Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TKiSr. # •,'s 1 ' 4 TRI-WEEKLY EDITION. WINNSBORO. S. a. MARCH 3. 1883. ESTABLISHED 1848 WILLIAM PEHN. The tyrant on bis glided tbrone. The warrior In bla battle dress, The boiler triumph ne’er have known ol Justice and ot righteousness. Founder of Pennsylvania 1 Thou Dld’st leel It, when tby words of peace Smoothed the stern ohleftaln’s swarthy brow. And bade the dreadful war-dance cease. On Schuylkill’s banks no fortress frowned, The peaceful cot alone was.there; No beacon flres the hilltops crowned, No death-shot tired the Delaware. In manners meek, in precepts mild. Thou and thy friends serenely taught The savage huntsman, fierce and wild, To raise to Heaven his erring thought. How all unlike the bloody band That unrelenting (Jortez led To princely Montezuma’s land, And ruin ’round hla pathway shed. With hearts that knew not how to spare. Disdaining milder means to try, 1 he crimson sword alone was there— The Indian’s choice—to yield or die! But thou, meek Pennsylvanian sire, Unarmed, alone, from terror free, Taught by the heathen council lire The lessons of Christianity. Founder of Pennsylvania state! Not on the blood-wet rolls ot fame; But with the wise, the good, the great. The world shall place thy sainted name. A NEW YEAR’S OIPT. The last day of the old year, with a piercingly cold wind, and a bine sky mottled with grey cloudlets, and when ever a drop of water fell a slippery spot on the sidewalk. Sixth Avenue was in almost gala attire wind and cold notwithstanding, the crowds of shoppers thronged the h tores and purchased from the stock of holiday goods. In the great establishment of Rolfe sud Son, the sales-ladies were kept busy as bees, and little Emmie Horton, espe cially, had found her time very particu larly occupied in waiting upon one of the most aristocratic and elegantly- dressed ladies she had seen in a long while. %nt she had gone at last, with her parcel of ( expensive lace and luscious ribbons, and Emmie saw her get in tbs carriage waiting at the door and drive off—one of fortune’s favorites in the widest sense of the word, for she was yonng and fresh, and fair and lovely as a dower. “That’s Miss Payne—Miss Bessie Payne,” Amy Fleming volunteered, see ing Emmie’s admiring glance follow her customer. ‘ Didn’t you know who it wav? “Bless me, why I thought everybody in the store knew Miss Payne. “She’s engaged to Mr. Frank Rolfe— to be married in the church to-morrow night—it’s a wonder she’d be seen out, isn't it?” For one little second all the great Lusy room with its subdued noise seemed to fade,away into some far-off space, the next Emmie heard a crisp voice usk for “Cavdinal sashing, please,” and she brought herself back to everyday life again, and no one knew what it meant—that pale, hushed look on her sweet yonng face, that dumb, haunting shadjw in her soft blue eyes. No one but herself, and not until i* was the hour for supper, and Emmie had time to let herself think, did she dare face it—Frank Rolfe engaged to be mar ried to this beautiful, rich young crea ture, and— and he had for a long blessed year been trying, by every attention and devotion, to win her loye—her love, little Emmie Horton, one of the shop girl’s in.Rolfe and Son’s employ. She had not been onmaidenly in yield ing her love to him. Emmie’s pure heart and conscience assured her of that, and Mr. Rolfe had persistently, but delicately sought her, and honored her upon all occasions; when by so doing, he would not make her an object of gossip among her com panions. ." He had been so seemingly in earnest. Emmie remembered his grave, quiet courtesy, his delicate, gentlemanly de votion, with a shiver of deathly pain and humiliation, tor after all, she had only lieen his amusement, and he intended all the while to marry Miss Bessie Payne the heiress. Poor little girl! It was not her first experience of the hollowness of what the world calls friend ship, for when fortune had deserted her, and her paralytic father had descended from affluence and position, in another city, to comparative poverty here in great, ousy, indifferent New York, Em mie had tasted her first cap of painful experience, when summer friends had down away; but thi>, this defection of Frank Rolfe’s, this cruel, heartless treat ment of her, was a thousandfold worse, for it laid in mins the sweetest, fairest part of her woman's life—her hope, her faith, her trust, her—love. All the rest of that hurried, busy eve ning Emmie kept steadily to her work, her sweet face pale and sad, her heart beating in dull heavy throbs that felt like soft hammers in hei temples, for, no matter how one craves rest from anguish of soul, daily work must go on, when one’s daily bread depends upon it And to-morrow was New Year's Day! Emmie had counted so npon it, and it was Frank Rolfe’s wedding-day. Ah! the unutterable agony that was actual physical pain as she tried to re- alias it. Once one of the girls, seeing her pale and quiet, Emmie was askod by her what the matter was, and Emmie told her she was a little tired; ah! tired of everything-tired of living—and only seventeen! Business kept the girls late that night It was eleven o’clock when|Emuiie and Amy Fleming put on their heavy ulsters and hats, and mittens, and aaid good night at the corner, where they separa ted—a bitterly oold, blustering night, with a wind against which the thickest garments seemed no protection, and Emmie walked along, breasting the wind as well as she oonld, thinking of Frank Rolfe and the glance she had given him in passing the cashier’s desk where grave, handsome, gentlemanly, he was looking over the accounts—Bes sie Payne's husband-elect. Then, even thoughts of him, and her own heart-sorrows were suddenly dis persed as she slipped, staggered, caught herself, and then fell close by the corner of a street where a dark, gloomy, pnblio building stood—and realized that, in falling on the treacherous ice. she had sprained her ankle and was faint with pain and terror—with terror at the sound of a man’s voice, rough yet hushed, cruel and curt—just around the angle of the building, into whose door she had crept. “I thought I heard somebody. “Didn’t you?” “Yes, bat it wasn't him; he hasn’t come along yet. * It was a woman. *T saw her turn off at the comer. - ’ “There isn’t any doubt but what he will take the diamonds with him, I sup pose? If he should have changed his mind it will be a bad job for ns.” “He’ll take them, yon may be sure, “I heard bin tell Joe so myself, , “Said he. “J net send theparoor up to Rolfe and Son’s some time before six o'cioek, and I'll take them to Miss —Miss”—I forget the name “myself,” “But maybe he won’t go this way,” “Maybe he always do then.” “If he shows fight ” “If he do, I’ll show him. “Got your slung-shot handy, haven’t you Bob? “Golly, but i’ts a freezer to-night!” And little Emmie Horton heard every syllable of it, and comprehended at once that they were lying in wait to rob —perhaps kill—Frank Rolfe as he was taking home the diamonds for his gift to his bride. And he was coming—perhaps in a minute perhaps not quite so soon, bnt certainly coming that way—with the precious jewels in his possession. He must not come—she must some how save him, somehow warn him, for all he had broken her heart, rained her fair young life and, dizzy with terror, pale and anguished with aente physical pain, this brave, grand little girl got herself along somehow, crawling, dragg ing herself by area railing, hopping on her well foot, through tke almost inter minable seven blocks back to the store, where the lights were still bnrning, and when, she dragged herself in, by the aid of counters and stools, Frank Rolfe and his father—a courtly, handsome, grey-headed gentleman—oonld not con ceal their astonishment and dismay at sight of her—pale, excited, evidently ■offering, as she told her story in eager, yet coherent words, and then—sank in a deep dead faint on the office floor. “The splendid little creature! “Frank, this is what I call true hero ism. Rifig for the keeper’s wife to come —there lift her gently, and we will lay her on the sofa—poor, brave, grand little girl! She has saved yonr life, Frank.” And as he stood looking at her, pale as a snowdrop, curious thoughts were in Frank Rolfe’s mind. Tbe keeper’s wife came, and a hack was telephoned for, and while Emmie was being conveyed home, her foot and ankle as comfortable as possible, there was a telephonic consultation between police head-quarters and Rolfe and Son’s counting-room, and—in a half- hoar more, as Frank Rolfe walked past the earner, revolver ready, a oonple of policemen who had approached the spot by another route, sprang upon the men and arrested them in the very act of at tack. The next day was New Year’s—bright, calm, with diminished temperature, and full of rare promise and beauty, only this womanly, brave little Emmie of mine was not brave and heroic, but si lently crying as she lay on the crimson carpet lounge in her room, trying not to think and yet never thinking of any thing else than—to-day was Frank Rolfe’s wedding-day, and that never more was there any hope, or joy, or love for her. And then some one knocked at the door, and Rolfe and Son and Miss Bes sie Payne came in, and a great lovely flash spread over Emmie’s face as she greeted them, and when Miss Payne knelt down beside the lounge and kissed her. “You are a little heroine, my dear,’’ she said sweetly. “And I have come to bring you the reward for your splendid courage. “You know I am to be married to night to Mr. Rolfe? “Ye*?” “Well, you are to let us take you home with me, Emmie—never mind yonr foot—and, dear, I know all about how mneh Frank loves you—almost as well as his father, my Frank, lovee me. “And—Frank, you tell her the rest of the conspiracy, will yon?” And she stepped back, taking Mr. Rolfe with her, while Frank leaned af fectionately over the hashed, awed face upturned to his. “I want a double wedding to-nigt, my dear—Bessie and my father, and yon and I. “I have never asked yon to be my wife, dear, but you must have known I meant it to be so, and I want yon now, right away. The carriage will take yon to Bessie’s, and we will have a quiet little ceremony just before the other bridal pair go to the church. “Darling, shall it be so?” And then Emmie knew that the New Year had indeed brought the sweetest of human gifts to her, snd she closed her sweet eyes in a silent rapturous thanks giving before she answered him— “Oh Frank!” But it was enough for him; he read the assent in her eyes and kissed the lovely happy mouth. And when the wedding guests went in raptors over Mrs. Frank Rolfe senior's diamonds, they were told it was the gift of Mrs. Frank Rolfe junior—a royal bridal gift, a New Year’s gift of price and value untold, but by those who knew the story. Hup«raUtlous of tbe Sea. The Virgin is the patroness of seaside temples and chapels. As early as 200 A. D. we find her aid efficacions. The Varangians attacked Constantinople about that time with a Russian fleet, and the good Bishop Photios was able to raise a storm and destroy this fleet with the mantle of Our Lady of Blaohernes, The Virgin, as related in the account of spectral lights and apparitions, sayed from shipwreck ^Echelsiga, (in eleventh century,) the Earl of Salisbury, (1220,) Edward 1IL, and Edward IV., of Eng land. The former monarch, overtaken in an English Channel by a storm, ex claimed, “Oh! blessed Mary, holy Lady! why is it, and what does it portend, that in going to France I enjoyed a favorable wind, a calm sea, and all things pros pered with me; but on returning to Eng land all kinds of misfortunes befaU me?” The storm, the account says, immedi ately subsided. The latter sovereign “prayed to God, our Lady, and Saint George, and among other saynts he specially prayed Saint Anne to helpe him.” Joinviile says a sailor, who fell overboard daring the voyage of St, I toms to France, was asked why he did not swim. He replied that it was only necessary to exclaim, “Our Lady of V albert!” and that she supported him by tbe shoulders until he was picked up. There was a statue at Venice, according to Moryson, that performed great mi racles. A merchant vowed perpetual gifts of wax candies in gratitude for being saved by the light ot a candle on a dark night. The statne and that of St. Mark were sainted by ships. Ad miral Howard wrote to Henry VIII.; “I have given Oapt. Arthur liberty to go home, for when he was in extreme dan ger he called npon Our Lady of Walsing- ham for health and comfort, and made a vow that an it pleased God and her to deliver him out of the peril he would never eat flesh or fish until he had seen her.” Erasmus says of the people in tbe shipwreck: “The mariners they were singing their Salve Regina, implor ing the Virgin Mother, calling her the Star of the Sea, the Queen of Heaven, Ac.” “In ancient times Venns took care of the mariners, because she was supposed to be born of the sea, and be cause she left off taking care of them the Virgin Mother was put in her place,” He says one sailor tried to float ashore on a rotten and worm eaten image of the Virgin. An Illinois Church Seen*, A ludicrous scene oernrred in one of onr country churches one night re cently. The congregation were patient ly awaiting the arrival of the minister, when presently a rustling was heard in the aisle and a minute later the preacher glided rapidly to the pulpit, where he divested himself of his coats and walked into the pnipit in his shirt-sleeves, apparently unoonRcioas of what he had done. After the prelade he announced the opening him, prayed, and then with great energy he opened his theme. His arguments were so convincing and logi cal that he soon aroused his hearers to that extent that they became greatly excited and were standing np in the pews shouting “glory” in concert with great vehemanoe. In the rear end of the church a number of “hard yonng men” were having a solid game of poker, betting on the final ontoome, while on tbe opposite side a number of mashers were diligently engaged in hugging their sweethearts. To a lover of the ridiculous the scene was immense. Summed np the scene was: Preacher in hickory shirt—members wildly excited— hard yonng men playing poker—mash- on hogging their girls. The affair was an actual occurrence and can be sub stantiated, and took place within eight miles of this city. The Miner's Story. » Game, there waa hone. We oonld not break camp now with onr weak men npon our hands, and it only remained for some one to attempt the desperate journey across the San Juan range, by way of the Devil’s Pass, to Animas, and return with food or a reselling party. Failing of that, spring-tuae would find our cabin inhabited by corpses, We drew lots among oarselves, there fore, we well men, to de« ; de who should undertake this perikwe&’ip, and tbe risk fell npon me. It'was best, per haps, that it should hav<* been so, for of all the party I best knew the trail Without waste of words or time, I pre* pared myself for the journey, and, thor oughly armed, early one morning, be' fore the pale moon had fallen behind the western mountains, I bade good-by to my comrades and started. Tnrning my back upon the camp, I settled my course by a star, and at a brisk pace steered southward. All day 1 continued on the trail, ever with a watchful eye for Indian signs—for I believed onr old enemies still in the vicinity—bnt all day unmolested, and at last, weary and worn, aa the chill shadows began to creep across the great white plain be hind me, 1 saw looming np in front the San Juan Range, gashed with a narrow gorge—the Devil’s Pass. Once through that horrible grave—for it was little else—and the road to Animas would be comparatively easy. My spirits rose hopefully. As darkness came fairly down, 1 found myself just at the mouth of the canyon which lead up to the pass, and deeming it a most sheltered place for a camping spot, I soon gathered a heap of dead limbs beneath an over-hanging rock where the snow had not yet come, built a roaring fire, which wanned and cheered me, and prepared for the night, I felt little fear, for the narrow, frown ing canyon walls would hide tbe light of my fire from all the plain country. The only distorbance which I might look for would be the howling of the wolves, who threatened, bnt dared not attack me; and I eared not tor them. With those comforting reflections, therefore, I ate a hearty sapper, drank a little melted aqow-jpiar, lit my pipe, and rolling myself in my blanket, crowded close to the rock wall beliind me now well warmed by the fire. And so, in the flickering light, protected upon all sidee, I gave myself unhesi tatingly np to slumber. How long 1 slept I cannot say. It was deep in the night when I woke with a sadden chill, it was as if someone had touched me with a oold and clam my hand, but even before I was well awake my frontiersman’s caution re turned, and I opened my eyes slowly, and didn’t move. The fire was all bnt ont, and the ghostly light from its dying embers touched the snow and rocks and trees about with a strange color like thick blood. The air was growing chill and still, too, except for the cry of a coyote far np the canyon wall opposite, who whined and barked incessantly. There was something almost oppres sive about the silence to me, when suddenly, from jost beyond my smoul dering fire the sound of a step startled me, and before I had time even to move there was bending over me a hideous, painted face—the face of a savage. And in his hand, already creeping toward my heart, was his heavy scalp ing-knife. To describe my sensation is impos sible. Some terrible spell seemed to blind me. Not only was I facing danger which meant instant death, but I was nnable to move, even in the attempt to save myself. It was as if 1 were fasci nated, I tried to reason with myself. This was but a single enemy—If I should spring upon him I might kill him and so be free; but although the reasoning was all right, the action I was nnable to bring about, and all the time the ter* nbF knife drew nearer. The redskin knew that I was awake, and that I saw him, but he gloated over my helpless ness and delayed his fatal blow. At last, however, I saw the gleam of his eye, the tightening of his muscles, and knew that in an instant more all would be over, when a sodden harsh, metallic rattle sonnded, as if it were in my vety bosom. I felt something glide from my side—a long, scaly, snaky body shot ont to meet tbe dusky on-coming arm. There was a blow, then a cry ot horror, and as the knife fell ringing to the earth, a rattlesnake crawled slowly away, and the Unoomphagre, with his now nerveless hand outstretched and the blood dripping slowly from his parted fingers, with a long, wild death shriek turned and disappeared in the darkness. The rattler which my fire had drawn from his winter quarters had saved my life and the life of my com panions. A week later, with a party of thirty good fellows, I recrossed the San Juan range and rescued my party from star vation and the Indians; sod it is be cause of what that snafce did for me in Devil’s Pass, nigh on twenty years ago, that I let the critters live to-day. The Prlaont of Siberia. On the first of May, at two o’clock in the morning, two consecutive shots were heard near the political prison of Nigni- K&ra. The sentinels had fired at a man who was escaping from a workshop loca ted just beyond thegiyuncU. Soon after ward a special visit was made at the prison, and the keepers established the escape ot nine prisoners: Michkine, 11- roustchow, Bolomiesow. Voinarolsky, Lutcheuko, Jurkowsky, Dihowsky, Ilij> anowsky, and Minakow. This escape so d'Sturbed the authorities at St. Petersburg that they threatened to recall the governor, Ighcbewitch, unless the fugitives should be recaptured. A few days before, on the twentieth Ot April, Iglichewitch and Lalkine-Vrajsky had in spected the prism and found it in good order. To mitigate their responsibility these two functionaries conceived the in genious idea of fomenting a revolt among the prisoners. Du the fourth of May, the manager, Potolew, ordered that the heads of tbe political prisoners be shaved. The prisoners replied that the instruction of the ministry exempted them from this process, that only the ministry could rescind the instruction, and that consequently they retused to submit to Potolew's order. This decided stand of the prisoners led the authorities to reflect, and on the slath of May they officially notified the condemned that no violence would be done them and that they might be tranquil. Five days passed without Incident, and the prisoners began to breathe agaio. On the eleventh of May, at three o’clock in the morning, six hundred Cossacks, under the command of iglichewitch, Rou- denko, and Potolew, authorized by Ual- kine. surrounded the prison, occupied all the passiges and courts, and rushed upon the sleeping prisoners. They proceeded first to a general visit, summoned the pris oners to dress themselves, and obliged them to go out in five groups. The Cos sacks then invaded the prison and took the prisoner's effects; their chiefs set the ex ample by appropriating articles of value. They took everything, even photographs. Twenty six prisoners were sent to Oust- Kara, and as many more to Vechmu-Kara and to the prison ofl’ Amour, 'ihe Cos sacks, urged by their leaders, insulted and struck the unfortunates. When the latter, worn out with suffering, made a show of resisting the bad treatment, the order was given to break the heads of all who should utter a word of protest. They tied tneir hands behind their backs, and thus our unhappy comrades were marched to Oust-Kara At the moment when the prssoners at Nigm-Kara were beginning to diue, Poto lew and Roudenko appeared with the Cos sacks. The prisoner Orlow demanded an explanation ot what had happened. “Si lence!’' was the only answer that he ob talned. Orlow insisted. The Cossacks rushed upon him, struck him with the butts of their guns, and then took him off to put him in the dungeon. During the excitement Potolew struck some blows and ordered tbe Cossacks to do likewise. Orlow’s companions received similar usage. When at last this scene of savagery ceased, Potolew shouted gleefully: “That is how we make visits!” The cruel wretches then passed into the next room. The prisoner Bobohow was seated when the inspectors entered. “Take him by tbe hair!” yelled Rou- denko; and Bobohow, dragged by the hair, received a shower ol blows. Filled with indignation, the prisoners Btannke- wltch and Jastrawsky seized boards and ihrew them at Roudesko, who unfor tunately was not hit by them. This attempt at resistance was followed by a frightful scene of violence. The Cos sacks set to treating the prisoners with such zeal that the stock of one of their gnus broke. Of all the prisoners Starin- kewitch suffered the most. After which the unfortunate prisoners were submitted to a whole senes of perse cutions, Their books, tea and tobacco were taken away; they were restneted to ordinary prison fare—spoiled bread and soup made from tainted fish. Not content with that, the authorities confined them in twos and threes in narrow cells, prohibited them trom going out even to take the air, took away their beds, refused them their own linen, and deprived them of light. The women were treated in the same way, and the sick bad .neither care nor medi cine. Vlastopoulo went mad! A tew weeks went by without anv mod ification in their condition, when Holton- gnne, major of the gendarmes, arrived. Holtongrine told the prisouers that they were accused of receiving stolen goods, and that the authorities had taken away all their things as oompensation for the twenty-three thousand roubles which the search for the fugitives had cost, “i will make them die of hunger!” said Holton grine, speaking of the'political prisoners. At present this is the situation at Kara. The prison is divided into small com partments. Each compartment contains six or seven men all shaven and in irons; some are handcuffed, notably Popro, Be- rousnik. and Fomuchew. All are ex pressly forbidden to go out, and are de prived of books, journals, ink, and paper. The prisoners are formally prohibited from writing to tbeir relatives and friends. Twice a day they receive an offljial visit. The authorities are disposed to send back tbe women who have voluntarily followed the political prisoners. Among' the latter there are twenty-two who have finished their sentences, but Holtongrine says: “Russia has its term, and we have ours.” We are no longer allowed to work in the shops, or to care tor the sick, who are numerous. The women are treated like the men, with the single difference that they can spend their money, wbxh they do in buying tea and tobacco for tbe pm- ouers. Several of the women are sick; Bronchbowska, Kowalska, Kobenkina, Lechern, and Levenson. Among the men the following are very seriously ill: Ftha- now, Jurkowsky, Dikowsky, Bogdonc- witch, Starinkewitch, and Jounow.. Star- inkewi’ch and Jastrawsky are under sen tence for resisting the authorities. Pont- Kara has vowed an implacable hatred for Holtongrine, Koudenxo, Iglichewitch, Galkine-Yrajsky, and Potolew. Koch nitaeff, Weimar, Michdallow, and Frost- ciiaosky are well. Preodrajenaky is thin snd feeble. Ziplow has received one hundred blows of a musket in the hands of Anoutchme: while they were being struck, Holtongrine continually encour aged the wretch with these words: “Strike! Sirin hard! These rescale must be killed!’’ Those most compromised in the resistance provoked by the authori ties are Logomolsky, Kovalsca, Chedrine, Ivanow, Volocbenko, Popow, R&tzlnsky, KoGtlensky, and Uachisch. They have all been taken, with lions on their feet, to the fori of Novoguiorgmvsky. The fugitives have been recaptured and fast ened to the walls. Lechern has been hanged. Uronchkowska swallowed dis solved matches, but the authorities saved him. A RUMian Ice Bridge. The idea of the Montreal ice palace is not a new one. Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago its prototype was was erected at the whim of the Em press Anne who reigned froxp 17*0 to 1740. On^fef the nobles, Prince Galit- zin, having changed las religion, was pnnished by being made a court page and buffoon. His wife being dead, the empress required him to marry again, agreeing to defray the expense of the wedding heiself. The prince, true to his new character, selected a girl of low birth. This was in the winter of 1739- 40, which was one of extraordinary severity. By her majesty’s command, a house was built entire)} of ice. it consisted of two rooms ; and all the furniture, even to the bedstead, was was made of the same material Four small cannons and two mortars, also of ioe, were placed in front of the house, and were fired several times without bursting, small wooden grenades being thrown from the mortars. On the wed ding day a procession was formed, com posed of more than three hundred per- sons of both sexes, whom the empress —desirous of seeing how many different kinds of inhabitants there there were in her vast dominions—had caused the governors of the various provinces to send to St Petersburg. The bride and bridegroom were conspicuously placed m a great iron cage, on the back of an elephant. Of the guests (all of whom were dressed in the costume of their respective countries), some were mount ed on camels ; others were in sledges— a man and a woman in each—drawn by beasts of all descriptions, as reindeer, oxen, goats, dogs, hogs, and the like. Alter passing before the imperial palace, and marching through the principal streets of the city, the motley oayaleade proceeded to the Duke of Gourland’s riding-house, where dinner was served to each after the manner of cookery in his own country. The beast over, there Mas a ball, those from each nation hav ing their own music and their own style of dancing. When the ball was enied, the newly-married pair were conducted to their palace of ice, and guards were stationed at the door to prevent their going out until morning. The building is said to have lasted uninjured, in that oold climate, for several months. A Green mountain Hermit. Daring the oold weather the thoughts of the citizen of Brand ord, Mass., invol untarily revert to the abiding place of John S. WrigLt, who is a local celebrity well know for his hermitage proclivi ties and many eccentricities of charac ter. Mr. Wright is a man about fifty years of age, who has lived in the town for about twelve years. He is a natiye of Franconia, where his connections re present the best element of the place. He went to California some years ago, bnt left and came here, since which time he has manifested strong desires for iso lation from the haunts of man. It is ramored that the reason of his solitude grew oat of a rejected love suit, which developed in him general distrust of hu man nature. His trip from California here was made on foot. While en rente he tarried for some time in the land of the Mormons. Soon after his appear ance here he bought a small farm and settled down for a lonely existence. He erected a small honse, which was burned down, then rebuilt, but it was bnroed again. Under no ciioomstanoes will he remain other than on his own premises and the nights following tbe fire he slept in the ruins. Subsequently he bearded over his cellar and has burrowed a deep excavation under this covering and spends his life in this hole in the ground. He has a second excavation directly under his bed, which he uses as a stor age bin for vegetables, which he raises on his cultivated plot of ground. He craves no society and very seldom comes in contact with his neighbors of his own volition. Although many of the resi dents call npon him they are received with comparative silence, his communi cations being few, and he evidently re gards all members of tbe human race with suspicion. Wright is quiet and peaceable, except when orosjed. He is a sterling Democrat and manages to keep posted on the political aspect of the day. Tits Mlntlsto*. To Eoglish folks the mistletoe is mostly regarded as a plant accorded special privileges at Christmas-tide; bnt in Germany they seem to make a wider if not a better, nse of it, for an Alsace-Lorraine paper states that for more than thirty years past it has been the custom at Offenbach to collect all the mistletoe for miles around every winter for cattle-feeding purposes. Morning and evening a small bundle of it is given to the milch cows, which devour it greedily. It is said to In crease the quantity and quality of their milk, and to impart a rich yellow color to the butter made from their cream. Mistletoe growing on apple- trees is held to be acid and unsuitable for cows, but is given with advantage to sheep and goats. —Beer is 87 oenbTa* gloss in Monte rey, Mexico. 7; 1 - f , (*2 Eighteen TUouenaa PMaanger*. One of the palace cats belonging to the United States Fish Commission started recently from Washington for California, with a passenger list of yonng fish numbering 18,000, The car in its appearenoe, and to a large extent in its internal arrangements resembles a modern sleepidg car. There are tbe compartments at each end. In the one compartment is what may be called the office of the superintendent. Here is a table fixed between two seats, with a hanging lamp above. The space above the two ice tanks, which are boilt npon each side ot the passage way and are used when neccessary to cool the air that passed through the fish tanks in the car, is ntihzed for pigeon holes. The compartment at the other end ie used for a kitchen. The central part of the car has an aisle running through the centre, and in place of tbe seats on each side, are wide, wooden ledges, about three feet high, on which are placed the tin fish tanks. Berths like those in sleeping cars are along the side for the use of the superintendent and his assistants. The dining table is placed in the aisle, with seats in the ledges. The hnman passengers, as well as the fish, live in the car. The fish are not placed in the tanks filled with water, as the motion of the train would dash the water about and destroy many lives among the yonng passengers Instead, about twenty fish are placed in gallon tin pails and these pails are put in the tanks and then the latter filled with water. With the carp, however, the water in the pails is snffi- oient and the motion of the car tends to the circulatioh of air in the water, keeping it fresh. The attendants, how ever, renew the water every eight hoars and keep a careful watch to remove any fish that may have died, r j percent age of fish lost by death is, however, very small. The fish do not complete their travels when they leave the car. For instance: The first stop which will be made by this car will be at St. Louis, where fish will be left for applicants residing in Missouri and Arkansas. From this point pails of fish will be sent all over the States by express, at the expense of the consignee. v A Mam* Girl. In the plantation of Oakland. Aroos took county, Maine, there is a girl who possesses the faculty of spelling difficult words backward without hesitation. Her name is Hattie M. Drew; she is jast past her 12 th birteday, and resides with her parents, who are people of moderate edneation, living npon a farm. While this little girl is bright and smart os the average of her mates, she never attracted any particular attention until, a little more than a year ago, it was accidentally discovered that she possessed the singular gift of spelling any word with which she was acquainted backward and without hesitation. At a spelling match recently held m the school which she attends, without any warning, she stood before the audience for some ten minutes, spelling words selected at random, some for their diffi culty of oombination, but without any previous knowledge of what they were to be, rapidly and correctly, except one or two which she oonld not spell in the proper way, and when prompted in the correct spelling would immediately re verse it. Among the words which she spelled were these: Galaxy, syzygy, astronomy, robin, phonography, diffi cnlty, attendance, indivisible, eta, and many other words of equal length and difficulty. All of these were spelled as rapidly as the eye could follow, without a single misplacement of a letter. Has any other person without any training been able to do this or similar feats? In addition, it may be said, npon the tes timony of the girl, that “she can see the words in her mind, snd knows no reason why she should not read the letters backward os in usual way.” Tba Buuber Traa. Mexico is making a study of the cult ure of the rubber plant The hardiness ol the plant is said to be such that its culture is exceedingly simple and inex pensive where the climate and soil are suitable. In much of the Mexican coast region almost the only expense is the weeding required when the plahts are young to give them a chance to grow and strengthen. In fact, it is certain that, properly set ont, the plants will grow and mature in spite of weeds, bnt are so retarded that it pays well to give them careful attention. Cotton can be cultivated simultaneously be- ween the rows, and the culture of the ootton is suffioioEt to oare for the rub ber trees also. The one drawback that has hitherto prevented many from en gaging in so promising a field is the fact that six years Is the very least time in which the first returns can be expec ted from the culture of the rubber tree, and in any but the most favorable eir- onmstanoes this time is more likely to be lengthened out to eight or nine years. Should the experiments lately inaugurated result in any extensive cultivation of the oaoutohoue tree on the coast near Vera Cruz, th: results may ultimately affect the trade, which just at present is so badly oomered that manufacturers are at their write, ends toobtaiu gum without paying two or three prices tor it.