Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, March 23, 1876, Image 1
St i
VOL. IV. NO. 16
Rest at Last
After the shower, the tranquil eon;
Silver stars when the day is done.
After the snow, the emerald leaves;
After the harvest, golden sheaves.
After the clonds, the violet sky;
Quiet woods when the wind goes by.
After the tempest, the lull of waves ;
After the battle peaceful graves.
After tbe knell, the wedding bells;
Joyful greetings from sad farewells.
Aftor the bud, the radiant rose;
After our weeping, sweet repose.
After the burden, the blissful meed ;
After the futrow, the waking eoed.
After the flight, the downy nest;
Over the shadowy river?rest
A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
Passing out between the hills, the
young fellows found themselves on a
nearly level plain. Here, too, was a
dense throng of buffaloes, stretching oft
to the undulating horizon. As the two
explorers walked on, a wide lane seemed
to open in the mighty herds before
theui. Insensibly, and without any
hurry, the creatures drifted away to the
right and left, browsing or staring, bnt
continually moving. - Looking back,
they saw that the buffaloes had closed
up their ranks on tbe trail which they
had just pufcraed; while before, and on
cither hand, was a wall of animals.
44 We are surrounded 1" almost whispered
Arthur, with some alarm.
44 Never mind, my boy. We can walk
out, just as the children of I-rael did
from the Red sea. Only we have waves
of buffaloes, instead of water, to close
behind and open before aud be a wall
on each side. See !"
AtwI fta t.hAv kent nn. the mass before
them melted away in some mysterious
bishiou, a 1 way8 at the same distance
from them.
" Sec ! We move in a vacant space
that travels with us wherever we go,
Arty."
"Yes," said the lad. " It seems just
as if wo were a caudle in the dark. The
open grouud around us is the light wo
i-hed; the buffaloes are the darkness out
side."
' A good figuro of speech, that, my
laddie. I must remember it. But we
are getting out of the wilderness."
They had now como to a sharp rise
of grouud, broken by a rocky ledge,
which turned the h rds more to the
northward. AscendiDg this, they were
out of t'ie buffaloes for the time, but
beyond them were thousands more.
Turuiug soutnward, they struck across
tho country f<;r the wagon track, quite
well satisfied with their explorations.
Between two long divides, or ridges,
they came upon a single wagon, canvas
covered, iu which were two little children.
Two boys?one about seven and
tho other eleven years old?were playing
iu i-r by, and four oxen wero grazing by
ft spring.
In reply to Mont's surprised question
as to bow they came off the trail, and
why they wero here alone, they said
that their father and uncle had come ud
after buffaioes, and wero out with their
gnus. Their mother was over on the
bluff?pointing to a little rocky mass
which rofie like au island in the middle
of the valley. She had gone to hunt
for "sarviee berries." They were left
to mind the cattle and the children.
*1 Pretiv careless business, I should
say," murmured Mout. " Well, youngster","
he added, "keep by the wagon;
if your cattle stray off, they may get
earned away by the buffaloes. Miud
that!"
They went ou down the valley, looking
behind them at the helpless little
family alone in the wilderness.
"A man ought to be licked for leaving
his young ones here in such a lonely
place," said Mont.
Suddenly, over the southern wall of
the valley, like^ a thunder cloud, rose a
vast and fleeing herd of buffaloes. They
were not only ninuing, they were rushing
like a mighty flood.
" A stampede 1 a stampede!" cried
Mont; and, flying back to the unconscious
group of children, followed by
Arthur, he said: "Run for your lives,
youngsters! Make for the biuff I"
Seizing one ef the little ones, and
bidding Arthur take the other, he started
the boys ahead for the island bluff,
which was some way down the valley.
There was not a moment to lose. Behind
them, like a rising tide, flowed the
buffaloes in surges. A confused mnrmur
tilled the air; the ground resounded
with the hurried beat of countless
hoofs, aud the earth seemed to be disappearing
in the advancing torrent. Close
Irehiud the flying fugitives the angry,
panic stricken herd tumbled and tossed.
Its labored breathing sighed like a
breeze, and the warmth of its pulsations
seemed to stifle the air.
? * . j* 1 #1 IM 3
4 * To file left : lo loe iei? : screameu |
Arthur, seeing the bewildered boys,
who fled like deer, making directly for
tho steepest part of the bluff. Thrw j
warned, the lads bounded up the little
island, grasping the underbrush as they
climbed. H;\rd behind 'them came
Arty, pale, his features drawn and rigid,
and bearing in his arms a little girl
Mont brought up the rear with a stout
boy on his shoulder, and breathless with
excitement and the laborious run.
Up the steep side they scrambled,
falling and recovering themselves, but
np at last. Secure on a bare rock, they
saw a heaving tide of wild creatures
ponr tumnltuously over the edge and
fill the valley. It leaped from ledge to
ledge, tumbled and broke, rallied again
and swept on, black and silent Rave for
the rumbling thunder of many hoofs
and the panting breath of the innumerable
multitude. On it rolled over every
. obstacle. The wagon disappeared in a
twinkling, its white cover going down
in tho black tide like a sinking ship at
sea. Past the islandlike bluff, where a
little group stood spellbound, the herd
swept, the rushing tide sep rating at
the rocky point, against which it beat
and parted to the right and left. Looking
down, they saw the stream flow by,
on and up the valley. It was gone, and
the green turf was brown where it had
been. The spring was choked, and the
wagon was trampled in a flat ruin.
Fwciutted by the sight, Mont and
Arthur never took their eye* from it un
INDA
til it was over. Then returning to their |
Tronnor thev saw a tall, firannt I
D ' >/ ? ? w
woman, with a horror-stricken face,
gathering the whole gronp in her arms.
It was the mother.
"I don't know who you be, young
men, but I thank you from the bottom
of my heart," she said. " Yes, I thank
you from the bottom of my heart?and,
oh 1 I thank God, too!" And she burst
into tears.
Arthur, at loss what else to say, remarked
: " Your wagon is all smashed." j
"I don't care?don't care," said the
woman, hysterically rocking herself to
and fro where she sat with her children
clasped to her bosom. " So's the
young ones are safe, the rest may go to
wrack."
As she spoke, a couple of horsemen
came madly galloping down the valley, j
far in the wake of the flying herd. They I
paused, thunderstruck, at the fragments
of their wagon trampled in the torn
soil. Then, seeing the group on the
rock, they hastened on, dismounted, and
climbed the little eminenoo.
"Great powers above, Jemimy! we
stampeded the buffaloes !" said the elder
of the pair of hunters.
Arty expected to hear her say that she
was thankful so long as they were all
alive.
" Yes, and a nice mess you've made
of ii" This was all her comment.
" Whar's the cattle, Zeph?" asked
I the father of this flock.
[ " Gone off with the buffaloes, I
reckon, dad," was the response of his
son Zephaniah.
The man looked up and down the valley
with a bewildered air. His wagon
had been mashed and crushed into the
ground. His cattle were swept out into
. i .1 a ? j j
8pace DJ mo rCSlSUeHS liuuu, buu wcic
nowhere in sight. He found words at
last :
" Well, this is perfectly rediclus."?
St. Xicholas for March.
The Cedar Mines of New Jersey.
Among the strange productions of
Cape May are the cedar mines?swamps
of dark, miry stuff, in which are buried
immense trees of. the white oedar.
These consist of enormous trees buried
to a depth of from six to ten feet. The
logs lie one across another, and there is
abundant evidence that they are the
growth of different successive forests.
Indeed, in these very swamps forests of
the very same trees are now growing.
The miners become very skillful at
their work. An iron rod is thrust into
the soft mud, over which often the
water lies. In striking a buried
treo the workman will by several soundings
at last toll how it lies, which is its
roo t end, and how thick it is. He then
manages to get a chip of the tree and
by its smell determines at once whether
it is worth the labor of mining : that is,
the workman will tell unerringly whether
the tree be a windfall or a breakdown.
If a breakdown, it was so because it was
decayed when standing ; if a windfall,
the tree fell while sound, and has been
preserved ever sinoe by the antiseptic
nai ure of the peat marsh in which it was
buried. The soft earth is then removed.
This makes a pit in the swam]). Into
this the water soon flows and Alls it up.
This is rather au advantage. The
saw is now introduced, and at regular
intervals a cut is made through the tree,
wheu the log floats to the surface. It is
curious that a log of a sound tree will be
sure to turn over when it floats up, the
1-vwer sides thus becoming uppermost.
Trees in this way are sometimes obtained
which will yield 10,000 shingles,
worth |20 per thousand ; thus one tree
will yield $200.
The age of such a tree, as the season
rings have been counted, has been made
out to be from ten to twelve hundred
years and even more. A layer of such
trees is found covered by another layer,
and these again by another, and even a
third, while living trees may still be
gi. >wing over all. It is evident, indeed,
that New Jersey has experienced what
the geologists call "oscillations." Cape
May contains abundant evidence of having*
been lifted out of a modern sea. The
recent oyster and clam are found in
natural beds, just as they died in the
ocean, but now in positions many feet
higher than the contiguous oyster bed ; |
while buried trees exist at depths lower
than the beds of living molusks.
I
How Meats are Kept
It naay interest our readers to know 1
how meats are kept fresh for the Eng
hsh market during a voyage across the
Atlantic. The process is protected by j
letters patent on .both sides of the ocean,
and the proprietors have shown a desire i
to have the public generally acquainted
with it. A traveler who crossed the At- i
lantic last winter in the steamer on which
the first experiment was made, writes as
follows : A New York business man, interested
in the company and intrusted
with the management of this first ventare,
was one of the passengers. He
not only made no " trade secret" of the
enterprise he was engaged in, but took
those of his fellow passengers who
seemed interested in the subject (myself
among them) to the psrt of the steamer
where the refrigerator was placed, openina
thft door and exDlaininc everv noiut
in principle and practical* working as
clearly as possible. The principle is extremely
simple, and it involves no
chemical process or application of any
kind. To keep fresh meat sound and
sweet during the ten cr twelve days
needed to cross tho ocean it is necessary
merely to keep it dry and cool, without
freezing it. This was the entire problem
before the inventor, and he has solved it
by purely mechanical means. The meat
being in one part of the refrigerator and
the ice in another, a fan, worked day and
night by a small eugine, keeps a constant
stream of air passing over the meat and
the ice alternately. This is the whole
process, and there is no " secret " back
j of it. Of courso the air from the ice
keeps the meat cool, but not as low as
the freezing point. If in passing through
the meat chamber the air takes up the
slightest moisture this is neoessarily condensed
into water as soon as it reaches
the ice again, and it flows away in runways
at the bottom of the ice chamber
when collected in sufficient quantity.
^ Don't swear or ask for postage
stamps" is a Boston druggist's placard
of admonition to his customers.
POR'
RD A
BEAUFORT, S.
| The Young Lawyer.
I nm? i*? ?k/vTCM/1 n T^nfrmf. I
J.lit! we wmeu uuuuu ? kciuuu ;
youth to a lawyer's office was severed
yesterday, and his parents were happy.
They wanted the boy to make a great
lawyer, but he was getting along too
fast. He pursued his studies with an
ardor which cast a judicial shadow o'er
the household and created considerable
neighborhood talk. He got trusted for
candy and repudiated the bill on the
grounds that he was a minor. He
bought a dog and went into bankruptcy.
He borrowed a pair of skates and defied
the owner to get out a wait of replevin.
He borrowed fifty cents and then made
the lender his assignee.
But the worst of it was in the family.
He had a legal name for almost everything,
and his desire was to prove to
his parents that he was just absorbing
dead-loads of law. If he wanted a potato
at the dinner table he would remark :
"Father, file my claim against that
baked potato and I'll prove the indebtedness
this afternoon.
If he wanted bread he said : " Mother,
get me out a writ of attachment for
a piece of bread."
It was expected of him that he would
build the morning fires, but no sooner
had he gained an insight into law than
he said to his father :
"I'm going to move for a change of
venue unless some other arrangement is
made."
He moved for a stay of* proceedings
when asked to go the grocery, and if
chided for being out nights he replied :
" File your declaration and give me a
chance for a jury trial."
When he was in good humor he would
sit and regale his mother with stories
about how Old Chancery was going up
town one night and met Old Equity and
asked him how Decree was getting along.
Old Pleading and Expectations came
-1 1 IViava rrrr a a Klflf
I illOIig J UBIf liiCli) auu l/UOl O Trim J M ?^A?j
I fight, and the youDg lawyer would slap
his leg ard add :
41 If Indictment had only been there
I he'd have whaled the whole crowd !"
The other day the long-suffering
father severed the tie. He was trying
to bear up, hoping for reform, but as he
sat down to the tea table his son brightened
up and remarked:
44 The defendant will now take the
stand and be sworn. Now, sir, did you
or did you not come out of Gnswold
street saloon at eleven o'clock this morning,
wiping your mouth on the back of
your hand ? Tell the jury all about it,
sir!"
It was a little too much, and ths boy
doesn't study law aDy more. He plays
with a woodpile in the back yard.
Kissiug the Bride,
The custom of kissing the bride at a
wedding is of great antiquity, and while
among the most refined classes it has
fallen into disuse, it is still insisted on
by many people with great rigor. A
very amusing story is told of a Kentucky
backwoodsman who had, after a long
and ardent courtship of the belle of one
of the Kentucky cities, won her for a
bride. She had for a long time wavered
in her choice, uu^ecided whether to
take liim or a gentleman of wealth and
position in the city; but finally choosing
the humbler lot in obedience to her
heart. The wedding was celebrated in
great style, and the manly groom was
almost as much admired for his colossal
[ proportions and athletic symmetry as
! was the bride for her exceeding lovoli!
ness. Among the guetts was the unsuc'?'
-A ?^ftm nf tlin I
CPRSIUi Bailor, WUU ?Vi*3 HCiiaiiuu \JM. IUU
jealousy with which the groom had regarded
him, but who had overcome his
i chagrin at his failure and was sincerely
anxious to congratulate the bride. One
by one the guests offered their good
wishes and their hearty kisses, while the
groom looked on with approval and delight.
At length among the rest came
the rejected lover. The young groom
watched him keenly, but without the
least animosity in his expression, i he
unfortunate rival felt the delicacy of
his position, and not erring to provoke
the husband's ire he did not proffer t e
salute which was customary. As he was
giving place to others after wishing the
newly married pair well, the groom
grasped his arm with his iron fingers,
and iu a low tone said: " She's my wife
now, and I propose to see that she is
treated as well as my wife should be
treated. If you don't kiss her I'll break
eveiy bone in your body." Rather than
quarrel the gentleman kissed the not unwilling
bride, and the groom was satisfied.
Getting Their Dinner.
The Green Bay (Wis.) State Gazette
relates the following fable : A large
dog belonging to one of our citizens, and
who usually accompanies his master to
market in the capacity of porter, was intrusted
with a fine steak, securely wrapped
in paper, to carry home. The animal
grasped the parcel between his teeth
aud trotted homeward beside his master.
A short distance from the butcher's the
gentleman entered another store, leaving
the dog with the parcel standing on the
11? A 1 ,1 1??1,
siaewaiK. onoriiy two vugauuuu iwn.ing
curs arrived 011 the spot and began
snnffing about. Finally, the larger of
the two curs began growliDg and barking
at the guardiau of the steak, who
stood this sort of thing for some time, in
a calm and dignified manner, till, finally,
his bullying tormentors, probably having
applied some opprobt ious epithet to
him, he opened his mouth to reply, and,
of course, dropped the steak to the
ground. The vagabond car retreated,
and the other dog, now fully exasperated,
set off in pursuit of him. In an instant
vagabond cur No. 2, who had been |
standing off a short distance, apparently j
a silent spectator of the scene, sprang '
forward and seized the steak in his mouth j
and put off in ail opposite direction. j
Not long after, aud in an alley not far
from the scene of this little episode, were
two curs holding a higli festival over a
rich, juicy steak, and those two cnrs
were the identical ones engaged in the
transaction previously related.
Spriggins recently had a pair of pantaloons
washed, and they shrunk so as to
be too small, and he complained to his
wife about it. Said Mrs. Spriggins,
said she: " Spcs'in you take a bath,
Spriggim, and shrink yourself to a
proper size for them. Then they'll ft
you/* I
*
T RO"
lND (
C., THURSDAY. M,
SOME SNOW BUCKING.
Running Trains Through Forty Feet ol
Snow?Engines Bnricd In AvaJanche?.
Tlie distance from "Wells to Toano is ,
not great. It is only thirty-seven miles. ,
" The old man," as the boys call him? j
that is, Division Superintendent Coddington?had
ordered a freight train to
move np to the latter station, with four
locomotives to draw it. Nate Webb,
the champion snow bucker of the Sierras, ,
had just came up from Truckee, with
No. 8 snow plow to clear the track of
the snow that had so long obstructed i
the trans-continental route, but had ar- ;
rived only when the work was done, and i
had been ordered np to Toano on this i
train to see what was the matter with
the plows that had proved themselves so
efficient on this division. A reporter of
the San Francisco Chronicle was also a
passenger in tho caboose attached to 1
the train, and gives the following account
of an interview with Webb :
Six miles out from Wells the conductor
pointed out the drift and cut in '
which No. 2 passenger train stuck for 1
twenty-four hours a couple of weeks i
ago. Nate looked at it a moment critically,
and then with a disdainful expres- J
sion remarked :
"Do vou fellows call that a drift up i
thie way ? Why, men, that wouldn't
stop a handcart in the Sierras. Our ;
boys would laugh at such a pile of snow
as that. When we have nothing beyond
six or eight feet of snow down in
the mountains, we think nothing of it.
That is a drift ? Why I can show you i
fifteen feet of snow on a level now down 1
our way."
"Wnat do you call a good fall of '
snow there ?" asked the reporter.
* "Well," replied Nate, "I suppose
there is now fifteen feet of snow from
Truckee over Emigrant gap. But then 1
we don't have to buck against that
snow, though we did when the road was 3
first built, and before we had any snow ]
sheds. But now the worst plaices are covered
with sheds. But we wouldn't 1
think of building a shed where there was no
worse trouble that you show here.
Why, a good eight wheel engine ought
to buck through any drifts you have got 1
here, and not make any fuss about it." 1
" How deep have you seen the snow 1
in the Sierras ?" asked the reporter. \
"Forty feet," said Nate, gravely; and '
when the reporter expressed incredulity,
he added : "I can show you twenty ]
feet there now, and nobody pertends that
we have got any snow so far this winter.
The time hasn't come for that yet." 1
The reporter mildly suggested that, in
his opinion, twenty feet was a very re- *
spectable depth of snow, though ho ad- 1
mitted that his experience had not been
very great. ^ 1
Nate looked at him with a compassion- 1
ate expression, and, after a moment's re- 1
flection, proceeded to relate some of his
experiences. "I remember," he srad,
" in 1869 there came on a heavy storm.
It didn't blow any, but the snow just
came down everlastingly. Is was not a
dry snow either, nor yet wet, but just j
damp enough to bo sticky. I was sent
out with a plow and seven engines to
open the track. We got along pretty 1
well until we reached the Blue canyon. '
Here the road skirts around the sides of ,
the mountains. On one fide you look
straight up, and on the other side
straight down. rJ !r track just forms a
sort of a step in thv rock. But when we
got along there there was no track or
step to be seen. I reckon the snow was
forty feot deep on the track. That is, it
was piled up on a line with the face of
the mountain, growing thinner toward
the top. Well, I told the boys to go for
it, and they put on all steam and let her
have it. But you had ought to have
seen that snow fly! You couldn't see
no plow, nor engines, nor anything else
for that matter but just snow. The air
was filled with snow, the whole caDyon
was filled with it. But the mass was too
much for our power. The train gradually
slackened, and when we had got about
three hundred feet stopped altogether.
I was just going to back out to get headway
for another buck, when the snow on
the face of the mountain along which we
had passed began to slide. It came
down on us before we could reverse the
engines, and before we knew it the plow
and the seven engines were buried out
of sight. I had about one hundred
Chinamen following us up with shovels
to clear up the track behind us. These
I ordered up as quick as possible, and
set them at work digging the engines
out. As fast as we got one out I sent it
back to stand on a trestle that was abont
half a mile behind us, because I was
afraid to leave them where they would
be c-xposed to another slide. Wo got
the engines all out after a while, though
it was a tongh job, I tell yon, and the
engineers and firemen were nearly
smothered. Just before we got the last
engine out I heard a prolonged whistle
down the track. My first impression was
that the trestle had given way under the
weight on it, and I started back to see
what was the matter. I wore snow shpes,
and traveled on the outer bank for fear I
might be canglit m a suae, me wnisue
kept blowing & long, continuons, muffled
kind of a sound that puzzled me a good
deal.
When I got about half way back to
the trestle it seemed to me that the
sound didn't come from there. Then I
began to try to locate it, and was more
puzzled than ever. I couldn't make out
whether the whistle was down in the
bottom of the canyon, or where it was.
All of a sudden I located the sound
right beside me, and on the track.
Then I knew what tho matter wa3. One
of the engines had got caught in a slide
and was buried right there in a spot
where the road made a cut through a
little spur of the mountain. I brought
up a gang of men as ?}uiok as I could
j and went to work d'ggiug the engine
| out. There was more than twenty feet
; of snow on top of her, and before we
got down to her the engineer and fireman
were senseless. They were lying
flat on their faces, and all the air they
I had to breathe was that in th9 cab and
( under the trucks. The snow in falling
had pressed down the lover that worked
the whistle and set that blowing, and by
| that accident called attention and help.
If it hadn't been for that these boys
| would have smothered snrp.
Reporter?Then nobody was hurt sc
i vi usTy i
^OMJV
iRCH 23, 1876.
Nate?No; we got the men out, took
them into a caboose and gave them a
little refreshment, and in a couple of
hours started on again. Some folks
would have given that up as a bad job,
but none of the boys there ever thought
of giving up. We stuck to it all that
day and all night, and the next morning
got up to Cisco all right.
Reporter?That was a fair snow experience
?
Nate?Fair, but nothing extra. I
was caught aloDg there another time,
and found the snow worse than we expected.
We bucked and bucked for
hours with seven engines, but couldn't
seem to make an impression on it. I
made up my mind that we had got to
stand a siege. So 1 started a man on
snow shoes up to Cisco for grub and
kept at the work. Pretty soon, with the
help of shovels, we began to make headway,
and when I least expected it we
were through the worst obstruction.
Then we started on at full speed, so as not
to get stalled again. All of a sudden the
brakes were whistled down. We picked up
the messenger and .tosMd him clean over
the telegraph wires. Luckily he struck
on his feet and steod there buried in the
Bnow up to his waist, but not a bit hurt.
He motioned us to go on, and we did
so, and got through to Cisco all right,
leaving a clean tracking for the passenger
trains to follow.
Reporter?What is the deepest snow
you ever encountered in those mountairs
?
Nate?That's hard to tell. I've seen
it thirty feet often. Once I had to blast
it out. I sunk a shaft thirty feet deep
and ran a little drift along parallel with
the track and against the side of the
mountain, and then put in half a dozen
kegs of powder. That was funny 1 How
the snow flew ! But it did the business
for that place.
Reporter?Did you often meet as much
snow as that on the track?
Nate?In some spots it would always
fill up; then again there would be places
where we never had any serious trouble.
I ran a snow plow one time right through
one of those big snowbanks, making as
get away. My hanVs were blistered,
and it was not half ground. At length,
however, the ax was sharpened, and the
man turned to me with :
"Now, you little rascal, you've played
the truant; scud to school, or you'll
get it!"
Alas! thought I, it was hard enough
to turn a grindstone this cold day, but
now to bo called a little rascal, was too
much. It sunk deep in my mind, and
often have I thought of it sinoe.
"When I see a merchant over polite to
his customers, begging them to take a
a little brandy, and throwing his goods
on the counter, thinks I, that man has
an ax to grind.
When I see a man flattering the people,
making great professions of attachment
to liberty, who is in private life a
tyrant, methinks, look out, good people,
that fellow would set you turning grindstones.
When I see a man hoisted into offioe
by party spirit, without a sing e qualification
to render him either respectable
or useful, alas ! methinks, deluded people,
you are doomed for a season to
turn the grindstone.
A Good Year for Them.
It is a great year for the old man.
Grandfathers who have been neglected
and made to feel that they were in the
way, and wished that they were dead,
who have long been thrust away in the
kitchen and left to mumble to themselves
in the chimney corner, are astonished
by beijig brushed up of an evening
and brought into the parbr, where
they are shown off to the compauy as
centennial relics. "Grandfather, you
kuew Washington, didn't yon?" screams
a granddaughter in his ear, for he is
very dea. "Yes, yes," says grandfather,
" the gin'rel borrer'd a chffv terbaccer
of me many ar.d many a time 1"
The old mat? ia going to Philadelphia,
sure.
nice a tunnel as you ever saw.
Reporter?How long was it ?
Nate?Not very long, of course; maybe
fiye hundred feet. I was just making
for that bank with eight engines and all
the steam we could put On. When we
struck it the snow began to fly, and for a
little ways we made a nice cut in it.
But then the bank got higher than the
plow, and pretty soon we were all buried.
The engines were puffing their best and
kept at it. We had good headway to
start in on, and the boys took care not to
lose more than we could help. And so
they kept headway on her until we
burst '.nrough on the other side of the
banh. The snow just formed a sort of
an arch over us, and we left the prettiest
kind of a tunnel behind us just big
enough for a train to pass through.
"An Ax to Grind."
We owe more of our common sayings
and pithy proverbs to Dr. Franklin
than many of us think or know. We say
of one who flatters or serves us for the
9ake of some secrets, selfish gain or
favor: " He has an ax to grind." Iu
the doctor's "Memoirs" is the following
story (much after the manner of the
"whistle" story), which explains the
origin of the phrase :
Franklin sar?s : When I was a little
T* vAmamViai- AtlA WintAf's
uwjr, i ltiuvmuv* | vwv w?w? .? . .
morning, I was accosted by a smiling
man, with an ax on his shoulder.
" My pretty boy," said he, " has your
father a grindstone?"
"Yes, sir," said I.
" You are a fine little fellow," said he.
" Will you let me grind an ax on it ?"
Pleased with the compliment of "a
fine little fellow," "Oil, yes, sir," I
answered ; " it is down in the shop."
" ^nd will you, my man," said he,
patting me on my head, "get me a
little hot water?"
How could I refase ? I ran and soon
brought a kettleful.
" How old are you, and what's you're
name?" continued'he, without waiting
for a reply. "I'm sure you're one of
the finest lads that ever I have seen.
Will vou just turn a few minutes for
me?"
Tickled with the flattery, like a fool I
went to work, and bitterly did I rue the
day. It was a now ax, and I toiled and
tugged till I was almost tired to death.
Tim cnVmnlhpl! rantr. and I could not
1ERCI
$2.00 per J
The Spring Fashions.
Cashmere associated with silk, a fashion
journal tells ust will continue a favorite
combination for spring costumes,
cashmere having lost none of its old
favor. Black will be the most popular
color for these suits, as it conforms to
the accessories of the toilet, whetever
colors they may introduce, and is therefore
both convenient and economical
The most fashionable costumes, how
ever, "will be of dark shades of other
colors, as blae, green, etc. Knife
plaiting, still so much used, promises to
remain, at least through the season, one
of the varieties of trimming. Cashmere
suits for the street are to be completed
by a small mantelet, held in to the waist
with a belt fastened undeAeath.
Polonaises are constantly growing in
favor, especially those cut after the
prince-se model. Basques and overskirts
are also coming out in new patterns,
thongh modistes insist that the^
must soon give way to a new order of
things. The Lutetia overskirt is among
the latest. This describes on the right
side a rounded apron, while the left falls
in a deep point reaching almost to the
bottom of the underskirt, and is crossed
diagonally over the right side, giving
the effect of a double apron. The back
shows two scant puffs, supplemented by
a deep flounce, and the left side is ornamented
by one of the long parasol
pockets. A lang tight-fitting basque,
in cuirasse shape, known as the Aspasia,
is designed for two materials, one for
the sleeves and the rest described in the
front, and another for the remainder of
the garment The roma sleeve gives a
coat sleeve of graceful design ; it fits
closely at the waist, and is ornamented
with a very deep puffed cuff. This pattern
is especially appropriate for cashmere
and thin goods.
Side plaiting, still much used, requires
a length three times repeated, j
and shirring only half or one-third more
than the single length, according to the
fullness desired. One-third more is
enough for the fullness which is gathered
up at the sides in shirred overdresses,
the front breadths of walking skirts, or
for velvet flounoes. Shirring, which
imam'nA ia a trim
limnj lauica iwaguiv u u ?
ming to make, is really quite simple,
merely gathering repeated at regular
intervals.
It was his Turn.
A clergyman was one evening summoned
to his parlor, and found there a
couple who wished to be married. No
objection appearing on the questioning
of the minister, the couple stood up together
and the service was begun. The
first part of it went off smoothly, but
when it came time for the bride to reply
to the question: "Wilt thou take
this man," etc., she replied: "No, I
won't." There was a Bidden pause,
some hurried questioning and expostulation
by the astonished groom, 'which
effected nothing more than a reiteration
of the bride's refusal, and the outraged
clergyman, in dignified and severe
words, delivered a scathing rebuke and
showed the party to the door. A half
hour elapsed when the bell rang again,
and the same couple a peered. The
groom, no way abashed, explained to
the clergyman that he had made up the
quarrel between himself and the lady,
after considerable coaxing, and had prevailed
on her to return and be married.
The clergyman hesitated, but at length
consented, and the service was again
begun.
When the groom was asked: "Wilt
thou take this woman," etc., he replied,
most emphatically: "No, I won't; it's
my turn now." The bride burst into
tears at this unexpected sign of pluck in
the man she had fondly hoped to rule,
and the clergyman, fairly incensed,
turned them out of the house with scant
ceremony. An hour later they returned
and the groom again explained that he
had made up with the lady, and they
had finally determined to be married,
and have no more nonsense about it.
The clergyman consented this time with
alacrity, and the groom responded to
the questions asked with satisfactory
promptness, and the lady performed her
part with dignity and ease. When he
Cime to the last part of the ceremony,
however, the clergyman said: " It's my
turn now. I will not pronounce yen
man and wife. You may go somewhere
else to get married." And the fickle
* * -mar-a
I the coasts of Sicily ana oarainm uuxujK
the period that piracy was common in
the Mediterranean, for the purpose of
keeping watch, ana giving warning if a
piratical vessel was seen approaching?
this warning being by striking on a bell
with a hammer?and hence the name
" Torn da Martello." Those at Quebec
are a portion of the general plan of the
fortification of that city, and we believe
are not directly connected with 14 The
Citadel." There are a number in the
United States ; as, for instance, that on
Tybee island.
conpie, &ii6r mo iuhu *?v*v i
turned away still siDgle.
His Choice.
A pretty anecdote is told of Queen
Victoria and Mendelssolin. A short
time before his death the great composer i
visited the queen. He sat down at the
piano, and played accompaniments
while she sang some of his songs.
Wlien Mendelssohn rose to go, Victoria
warmly thanked him for the pleasure he
had given her, and said: "Now what
oin I do to give you some pleasure ?"
expecting him to mention some gift of!
honor she oonld confer upon him.
Mendelssohn at first declined to mention
anything, but when her majesty insisted,
he frankly told her that he was a lover
of little children, and that he desired to
see the royal children in their nurseries.
The queen mother was much pleased,
i and kindly led him through the nurse!
ries, and they spent a pleasant hour
J talking in a friendly way about their
| children.
Martello Towers.
Martello towers are solidly built,
circular, bomb-proof, towers for coast
defense, about forty feet high, usually
situated on or near a beach. The base
contains the magazine, above which are
quarters for the garrison ; and over
these is a flat root, upon wmcn wuguu
mounted so as it may be fired in any
direction. The name is derived from
Similar buildings that were erected on
- ? o _
AL.
Hoi. . Single Copy 5 Cents.
Items of rarest.
A good lawyer is not a necessity, for
necessity knows no law.
Spelling for the drinks is the popular
pastime in Virginia City saloons.
4L? 1 T1 1 nar:wnomlN l'unP<t IB
VI WO 1) 111 uvnopajni?i ?? ?
Great Britian, 808 are penny papers.
The Mormons propose to have a oentennial
of their own in Salt Lake City.
The sting of a bee carries conviction
with it It makes a man a bee-leaver at
once.
" Should old acquaintance be forgot?"
Certainly not, if they behave themselves.
If there is no good bankrupt law, how
can a merchant expect to fad and make
money ?
Centennial excursions to the United
States are advertised throuvhoutlSurope
at cheap rates.
What is that which every one wishes
for and yet tries to get rid of ? A splendid
appetite.
A man thoroughly wrapped up in
himself is liable to feel warm unless he
is very thin.
There are 3,000 Chinese boys in California
who will be voters when they
become of age.
A ship loaded with gifts received by
the Prince of Wales in India is on its
way to England.
A woman dictates before marriage, in
order that she may have an apatite for
submission afterward.
Some people cannot drive to happiness
with four horses, and others can
reach the goal on foot.
A man in Belmont, N. Y., shouted
"fire" so vigorously the other night
that he dislocated his jaw.
We suppose men have the right to
play the ooquetto during leap year.
Let no jilty woman escape.
What is that which Adam never saw,
and never possessed, and yet gave to
each of his children ? Parentis.
A young lad v being advised to take exercise
for her health, said she v/ould run
the risk and jump at an offer.
A pair of Japanese ooolies will travel
from forty to sixty miles a day and draw
a full-grown man, in those two-wheeled
gigs they call a " jynrickisha."
A Greenland (N. H>) man has recovered
$1,400 from the town because his
horse shied at an old log in the road and
tiirew him out of the wagon, breaking
nis ankle.
Piper, the convicted murderer of Mable
Young, in Boston, has no appetite,
and part of the time his hands are kept
fastened behind h is back to prevent selfdestruction.
At a social hop in Anderson county
Ky., recently, two gentlemen and two
ladies were shot and killed. There is
such a thing, it will be observed, as
being too sociable.
" Make the vagabond earn his meals,"
says the Philadelphia American of the
tramp. Bless your heart, friend, you
don't know the cliaracter of the animal.
He'd rather go hungry any time.
There are 162 driving parks in the
United States. The value of the property
held by these associations is estimated
at $5,000,000 ; and that of the
horses entered in a single year, $15,000,000.
When a clergyman reoently inquired
of a certain lady if she was 41 ready to
give up worldly pleasures," she answered
by asking if he was 44 ready to give
up chewing tob^cce in the presence of
ladies!"
A tramp entered a schoolroom, near
Alton, 111., the other night, and made
himself comfortable by replenishing the
fire with school books. It is supposed
that he burned hp between $15 and $20
worth of light literature.
A justice of the peace in Sheboygan,
Mich., married a couple, and for pay
took an order on the bridegroom's neighbor
for a " load of straw," and as he
took too large a load the groom has sued
him to make him refund.
When a man detects a missing button
after getting on a clean shirt, no one in
the house is aware of the fact. He ts'.es
off the shirt and puts on another, quietly
smiling all the while. He never,
never speaks of it to a souL
Ezra Baker, of Boston, made no will
for relatives and lawyers to fight over ;
but, just before death, he gave his million
dollars' worth of property to his
only son, the legal heir, and instructed
him how to distribute it.
British officers pride themselves upon
never wearing their uniforms except
when on duty. The Duko of Cambridge
has just directed a young officer, who
got drunk and was noisy, to wear his
uniform constantly for one year.
When a man empties the pockets of
his ooat preparatory to laying it out for
repairs, there's nothing that makes his
conscience ge upon his hind legs quicker
than the sight of the letter his wife
gave him to mail two months ago.
Bad luck is simply a man with his
hands in his pockets and his pipe in his
mouth, looking on to see how it will
come out. Good luck is a man of
pluck, with his sleeves rolled up and
working to make it come out all right.
A young American lady who has en*
joyed the rare privilege of takiDga stroll
i with the poet Tennyson, incidentally
mentioned in a letter to a friend that "it
seriously affected the romance of the situation
when he paused during the walk
to scratch his back against a gatepost."
The unusual torture of freezing and
burning to death was the lot of a colored
girl in Cumming, Wis. Her clothing
caught fire, burning her fatally ; and
! <h?n she ran out of the house, almost
naked, and the extreme cold helped to
kill her before she could reach a neighbor's
bouse, for which she had started.
According to a Brazilian correspondent,
that empire must be the paradise
of criminals. Murderers aod robbers
cannot be arrested unless taken in the act,
and it is not rare to meet with monsters
goiog at large who are known to have
killed a number of people. Should n
man be murdered, his relatives must
prosecute, if they have money enough ;
the authorities will not act of their own
coord.
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i