The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, September 04, 1877, Image 1

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VOL. XI.
NEW'BLOOMPIELD, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1B77.
NO. 35.
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THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
18 PCBLISHBD KVRRT TL'BSDAT BT '
F. MORTIMER & CO.
Subscription Price.
Within the County, .....II 25
Six month 75
Out of the County, Including postage, 150
" " " six mouths " , 85
Invariably in Advance I
W Advertising rates furnished upon applt
cation $eledt Poetry.
A HOUSEKEEPER S TRAGEDY.
One day as I wandered, I beard a complain
ing! And saw a poor woman, the picture of
gloom ) "
6he glared at the mud on the doorsteps ('twas
Y And this was her wall as she wielded her
broom :
" Oh ! life is a toil, and love a trouble,
And beauty will fade and riches flee ; '
And pleasures they dwindle, and prices they
double,
And nothing Is what I could wish it to be.
" There's too much of worrlment goes to a
bonnet i
There's too much of Ironing goes to a
shirt j
There's nothing that pays for the time that you
waste on it
There's nothing that lasts but trouble and
dirt.
" In March it is mud j it's slush In Decem
ber j
The midsummer breezes are loaded, with
dust;
In fall the leaves litter j In muggy Septem
ber The wall-paper rots, and the candlostlcks
rust.
"There are worms in the cherries, and slugs
in the roses,
And ants in the sugar and mice la the
pies ;
The rubbish of spiders no mortal supposes,
And ravaging roaches and damaging files.
It's sweeping at six, and dusting at seven ;
It's victuals at eight, and dishes at nine ;
It's potting and panning from ten to eleven ;
We scarce break out fast ere we plan how to
dine.
" With grease and with grime, from corner to
centre,
Forever at war and forever alert, . -No
rest for a day, lest the enemy enter
I spend my whole life in a struggle with
dirt.
' ' Last niglit, in my dreams, I was stationed
forever
On a bare little isle In the midst of the
sea ;
My one chance of life was a ceaseless en
deavor To sweep off the waves that swept over
me.
41 Alas 1 'twas no dream 1 Again I behold
It I
I. yield i I am helpless my fate to avert !"
She rolled down her sleeves, her apron she
folded,
Then laid down and died, and was buried
in dirt !
SAVED BY A DOG.
pOOD-BYE,DEAR,"I said after
vJ I had put on my coat and gather
ed up the reins.
She took hold of my wrist and detain
ed me.
" Wait a moment, John."
Then she called to Mack, my great
Newfoundland dog, and he came out of
the house, and, at a motion from her,
jumped into the sleigh and curled him
self at my feet.
lie was a noble fellow,my brave Mack,
I really think there never was such
another dog. I had brought him all the
way from New Hampshire, and we had
grown to feel perfectly secure in the
house with him, so watchful and faith,
ful was the noble dog ; but it never oc
curred to me to take him on this trip, iu
a sleigh.
" Belle," I said, " you are a silly girl.
The dog will only be a botheration to
me, and ten to one you'll want him here
before I get back."
" Now, John, please do take him for
mel Please do take him, John take
him, Just because your silly little wife is
afraid to have you go without him."
Of course the girl had her wny. I was
never able to understand how a man
can resist this kind of persuasion. . I
never could, and never expect to. Ho I
kisstd her and chirruped to Chevnlicr,
and he bounded away through the settle
ment like an arrow.
It was in the dead of winter and an
unusually heavy snow had fallen, filling
in the roadway to the depth of ten feet.
There had been travel enough to pnek it
hard, so that I found the sleighing ex
cellent. Chevalier's hoofs glanced nim
bly over the snow, and in two hours I
had made more than twenty miles, and
had reached the substantial log cabin of
one of our best and most intelligent
customers. He received me with a
hearty welcome, and when I told him
what my mission was, he invited me to
'make his cabin my headquarters while
I remained in the neighborhood. I
thankfully accepted the Invitation,
stayed all night, and the next morning,
under the guidance of Dick, my host's
youngest son, a clever boy of about
thirteen, I started out to make my first
experience in collecting. It does not con
cern my story to describe anything that
happened to me during my stay with
our friend, which lasted rather more
than a week.
When I began to realize that I had
collected about as much money as my
employer expected from this trip, I sat
down to count it up. I had been out all
day, and it was just at the edge of the
evening. Supper was almost ready, and
I made up my mind that if my port
manteau contained as much as I thought,
I would only wait to appease my hunger
before starting for the settlements. I
poured out the money on the floor and
counted it. It was all in gold and silver
for banknotes would have been despised
among us then, and there was the sum
of eleven hundred and seventy-three
dollars. They were all sorry to have
me go, and made me promise to come
again and bring my wife before the win
ter was gone. I put on my coat and
muffled up my ears, and started.
The sleighing was still excellent ; the
night was clear and cold, and the full
moon made it as bright as day. We
skimmed along for a mile or two, my
thoughts all the time on Belle and the
happy meeting we would have in a little
time, when the extraordinary conduct
of Mack attracted my attention. He had
been lying quietly at my feet, with the
rug which enveloped them also coveriug
him. He suddenly shook it off, growl
ing savagely, and began to smell around
the bottom of the sleigh. ,
Had it been summer time, I really be
lieve I should have thought the animal
was going mad. Never before did I see
him behave thus ; and his conduct so
troubled me that I shouted to Chevalier
and we skimmed away faster. About
sixty rods ahead I saw a tall, blasted
tree, which I had been told was half
way from the settlement to Mr. Selkirk's,
and, pulling my watch out to observe
the time, I saw to my surprise that I
had been an hour and three-quarters
coming twelve miles. I think I was
never so astonished in my life. The ca
pacities of Chevalier were so well known
to me, and I was so sure that his ordina
ry gait, without the frequent 'urging I
had given him, would carry Mack and
me a mile in six minutes, mileafter mile
that I could not comprehend that he had
been so slow, while apparently traveling
fast. I called to him again, and he
stepped off smartly; the dog growled,
and, I am ashamed to say it, I kicked
him hard in my unreasonable anger. I
had cause to repent those kicks before
another ten minutes had passed.
I passed the blasted tree, and entered
upon the last half of the way. Before
me now lay a long level stretch of road,
without an obstruction or turn for sev
eral miles, and one dazzling white sur
face of snow upon it. I looked out
ahead, and just as far as I could distin
guish anything from the snow, probably
not less than a mile away, I saw a black
speck. It did not hold my attention
when I first saw it; but as Chevalier
sped on, rapidly devouring the distance
it took form and size, until when with
in thirty rods of it, I could plainly see
that it was a man. There he stood, up
right in the middle of the road, without
speech or motion, apparently waiting.
Was he waiting for me ? Did he know
that I was coming with eleven hundred
dollars in cash in a portmanteau at my
feet? And, if so what would he doV
For the first time since my absence from
the settlement I began to feel nervous,
and thought it would only be safe to take
out my pistols and have them ready. I
felt in my right hand over-coat pocket,
and found nothing ; I felt in the left
one and found nothing. They had both
been removed, and at Selkirk's. I was
certain I had thein when I returned
there at night.
A horrible suspicion of Intended mur
der and robbery flashed upon me; and
here I was stripped of my weapons and
defenceless. The horse was now within
four rodB of the motionless figure in the
road, and bearing down rapidly upon
him, I shouted to Chevalier, and huhed
him with the end of the reins. He
bounded like a bolt up to the man stop
ped iu his fright, swerved, and was ln
Btantly seized by the bit,' and his head
brought down by the powerful ruffian.
Before I had time to think, there was a
shout, which I distinctly heard : " your
money, quick I" and then came two
pistol shots in rapid succession that I
could not have counted two between
them. One ball passed through my hat,
as I afterward discovered, within an inch
of my head ; the other went between
my right arm and my body, cutting the
skin in its passage. Almost at the in
stant Mack gave a ferbcions growl and
dove under the seat upon which I was
sitting. I heard him snapping and growl
ing, and heard a human voice, half suf
focated trying to say ; "Oh, God t Oh,
God!" and then I thoroughly realized
the situation. The man who had stop
ped me was struggling with Chevalier,
desperately striving to keep his head
down, when a happy thought came to
my deliverance, and I quickly jerked the
lines, one after the other. Quick as
thought the noble brute hroke from the
ruffian's grasp, and reared straight up
in the air above his head, coming down
again instantly. I saw that the man
was lying motionless beneath Chevalier's
hoofs, and, at a word from me, the ani
mal flew onward, while I lashed him
into greater speed. The growls of Mack
underneath me had ceased, as well as the
'cries of the miserable being who was
suffering in his jaws ; and in a few mo
ments the glorious dog came out again
and put his bloody paws on my knees,
while he whined at if requesting some
recognition for what he had done. I was
terribly excited I could not help it ; the
awful trial I had just passed through
was enough to work upon stronger
nerves than mine; but I put my arm
around the noble fellow's neck,and hug
ged him as if he had been a woman. The
last half of the way was passed rather
quicker than the first, and the gallant
Chevalier was covered with sweat when
he stopped at the door of my employer's
house. I .
I tumbled In upon my wife and her
parents sitting round the fire, and I was
just about speechless from cold and the
reaction of my excitement. I found
voice after a while to say that I wasn't
hurt at all, and to ask my father-in-law
to look under the seat of the sleigh.
What he found there all of you know
by this time. The man was stone dead,
Mack's teeth having torn and mangled
his neck frightfully. Selkirk came to
the settlement the next day, and with
his help the web of villainy was com
pletely unraveled. Both men had been
to his house the afternoon previous to
my return, but had left an hour before I
came. Both might easily know that I
, had a large sum of money with me, for
no secret had been made of my business,
and it had been talked over in their
hearing. After talking with Mr. Sel
kirk, I remembered for the first time
that I had left my overcoat in the sleigh
after coming back to the house that
afternoon. Here, then, was the oppor
tunity which the intended robbers and
murderers embraced to steal my pistols,
and for one of them to secrete himself
under the sleigh-seat. In the woods,
near the scene of the encounter, Mr.
Selkirk found one of their horses, sad
dled and bridled and hitched to a tree;
and he bad no doubt that it had been
ridden there that evening by the man
whom Chevalier killed.
2T If we except the blessings of
strength, health, and the testimony of a
good conscience, all the other conveni
ences and pleasures of life depend upon
opInlon Except pain of body and re
morse of conscience, all our evils are
imaginary. ' "
Who was Casablanca ?
OWEN CASABIANCA was a native
of Corsica, on which island he was
born iu the year 1738. His father was
Louis Casablanca,a distinguished French
politician and naval commander and the
friend of Napoleon. He was captain at
the time of the Orient, one of the larg
est vessels in the French navy, a mag
nificent man-of-war, carrying 120 guns
and 600 seamen. Of Casablanca's moth
er we know but little, save that she was
a young and beautiful Corsican lady,
aud devotedly attached to her son.
Owen was her only child, a wholesome,
manly little fellow, with her beauty In
his flashing eye and dusky hair. She
died while he was yet quite young, and
when the green sod was placed above
her grave, the boy left the pleasant val
ley under the smiling hills of Corsica to
go with his father and tread the hard
deck of a war vessel. Mere child as he
was, Casablanca soon grew to love his
father's dangerous calling, aud became
a favorite with all on board. He was
made midshipman, and at the early age
of ten years, practiced with his father in
the battle of the Nile. The ship caught
fire during the action. Soon after, Cap
tain Casablanca, the father, was wound
ed by a musket ball. Not yet disabled,
he was struck iu the head some minutes
later by a splinter which laid him on
the deck insensible. His gallant son,
unconscious of the chieftain's doom.still
held his post at the battery, where he
worked like the hero he was. He saw
the flames raging around him ; he saw
the ship's crew deserting him one by one,
and the boy was urged to flee. With
courage aud coolness beyond his years
he refused to desert his post. Worthy
son of Louis Casablanca, he fought on
and never abandoned the Orient till the
whole of the immense vessel was in
flames. Then seeking refuge on a float
ing mast,he left the burning ship behind
him. But he was too late. The final
catastrophe came like the judgment
doom. With an explosion so tremendous
that every ship felt it to the bottom, the
Orient blew up, and from among the
wreck the next doming was picked up
the dead body of our hero, whose story,
romance and poetry, cannot make more
heroic than it was.
Man and Horse both Sold.
BEN MORGAN, (says the Cincinnati
. Star) is an ingenious and enter
prising customer. His home is on the
rolling deep, that is to say he commands
a canal boat that plies between this city
and Hamilton, and he is a judge of
horseflesh, and previous to a week ago
last Tuesday it was his daily boast that
he had never been picked up in a horse
trade. Previous to, but not subsequently
by a jug full.
On the day and date aforesaid, Ben
sat Upon deck smoking his pipe and en
joying the transient scenery, while the
boat gilded through the calm waters
smoothly and softly, " like a painted
ship upon a painted sea," when his
attention was attracted by a shout from
the tow-path :
" Hello, boss, want to buy a hoss V"
Looking up he beheld an unsophisti
cated looking granger riding a fair
specimen of a nag upon which hung a
set of dilapidated buggy harness. '
" I'm always open for a dicker," re
plied Ben taking his pipe from his
mouth ; " what's your figures P"
" Well, I'm pretty hard run," answer
ed the countryman. " I started with an
old wreck of a buggy, but the thing
give out, so I concluded to ride my
critter to hoss market. What do you
say to f 20 for horse and harness ?"
Ben knew the beast was worth twice
the money, and he finally purchased
her for ?15, which amount was paid
over to the granger just in time for him
to catch the up train for Carthage. The
horse was brought ou board, and Ben
sat down to witness the operation of
divesting her of her harness. All went
well until they attempted to remove
the crupper from her tall, when great
Caisar crupper and tall all came off
together. Nothing was loft upon the
poor beast but a pitiable stump which
she wiggled most uneasily.
It was a clear case. By some misfor
tune the mare had been robbed of her
tall, and a substitute had been construct
ed to attach to the harness, thus adding
to her personal appearance and assist
ing her materially in fly-time
Ben has not been able to dispose of
that nag, but the harness is never re
moved from her In his presence. Never.
A Girl Worth Having.'
WE heard of a pretty incident the
other day which we cannot help
relating. A young lady from the South,
it seems, was wooed and won by a youth
ful physician living in California.
When the engagement was made the
doctor was rich, having been very
successful in San Francisco. It had not
existed six months, however, when by
unfortunate investment he lost his entire
"heap." This event came upon him, It
may be added, just as he was about to
claim his bride. What does he do?"
Why, like an honorable and chivalrous
young fellow, as he Is, he sits down and
writes the lady every particular of the
unhappy turn which has taken place in
his fortunes, assuring her that If the
fact produced any change In her feeling
towards him, she is released from every
promise Bhe has mode him. And what
does the dear, good girl do V Why, she
takes a lump of pure gold which her
lover had sent her in his prosperity as a
keepsake, and having it manufactured
into a ring, forwarded it to . him with
the following Bible Inscription engraved
in distinct characters on the outside :
" Entreat me not to leave thee, or to re
turn from following after thee; for
whither thou goest will I go, and whith
er thou lodgest will I lodge ; thy people
shall be my people, and thy God , my
God ; where thou diest will I die, and
there will I be buried ; the Lord do so to
me. also, if aught but death part me
and thee."
The lover idolized his sweetheart more
than ever when he received this precious
evidence of her devotion to him, both
in storm and sunshine. , We may add
that fortune soon again smiled upon the
young physician,, and that he subse
quently returned to the north to wed
the girl he loved, and who loved him
with such undying affection. Header,
this is all true. Young ladies who read
the Bible as closely as the heroine of
this incident seem to have done are
pretty sure to make good sweethearts
and better wives.
A True Fish Story.
ONE DAY last summer, about a week
after Rev. Frank Chandler, of Free-
hold, had removed with his family to;
his charming little cottage at Spring
Lake, his amiable wife was somewhat
exercised because they had not as yet
been able to procure any fresh fish or
crabs. Now one of the advantages,
which they had expected to enjoy, in
in spending the summer by the sea, was
a discussion of these very denizens of
the watery element. Mrs. Chandler
therefore proposed to her husband that
he should hitch the horse and hunt up
some place where these interesting
creatures could be purchased. He thought
the suggestion a good one and soon had
" Old Dan" all harnessed and prepared
for the expedition. In the meantime,
his daughter Annie and some young
friends had been playing in the yard in
front of the house. All at once they
were startled by seeing a fish dropt
right down In front tof them, within a
few yards of the dwelling. They looked
up and saw a fish hawk flying through
the air, closely pursued by a large bird
of prey, which they took to be an eagle.
The hawk had evidently just caught
the fish in "Wreck Pond," which is
close by their residence, and was mak
ing off with the prize when the robber
bird attacked him and compelled him to
drop it.
This is a well-known characteristic of
the eagle. He will sit a long time watch,
ing until his iudustrious neighbor has
caught a fish and will then pounce dawn
upon him, and endeavor to rob him of
his spoil. The poor llsh hawk being
less swift of wing becomes th easy vic
tim of his powerful antagonist. On this
occasion, however, both birds were fated
to go home hungry, for Miss Annie,
picking up the fish, brought it, squirm
ing in her hands, to her father, who was
just about starting, and related to him
how it had been dropped at the very
door. It was a blue mackerel and
weighed several pounds. It is needless
to state that " old Dan" did not go on
his voyage of dlsoovery that afternoon,
and the pastor's family feasted on the
fish which had been provided for them,
in so remarkable a manner.
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WltllIBB IWIRMIMI