THE TIMES NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA., MA11C11 30, 1880.
An Old IIorse-Dealer's Talk.
TT IS my opinion," Bald Mr. Bishop,
X the well-known Bull's Head deal
er, who has been for forty years la the
business, "that there are no horses in
this country to be compared with those
that come from Maine. I don't mean,
mind you, that nothing comes from
anywhere else, for that Isn't so 5 but the
Eastern horse wears better than any I
have ever seen. Being 'blocky' In build,
he has something to run on, while the
long-legged, thln-bodled, narrow-headed
animal that comes from elsewhere starts
off well, And makes a dash, but he'B like
a comet that's the end of him. The
Maine horse holds his own, and keeps
getting better and better all the time,
and Is good to the last. I'd rather just
have the tail of a Maine horse than a
whole horse from anywhere else. That
old fellow of mine out there in the
wagon is one of them.
I drive him for common. Bring him
out of the stable any duy,aud he'll make
his sixteen miles an hour right here lu
the city! Nobody can pass him. He's
as gentle as a kitten ; a woman can drive
him. Bnnp a whip within an inch of
his ear, and it won't startle him. You
might throw a pack of lighted Are.
crackers under hliu, and he wouldn't
move a peir. I never tie hiiu anywhere.
I can stand here and tell him to go, aud
he won't budge an Inch ; but the min
ute I get into the wagon, and take those
lines iu my hands, and give him the
word he's off like a Hash.
" Mr. Kelly's picture of the Andros
coggin is as true as a photograph.
There's Auburn one side of the river,
and Lewistown on the other. That's
one of my buyin-places. A week or so
before going up I advertise that I am
coming, and when I get there they drive
In from all over to sell their steeds.
"Sometimes a fellow rides in what they
vail a 'jumper.' It is nothing but a
.rockery crate lashed on a frame-work
pinned into two hickory saplingB nicked
and bent up for shafts and runners. Not
a nail Is used. It is made in two or
three hours, and serves only to carry
the man to town. If he sells his horse,
he throws his jumper away, aud rides
borne with the mau who didn't sell
his.
" ' Is it cold up there V Well, it Is,
and no mistake. Many a time I have
ridden for miles when the thermometer
was twelve below zero. You can see for
yourself in the picture the river is frozen
over, and the sleighs are driven on the
ice. .
" I don't buy all they bring me prob
ably not one out of ten. Some of the
men that sell them are mighty smart,
but there's a woman up there a specu
latorwho Is smarter than any of them.
Mr. Kelly calls her ' the fair jockey,' but
the people call her 'Old Mother Skin
ner.' For the life of me I can't tell
why, for she isn't old, and she is good
looking. She's quicker than lightning.
That other woman up iu the corner is
teaching a motherless colt to take milk.
.She holds the bowl In her lap, and wet
ting her thumb in the milk, gets him to
take it into his mouth. After he has
done this several times, she gradually
lowers her fist until his Hps touch the
milk, and he draws a full supply. Soon
afterward he learns to lap it up directly
from the basin, and needs no further
assistance.
" What do I do with the horses I
buy?' Well, I bring them down here,
trim them up nicely, clean them off,
and feed them up, and when they're in
good shape, sell them. They're just like
country girls In one respect. The girls
are nice as they can be on the farms, but
after the city milliner and dress-maker
fixes them up, yon wouldn't know
them.' So with horses, when they're
dressed a little it makes a great differ
ence in them. It costs to do it, though
and sometimes we don't get the money
-buck. Last trip I made I bought a
horse for $325, and after all the expense
had been put on him, I had to sell him
for 250. But I average It with another
that I sold for four times what he cost
oae. There are a good many risks in
the business. A horse may sicken be
fore you get him to market, and either
die or be used up. One I bought the
other day for $250 took pneumonia, and
I would be glud to sell him now for
$50.
"'Tricks' There isn't any end of
them. If you want to buy a horse.don't
believe your own brother. Take no
man's word for it. Your eye is your
market Don't buy a horse In harness.
Unhitch him, and take everything off
but the halter, and lead him around. If
he has attorn, or is stiff, or has any
other falling, you can see it. Let him
go by himself a little ways, and if he
staves right into any thing, you may
know he's stone-blind. No matter how
bright and clear bis eyes are, he can't
see any more than a bat. Back him up,
too. Some horses show their weak
nesses or tricks that way when they
don't in any other.
"But be as smart as you can, and
you'll get caught sometimes. Even an
expert gets stunk. A horse may look
ever so nice, and go a. mile a minute,
and yet have fits, for instance. There
Isn't a live man could tell it till some
thing happens. Or he may have a weak
back, tllve him the whip, and off he
goes for mile or two; then, all of a
sudden, he sits right down in the road.
After a rest he gets up and starts again,
but he soon Bits down for good, and
nothing but a derick could raise him.
There are sharpers i 11 New York who
make a business of selling such horses.
After the sale, they have their agents
slyly follow the buyer, and when the
final breakdown conies, they step up,
and after expressing their sympathy for
him, buy the horse back again for a
mere song, only to sell him again at a
fancy figure to the next greenhorn who
may come along. Even a horse with
the heaves may be doctored up so you
can't tell him. They feed him on wet
grain for a while, and then when they
show him off, drive him so smartly
that you can't see there's anything
wrong.
" Do you know what a 'dummy' Is V
You don't V Well, I'll tell you. He's a
horse that don't know anything. Ills
brain is gone wrug. A dark stall aud
overfeeding have ruined his digestion,
and that has affected his brain. Drive
him out a ways and pretty soon .he'll
jerk his head around and pull right
straight on one line. You can't hold
him ; It's of no use to try. The flrat
thing you know he's dumped you in a
ditch, or smashed you up against a lamp
post. Tie hlui in the stable, and he'll
back up till he breaks every halter you
put on him. Stretch a rope across the
end of the stall bo he can't back out, and
he'll climb up the wall.
" Maybe you don't believe It, but It's
so. I have seen one go clear up stairs,
aud once I saw one go out of a second
story window, and another walked off a
dock into the river. Watch him when
he's eating, and you'll often see him go
to sleep with the feed in his mouth. He
doesn't know any better; he's just a
fool. I bought one of these idiots when
I was a beginner in the business. He
broke everything In the Btable, and then
went up the wall like a lunatic. After
ward one of the boys that groomed him
for the man I bought him of admitted
that the animal was 'Just a lee-tlebit
dumb.' I can tell one now the minute
I set eyes on him. lie steps uncommonly
high. Iu most cases, when you see a
horse do that, be sure he's a dummy.
" 1 What do we do with horses we get
stuck on ? Send them to the auction,
where buyers take all the risks. No
reputable dealer ever sells a bad one any
other way. It doesn't pay to do it.
" I could talk all day about these
things, only your paper is full now, I
guess, and I'll stop. But don't you ever
buy a horse, young man, unless you
know how to do it." Harper's Weekly.
A Brave Trooper.
A Detroit paper, talking of " nerve,"
recalls among two or three cases
thatofJno. Melrose, a trooper in the
Sixth Michigan cavalry. He was an
under-seized, quiet-looking man, and he
had that wonderful nerve which not
three other men in the whole brigade
possessed. While acting as a scout in
the Shenandoah valley he was one day
eating dinner at a farm house, when in
walken seven Confederate soldiers. They
knew him for a Union scout, and he
knew them for Confederates. A brave
man would have made a rush, or had a
fight. Melrose simply looked up as
they filed in, smiled over Lis fix, and
called out :
" Say, old woman, put on more din
ner here, and we'll all have a square
meal together."
" You are my prisoner 1" said the ser
geant of the squad as he advanced.
" Yes, I know it, but I'll pay for a
dinner for you and your men just the
same I Sit right down and make your
selves at home."
His nerve upset the soldiers, and after
a moment they took seats at the table,
forming a complete circle around the
board. As soon as they began to eat he
began to think of escape. It was sum
mer, and the window, behind him and
ten feet away was open. If he stood up
all eyes would be fixed on him, and any
excuse to leave the room was not to be
thought of.
The meal was about half finished, and
captors and captive were chatting away
when Melrose suddenly flung himself
backward, upset his chair, and bounded
through the window. The soldiers ran
out and fired at and pursued him, but
he made good his escape.
In the Luray valley, just before the
afl'uir known as Woodstock races, Mel
rose and his companion fell out of ranks
to forage. After securing a supply of
meat they pushed on after the column,
and were riding at a gallop when five
bushwhackers, well mounted, came out
of the cross-road about twenty rods
ahead of them.
" We are dead men," said the scout's
companion as they came to a halt.
Looking back, they saw four more
bushwhackers cllming the fence to take
position on the highway. Melrose calm
ly viewed their situation, and finally
Bald:
" We will charge thera I Fall In be
hind me and there will be less danger.
Draw your sabre and strike hard 1"
The other dared not try it, though he
was a brave man. He therefore kept
his place as the Scout dashed forward.
Melrose rode straight at the men with
drawn sabre, and the volley they fired
went over him. He struck the line,
sabred a man as he passed, and soon re
joined the column. His companion was
never heard again, probably being mur
dered in cold blood.
In 1801 Melrose aud three other fora
gers were cuptured in the Shenandoah
valley, taken to a small encampment,
aud the four placed in a log house under
guard until their cases could be disposed
of. They talked the situation over, and
the bravest of them could see no hope
of escape. Melrose quietly listened to
their discouraging remarks, and as qui
etly replied that he wonld be inside of
he Union lines before midnight. There
was a circle of sentinels around the
building, which had no door. The sen
tinels paced within six feet' of the
building, and the one in front could see
the prisoners through the doorway.
Melrose said that if all would rush to
gether the sentinels would be confused,
and either hold their fire or fire wild.
The three men had participated in more
than twenty battles, and were known as
brave fellows, but here they wanted
nerve, and nerve was what they hadn't
got.
" Very well I will go alone 1" was
the quiet announcement, and as night
came on Melrose was ready. Standing
in the doorway, he asked the sentinel
what time it was.
"You git backthar', or I'll shoot!"
was the prompt reply.
" Yes-I'm going right back I" Bald
the scout, and he dashed upon the man,
hit him a stunning blow and made for
the woods. He had to run across an
open field in full sight of camp, and,
though It was dusk, he could be seen
quite plainly for half the distance.
More than fifty shots were fired at him,
and then pursuit began, but he reached
the woods and made his escape.
Must We Give up the Bird.
GEORGE W. PECK, in his Fourth of
July oration at La Crosse, said :
It has been noticed that thuB far I have
made no allusion to the American eagle,
the national trade mark, patent applied
for, but it is not that I do not appreciate
the position that species of poultry
occupies on these occasions. The poet
alluding to the eagle says:
Bird of the broad and fleeting wind,
Thy home is high in heaven.
This is too true. He is a high old
bird, and the committee that selected
the eagle ns a national emblem Bhould
have been arrested for disorderly con
duct. O great bird! You live on mice.
You Boar aloft on pinions airy, until
you see a poor little mouse with one leg
broke, and then you swoop down like a
ward constable and run him in. You
are a nice old bird for a trade mark, for
a nation of heroes, you old coward. You
sit on a rock and watch a peasant worn
an hanging out clothes, and when Bhe
goes In the house to turn the clothes
wringer you great bird, emblem of
freedom, you representative of the land
of the free and the home of the brave,
you swoop down on the plantation and
crush your tulons in the quivering flesh
of her little baby, take him to your
home high in heaven, and pick his in
nocent little eyes out. The bird that
should have been selected as the emblem
of our country, the bird of patience,
perseverance and the bird of terror when
aroused, is the mule. There is no bird
that combines more virtues to the square
foot than the mule. With the mule
emblazoned on our banners, we should
he a terror to our foe. We are a nation
of uncomplaining hard workers. We
mean to do the fulr thing by everybody.
We plod along doing as we would be
(lone by. So does the mule. We as a
nation are slow to anger. So is the
mule. As a nation we occasionally
stick our ears forward and fun flies off
our forehead. So does the mule. But
when any nation Btlcks spurs into our
flanks and tickles our heels with a straw
we come down Btirf-legged in front, our
ears look to the beautiful beyond, our
voice Is cut loose, and is still for war,
and our subsequent end pluys the snare
drum on any thing that gets in reach of
us, and strikes terror to the hearts of all
tyrants, bo does the mule.
Grateful Women.
None receive so much benefit, and
none are so profoundly grateful and
show such an interest in recommending
Hop Bitters as women. It is the only
remedy peculiarly adopted to the many
ills the sex is almost universally subject
to. Chills and fever, indignation or de
ranged liver. Constant or periodical
sick headaches, weakness In the back or
kidney, pain In the shoulders and differ
ent Darts of the bodv. a feeling: of las
allude and despondency, are all readily
remov eU by these Bitters. 14 2t
SUNDAY HEADING
England's National Vloo.
BY THE nEV. CANON FAIUIAII.
THE devotion to liquor, as every one
knows who knows anything about
his country, is the besetting sin of the
nation J and, so far from trying to check
tins besetting sin, we encourage, we ren
der attractive, we protect, we indefinite-
Iy multiply, we thrust at every step be
fore those whom It Is most likely to de
stroy, innumerable temptations to It;
and this we do, and continue to do,
though we know that so difficult is it
for the poor, even when they wish to
keep aloof from it ; so subtle, so rapid,
fatal, enslaving, Is the horrible fascina
tion of it, that a man often becomes a
drunkard almost before he sees the aw
fulness of his peril ; and when once he
Is a drunkard, most often he is hurried
all downhill with fatal rapidity Into in
ourable ruin of body, mind and soul.
Can we then wonder that, more and
more, by common confession, a confes
sion, alas I how humiliating, of a fact
how notorious, the national vise of
Great Brltian is drunkenness? Not one
day passes without our witnessing its
terrible ravages. To the ruin it engen
ders, all alike bear witness. From the
army, from the navy, from the police,
from guardians of the poor, from manu
facturers, from merchants, from trades
men, from all large employers of labor,
from physicians, from judges, from the
clergy of every denomination, and most
often aud most bitterly from the work
ingmen themselves, come pouring In the
accumulated testimonies emphatic,
heart-rending, unmistakable, reiterated
to the deadliness of this degrading sin.
Do you who are rich and respectable
you who, shut up In your stately houses
or quiet homes, know nothing of this,
and therefore, nursing in some delicious
stillness your dainty loves and slothful
sympathies, hear it with indifference or
Impatience? If you would know what
drunkenness is, if you would learn what
cause thete is to lift up the voice respect
ing it, leave your ease ; do not be afraid
for once to sicken your sensibilities; do
not be afraid tot soil your robes. See
women, or what had once been those
gracious beings, shrieking, fighting,
blaspheming, pawning the very shawls
off their backs, and the very bed on
which their children lie. Watch the
poor, ragged, emaciated drunkard lost
to health, lost to respectability, lost to
shame reeling from the counter where
he has over and over again shamefully
squandered what might have kept him
self and his family in comfort and inde
pendence. Follow him, at least in im
agination, to the chronio and squalid
misery of that bare, foul room, which
might have been a home. See his
children fly from him terror-stricken,
and huddled away out of sight in the
corner, in the street, anywhere. Bee his
wife but the picture, though infinitely
less than the reality, is too horrible ; and
you may see this almost anywhere ; you
may see it almost any duy ; and when
you have seen it you will know at last
why the hearts of thousands sink with
in them as they contemplate this stand
ing shame, this clinging curse, this eat
ing canker of our prosperity and of our
life. These are its infamous results-
parent of evil. Who will venture to de
ny one of these awful indictments with
which I here arraign it? Unnecessary
as it is, except possibly in rarest cases of
illness, being neither a food nor a source
of strength, it wastes our resources ; it
saps our national strength ; it empties
our churches; it frustrates our schools;
it fills our prisons; it crowds the wards
of our hospitals ; it peoples the cells of
our asylums; it swells the tables of our
mortality; it degrades many of our
rich ; it brutallses multitudes of our
poor. Now, all this being so, what
will you do? Oh, I do believe that there
are thousands of good men and good
women who, If they knew about this
subject all they might know, not look
on coldly and indifferently while others
struggle. They would not think the
drunkard a fit subject for a smile or a
Jest. They would not oppose any legis
lative endeavour to diminish for the
working man bis worst and fatalest se
duction. They would not meet the ar
guments of temperance by those feeble
superstitious and exploded fashions of
Scriptural reasoning which have been
used ere now to kindle the fagot of the
Inquisitor, aud rivet, the fetters of the
slave. They would not supply to the
cause of intemperance the shallow
sophism or the ensnaring epigram.
But what they will do would be to join
hand-in-hand in a holy crusade against
this curse of nations ; this worst stum
bllngblock on the path of moral, intel
lectual, and religious progress. And if
they did not see their way to do, as a
simple aud much needed protest, what
thousands, thank God, of our clergy
have done and have done not only
without injury to health, but with posi
tive advantage to it not only without
diminution of strength, but with decid
ed increase of it, namely, abstain from
all intoxicating drinks for their breth
ern's sake, if not for their own ; If
they did not make this cheap and bene
ficial sacrifice, yet at least, In order that
the next generation may be partially
delivered from that which Is the bitter
curse of this, they would train up their
children, when any fermented liquor is
set before them, to say with the children
of Jonadab, the Bon of Bechab, " We
drink it not, for our father commanded
us, saying, "Drink It not." Oh, what
a generation would that be, how healthy,
how wealthy, how clear of lutellect,
how Btrong of arm, how fertile in re
Bources, how rich In hope, to which
drink would be unknown.
SELLEKS'
COUGH
SYllUrt
50 Years Before the Public 1
Pronounced by all to be the moBt Pleasant
and elllcaclous remedy now In use, for the
cure of Coughs, (Jolds, Croup, Hoarseness,
Tickling sensation of the Throat,' Whooping
Cough, etc. Over a million bottles sold
within the last few years. It gives relief
wherever used, and has the power to Impart
benefit that cannot be bad from the cough
mixtures now la use. Bold by all Druggists at
25 cents per bottle.
SELLERS' LIVER FILLS .
are also highly recommended for cnrlng liver
complaint, constipation, slck-bcadaches, fever
and ague, and all diseases of the stomach and
liver. Soldjby all by all Druggists at 25 cents
per box. 40 ly
R. E. BELLERS & CO., Pittsburg, Pa.
J.'M. GlBVIN.
J. H. Girvm
J. M. GIRVIN & SON.,
FLOUR, GRAIN, SEED & PRODUCE
Commission Merchants,
No. 64 Sonth t.'oy, St-,
BALTIMORE, MD.
We will pay strict attention to the sale of all
kinds of Country Produce and remit the amounts
promptly. 45 lyr.
J. M. GIRVIN & SON.
jypSSER & ALLEN
CENTRAL STORE
NEWPORT, PENN'A.
" Now offer the public
A HARE AND ELEGANT ASSORTMENT OP
DRESS GOODS
Consisting sf all shades suitable for the season
11 TjA ck a lpa a cas
AND
Mourning Goods
A SPECIALITY.
BLEACHED AND UNBLEACHED
MUSLINS,
AT VARIOUS PRICES.
AN KNDLES3 SELECTION OF PRINTS) ' . .'.
We sell and do keep a good quality of
SUGARS, COFFEES & SYRUPS
And everything under the head of
GROCERIES!
Machine needles-and oil for all makes ol
Machines.
To be convinced that our goods are
CHEAP AS THE CHEAPEST,
13 TO CALL AND EXAMINE STOCK.
W No trouble to show goods.
Don't forget the
CENTRAL STORE,
Newport, Perry County, Pa.
JjLOOMFIELD ACADEMY. ..
The next remilar term of this Institution be
gins MAltCH 29th. 1840.
Full preparation, classical or otherwise, Is given
for any college male or female either lor Fresh
man or Sophomore year.
A thorough course is provided for teachers, and
the option it given ot selecting one or two of the
higher studies.
Prof. J. V. Miller will have charge of the Pen
manship and business courses.
Musle, Drawing and Painting.
Philosophical and Chemical apparatus for the
study of the Natural Sciences, Literary Society,
Library.
Ht intents are at all times under the supervision
of the Principal and their progress and conduct
noted on their weekly reports.
Hoarding, if in advance, 1160 per week, ' other
wise, t'J-76; Tuition froui 60 ceuta to II. Oo per
week, in ailmnce.
For further Information, address,
J. U. PLI(JKIN(4Elt. A. B , Principal.
or ns. uuiKa, rrnpneior,
92m. New Blomttld, Pa.
T71HTATK NOTIL'K. N,it1,.i htrt tx.
Xii en that Letters of Administration on the
estate of Castleberry Harris late of Peun town'
ship, Perry County, Pa., deceased, have been
granted to the undersigned residing In said -township.
All persons Indebted to said estate are request
ed to make immediate paynimit and those having
eialms will present them duly authenticated for
sollluiueut to
Bs H. HARRIS. Administrator,
v .nl,n" ,wu' Duucaunon, P. O,
Beoember 2, h lit