I got a little
ahead linaucialiy and bough: out this
sUud. It began a little blow at first,
but iKJople began to ttud me out. and
there is not a day that J do not. rite a
number of lettera. Sometimes I have
more than I can attend to, as yoa saw
to-uay.
"llow aid oa mauage to work it
up?"
"Women that tolls the story. One
or two women get a letter wntteu, and
then they tell others about it, .Nearly
all the illiterate women in the city cm
ploy me to write their notes, and they
are the best paying class, and then
there are numbers of educafr-d women.
Some of them write really nice, legible
hands themselves, but for some reason
or other they prefer nutes written in
some other nana. 1'oor servant tru-la
have notes writteu and want them with
ad the flourishes that cau be put into
writing by a master. A great raauy
have me or aw a bird or deer's head to
make the letter attractive and pretty.
Sometimes they come and tell what
they want themselves, bat not frequent
ly. I have ntten some of the must
sickening stuff yoa ever heard te.l ot
for love-sick girls, and have been put in
charge of innumerable secrets. 1 have
no regular cuarge, the lowest price be
ing a quarter, and lrom that on up to
Si. ine mure ignorant a woman the
louder sounding she wants the latter
and the brighter colored she wants the
paper. Look here, for Instance fallow
lag a brilliant reu-tinted sheet oi paper
with jold-euibosBdd edge ana a utauiued
monogram ou top, that was writteu for
colored woman, who is a cook ma
ten-oeut restaurant, and goej to a dusky
lover. 1 charged lie-r only a quarter.
A woman wuo bad more money to
throw away I would have cluveu one
dollar."
To whom are letters general y writ-
tour
"Men of all classes. Actors come in
tor the great share. During the week
Faulty .Davenport showed here I wrote
thirty letters to one of the actors in
'Fedora' for eiiflerent women, professing
all sorts of admiration. A great many
are written to gamblers and fasl young
men. A party who recently tigurea
in a Cincinnati newtpapjr sensation
received a good many notes written by
me."
Do yoa write many letters for
men?"
"Not nearly so many as for women.
The men are generally those who can't
write themselves or want anonymous or
threatening letters written so mat they
cauuot be detected by their ciiirography.
have had an inkling of curious aud
staitiing tacts that would create a sen
sation if known, but never ask ques
tions, and consider everythiug as striot-
ly confidential. I would, peruaps, make
au interesting and valuable Witaess ia
many divorce cases if t'other party only
anew me."
'Is tae business profitable? ' queried
the reporter.
Wed, 1 will give you the ligires. I
began a little over live years a0o witli a
lew honored dollars. 1 now have
property whicu I cau convert into cash
ou three days' notice, aud have lived in
good style, so you cau judo lor your
self, liut Uou't publish that, for i have
a monopoly ujw, and it may start com
petition." On the desk were a pde of notes
waiting to be copied, so the reporter
withdrew.
lt!iliDt a Boof.
There is still quite a number of peo
ple residing io Denver who were here
on the night in the spring of 1961
when Cherry Creek, the hitherto des
pised ctreamlet, rose to the dignity of
a mighty torrent which carried death
an 1 destruction with it, and left in its
wake death and rain, which caught tin-
suspecting sleepers in its embrace and
hurled them to death amid the shat
tered fragment of their dwelling. The
terrors of such a night are likely to im
press themselves vividly upon the
miuds of those ho have boen the suf
ferers.
Among thoso there was probably no
one who bail better reasoa to remomber
the night in question than Captain
Ihomas Arohilfild. In conversation
with a reporter Captain Archibald
related his experience in the mem
orable rising of th creek.
"I ha 1 retired at a late hour that
night," said the Captain, "weary atter
a journey from the monutain. and was
sunk in a deep slep. From this I was
aronsed by my wife shaking me by tho
shoulder. I would not have been able
to sleep much longer, however, I sup
pose, lor 1 Uad scarcely awakened bo
fore water began to soak through the
bed fro ui below. Wheu 1 sat up in bed
I found to my surprise that the bed was
floating and nvked nneasily with our
movomeut". This lasted but for a mo
ment, however, when the bod went
down in the water. We spruuz to our
feet as the bed went down, aud we
found ourselves iu water up to our
waists.
Everybody seems to consider lum
self a kind of moral half-bushel to
measure the world b frailties in.
Do not impose too much
patience and change it to fury.
"We lived in a story-and-a-half house
on- Curtis street, near Malar Oakes
house, ud but a short distance from
the bed of the cr-.ex. My wife and
slept down stairs and our chil Jr-jn, three
in number, au-1 a hired girl slept up
staira. Wo were here only a short
time, and knew but little about the
country, aud so bad little idea of what
had happened.
"Od being fully awakened, which was
almost at once, I looked from the win
dow and saw that the moon was shining
brightly , but that the house was sur
rouuded by water, which was rushinsr
furiously past. Taking my wife in my
arms, as quickly as possible I moved to
the st&irway leading to the upper story.
which I certainly should not have been
able to do if I were a shorter man than
I am, as the water was up to my month.
e did not have a moment to spare.
either, for before we could get the chil-
tlr -n aud hired cirl arouse! the water
had reached this floor. The house was
briuk one one of the few bricks on
the east side of the creek but it shook
aud swayed iu tho rnshiug stream to
such ai extent that I had but little
hope that it would 8taudtuestr.ua upon
t.
I determined at onoo that our only
hope of safety lay in getting on the
roof, ihi" we accomplished with but
littie difficulty, but the ascent of 'ho
steep incline of the roof was more diffi
cult. I got up on the roof first, and
took up my children as thay were hand
ed to mn by my wife and the hired girl.
then assisted these two up.
"We settled ourselver on thf roof.
each of us holding one of the children,
and had an opportunity ot looking
around us. The moon shone brightly,
and everything was perfectly distin
guishable for a considerable radius. A
wilder scene I hope never to witness.
The waters were filled with the debris
of shattered buildincrs. Half of the
houses on the bants of the creek were
gone, and nearly all of those built iu
the creek. Every moment another
would yield to the terrible force of the
rushing water, and we could hear the
cries of the inmates who had fal'ed to
escape.
We were given but a short time for
observation, however, for a suldeu
swell of . the waters proved too much
for the house, and it went from under
us.
"Fortunately as it happened the roof
was made with wooden gables instead
of brick, and the roof, instead of part
ing uudcr us, maintained its true posi
tion. At the first plunge taken we, of
course, thought, that it was the end of
ine worm ior us, xue women ana
children screamed wildly, but all held
on to the ridge of the roof, upon which
wo were seated horseback fashion.
From this out we had little opportunity
for obeorvation. We were harried along
at tho speed of a fast railroad train.
hurled about by eddying carrents, and
in constant danger of being crushed by
tho floating massos of bondings. The
water was filled with debris, upon much
of which floated human beings. Many
of these were rescued by parties along
the shore, who were doing everything
in their power to render assistance,
There were no boats, and if there had
been they would have been of no use.
"Just below Larimer street we came
in contact with the wall of a building.
receiving a terrible shock, which tore
away a corner of the roof, but we man
aged to keep our places by holding on
to each other. This weakened our roof
greatly, however, and brought us nearer
to the water, the roof settling down.
At Holladay we ran under a projecting
roof, which carried away my two young
est children. We saw them swept down
by the waters in an instant, and then
we were far away. Passing the wall of
an unfinished bouse on Wazee street,
the hired girl leaped with my oldest boy
for this place of safety, but she never
reached it, both going down in the
water a bttle beyond. Then my wife
and I were alone on the roof.
We were thoroughly chilled through
irom the exposure and qnice hopeless of
escaping destruction. We could see
land no where, and it appeared to us
that an ocean was rising to overwhelm
the plains. We had bat little time for
thinking, however, for we were rushed
along at race-horse speed. It was but a
few moments from the time we had
started in the awlnl race until we were
out ot Denver and the creek and in the
Piatte River. Here, while we were car
ried along quite as helplessly, It was
with a much less speed, and we began
to see a possibility of escaping. It was
not untU this that the awful nature of
oar loss dawned upon us. Ai we swept
aljjg my wife rent the air with her
cnes of grief. I tried to console her.
but it was an unavailing task and my
words stack in my throat as I tried to
say them.
iVhen morning came we were several
miles down the Platte, almost perishing
with cold. Fortunately we struck a
current la the now subsiding stream.
whicb carried us into the shore, and we
upon j managed to escape from what we had
I Jroked npoa as certain death." j
Wordsworth composed his verses while
walking, carried them in his memory and
got bis wire or daughter to wr.lo them
flown on his rptnrn. Whpn a viaifnr ut
Rydal Mouut asked to tee the poet's study lence Peter was insiaUed ia the office
toe maid u reported to have shown him -ening up tue ninepmn.
twilight shot thr-ngh the overspreading
louage ot the shrub", item npoa
smooth freali lawn he found twelve
knights playing grivelv at nineiuus and
not one spoke a syllable. With eonal
a little room containing a handful of
bookj lying about on the table, sofa and
shelve, and to have remarked: "This is
the master's library where he keeps his
books, but,' returning to tbe door, "his
study is out of doors," whereupon she
curtsied the visitor into the garden again.
Lander also used to compose while walk
ing, sod therefore always preteired to
walk alone, tiuckle walked every morn
At firt re performed his tlu'y with
knees that knocked against each other
as be now and then sto'e a partial look
at tbe long beards and slashed doublets
of the n-lIe knichts. By dcirree?.
however, custom gave him courage: he
gzd n everything with firmer look
and at last ventured to drink out of a
bowl that stood near him from which
tbe wine exhaled a most de'icioos odor,
ing far a quarter of an hour before breik- The glowing juice made him feel as if
fast, and said that having adopted tbiff
custom upon medical advice, it bad t.e
come necessary. "lleat or cold, sun
shine or rain, made no difference to him
either for that morning stroll, or for the
afternoon Wklk which had its appointed
time and length, and which he would
rarely allow himself to curtail, either for
DusuieM or lot visits." Equally careful
was Longfellow in the r reservation f his
uealta. He persisted iu out-door exercise,
even wben tbe weather was the reverse of
pleasant. Both in the Spring and Autumn
when raw and blustering winds prevailed.
reanimatad, and whenever he found
the least weariness he agaia drew fresh
vi cor from the inexhaustible goblet.
Slwp at last overcame him.
Upon waking Peter found himself in
the very same enclosed mead where he
was wont to tend his herds. He rubbed
bis eyes, but could see no sign of cither
dog or goats and was, besides, not
bttle astonished at the hizb trrass aud
shrubs and trees which he had never
before obse-rved there. Not well kno
ing what to thipk, he continued his
way over all the places that be had been
Street Sweeper.
The strict sweepers ot Paris earn,
the men five cents an hour, and the
women four cents. While you are
ptndyicg
I ... ... ... .. . I J " V Ml tue irxovco hiia ue um well
.J, rm 1 h'"8 d.T 'y tU? be. stomed to frequent with his goats,
fliliht trn nft further than tl.A hiiiFwta nf I . . . . n i
but nowhere could he find any traces
of them, iielow bun he saw Sitteadorf,
ami at length with hasty steps he da
scended.
The reple whom he met in the vil-
laga were all straairers to him: thev
Ltd not the diess of his acquaintances
nor did they speak exactly their lan
guage, and when he fsied for his
goats, all stared and touched their
chine. At last he did the sime, almost
involuntarily, and found his beard
lengthened by a foot, at least, npoa
Inch be began to conclude that him
self and those about him were nn ler
the influence of enchantment. Stiil he
recognize 1 tue moan a n ha d-so ndel
as the Kyffhausej; the housjs, Ux,
with then jards anl ear Jens were ali
might go no further than the bounds of
his garden. Darwin was at one time fond
ot horseback txerci-e, but after the death
of hu tsvorite bone, some ten or twelve
years ago, he never rode again, but pre
ferred to walk around bis garden, or along
the pleasant footpaths tl.rou.jh the lovely
nei-is or Keut
Walking was Macsulay's favorite recre
ation, but, hke Leigh Hunt, he seems to
have been unable to sever himself from
his books. lie once said that he would
like nothing so well as to bury himself io
some great library and never pass a waking
nour without a book before bun. Certain y
ne could never walk without his book
lie walked about London reading: he
roamed through the lanes of Surrey read
ing; and even the new and surprising spec
tacle sf the sea an MiirirHKlivA rf rpvrip
aud brooding thought could not seduce familiar to him, and to passing questions
him from hie books.' Uacaulay reminds ' traveler several boys rep led by the
us of ThirlwalL who. whether eatin?. name oi Sittendorf.
walking or ridiHir. was never to be seen With increasing doubt he now wdk d
without a book. throngs the village to bis own house.
The favorite recreatioD of Charles Dick-1 It was much decayed, and before it lay
ens was walklmr. liv day. Professor a strange goatherds boy in a ragged
Ward points out. Dickens found In the Irock. by whose side was a doer, worn
London thoroughfares stimulative variety: and lank with age. that erowled and
and by night, in seasons of intellectual ex- I snarled when he spoke to him He then
cilement, he found in thesj same streets entered the cottage through an opening
uie reircsnment ot isolation among the which had once been closed bv a door.
crowds. "Uut the walks he loved best I Here. too. he fonnd all so void and
were long stretches on the chits, or across I waste that he tottered out again a, the
the downs by the sea, where, following back door as if intoxicated aud called
the tracks of his 'breathers,' one half ex- his wife and children byname: but none
KiMi tu ineei nun coming aiong sgains. i heard, none answered.
the wind at four and a half miles an our. In a short tinm womn an 1 Oii'.ln
the very embodiment of energy aud brim- througed around the stranger with the
fni .-1 f 1 1 f . i I , . . . . .
I Ion (7 IIORr V IU1 li 1 an. I u I a j ,f frvr A
Carlyle usually toolf a vigorous walk of vipw. i,.m,l in in,i"nir,n .h( i.a
several nines enough to get himself into a wanted. Before his own house to ask
glow, before he commenced the day's la- alter his wife or children or eveu hmi-
oor. Whether the spirit moved inmerlir .mi n. . j i
not. he entered his workshop at 10, toiled (f these querists he meat on od the fir,t
-u... , wucu iio suswcita ins leiirra, saw nam tlmt nn.mrrt.l tr h;,,, "K'n-I
letters,
riends, read, ami sometimes had a second
walk. Victor Hugo loves to ride outsl le
an omnibus; Carlyle was fond of ridin
inside. Apparently, neither walking in
the streets, nor riding in a ricke'y. bone-
sr-.aking ommbun, ailed Carlyle s diget-
tion; for a more dyspeptic and ill natured
author never breathed. It was he who
called Charles Lamb and Mary a "very
soiry pair of phenomena," and pronounced
hu talk "contemptibly small, indicating
wondrous ignorance and shallowness. '
Clever did men of such distinguished tastes
meet belure, but they had one teste in
common, and that was walking, for which
name that oocarred to
SteUen."
Tbe bystanders looked at each othr
in silence, till at last an old woman
said:
'He baa been in the churchvard
these twelve years, and you'U not go
there to-day."
"V elten ileier?"
"Heaven rest his soul." replied an
anr:ieut dame, leaning upon her crutch.
-Ueayen rest his sonl I He ha lain
there fifteen years in tho house that he
will never leave.
The goatherd shuddered as in the last
Lamo confessed a testless impulse. How speaker he recognized his neighbor, who
he .loved London! Though he iiked to noa nave suddenly grown old; but
pluck buttercups and daisies at times in Uo had lost all desire for further ques-
the country, his sympathies were entirely I At tUw moment a brisk yoaug wo
with Ixudon. Lke Dr. Johnson, he be-1""" passea tnrougn ine crowd ot anxiou
lieved that when a man was tired of Lon I Sapers, carrying an infant iu her arms.
don he was tired of life, and he seems I uJ leading by the hand A girl of about
never to have grown weary of sounding I J years, each one of the three the very
the praiie-s ot that wonderful city, "Lon- image of ins wife. W ith increasing
don, whose dirtiest Arab-frequented alley
and her lowest-bowing tradesman, he
told Wordsworth, he would not exchange
tor ;?kiddaw and lielvellyn, James Waller
id the parson into the bargain. He
loved not only the print-chops, the thea
tres, the bookstall, but the crowds of
hunmn faces. "The wonder of these
sights." be says, "impels me Into night
walks about her crowded streets, and I
often shed tears ia the motley S'rand,
irom luiness of joy at so much life."
Uentiy a new form of exercise has
been commended to brain-workers by Dr.
Kichardson, who contends that tricycling
will enable tbein to obtain the change of
thought and scene which they need.
Tricycles are, unfortunately, awkward
things to stow away, and cannot with
saieiy be used alter dark, stabling ac
commodation for them is hard to find in
London, as well as dear, and they are
scarcely suitable ornaments for a drawing,
room, or even a back parlor. Dr. Uicb-
arison stables his machine la the lobby of
his house in MaachvSter Square. An ar
raugerteut ot this kind is onvenient for
the rider, but would be toleratec by few
wive.
surprise he asked her nauie.
'ilaria."
'And yoor father's?"
'Peter Clans; Heaven rest his soul
It ia now twenty years since we soueht
him day and night on the Kyffhausen
Mountains, when bis flock returned
without him. I was thou bnt 7 years
oio.
The goatherd could contain himself
no longer.
"I am Peter Clans." he cried: "I am
Teter Clans, and noue else " anl he
snatched the child from his daughter's
arms. All lor a moment stood uetmien.
untd one voice and another exclaimed:
"lea, this 11 Peter Clans. Welcome
neighbor! Welc-omo aiter twentv
Tears.
the wavs and haunts of the
rag-pickers, you naturally become ac
quainted with the ways and haunts of
the street sweepers. It appears that,
according to a polise regulation ef 1773
each householder in Paris is compelled
to sweep the pavement and road in
front ol his house before 7 a. m. The
Parisians, however, objected to rise so
early, and the municipality offered to
find persons who would undertake the
task of sweeping. The householders
levied a pro rata tax on their tenants,
and fonr companies entered into a con
tract with the city of Paris to keep the
itreets free from mud, dust and snow.
This plau is still adopted. The sweepers
are placed under the orders of inspec
tors appointed by the prefect, and at 4
o'clock each morning in winter and half
past 3 in summer the sweepers assemble
at different parts of the city to answer
the roll-call. The sweepers are almost
exclusively foreigners, and hail chiefly
from the grand duchies of Luxemburg
aud Eaden, from Alsace and from Fland
ers. Luxemborg provides the majority,
aud the language of the sweepers is
mainly a low German patois. How
these sweepers manage to live is a mys
tery, and how they manage to save
money, return to the fatherland, and
bay a scrap ot land, as they often do,
is a still greater mystery. The key to
both these problems ia co-operation.
Men and women from the same village
herd together in groups of 10 or 20, and
hire a room ia some back street. The
furniture to begin with, is a few bandies
of straw and an- earthen cooking pot.
sheets and blankets are unknown among
them. Each lies down in his or her
clothes. However defective they may
be in cleanliness, they are reputed to be
of almost perfect morality. Men and
women alike, as yon see them sweeping
the streets with the regular rustling
swoop of their loo-handled besoms,
seem to be pictures of heaita and hap
piness. Many of the women and girls
are good-looking, and with their old
fashioned head dress and the britrht-
colored kerchief pinned over their
shoulders, the bone uses, or "muddies,"
as they call themselves, might often
tempt a painters pencil, if our Parisian
paiuters were only in the habit of rising
early.
Modflrl 1 !.
Tbe ITIme of Life.
Origin of Rip Van Wlukle-
Of the thousands of people who have
read Washington Irving a famous story,
"iip an Winkle, or have seen that
incomparable actor, Joseph Jefferson.
in the play oi the same name, compara
tively few are aware that the story is
not original with Irving, bnt was taken
from an old German legend in which
the main features are Identical with the
narrative of the American author. The
tale was primarily called "Peter Claus,"
of which the following was the original
version:
Peter Clans was a goatherd of Sitten-
dorf and tended his flocks in the Kyff-
hausen mountains. Here he was ac
customed to let them rest every evening
in a mead, surrounded by an old wall,
while he made his master of them; bat
for soma days he bad remarked that one
of his finest goats always disappeared
sometimo after coming to this spot, and
did not join the flock until late. Watch
ing her more attentively, he observed
tnat she slipped through an o ening in
the wall, up whioh he crept after the
animal aud found her in a sort of caye,
busily employed in gleaning the oat
grains that dropped down singly from
the roof. He looked up and shook his
ears amids the shower of corn that now
fell down upon him, but with all his in
quiry could rlesoera nothing. At last
he heard above the stamp and neighing
of horses, from, whose mangers it was
probable the oats had fallen.
Peter was yet standing in astonish
ment at the 'sound of horses in so un
usual a place, when a boy appeared.
who, by signs, without speaking a word.
desired him to follow. Accordingly he
ascended a few steps and passed over a
l eopie call the age of 40 the "prime
of life." Who invented that mocking
ptirasef &oine subacid cynic doubtless.
Decause it is not the prime of life by any
means. At 40 the hair at the temples
is whitening; at 40 your "hgure" is
breadeulng; at 40 you begin to be
caiiea "a harmless leiiow" by your
pretty nieces aud friends. A most dis
gusting time of life! When with dig
nified step you walk toward your yawn
ing grave at 75, you are at least an
object of respect aud reverence? if yoa
have money, lour white locks and
your snowy beard crown you wiUi the
majesty of old. Hut to be 40! You are
neither young nor old. Your hair is
pepper and salt in color. Y'our speecn
has become, in spite of yourself, set in
stilted sentences. You perhaps would
flirt, but in the attempt meet with diie
disaster. This enterprise is met with
the giggles ot girlhood, and yoa are
driven ignomiously from the scene by
some masher of twenty summers. The
real prime of life is when your muscles
are like t visted cords of the finest Bes
semer steeL You don't care much
about girls at that lime, and your lungs
are like the bellows' that blow the
smelling furnace; whta you have only
to say one pretty word and show your
white teeth and twist up the ends of
your youthful mustache, aud any pretty
girl you want just sighs once and tum
bles into your arms. That is the
prime of life. It is all over when you
begin to call for your dinner and grum
ble at the breakfast buttered toast.
When you have become a judge of wine
it is indeed time to leave the arena aud
to accept the woruout gladiator's gift
of the wooden sword.
Some men have a Sonday soul which
they screw on in due time, and take off
again every Monday morning.
Do ail that yoa can stand, and then
fear lest you may fall, and by the grace
of Qod yoa are safe.
It has often been said that the style is
the man; we might also venture to add
that the dress is the woman, and. In
many lamentable instances, that the
woman is the dress and nothing more.
Withoat entering upon any intricate
discussion about the expediencies, pro
prieties or improprieties of fashion, or
prophesying that better future when
every one shall be a fashion to himself,
we would venture a few remarks on the
prevailing mode of dressing and its mor
al effect on the rising generation.
It were hard to determine what is ab
solutely beautiful and absolutely ugly,
tae significance ot these terms being al
together relative; but it were well to
study when a thing is ugly and when it
is beautiful, and apply the rule to our
style of dress.
Accidents in nature are very often
beautiful. A deformed, weather-beat
en tree in an otbeiwise pleasirig land
scape may prove a necessary discord in
its harmony, and hence puss for a beau
ty; but discords and concords have their
established laws, their raison d' etre,
and as the world is supposed to travel
toward an esthetic as well as moral ex
cellence, we would fain maintain that
dress, considered in the light of art, be
comes a vital question the moment it
effects the education of taste,
Our own moral rectitude and innate
sense of the beautiful, iu a great meas
ure, regulate our taste; yet in new coun
tries where art te still in its infancy,
and the public mind still unschooled in
that direction, the eye takes in all forms
and shapes with but little discrimina
tion; and the extravagance of drees,
the Bohemian taste of a certain class of
women whose very irregularities of life
have often dictated a fashion, and thus
introduced it into otherwise pure-minded
communities, and, like the sensation
novel, prove as subtile a poison hi cor
rupting their sense of the beautiful as
the latter their minds and hearts.
Our fashions, with but a few excep
tions, come from France. Every coun
try has its specialty. The natural good
taste of the French, their taste, their
quick sense of appropriateness have
given their styles the grace, the fitness
and the usefulness society admires in
them.
roresalnjr. Room Songs.
"Does 51me. Nilssou commence singing
as soon as she enters a theatre betore a re
hearsal?" repeated Uerr Kaschmann when
the rep-x-ter put a question to that effect.
"Why, certainly. We ail sing before tbe
performance it the dressing rooms. You
know one cannot risk to open the mouth
after a long silence only after appearing on
tbe stage. One is very likely to hit a false
note, and if that should happen at the
very opening of an Important part It
would not only confuse the singer hnneeif,
but the others also. We always sing a
few tars while waiting In tbe wings for
the sign of a prompter. There, of course.
we have to do it sotto voce; but in the
dressing rooms we sing right out to have
the voice clear and ringing when our time
cotr.es. We don t do that because we hke
it, but as a matter of necessity.'
"Do singers use any correct' vei during
a performance?'' inquired the reporter.
1 have heard -iti at Wacatet eats dr.ed
prunes and Mine. Lucca munches figs,"
said the singer, "but 1 can't say whether
that is true. The great Niemaan, of the
Berlin opera, always has half-and-half
that is, purler ana cbampaue ready for
him when he cots heavy parts in Wagners
compositions. Coffee, either with or
without the yolk of an egg, aud hot water
is much hked by some singers. Others
take coffee with an additiou of strong
liquor; but I do not believe in any cjrrec-
tive. It may stimulate the voice for a
time, but a reaction is sure to follow.
The best thing -in the world is continued
training and practicing, and a good protec
tion and cau of the throat while the voice
is not ia u?e."
nothing can atone for tha want of
walled court, into a hollow, closed in on I modesty withoat wuic.ii b oaaty is au
all sides by lofty rooks, where a partial I graceful and w detestable.
A bitter word may maae a wound
that will never heat A kind word may
wiu a friend that will never turn.
1