Huntingdon journal. (Huntingdon, Pa.) 1843-1859, August 16, 1854, Image 1

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BY WM. BREWSTER.
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to secure attention. 451
Original Vottg.
For the Journal,
TO MY FRIEND,
BY A. C. O.**.
'Tie not the love which interest knows,
That I most highly prize;
Nor yet is it the tear that flows
At will from practic'd eyes;—
But 'tis the love that prompts the tear,
For innocence that grieves,
And brings the heart of pity near,
When worldly friendship leaves.
My heart more kindly turns to thee,
'Mid passing hours of day,
And feels assur'd you think of me,
Though I be far away:
And should the world in envious peals
Conspire to blast thy fame,
There is one friend for thee still feels
Unchangeably the name,
When evening shades around me lower,
And hushed is busy strife,
And at the hour when thought should soar
Beyond this transient life:
How sweet, my friend, are thoughts of thee,
And still to call thee mine
For there has been no change in me
Since days of mild lang sync.
Who is this friend, the world may say,
That can life's ills beguile?
'Tis ho who cheers you on your way,
With a benignant smile;
Not he who coldly turns aside,
When aid he should impart,
Or fails to soothe when griefs betide
And droop the stricken heart.
There is a friendship false indeed,
Which changes on the morrow:
Following where bright prospects leads,
But never near in sorrow;
While the blest friendship which I crave,
If such can here be given
Is that which leaves but at the grave,
To be renew'd in Heaven.
Three Springs, August, 1854.
A *ljort *tog.
THE ICE VOYAGE.
A Bailor Boy's Fortune.
BY GEORGE S. RAYMOND.
"Joy I joy 1 Hurrah, mother! You shall
have fire and good things to eat, besides a nice
warm dress and stout shoes now I" shouted a
chubby blue•eyed boy of, it may be twelve
years, clad in the humble garb of poverty, fling
ing wide the door and bounding into a small
comfortless apartment on the third floor of a
dingy-looking old wooden building near the
canal in the village of Cleveland, Ohio.
"Come, hurrah, mother, put away that slave
work, and go and get you a nice warm dinner
right off," continued the little fellow approach
ing a pale, delicate woman, scantily clad in a
thin dress, her face pinched with hunger, and
her hands then blue with cold.
"What, what do you mean my child," said
the woman looking wonderi ‘ly up from her
'work. "Do you know I have money to buy
any thing to eat, and I must finish this vest
before I can get even a stick of wood for our
fire, which is almost out."
"Nonsense, mother—let the vest go to some
poor woman that has no stout boy like me to
earn money for her. You shan't work this way
any longer, mother. Look here," and the lit.
tle fellow flung down on the table his two
handsful of half dollars, while a roguish smile
lit up his handsome face as he beheld his
mother's look of wonder.
"All right mother," interrupted the boy, and
down went another handful of bright silver
coins. "I'll tell you all about it, mother. You
see I went to get my pay of Mr. Denison to-day
for my two months' cooking on board the Au
rora. Well, he paid me my $2O all in these
pieces, and then he asked me if I would go for
a month in his new schooner, for fifteen dollars.
I told him I would, and then when he heard
me tell how hard you had to work, and how
poor and sick you were, he gave me ten dollars
more, atutsaid you must get a better room,
stop working, besides, he 'says if I'll stay all
the winter in the schooner and take care of her,
I shall have twenty dollars every month, to be
paid weekly to you. So hurrah mother, we'll
have a big fire and a nice dinner, and—well,
" I SEE NO STAR ABOVE THE HORIZON, PROMISING LIGHT TO GUIDE Cd, BUT THE INTELLIGENT, PATRIOTIC, UNITED WHIG PARTY OP THE UNITED STATES.".
Mr. Denison is a good man after all, if he is a
rich old bachelor, as that crab-apple, old maid
aunt Hetty Johnston calls him."
"Heaven bless you my noble boy!" sobbed
out the widow, as she clasped her arms about
her child's neck, her head upon his shoulders,
and wept like a child, for joy; not so much for
the timely aid her son had brought her—al
though her heart was full of thankfulness for
that, as for the noble qualities displayed by the
brave little fellow in remembering her and
bringing home every shilling of his hard-earned
wages instead of spending it foolishly as too
many boys of his age would have done.
A month passed away, and again the hand
some sailor boy—Frank Merrill, stood beside
his mother in a comfortably furnished room, in
a more respectable part of the town, while the
widow, as she gazed proudly upon her boy,
looked full ten years younger, and much hap
pier than she had done only four short weeks
previous.
A cheerful blaze was in the grate, everything
about the room was neat and eloquent of com
fort, and the widow Merrill, was beautiful in
her brown merino dress, and black gaitors,
with her dark brown hair, so like that of Carlo
Dolee's St. Cecilia, partei on her classic brow
and falling in wavy masses upon her shoulders.
Frank thought his mother very beautiful and
so did another person present. That person
was Mr. Joseph Denison, the boy's employer,
a bluff, good-natured, money-making bachelor
of forty-five, who, at the boy's request, accom
panied him home.
"Mrs. Merrill," said Mr. Denison, "your son
has been in my employ for the past three months
and I am so well pleased with his prudence and
general qualities, that with your permission, I
would be pleased to keep him all winter on
board of one of my vessels which sails to-mor
row for Buffalo.
*1 25
1 50
"It is so late in the season that she may not
be able to return this winter, in which case
you can have Frank's wages monthly or weekly
in advance, for such is his wish, and should
you need anything further, your order on me
will always be honored."
The widow could only rnurmer her thanks,
and invoke God's blessing on the kindhearted
stranger whom she had never seen before, and
who, bidding her good night, left her alone with
her darling boy.
On the following day the schooner, Western
Trader, left Cleveland with a full cargo of oats
and corn hound for Buffalo.
That very night there came a cold northeast
snow storm, which finally closed the navigation
of Lake Erie for the winter.
A whole month passed without any news
from the schooner, and then, when every body
had given her up for lost, her Captain and
crew came back to Cleveland with the report
that she was frozen fast in the ice, some thirty
miles to the eastward, and full half that dis
tance from the land. Then he left her and es
caped to the shore on the ice; but all they could
do to induce the boy, Frank Merrill, to abandon
her was no avail.
"No I will not leave her," he said, "I prom.
ised Mr. Denison to stay by and take care of
her through the winter."
"God bless the noble boy!" said Mr. Denis.
on as the Captain told of the little fellow's fi
delity and the exclamation was echoed back by
a half a dozen business men who happened to
be in the office at the time.
Within two hours a more efficient comman
der with eight fearless fellows, who agreed to
stay by the vessel till they got her into port
somehow, set out from Cleveland to board her;
but when they arrived abreast of where she had
been frozen in, the ice was broken up to within
five miles of the land, and the schooner was
gone.
Three weeks pasted, and all remained uncer
tain with regard to the fate of the Western
Trader, or her brave boy commander, when
she was heard of again on the Canada side,
some fifty miles westward of her former posi
tion. But before relief could be sent to her
there came a violeut gale from the westward,
which broke up the ice, and she was borne
down the lake embedded in a field of ice of
more than a hundred acres.
Next she was seen off Erie, a hundred miles
to the westward of Buffalo. With spy glasses,
they could even see the boy standing on her
but it was almost night; to board her was im•
possible, and at daylight she had disappeared.
As there was but a small stock of provisions
on board when she left Cleveland, people won•
dered how the boy had subsisted all that time
and predicted his death by starvation, provided
the schooner would live out the fierce gales.
Several times after her appearance off Erie,
the Western Trader was seen in various parts
of the lake, but always too far off to make out
anything about her distinctly, only that there
was always a smoke seen coming out of the
cabin stove.
At last landay afternoon, in the month
of April, at a week after the western part
of the lake was clear of ice, a schooner under
just the head of her foresail was seen ten miles
outside the harbor of Cleveland, and as she
came bravely in between the piers, thousands
of people on the shore and ranged along the
wharves recognized her as the Western Tra
der, and the bravo little fellow at her helm, as
Frank Merrill, the Winter Rover of the Lake,
returned in safety from his dreary ice voyage.
Such a welcome as England would accord to
Sir John Franklin, should he escape from the
ice-ribbed Arctic prison, and return to his na
tive land, was given by the citizens of Cleve
land to the ice-voyager, Frank Merrill.
People wondered how he had subsisted, but
when they saw his well conditioned face, his
liberal supply of bolted and parched corn, and
the way he had cut away the schooner's rail,
windlass and the joiner work of her cabin for
fuel, they wondered no longer.
The young commander of the winter cruiser
got his twenty dollars per month, besides many
a handsome present from those who admired
' his courage and fidelity, and when the Western
HUNTINGDON, PA., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1854.
Trader was completely repaired, a bill of sale
for the one half of her was placed in Mrs. Mer
rill's hands for her son, by Mr. Joseph Denison.
Long before summer was over, there was no
Mrs. Merrill iu Cleveland, and those who in
quired at her former residence, were directed
to a beautiful mansion on the bank of the lake
some two miles from town, where they were
sure to find the rich Mrs. Denison, just as eor
teous and happy to meet them as ever the poor
widow Merrill had been.
Frank Merrill is at the present time one of
the most gentlemanly as well as popular steam
boat captains on Lake Eric. And one of the
noblest traits of his character is, that he still
loves, respects, and makes his home with his
mother, while Mr. Denison be calls father and
loves him quite as well as ho could do if he
really was his father.
Pisallantous.
On the Venom of Serpents.
There is much in the history and habits of
the reptile tribes, however repulsive they may
be in appearance, that is very interesting. Du
ring a sojourn of two or three months in the in
interior of Arkansas, which appears to me tube
the paradise of reptiles, I paid some attention
to that branch of natural history called ophiol
ogy. I found four distinct varieties of rattle
snakes (erotalus,) of which the Crotalus Harri
dan and Crutalus Kirtlandii are by far the most
numerous. The former is the largest serpent
in North America. The family of mocasin
snakes (Colluber) is also quite numerous; there
being not less than ten varieties, most of which
are quite as venomous as the rattlesnake. By
dissecting great numbers of different species, I
learned that the anatomical structure of the
poisoning apparatus is similar, in all the differ
ent varieties of venomous serpents. It consists
of a strong frame-work of bone, with its appro
priate muscles, in the upper part of the head,
resembling, and being in fact, a pair jaws, but
externally to the jaws proper, and much strong
er. To these is attached, by a ginglymoid ar
ticulation, one or more moveable fangs, on
each side, just at the verge of the mouth, capa
ble of being erected at pleasare. These fangs
are very hard, sharp, and crooked, like the
claws of a cat, and hooked backward, with a
hollow from the base to near the point. I have
occasionally seen a thin slit of bone divide this
hollow, making two. At their base is found a
small sack, containing two or three drops of
venom, which resembles thin honey. The sack
is so connected with the cavity of the fang, du
ring its erection, that a slight upward pressure
forces the venom into the fang, at its base, and
it snakes its exit at a small slit or opening near
the point, with considerable force; thus it is car
ried to the bottom of any wound made by the
fang. Unless the fangs are erected for battle,
they lie concealed in the upper part of the
mouth, sunk between the external and internal
jaw bones, somewhat like open-knife blade
shut up in the handle, where they are covered
by a fold of membrane, which encloses them
like a sheath; —this is the vagina dentis. There
can be no doubt that these fangs are frequent
ly broken off or shed, as the head grows
broader, to make room for new ones nearer the
verge of the mouth; for within the vagana den.
Lis of a very large crotalus horribus, I found no
less than five fangs on each side—in all stages
of formation—the smallest in a half pulpy or
cartilaginous state, the next something harder,
the third still more perfect, and no on to the
main, well set, perfect fang. Each of these
teeth, had a well-defined cavity, like the main
one. Three fangs on each side were frequent.
ly found in copperhead, vipers and others.
The process of robbing serpents of their ven
om is easily accomplished by the aid of chloro
form, a few drops of which stupefies them. If,
while they are under its influence, they are
carefully seized by the neck, and the vagana
dentis held out of the way by an assistant, with
a pair of forseps, and the fang erected and
gently pressed upward, the venom will be seen
issuing from the fang, dropping from its point.
It may then be absorbed by a bit of sponge, or
caught in a vial, or on the point of a lancet.--
After robbing several serpents in this manner,
they were found, after two days, to be as high
ly charged as ever, with venom of equal inten
sity with that first taken.
During the process of robbing several species
of serpents, I inculcated several small but vig.
orous and perfectly healthy vegetables, withthe
point of a lancet well charged with venom.
The next day they were withered and dead, look
ing as though they had been scathed withlight
ning. In attempting to preserve a few drops
of venom for future experiments, in a small vi
al, with two or three parts of alchohol, it was
found, in a short time, to have lost its venom
ous properties. But after mixing the venom
with aqua ammonia, or spirits of turpentine,
or oil of peppermint, or of cinnamon, or of
cloves, or with nitric or sulphuric acid, it stilt
seemed to act with undiminished energy. It is
best preserved, however, for future use, by tri
turation with refind sugar or sugar of milk.
A very fine, large, cotton-mouth snake, being
captured by putting a shoe-string around him,
became exceedingly ferocious, striking at even
the crack of a small riding whip. Finding him
self a prisoner without hope of escape, he turn
ed his deadly weapons on his own body, strik
ing repeatedly his well charged fangs deeply
into his flesh. Notwithstanding this, he was
put in a small basket, and carried forward. In
one hour after be was found dead, and no
amount of irritation could excite the least indi
cation of life. Four hours after, while remov
ing the skin for preservation, the blood oozed
slowly from the vessels in a dissolved state.--
No violence was done to his snankeship, ex
cept what he did to himself.
Another moccasin, shot by a pistol abouttwo
inches back of the head, and skinned immedi
ately, gave decided evidence of vitality four
hours after being flayed, by writhing the body
whoneT, it was irritated by a scalpel.
A large rattlesnake, beheaded instantly with
a hoe, would, an hour and a half after, strikeat
anything that pinched its tail. Of several per.
sons who were testing their firmness of nerve
by trying to hold the hand steady while theser•
pent struck at it, not one could be found whose
hand would not recoil, in spite of hisresolution;
and one man (a great bully. bythe•by) was
struck on the naked throat with considerable
force by the headless trunk of the serpent, and
sluggard back, fainted, and fell, from terror.—
Mr. Stewart, of Mississippi, tells me he once
witnessed a similar scene. An old hunter shot
a rattlesnake's head off, and after rcloadinghis
gun and standing some time, he stooped topull
off the rattles, and the bloody but headles
trunk of the snake struck him on the temple,
and he fainted and fell down with terror.
Seven venomous serpents, belonging to five
different species, were made to fraternize and
dwell amicably in one den. A. beautiful pair of
long-bodied speckled smakes, known as king
snakes, found to be fangless, and cosequently
without venom, were duly installed as members
of the family. Some uneasiness was perceiva
ble among the older members. but no attempt
was made to destroy the intruders, though they
might have been killed instanter. The next
morning, four of the venomous serpents were
found to have been destroyed by the king
snakes; and one was still within their coil, and
the two remaining ones would make no effort
at self-defence. A large rattlesnake seemed
stupid and indifferent to his fate. He could
not be made to threaten or give warning even
with his rattles. The smallest king-snake was
afterward inoculated with the poison of one of
the serpents be had destroyed, and died imme
diately after—thus evincing that they must
have exercised some power beside physical
force to overcome their fellow creatures.
In short, the results of a great number of ex
periments, performed with the venom of a
great variety of serpents, seem to lead to the
following conclusions:
1. That the venom of all serpents acts as a
poison in a similar manner.
2. That the venom of some varieties is far
more active than that of others.
3. That a variety of the Collnbar, known as
the cottonmouth, is the most venomous sere.
eat in Arkansas.
4. That the venom of serpents destroys all
forms of organized life, vegetable as well as
animal.
5. That alchohol, if brought in contact with
the venom, is, to a certain extent, an antidote.
6. That serpents do possess the power of
fascinating small animals, and that this power
is indertical with mesmerism.
7. That the blood of small animals, destroy
ed by the venom of serpents, bears a close ,e
-semblance to that of animals destroyed by light
ning or hydrocyanic acid; it loses its power of
coagulation, and cannot he kept from pit
trefaction. J. (.1•x555, LL. D.
The Lunar World.
Mr. Crampton, in a little book entitled "The
Lunar World," draws the following interesting
picture of the appearance which the surface of
that satellite would present to a visitor from
the terrestrial globe:—"Choose the period of
the last quarter, and direct our way to that
dark shadowy spot marked N in the map, and
situate at the northeastern portion of the lunar
globe: it is the Mare Imbrium, or Sea of Show
ers, as it is called, though no water is to be
found there, and no shower ever cools or mois
tens its barren nurture. It is about seven hun
dred miles in extent every way. Let us cast
our eyes around, and what do we see ?—a bound
less plain or desert, stretching away as far as
the eye can reach on every aide, save in one or
two points, where a chain of lofty mountains
can be perceived, whose brilliant, pointed sum
mita, glittering in the sunbeams, just appear
upon the distant horizon. The light that glares
upon the plain is intense, and the heat of a tro
pical fierceness, for no cloud shelters us. By
that light we may perceive, scattered over the
plain, au infinite number of circular pits, of
different sizes and depths, varying from a few
yards to some hundred in diameter, and sunk
in the body or crust of the planet; some of
them but a few feet and others to an unknown
and immeasurable depth. Above the sky is
black, out of which the sun gleams like a red
hot ball; and the stars sparkle like diamonds,
for no atmosphere such as ours exists, to give
by its refractive and reflective powers the de
licious blue to its heavens and the softened
shade to its landscape. The lights and shades
are indented upon its features deep and dark
or intensely bright; no softening away in the
distance, no gentle and beautiful perspective;
no lovely twilight, morning or evening, steal
ing over or away from the scene. All the sha
dows are abrupt, sudden; all the outlines sharp,
clear; appearing startlingly near eves when re
ally distant. No sound follows our footfall or
is ever heard in that silent place; fcr there is
no atmosphere to conduct it; no frock breeze
blows on its mountain-tops, sighs through its
burning deserts, rustles through thr brilliant
green of forests or waves over mealows; the
silence of death broods over its arid wastes and
rocky shores, against which no tidesor billows
break."
Gans os ficlasis.:-.Vhen home become
galled, or get the skin knocked ofl apply a
blister to the part immediately. Le, it remain
15 minutes, then remove it. Apply to the
part leather, pulverized and mixed eith lard.
The application of the blister will prevent the
inflammation extending, and the rots of the
hair will not bo destroyed. The Moment will
promote the growth of the hair, andensure its
being reproduced in its original colic.
SorA man's own conscience is lis sole tri-
bunal, and be should care no mon for that
phantom, "opinion," than ho shouldfcar meet
ing a ghost if he crossed the chweluard at
dark.—Bulger.
SW. "Silence giveseonsent," as the man
said when he kissed the dumb wawa,
Wives by Advertisement.
The Liverpool Mercury publishes a very am
using correspondence between a person who
advertised in a Manchester paper for a wife,
and a young lady of Bolton, who replied to the
advertisement. The correspondence extends
over four columns and a half, and is exceed
ingly racy. The advertiser, who calls himself
David Charles Osborne, dates his letters from
Liverpool; the lady, professing to be a widow,
calls herself Mrs. Frederick Granger—both as.
slimed names of course, for the object of both
is to impose on each other. The Mercury states
as a fact with its knowledge, that the real fe
male writer is a young unmarried lady, aged
twenty-two, who took pen in hand in the pure
spirit of mischief, in order to turn the laugh
agains the matrimonial fortune-hunter. The
correspondence on both sides is clever, and
wiil repay the perusal of all who wish to know
the frauds to which women are liable who en
ter into these things seriously.
As in almost all cases of this kind, the ad
vertiser is blessed with every requisite under
heaven—birth, education, a fine form, elegant
manners, &c.—everything in short except the
one thing needful—money. Of that he haslit
tle ; but, with a wife with a dowry, the
means of increasing it would expand enormous
ly. In the present case, Mr. Osborne is a wid•
over, sealed his letter with a crest, was related
to a noble family, his native country Scotland,
and his age forty-three. The following is his
own description of himself, and it is to rich to
admit of condensation: "As to personal appear
ance and suitability of disposition, I consider
that no man on earth ever yet described him•
self properly. lam tall—considered military
looking, which I have a right to be, as a de
scendant of a military race, and have always
been held to be very gentlemanly. My dispo
sition, I know to my cost, to be intensely affee
ate and confiding, and my feelings unusually
sensitive for a man. Candidly speaking, I
have always been considered a gentleman, and
of a high order of mind and education." The
lady, determined not to be outdone in giving a
good account of herself, says, "I am of middle
height, dark complexion, and have not yet
completed me thirty-fourth year. I quite agree
with you, that no person is capable of describ
ing himself truthfully, all being too partial
judges; but I have the flattering idea that I
should not personally disappoint you in nn
interview. lam equally affectionate withyour-
I self: and if I err in temper, it is passion, not
moroseness or obstinacy. My family are high
ly respectable, although I have not the honor
of an aristocratic connection. I have, there
fore, no ambition beyond nobility of mind. My
means, 1 may add, are sufficient, but limited,
and are at say own disposal."
Mr. Osborne is delighted with his fair corres
pondent, and feels, of course, au absorbing pas
sion for a person he has never seen. But he
wants to know the extent of the meatistowhich
I reference has been made. The replyis prompt
—.E6O a-year from a small freehold estate. He
is chilled, and writes, in effect, to say so ; but
the postscript of his letter gives hope: "A tho't
just strikes me. If your annuity of £6O be
well secured to you, free of all law points, it
should be sealable without much difficulty ei
ther to the party who pays you the money,or to
an insurance olive. At your time of life,yours
ought to be worth £l,OOO or £t,200; and if so,
this would still clear up the horizon of ny
hopes." The lady meets this business view of
the case, by question equally business like.
"Supposing a sale to be effected, would you
have any objection to a settlement of part?"—
and she solicits an interview.
At this stage of the correspondence the fi
nesse on each side is exquisite. Mr. Osborne
dreads a hoax; the lady indignantly retorts the
charge of unworthy suspicions. He proposes
"a test of sincerity"—a five pound note cut in
half. She deoms the "test to be unjust as well
as ungenerous; it would give you an undue ad
vantage, in addition to what you have already
obtained, which you ought not desire." He
becomes "fidgetty." "You have had letters
from me that no man on earth wonld have
written to a person ho did not expect to see !"
She proposes an equivalent—"l now accede to
your proposal, providing you will meet it by
forwarding the half of a L 5 note so as to cross
mine in the post." This he refuses, and the
lady's valedictory letter abuses him with simu
lated rage. This he regards as the strongest
proof of the interest he has awakened, and lie
writes again; but the curtain has fallen on this
epistolary drama.
WArEit.—An excellent thing is water. Next
to "the man who invented sleep," blessed be he
who invented water—clear, cold, sparkling, ev
er delicious! How manyfold are its uses!—
Think of what a vast deal it has done fur nevi.
gation; to say nothing of washing, scrubbing,
and hydropathy. Even tea and coffee can't be
made without it; and the grog-sellers and grog
drinkers owe it more than they are likely to
confess—the former in money saved, the latter
in intoxication avoided. Then, what a charm
ing drink it is! (We have tried it, and know.)
In spite of all the untoward tendency of the
Maine Law, we shouldn't wonder if it came,
some day, into general use as a beverage. To
be sure, it is abused; people drink it too cold,
and sometimes too much of it. But that proves
nothing against the use. Folks abuse rum,
and brandy, and wine; and they can abuse wa•
ter, if they like. As to hydropathy, it is well
enough in moderation, especially if one takes
a shower-bath, as Pat did, "with the precau
tion of an umbrella;" but even water may be
"run into the ground," which is often a sad
waste of a good thing.
sa.. An Irishman who was once on a journey,
said he never liked to see tables full of books
and newspapers where he stopped over night,
'ler," said ho, "I can never find any whiskey
at such places." A shrewd inference.
118. The fellow who 'picked up a raise,' no
doubt n ore boots.
° -[WEBBTER.
Aleyke Clover.
We copy the following (says the Farm Jour
nal) from the Loudon Gardeners' Chronicle,
and ask the attention of our readers to it. The
seeds of this clover have been distributed by
the Patent Office for a year or two, but we have
not heard of any one giving it a fair trial.
The following is from a printed circular:—
'Alsyke," or Perennial Hybrid Clover Seed, is
indigenous in Sweden, where it has been cul
tivated in the native pastures of that country
for the last hundred years, and has in some ea
ses been known to grow to the height of five
feet, although in England it attains only that
of two feet. The root is fibrous and the heads
globular. The plant bears a greater resem
blance to the white than to the red clover; and
although its stems are recumbant, they do not
root into the soil like those of the white clover;
in short, it may be described as a "giant" white
clover, with flesh-colored flowers. The plant
yields two mowings annually. Linntous ob.
served the Alsyke clover growing on poor, bare,
obdurate clays in the Mores, where no other
plant could be made to vegetate; and yet, un
der
such unfavorable circumstances, this clover
flourished with an uncommon degree of luxuri
ance, and yielded shoots as tender and succu
lent, although not so abundant, as if reared in
the most richly-manured fields. Micheli men
tions the plant as growing in open situations
on a clayey soil, and as being, in his opinion,
worthy of cultivation. Sturm says it is found
in Holland, and that he tried its cultivation
along with that of a great number of other clo
vers, placed under the same circumstances,
and that the result convinced him that there is
no other kind of clover equal to it for the pur
-1 pose of feeding cattle. The red clover will last
only two years in perfection, and often, if the
soil be cold and moist, nearly half of the plants
will rot, and in the second year bald places
will be found in every part of the field; besides
that in September and October many crops
left for seed are lost in consequence of the hea
vy rains during that period; while the Alsyke
clover, on the contrary, ripening its seed much
sooner, and continuing in vigor much longer,
much risk and expense are avoided, and a lar
ger profit accrues. Further, when this plant
is once established, it will remain for a great
many years in full vigor, and produce annually
a great quantity of herbage of excellent quali
' ty. The best method of disposing of the Alsyke
clover crop is, either by mowing it for hay, cut
ting it occasionally as green food, or feeding it
down with sheep, in which latter case it may
be turned on sooner than any other clover; and
if eaten down quite hare, and the stock taken
off the first week in June, the next crop will
come sooner to the scythe than any other spe
cies of clover so treated; and if saved for seed,
the seed will be ripe sooner than any other,
and the plant will again afford a good bite for
the sheep until the land be required to plow
for wheat—a heavier crop of which is invaria.
bly produced after Alsyke than any other clo
ver. If mown for hay, it should be cut as soon
as most of the heads are in full bloom, and be
fore they begin to turn brown and die away.—
Observe the foliage in the lower parts of the
plants—when the leaves turn yellow, decay and
drop off; the crop should be cut; for by stand
ing longer, the plant will lose more at the bot
tom than it gains at the top, The weight of
the seed required to be sown is, according to
circumstances, from ten to fifteen pounds per
acre, an extent of crop whirls will produce
many tons annually of green herbage, indepen
dent of a crop of seed. The hardy nature of
the plant is proved by the fitct of its thriving
by transplantation; it will admit of being taken
up at the expiration of two or three years and
planted in any other situation; the plant when
taken up is merely divided, and its fibrous roots
cut a little with a pruning knife; so that the
farmer need never be at a loss for a crop of
clover. The Alsyke does not suffer from the
severest frosts; it will flourish on the most bar
ren land, where few grasses will grow at all,
producing a heavy crop of seed, and affording
an abundance of nutritious herbage for horses,
oxen, and sheep; and when land has become
clover-sick, and cannot be depended on for a
crop of the ordinary sorts of clover, this has
never been known to fail.
Reflections of a Church-Going Belle,
So Mr. Brown is going to preach; to day—l
hoped he would exchange. I suppose he is a
good man, but his sermons are dreadful dull,
and so long! If I wore a minister, I wouldn't write
any sermon over fifteen minutes, and wouldn't
average over ten.
I wonder who that stranger is in Squire Bige
low's pew? How interesting ho looks with his
long curls— I should like to get acquainted
with him.
Good gracious! Georgianna Fuller has got
a new bonnet! Well wonders will never cease.—
It isn't becoming in the least—however, it will
he well enough for her. Kate Melvin has a
new shawl. How beautiful it is. I've no doubt
she got it at Warren's—l saw one there the
other day just like it. I'll go to morrow, and
see if I can't get one similar.
Well, I never! If there isn't a gentleman in
Miss Perwiukle's pew. Wonder whether he's
courting the old maid. Don't believe he'd
make quite such a fool of himself. for she's
thirty-five or more, and sour and crusty enough
to turn the sweetest milk. I've no doubt she'd
like to get him, if she could, or any one else,
for that matter.
Heigh! ho! what a long sermon?
Oh there's Mrs. Enstace, the bride. How
sweetly she is dressed. I'll cation her tomorrow
—I hear she's got a brother in the army. I'll
manage to get introduced, if, as I hear he is
coming here to pass a vacation for a few weeks.
Wonder whether anybody sees my new silk;
I hope so, for what's the use of having new
things, unless they are seen?
The sermon though—what a relief I
"How do you do, Mrs. Jones? Fine sermon."
„Yes, Ter:, 1 livened to it with much pleas
um'
VOL. 19. NO. 33.
A Really Wondefal Child.
There is at present attending the Hasting's
school, Darrel, Ayrshire, a girl aged between
eight and nine years, who commenced the stu
dy of arithmetic less than a twelvemonth ago.
Such are the powers of her memory, that she
is now able to calculate mentally, in a very few
moments, such questions as these: Bow many
seconds in 60, 80, 90, or 900 years? flow
many ounces in 20, 60, or 100 tons? She can
multiply such a line as £894 19s. 11d. by 32,
56, 98 as cleverly and correctly as any ordina
ry arithmetician would multiply by 4,6, or 8.
Counts in long division, (simple and compund)
she divides by short division, or in a line, by
such figures as 34, 56, 72, 92, &c, in 8 or 10
seconds.
The first time her teacher, Mr. Tarbet, dia.
covered her remarkable abilities, was when she
was showing him awns multiplied from 14 to
4,880, which at first he thought she must have
worked on the elate below, and then transferred.
He alleged as much, which she would by no
means admit. He then, to test her, told her to
multiply a line of pounds, shillings and pence,
which he gave her, by 72. To his surprise, she
multiplied it as fast as any other person could
have done it by 7. Yet this girl never learnt
the multiplication table higher than 12 times
12. She can also add up eight or ten lines of
pounds, shillings, or pence, by first adding the
lowest lines together, then the third lowest, and
so on. When performing these calculations,
every limb and feature seem at rest. One day
lately, the teacher set the door open, and order.
ed the children to be quiet, as he was going to
give her the most difficult count she had ever
got, He then told her to walk out in the gar
den, and find out how many moments were in
9,000 years. She walked only about ten yards
at an ordinary pace, when she tlld the answer
correctly, never having reached the garden.—
`But,' says one of the boys, 'she did a far big
ger count than that yesterday, the biggest, they
say, that was ever dune by anybody.' She mul
tiplied 123456789 by 987654321, and gave the
correct answer in less than a minute. for the
bet of a halfpenny, which she refused to take,
because her teacher had forbidden her, in the
presence of the scholars, to calculate largo
sums at the bidding of any person. On being
interrogated as to how he knew whether the
answer was correct, the boy replied, that two
of them had counted it on a slate, and found it
correct, and the figures were so far above hun
dreds of millions that none of them could read
them. The girl's name is Maria Cleland, dough.
ter of Gavin Cleland, shoemaker in Darvel.
Kissing.
A young lady at Alton, Illinois, gives the
following as her sentiments in regard to kiss-
Having seen a great deal about kissing in
the Telegraph and Courier, I deem it proper to
say a few words on that important subject, as
it is of as much consequence to us as to the
opposite sex. Now in my humble opinion, you
have said quite enough, and it is high time for
somebody else to talk. You don't like this
way or the other way—suppose you give it up
entirely. _ _
Spealting of proposed kisses, they are not
liked at all. I have made it my business to
inquire among my numerous friends, and they
agree with me, that a stolen kiss is the most
agreeable to them—that is, considering the one
who steals it : for they certainly are not all the
most delightful. If you had a mirror to reflect
your own image, during the operation, I think
you would never find fault again. Talk of
shyness and struggling : no wonder t when such
disgusting bipeds approach, it is miraculous
that ladies do not full into convulsions. I do
not speak altogether from experience but front
what I have heard others say. I myself have
not been kissed more than two or three times,
but as I am quite young, I expect to receive
many more. One of these waa administered
in first rate style—a kiss to perfection.
A clean mouth and handsome teeth are in
dispensable requisites, and they are seldom to
be found. There is but one gentleman in Al
ton, to my knowledge, that possesses these
valuables. Now, let your curiosity ransack
your memory to discover who the favored one
is. Most of you would contaminate the cheek
or brow of the lady (her lips you have nothing
to do with) with the odious incense of cham
pagne, tobacco, or seeds, which are worse than
all, even though they do conceal the perfume
of the two first mentioned; for certainly that is
what they are eaten for. I suppose gentlemen
think we are entirely innocent of their use, but
we all know very well.
The very idea of one who professes to be an
elegant gentleman to appear in the presence
of ladies, with his pockets well stored with
these abominable seeds, and, at every sly op
portunity, abundantly supplying the mouth, is
absurd. For the future, if you wish to kiss a
lady without her blushing and struggling, dis
pense with these disagreeable articles, and I'll
guaranty you will have no unnecessary trouble.
1/0,..A great mercantile fraud has been dis
covered in London, similar in character to that
of Schuyler in New York and about to the same
amount. Forged dock warrants to the extent
of £400,000 have been detected, upon which
money had been previously borrowed. Several
of the London mercantile houses have failed in
consequence. This disaster will break the
force of the New York explosion on the other
side, but cannot prevent the general want of
confidence being there exhibited which is felt
so severely here. It is fortunate, perhaps, that
this London forgery has in advance taken the
sting out of the ever ready denunciations of the
London press in regard to American affairs.—
For any homilies which they may be disposed
to read us on commercial morals, they can now
find a home application.
A MONSTER Hones.—A horse is now being
exhibited in England which is twenty one hands
high and weighs toundyliee hundred weight.
He must be a monster—a full team, as the say
ing all alone by himeelt.