Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WINNSBORO. 8. U. MAY 19, 1883. ESTABLISHED 1848 A SONG OF LONG AGO. of long ago, ^jwhtly—»iug it low— SingWi*.like the lisping of the lips we used n>TL»tow When our baby—la0?;§4eC8iyll«I From the hearts forever filled' With a music sweet as robin ever trilled. the Let the fragrant summer breeze, A ml the leaves of locust trees, And the apple-buds and blossoms, and the wings of honey-bees, All palpitate with glee, Till the happy harmony Brings back each childish joy to you and me. Let the eyes of fancy turn Where the tumbled pippins bum Like embers in the orchard’s lap of tousled grass and fern; And let the wayward wind, Still singing, plod behind The cider-press—the good old-fashioned kind! Blend in the song the moan Of the dove that grieves alone, And the wild whirr of the locust, aud the bumble’s drowsy drone; And the lotv of cows that call Through the pasture-bars when all The landscape faints away at even fall. Then, far away and clear, Through the dusky atmosphere, Let the wailiug of the Kildee be the only sound you hear; O sweet and sad and low As the memory may know Is the glad—pathetic song of Long Ago! KATIE’S LANTERN. Truth to tell, the comfortable, old- fashioned farm-house, at the foot of the narrow and rocky ledge, had a most pictuesgue position. Away to the. southward wound and sra iled the fer tile valley, a goodly proportion of whose acres appertained to Grandfather Crowninshield, and along the edge thereof swept the curves of the railway after what seemed its birth in the clo ven ledge so very near to Katie Crown- inshield’s home. As for Kate Lerseif, with her sweet, fresh face and her mer ry brown eyes, the little valley and her nestling home were all the world to her, indeed, that she had ever known, for site had been but a wee thing when Grandfather and Grandmother Crown inshield became father and mother to her, in place of those whose faces she could now hardly remember. Neither did it ever occur to her that she was in any sense an heiress, for she seemed rather to belong to the valley tlian the valley to her; while the idea, if any thing had brought it to her mind, that her good old grandparents were not to live forever, would have turned the brightest June day to the gloomiest December. But, in these latter years, one great entity had painfully struggled into Kate’s world, with an apparent mission to unite the valley with that great un known, which lay beyond the bills and ledges. Kate had seen the ragged rift cloven in the granite wall, watching it curiously from door or window, and listening for the dull reports of the blasting charges, until the barrier was parted and the railway crept out and louud its way down through the valley ; and, ever since the trains began to ruu, she had connected with them the idea of a life that was almost human. She had waved her handkerchief enthusias tically to the very tirst tiain, and had been liberally responded to by passen gers aud conductor; and, although she had been then a little girl and was now a young lady, she had never yet dream ed of any unmaidenly boldness in giving the same white signal of welcome, at times, when the great railway mystery came rushing out of the cloven wall There was one train in particular to which Katie's attentions were at last pretty well restricted—a through-ex- prees, which went by at eight o’clock in the morning, aud there was another from the same direction again at eight o’clock at night. From the former, just as easily as her own dainty “ good- morning 1 ” fluttered above the garden- gate, so certainly would theoe be a fleeting flash of white to answer her from the platform of one of the cars, or even from the engine itself, for that, too, had happened. And Katie knew very well tliat, in these latter days, at least, her answer had always come from the same hand. A tall, erect, manly fellow he was, dressed in dark-blue cloth ; and Katie had been well aware, for a good while, that he was the con ductor of the train, but she had never yet been near enough to speak to him, or get any clearer notion of his face and its meaning than might be given her in those swift but almost daily glimpses. When or how he found his way back to the beginning of his perpetual journey, was a question that Katie never asked even ot herself, it was enough that, every morning the swift train brought him out of the unknown country be yond the hills; and added a something that had grown to be very pleasant to the peace and quiet of her day. There was something veiy noteworthy even to railway men, about the manner : in which the road broke in upon that valley. A deep cut, a sharp curve and i heavy down-grade, combined to'make ire precise point where the conductor had learned to look for Katie’s greeting interesting one ; and her white ker- | chief may even have seemed to wave a | species of congratulation at his repeat- [ed safe passage of what might at any [time have shaped itself into a danger. But that as it may, the railway "cut” ihiwi urougbt to Katie Cruwunishieid. rong other results, a shorter aud her path to the home of her aunt, her rother’s sister, who lived just a little vay beyond the ledge, and who was aever satisfied if too many days passed without bringing the sunlight ot Latie’s face across her threshold. ' And Katie iiad gone and returned, many ad ‘many a ilme, by the narrow path Bbween the granite walls. Nobody in *t peaceful region di earned of fear at out after dark; and again and gam had good Aunt Betsy detained er pet mitii night Mi fallen, although ur only companion homeward was her little star of a lantern. There came a day when Katie’s hand- Brchief fluttered in vain, and then an- sr, when even the reply she received mi the train convinced her that there been a change of some kind, aud it she would receive no more signals from the same hand. .And so she sadly prepared to give it up, in the first fit of genuine blues she had ever indulged in; but, a few evenings afterward, she lingered^ »wi^ | yx.-.i> 1T )-yate^little afte^ ftlrretum from Aunt Betsey’s, to see’ night-express go flashing by. It was a grand sight when it came, incom parably more interesting and myster ious in the darkness than ever in the day, aud Katie wondered she had never thought so before ; but she almost un consciously raised her little lantern, and swung it around her head as she had used to wave her handkerchief. Could she believe her eyes V She almost refused to give them any faith at first, but then there followed a quick flush in her cheek and a warm glow at her heart; for she was sure there had been an answering light, and she could almost, picture a tall form in dark-blue clothing, standing on the platform between toe two cars. And now, while the October days grew cooler aud glorious evenings long er, Grandmother Crowninshield began to grumble a little at the disposition her darling evinced to pay so many visits to Aunt Betsy. “It’s a long walk for you, child,” she said, “and it’s through toe cut, too. What if a railway train should coma along before you get out ? ” ** O grandmamma, that’ll never hap pen,” laughed Katie; “the railroad and I are very good friends.” “ You ought to be,’’said grandmoth er. “I never saw any living being care more for a dumb thing than you’ve al ways done for that there train.” * But grandmother was nearer -right than Katie ; for only a night or so after that—it must have been that Aunt Betsy’s clock was slow—for Katie was iq. toe very middle of the cut when her ears was suddenly filled with the shriek and roar with which the trhin dashed in at toe upper end. Her heart beat quickly for a moment but nut with fear; for, as she sprang lightly upon a projecting rock that she had often before noted as a very avail able perch, she gathered her fluttering dress more closely about her aud ex claimed : “ There, I’m safe enough; but to think of us coining so near! ” Near enough, indeed, and Katie leaned back hard against the crag be hind her ; for it seemed as if she could feel the breath of the iron monster on her cheek. In one hand she clutched more tightly the folds of her shawl,and in the other she raised the lantern, as if its feeble star could oe of some protec tion, and then her grasp of it grew sud denly very tight, indeed; for leaning out a little from the platform of a car, aud looking forward, as if impatient for the train to clear the cut, stood a tall, handsome, bearded man, m dark- blue clothes, with a lantern in his hand and his eager, watching, expectant face, came so very close to her own 1 It was like a flash of lightning ; but Katie knew the face, aud she knew also that she herself had been seen, and she had ven milked the swift paling of me bronzed visage as it recognized her and then swept on into the darkness beyond. “lie was afraid I would be hurt,” she thought; and then she said aloud : “But he must have seen how safe I was, up here on the rock. I don’t be lieve he swung his lantern at our gar den-gate to nigiit.” Aunt Betsey’s house was some little distance from the upper entrance, and the approach to the latter was gloomy enough, the next night of her visit, even for one who knew every inch of the way as well as Katie did ; but her little lantern shone out cheerily against its bright reflector, throwing its radi ance auead, as if it were trying to tell her : “ There, dear, that’s it; don’t be afraidy now, I’d show you the track!” She had not gone far, how ever, before the granite walls brought to her ears, all the way from toe lower end aud .round the curve, as if the cut had been a speaking-tube, the sound of voices .that were evidently meant to be low and guarded. There were other sounds # mmgled with the voices, and Katie could not make out more tlian a word or so here aud there, but there was something about it all that start led and frightened her. At first she was half incimed to turn and make the best of her way back to Aunt Betsy’s; but that seemed foolish, and Katie was really a courageous little soul. She hid her lantern under her shawl, how ever, and stepped very lightly and swiftly forward, trying to remember if there were not a rock or hollow where she would be as safe from men as she had been from the passing train. She was very nearly through, herself, be fore she could anyway make out what it all meant; but, as she paused in the deep shadows of the rocks and peered timidly out toward toe now dull and muffled sounds, with which the voices were no longer mingled, a broad quick gleam, as from a lantern suddenly shaded or extinguished, shot across toe track not many yards below, and then all was darkness and silence . But that one moment of illumina tion had revealed extraordinary things to the keen, excited vision of Kate Crowninshield. There were men, three or four, she could not say just how many, but rough, fierce, wild, and anxious-looking aud before them on the railway track, from which toe rails had been priea away just there, was a confused heap of heavy granite boulders and fragments. Katie understood it as clearly as if those men had taken her into their confidence and had told her words. It was a plot to wreck the train! And now she was oqt in the open air beyond the upper entrance, and site coidd see the peaceful light still shining from Aunt Betsy’s window. But there was no time to go there for help. The train must-be so very near 1 Katie did for a moment think of kindling a bright fire on the track, but that would take too long, and toe great ruin and horror would come before even a small fagot wornd be well ablaze. *■ There's nothing but my own little lantern,” almost sobbed poor Katie. “ Maybe he will know it when he sees it, but he must lie warned before he reaches the cut.” The lantern shone like a frosty little star determined to be seen as Katie sprang forward up the track. She had not far to go, for the train was ahead of time to night, instead of being be- hiifll, as would have been more desir- euMtef^the circumstances. Never had anything appeared to Kate Crown inshield more suddenly than did the great, glaring eyes of the locomotive headlight, that now glowed upon bar out of the overshadowing night, and her lantern seemed to have instantan eously vanished. “ It is so small,” she cried in agony, “ and he will never see it.” Nevertheless, on a low mound of earth and stones, close by the side of track, Katie took her post of charity and danger, and swung her little lan tern frantically to and fro, while she now tried to make her sweet girl’s voice heard through the roar and clamor of the rushing train. On came the railway giant, tugging with him his precious freight of human life, and it flashed upon Kate Crownin shield’s mind what an awful capacity for suffering that train might have on board. On, with toe great glare and the all-absorbing torrent of sound, and almost before Katie knew it, the object of her hope and fear had dashed ruth lessly past her, and was quickly swal lowed up from her sight in the rocky jaws of the deep cut. With a cry of grief and disappointment on her lips, and a strange thrill of pain at her heart the poor girl sank upon the ground and buried her face in her hands, while the little lantern dropped neglectedly be side her. Onlv for one brief instant, however, did Katie yield to the terror and the trouble of it, for in another she had picked up her starry friend, sprang to her feet, and darted away down the railroad track toward the cut. She was light of foot as any fawn, and there were sad wings to her speed, but it seemed to her as if she would never get through the cut. She paused a moment when she reached toe lower one, to gather breath and to brush the salt mist from her eyes before she looked upon the awful scene she knew must be pre pared for her. And then—why, there was the train, the rear car rising close in front of her while the others (and there were but few of them that night) stood all erect upon their wheels beyond—not all upon the track, to be sure, but all apparently safe—all, except one great, dark mass, whose polished metal glittered in the varying lights that flashed upon it, and whose hoarse throat screamed angrily with the escaping steam, for the loco motive had come to grief pretty decid edly among the granite boulders that were heaped on the track by the fiends who had planned the wreck. The passengers were swarming out of toe cars, and none of them seemed to be hurt at all, nor did Katie hear a sound that told of pain as she swiftly thread ed her way among and past them. She had caught a glimpse of a group away beyond even the shattered locomotive, however, which forbade her lingering for an instant. Right down toward her own garden-gate four men were carry ing a heavy burden, and others werd fol lowing, aud Katie heard them say, as she darted by : “ Who is it ?” “Why, its the conducto-. He was thrown from the platform of the for ward car.” “ Is he killed ?” “They say so. Nobody else was hurt. He was a splendid fellow. A tall, handsome, bearded man, in dark-blue clo.hing, but his face was ghastly pale when they laid him on Grandfather Crowninshield’s own bed, and the surgeon, who had been among the passengers, beet gloomily above him. “ Head all right,” muttered the man of science. “ Only a cut or so. Ah, there’s a rib, two of ’em, and his arm below the elbow. Struck the ground so, that’s clear, and the other bones are likely to be all right. Must have been leaning out to look ahead, I should say. Hullo, what’s that light on his face ?” The light in the room, what with toe crowd aud the country candles, had been none of the brightest, but just at this moment a clear, golden gleam was poured down on the face of the injured man, and slowly, as if the radiance it self had awakened him, he opened his eyes and looked dreamily about him. The surgeon heard a sigh that was half a sob close behind him, and looked up lo see that the sudden light came from Katie and her lantern, but just then the questioning eyes of the wound ed conductor fell upon her face, and he exclaimed, faintly but earnest ly : “I knew it was you. There was hardly room to stop the train in, but we’d have all gone to pieces if it hadn’t been for you and your light. You’ve saved them all, God bless you I” And so Katie Crowninshield sudden ly found herself a heroine, with a swarm of grateful people about her, very much to her discomfort. They would have made her a present if she would have allowed them, but the only really welcome words toe heard from any one were those of the surgeon. “ What, killed ? A man like him ? Nonsense I He’ll carry his arm in a sling for a month or so, but he’ll be up again in a fortnight.” Or course, no tune was lost in repair ing the track and in forwarding the passengers, and a few hours only saw the farm-house as quiet and peaceful- looking as ever. Even the surgeon had done his work and gone. The engine lay battered and helpless among the boulders where it had forced its willful way. The conductor lay still on grand father Crowninshield’s bed, and the fitful slumbers toe surgeons* opiate gave were starry with signals that white fingers held up before his dreaming eyes. As for Kate and her lantern, the latter had fairly burned itself out and asleep on the little table in Katie’s own room, and toe herself had by no means clearly comprehended, as yet, the happy consequences of her railway signaling. It was very much like a dream to her. for Katie was no prophetess, nor coula even toe lantern throw any light upon j toe future. She could not see, just then, and yet- the days that followed brought it all to pass, that neither she herself nor grandfather and grandmother Crowninshield would consent to any more railroading or signali.^. It was much better, indeed, they declared, nor did he himself pretend to deny It, that Katie’s husband should farm broad acres of toe fertil valley than that he should be at the mercy of train wreck- era and wayside lanterns. And when the question was decided to her liking such a hug and kiss was that which Kate Crowninshield gave. “ To whom ?” t “ Why, to her lantern, of course.” Bfedlaeral Customs. The Hoftmrg, the ebief palace of the Austrian sovareigna, Jifa bean the scene of an eccl< sissticHl Cereifllby or act of devo tlon which is a ourtods renc of mediaeval customs. In accordance with a usage ob served from time immemorial on Maun- day-Thursday the cerem my of “washing the feet of tue poor’* was this morning performed as usual by their Majesties at the imperial residence. In the Middle Ages the Cuatom prevailed at many other Catholic Courts, but In the present day to find a parallel would be impossible ex cept at the Vatican and the palace of the King of Spain. The proceedings opened at 9 o’cloc t, when twe ve old men, of wh >m the oldest is in his nine > - turd year and the youngest eishty-teven, and twelve old women, the oldest mnety-six and the younest ninety, dressed, as usual, in the old German costume, presented to them by the Emperor and Empress, en Usred the court chapel, in order to receive the sacrament, an t were then brought into the Hall of Ceremonies at the Hof- burg. On each side of the bail was a table with twelve covers, the one table for the old men aud the other for the old women. They are all pit z ms of Vienna, and many among them showed by their behavior that they bad taken part in the ceremony more than once. With the ap pearance of the clei^man at 11 A M. the ceremony began. The Emperor, who was followed by all the Arthdukes present in Vienna, served the old men and the Em press, followed by all the Archduchesses and court ladies, served the old women at their respective tables. The Corps Diplo matique was, as usual, in attendance, but this year, for reasons generally known, tbe B itish, French aud Turkish ambassadors did not appear. All the ministers were present, as well as court dignitaries and privy councillors, tbe chamberlains, the granumastere and tbe highest representa tives of tbe army. The tables being re moved, the Emperor and Empress knelt d iwnln fn a of each of the old people, tooa off a shoe and stocking from each, washed the foot with towels moistened from a golden ewer, held by a chamber- lain. Atter the feet of £tie old people had been wiped the ArohduSes and Arohduch- the shoe ami Various Kinds of Iminfcards. replaced the shoe ami stocking, and their Majesties concluded the ceremony by hanging round the neck of each of the old people a purse with thirty silver fl wins. The old folks were then sent home m cabs, each with a well filled box of provisions and wine. The Sheep of Thibet. The sheep of Thibet, which are very uuiner^us, are chiefly a small variety of the fal-rumped Persian and Abyssinian, with black heads and necks. Home are hairy, with short wool underneath, while others bear a long soft and line wool. It is from the latter that many of the costly Indian shawls are made Not a little ot this peculiar wool Suds it way to British India, and is there manufactured. This breed is touuit to its purest state in the dusens of ti eat Tartary; no other varie y being near to contamma e its blood. t rescues far into the interior and northern parts of Russia ami is much disseminated in Cuioa, Persia, Bmdoetan, A ia Miner amt eastern Africa as we 1 as Tuibet. In Palestine it is more numerous than any other breed; indeed the largest propoi- tion of the sheep of northern Asia being of tbis description. Professor Pa lias cou jwtures that this ch >racter arises in the fat mmptd sheep from their feeding upon the bitter and a Jim planta found upon tbe borders of the Caspian and Black sear. And he asserts that when the/ are removed from tbs places where these plants grow the fatty excrescence bee mes less. But Banfleld says, as the fat rumped and fat tailed sheep are varieties which are widely <T -persed, it seems more probable that th< j may have been produced by acmdem ai d may also have lieen perpetuated by acc dent, de-igu or fancy. Ine fat tailed aheep is very expensively diff is. d it is found ihroughout Asia and a great part of Africa, aa well as through the northern parta of Europe. They differ, like other sheep in the nature of their covering, m Madagascar, and in some other hot c!i- matea, they are bairy; at tbe Cape of Good Hope they are covered sftth coarse wool; in the Levant their wool U extremely fine The proportion which the weight of the tall in some of there sheep bears to the w iole carcase is quite remaikable. Tbe usual dressed weight of- the sheep is from fitly to sixty pounds, of which tbe tail is sai l to make m we than one fourth part. Russel describes two breeds or fat tailed sheep abo it Aleppo; in one U • le posit of caudal fat is moderate, in the other sort the tail la much larger. The unctuous fat of the tails of these sheep is accounted a great delicacy alike by the Boers and the Hoitentote of southern Afr.ca. Tbe Hol- umtots, in their primitive condition pos sessed immense fl >cks and pursued the pastoral arts with great success Strong Mucllaga. A very strong mucilage, having suffl Cleat tenacity to fasten sheets of p uie- ooard together, and having the additional advantage of being water proof, can tie made by melting together < q tal parts of pitch sa 1 gutta p ;rcba. To mne parts of this add three pnrts of boiled oil and one- filth part of litharge. Continue tbe he* with stirring until thorough union of ttie ingredients is effected. Apply the mixture hot or somewhat cooled, and thinned wrh a small quantity of benzolo or turpentine oiL A auKTLUKAN, whuM ouw and cheek had become distinctly colored with the red wine he waa wont to imbibe, said one day to his little son at the table ’You ma t eat bread, my boy; bread makes your cheeks red/* The little boy replied; “Father, what lota of bread you must have swallowed/* Some men seem to become drunk suddenly, giving no previous indication by thickness of articulation or unsteadi ness of gait; this being commonly the case where mental excitement from other causes—as a heated discussion— prevails at the time. The most dread ful and astounding cases are afforded by those unfortunate people who are never sober. How they manage to survive so long as they do is a mystery. There are men who have been perpetu ally under the influence of liquor for twenty or thirty years. Of course, toe brain must have become permaneqtly injured, so that we may infer that the drink these persons now take has little or no real effect on them, and that their state would just be the same without it. Others, again, are systematic and punctual drunkards of regular habits, men who take their quantum and are put to bed unconsciaus every night, yet are capable of attending to their daily business in toe most extraordinary manner. These, as a rule, never ex ceed a given amount by so much as a glass, and do not suffer so much as intermittent drunkards—at any rate not so soon, for the inevitable conse quence is only a little longer deferred. The writer knew an old doctor in Ja maica who used to aver that the climate was the finest in the world. “Yellow fever, sir?” he would exclaim —” not a bit of it! A vulgar chimera! A malicious libel on us! The fact is, its the vicious irregular drinking mbits of the people here that kills ’em. I drink a bottle of brandy every night, and have done so for thirty years. I get tipsy seven times a week, in an orderly and decent manner; and I’ve never had yellow fever nor a day’s illj ness!” And to all appearance he was a line, healthy man of sixty-five or seventy years, with a beard as white as snow. Yet he waa carried off suddenly by a trifling indisposition incidental to the climate; and it was found on examina tion of his papers after death that his age was only fifty-two. It docs not by any means follow 1 either, that because a man is never in toxicated he may not be drinking too much. Men employed in the great ireweries in London, especially the draymen, consume an enormous quan tity of beer. The daily allowance which their employers give them is a very large one, but they rarely confine themselves to that; and the draymen, in addition, get much gratuitously from the customers to whom they are always delivering the' casks; so that ten or fourteen quarts is no exceptional con sumption for one man; yet they are not drunkards, in toe ordinary sense of the tenn. The very nature of their work necessitates the employment of none but steady men, strength being also a sine qua non. But if one of these men should break a limb, or get confined to bed from any other accident, he is almost sure to get delirium tremens; and a scalp-wound frequently kills him. Brewers’ men are notorious in hospitals as being the worst cases for operation, being prone to exhibit all the most dan gerous complications whicli fetter the success of stugical treatment. Cattle Hailing in Texan. A Story ot “John Phoenix.' The typical cowboy is with us almost a tiling of the past, not simply because the number of cattle has so decreased of late, but because tbe manner of baud* ling them has undergone a radical change. Time was when an owner of 1,600 or 2,000 head of cattle would find employment for fifteen or twenty vaqueros; under the present system three men can now perform the functions for which five times that number were requisite a few years ago. It was for merly the custom upon our ranches to “looae-herd” toe cattle during the day and to round them up on the “bed ground,’ or pen them in corrals for the night. Now we have immense past ures, inclosed by many miles of barbed wire fencing, in which cattle roam at will by day or night. The pasture fen ces are examined and kept in repair by men detailed upon the ranches for that purpose. Ten years ago the cattle were driven North from Texas without re gard to sex, age or condition. The re sult was that Texas was almost drained of breeding as well as of beef cattle. Now there is some discretion exercised, and it is the exception not the rule for cows and calves to be driven “up the trail” or the shipping centres. Many of our stockmen have introduced fine cattle of Durham and other breeds on their ranches with a view to improving their stock. Full-blooded cattle how ever, are not easily acclimated, nor do they do well unless fed. The half-bred cattle seem to thrive, and in time the long-homed native cattle will be sup planted by a mixed breed of finer qual ity. Two species of the musca, known here as the “heel fly” and “screw fly,” are the bane ot the cattle men. The former look very like the ordinary honey bee, and deposit a nit upon the leg of the animal below the knee. The nit in time devolps into a worm, and eats its way into the flesh. The “screw fly” is much like the blue bottle fly, and at tacks the animal wherever the flesh is laid bare, by branding or making the ears; it leaves a nit from which the worm is hatched by animal heat. Some time since a valuable calf got screw worms In one of its ears. It was doc tored, and it was thought cured. It died recently, and upon opening the skull it was found that the screw worms* had eaten their way to the brain. The present system of branding and making the ears not only disfigures the cattle and destroys the hide, but as may be seen from the above statement is dan gerous. • The invitations sent of late to naval officers requesting them to furnish sug gestions for a change of uniform “re mind me”—as Mr. Lincoln would have said—of a similar invitation issued by Jeff Davis when he was Secretary of War under General Frank Pierce. One of these invitations was sent to Lieutenant Derby, a good draughtsman and a merry wag, who sent in response a proposition for having a two-inch iron ring appended by a piece of strong leather to the seat of each enlisted man’s trtmsers. Long and formal specifications demonstrated the utility of this ring. Each officer was to cany, instead of a sword, a long ash pole, with a hook on one end. By hooking into the ring of a private he could be kept in line of battle if h^were disposed to liang back, or caught if he attempted to run away. The ring would also be useful in the artillery service for draft purposes, and in the cavalry men could be locked to other rings in their saddles and so kept from -falling off. The illustrations which accompanied the specifications represented officers catch ing infantry stragglers and forcing them into the ranks, dragoons pad locked to their saddles, and artillery men with cannon-prolongs hitched to their rings, hauling huge pieces of ar tillery up steep heights. It was very funny, and the clerks in the War De partment enjoyed some hearty laughs over it; but when it reached the Secre tary he became indignant and regarded it as an insult. He ordered charges and specifications to be drawn up, and a court-martial was actually ordered, when it came to the ears of Governor Marcy, then Secretary of the^State, who was level-headed, and who adv’ A Davis to let the matter drop. He might convict Derby and dismiss him from tbs service, but he Would be laughed at from one end of the country to the other. Davis took the advice, and Derby’s “suggestions” are still to t be found on the fil^s of the War De partment, A Heroine of Tei-el-Keblr. The old retriver Juno, who earned such undying fame by leading the gal lant Gordon Highlanders at Tel-el-Ke- bir, waa(the admired of all observers the other day at Cairo when the regiment paraded to recoive the medals won by its members during the campaign. Col onel Hammill, C. B.. pointed out the distinguished dog to General Sir Arch ibald and Lady Alison, and we doubt not that among the spectators there was a very general feeling of regret when Juno had to content herself with com pliments and caresses instead of re ceiving the honorable decoration she so thoroughly deserved. Owing, too, to unavoidable circumstances she could not be included in either of the photo graphic groups of the regiment which were taken by command of the Queen. One of these gave the portraits of all' who distinguished themselves at Tel- el-Kebir, and the other was representa tive of each rank in the gallant cor]». There was room for Juno on both, in the former by reaso n of her being the first member of the British force to rush” Arabi’s entrenchments, and in the second on Account of her being “the regimental dog” par excellence, It will be a national shame and scandal if Juno’s likeness is handed down to pos terity without something in it to show that the English people recognized their debt of gratitude to the noble dog. When we first described her gal lantry at Tel-el-Kebir we suggested that a silver collar, bearing a suitable inscription, would form an appropriate decoration, and we now Venture to re peat the proiiosal. The sentimentality which went to such excesses in the case of Jumbo might find a much more deserving object in Juno. Exercising the Devil A corrospondent at San Luis Rey Indian Agency gives the following de scription of the manner in which the savages drive + he evil one away: “The Indians do not like to take medicines, but they held a few iLovs ago a Jiesta for three successive nights for the purpose of decoying the demon of sickness, and, if possible catch and kill him. T t was the best I have yet seen in the luimy years of my acquaintance with the lill' and customs of these Mission Indians- After a lot of bucks, naked, but fixed up with paint and feathers, had exhaus ted themselves by dancing and stamp, ing the ground about an hour around a big fire, and got noarse from grunting and howling, an old gray buck, the chissero, stepped into the center of the ring and began, in a low, mournful voice to sing. He was dressed—or rather, un dressed— the same as the others, with the exception that he held a rattle made out of the tails of rattlesnakes hand, while on his head was formed of three bunches of pi “From time to time he wi the ring up on the hillside a: up in the air in all directions, a decoying voice for the ghi he returned he always exp] few whispered words how was and how dangerous it wi and that lie was very much afi last, when he came back again hill, he danced three times ar! fire, when he was seized with’ convulsions, which brought him, fearful moans (and seemingly he sul fered terrible pains), to the ground. But he still had force enough left to pull out the bundles of feathers from his head. With these he rubbed his chest, and this releasing him from the power of the demon, he jumped up and with fearful yells everybody followed him in a wild tumult, men, women and children crying: '■Matalo, matalo,' (kill him), and beating the ground with the sticks they had ready for the occasion. “ I got out of the way then, for they seemed to be a lot of wild maniacs. When they returned to the ring they all stood up in a circle, the old ‘chissero’ dug a hole in the center, and after some more singing and stamping the ground, pulled one of the bundles of feathers from his head, and going around rub- bed tt against each parson. From time to time he returned to the hole, and seeming to suck some juice from them, he spat it into the hole. Then he filled it again, stamped the ground down, and with fearful yells the same wild beating of the ground followed, in which even old Vicente took part. This concluded the cermonies and everybody went home feeling satisfied that he was the one who had hit or killed the ghost and no more sickness was going to pre vail in the village. The whole made a picturesque scene—the swarthy old bucks with their sweaty faces illumina ted by excitement and dancing; the huge fire burning in the middle, of which once in a while a kick would send the flames and sparks away up to the tops of the trees; the stern face of the captain sitting on a chair with a long rod in his band and the audience with eager expectation sitting on the ground; the ‘fair sex’ doing their part in ‘sing ing.’ Then owls would fly overhead through the branches of the dark, shadowing oaks, joining in with their voices and adding to thq awe of the whole, while fair Luna’s face rose, shining in its soft, splendor, above the mountains to illuminate it all. ” How Canada Got It* Name. The origin of the word Canada is cu rious enough. The Spaniards visited tliat country previous to tbe French, and made partial searches for gold and silver, and finding none, they often said among themselves “A can nada” (There is nothing here). The Indians, who watched closely, learned the sen tence and its meaning. After the de parture of the Spaniards the French ar, rived, and the Indians, who wanted none of their company, and supposed they also were Spaniards come on the same errand, were anxious to inform them that their labor was lost by tar rying In f hat country, and frequently repeated to them the Spanish sentence “A can uada.” The French, who knew as little of Spanish as the Indians, sup posed this incessantly-recurring sound was toe name of Canada, which it has borne ever since. Culownl Mtxioan Farms. Much has been said and written of the great extent and large possibilities of Mexican haciendas. But probably few people in the United States even yet realize the extent of some of these tracts of land, where a million or a mil lion and a half of acres often constitute a single estate in the hands of the own er. There are many such estates in Mexico large enough to hide away many a European principality, large enough to awaken the envy of many a land proprietor in the Pacific Coast States of the American Union. They are to be found in many of the Central and Northern States of Mexico. The fa mous Salado ranch, for example, con tains over 600 square miles of land. It lies partly in the States of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Zacatecas and San Luis Po- tosi, on the highway to Mexico, and on the line of toe new railroad. It occupies the central table lands of Mexico at mi average elevation of 4000 feet. Chains of mountains traverse the estate, rich in mineral wealth. The bounderies of the estate extend more than 100 miles from north to south, and flourshing farms and large mining towns are met at frequent intervals. A New Method for the Analjrels of OIU. The author treat* a measured quantity of oil with a measured quantity of stand ard caua..o alkali. Teuc. c of oil mea sured with a oipeite were heated in a boiling water btlh for an hour with 20 c. e ot a solution of potarsa, which would neutralize 128 c c of sulphuric acid at 98 grms —loO) a c. At the end of this heating the inaeed oils mentioned in the previous memoir all yielded f cane of soap solid or very firm when hot, always solid when cold, and easily separated by ere draining. The alkaline solution la very differently acted upon by different aanpea. It s til no ralizes smaller quantities of acid, differing In case of every sample. ; w - • . <1 siefey* eV "/to'Jfc ?! ■ ■ nr* tMt"