The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 10, 1877, Image 1
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THE ABBEVILLE PRESS & BANNER
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BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1877. VOLUME XXIV.-NO. 31.
i _
A Christmas Song-.
The oak ia a strong and stalwart tree,
And it lifts its branches np,
And oatohe8 the dew right gallantly
In many a dainty cup.
And the world is brighter, and better mado,
Because of the woodman's stroke,
Deaoending in sun, or falling in shade,
On tho sturdy form of the oak.
Bnt stronger, I ween, in apparel green.
And trappings so fair to see,|
With its precione freight, for small and great,
Is the beautiful Christmas tree.
The elm is a kind and goodly tree,
With its branches bending low ;
The heart is glad whon its form we Bee,
As we list to the river's flow.
Aye ! the heart is glad, and tho pulses bound,
And joy illumines the face,
Whenever a goodly elm is found,
Because of its beauty and grace.
, But kinder, i ween, more goodly in mion,
With branohea more drooping and free,
? V. ftan Uan/ia fl/lo] ifw UAAtTAH
XUO bUlLB U4 nuuou icaivo, uuwuij nw??w,
Is the beautiful Christmas tree.
The maple is supple, and lithe, and strong,
And clalmeth onr love anew,
When the days are listless, and qaiet, and long
And the world is fair to view.
And later?as beanties and graces unfold?
A monarch right rogally drett,
With streamers tfhme, and pennons of gold,
It seemeth of aU the best.
More lissome, I ween, the brightness and sheen.
And the coloring, sunny and free,
And the banners soft, that aro held aloft,
Bj the beantifol Christmas tree.
?St. Nicholas for December.
THE SECRET DOOR.
A Christmas Story of Two Hundred
Years Ago.
I
Knowle, in Kent, is an ancient manor
house. It stands knee-deep in rich garden
and pasture lands, with hayfields
and apple orchards stretching beyond,
and solemn 03k woods which whisper
and shake their wise heads when the
winds blow, as though possessed of
secrets which must not be spoken.
Very much as it looks to-day, it looked j
two hundred and thirty years ago, when
Charles the First was king of England. I
That was the Charles who had his head 1
ont off, you may remember. Bine i
Christmas smokes cnrled from the {
twisted chimneys in 1G45 just as this j
year. The same dinnery fragrance tilled !
the air, for good cheer smells pretty
much alike in all ages and the world
over. A few changes there may be?
thicker trees, beds of giy flowers which
were not known in that day; and whero
onoe the moat?a ditch like stream of
green water covered with weeds and 1
scum?ran round the walls, is now a j
i trimly cut border of verdant turf. But
these changes are improvements, and in
all important respects the house keeps
its old look, undisturbed by modem
times and ways.
In the same nursery whore modern
bojs and girls cat, sleep and learn their
A, B, C to-day, two children lived?
little lialph Tresham and his sister
Henrietta. Quaint, old fashioned creatures
thoy wonld look to us now ; but,
in spite of their format drcrses and
speech, they were bright and merry and
happy as any children you can* find
among your acquaintances. Ralph's
name was pronounced "Rafe," and he j
always called his eister " Hexie."
Christmas did not come to Knowle in
its usual bright shape in 1645. Gloom
and sadness and anxiety overshadowed
. the houso ; and though the little ones
did not understand what the cause oi
the anxiety was, they felt something
wrong, and wont about quietly whisper
ing to each other in corners, instead of
whooping and laughing, as had been
their wont. They hud oaten their
Christmas l?ecf, and toasted the king as
usual, but their mother cried wh u they
did so ; and Joyce, tho old butler, had
carriod off tho pudding with a fme like a
funeral. So, after dinner, thoy crept
away to the nur jery, and there, by the
window, begun a long whispering talk. !
Hezie had something very exciting to
tell.
"Nurse thought I was asleep," she
said, "but I wasn't quite; and when
they begun to talk I woke up. That
wasn't wrouf?, wa9 it, Rafe ? I couldn't
sleep when I couldn't, could I ?"
"I suppose a'tt; bat you noedu't
have listened," said Rafe, whose no
tions about honor were very strict.
"I did pull the pillow over my car,
but the words would get in," went on
Henrietta, piteously. "And it wa=i fo
interesting. Did you know that there
were such creatures a<3 B jgics, Rafe ?
Dorothy thinks that wo have got one in
our house, and that its hole is in the
great callurv, because onco wlien 6he
was there dusting the armor, she heard
a queer noise in the wall, and what else
ooald it be? It eats a great deal, does
the Bogie. That's the reason nurse is
euro we have got oue. It ate all the cold
sheep's head yesterday, and the day before
half tho big pastry. No victuil is
safe in the larder, the Bogie has such a
big appetite, nurse says."
411 remember about the sheop's
head," said Rafe, meditatively. "Almost
all o^it was left, and I looked to
see it como in cold; but when I a: k?d,
Joyce caid there was none. Cold
sheep's head is verygood. Do you re- j
member how much Humphrey used to
like it?"
" I don't remember exactly, it is so
long ago,"replied Hexio. " How loDg is
it, brother ??since Humphrey went {
away, I mean. Won't he ever oome
back I"
" I a^ked Winifred once, but she only
said, 'God knew,' thai nothing had
been hoard of him since the battle wh?-n
the king was taken. Ho might bo dead,
or he might ba esca'pod iuto foreigu
Sarts?and then sho cried, oh, so hnrd,
[oxie 1 Poor Humphrey ! I hope ho
isn't dead. But, about the Bogie, how
curious it must be to meet one I Oh, I
soy, let us go to the gallery now, and
see if we hear any strange noises there.
Will von i"
"?;0b, R ifd ! I'm afraid. I don't quite I
like"?
"Eat yon can't bo afraid if I'm j
there," said Rife, valiantly; "besides,
I'll pnt on Humphrey's old sword |
which he left behind. Then if the Boeie i
oomes? we Rbal1 Fee ?"
R:ife ppoke liko a conquering hero, i
Hexie thought; so, though Bho trembled,
she ma -e no further objection, j
but stood by while ho lifted down the i
sword, helped to fasten its belt over his |
shoulder, and followed along the pas- :
sage which led to the gallery. The !
heavy sword clattered aud rattled an it
dragged on the floor, and the sound was j
eohoed in a ghostly way, which renewed
Hexie's f ors.
" Rafe ! Rafe ! let us go back 1" she
cried.
" Go back yourself if you are afraid,"
replied Rajph, stoutly;and as going back
alone through tho dim passage seemed
just then worse than staying where she
was, Hexie stayed with her valiant
brother.
Very foftly they unlatched the gallery
door, and stole in. It was a long, lofty
apartment, paneled with cedar wood, to
which time had given a beautiful light
brown oolor. The ceiling, of the same
wood, was carted, here and there, with
i ^
shields, coats of arms, and other devices.
There was little furniture: one tall cabinet,
a few high backed chairs, and some
portraits haugiDg on the walls. The
sun, not yet quite set, poured a stream
of red light across the polished floor,
leaving the far corners and the empty
spaoes formidably duek. The children
! nad seldom been in the gallery at this
honr, and it looked to them almost like
I a straugo place, not at all as it did at
noonday when they came to jump up
| and down the slippery floor, and play
hido and-seek in the corners whioh now
seemed so dark and dismal.
Even Rafo felt the difference, and
shivered in spite of his bold heart and
the big sword by his Bide. Timidly
they went forward, hushing their footsteps
and peering furtively into the
shadows. Suddenly Hexie stopped with
a little scream.
Close to them stood a large suit of armor,
larger and taller than a man. The
empty eye holes of the helmet glared
out quite like real eyes, and the whole
figure was terrible enough to frighten
any little girl. But it was not at the armor
that Hexie screamed; the iron man
was an old friend of the children's.
wa oaq]t fl-t/vr*
lUUiijr u vi uiucttuu'oouu uou iiuqj
played around, and bohind, and even
inside him; for Humphrey had contrived
a cunning way by which the figure
could be taken to pieces and put together
again ; and more than once Rafe
had been popped inside, and had lain
shaking with laughter while Hexie
vainly searched for him all through the
gallery. This had not happened lately,
for Rafe was hardly strong enough to
manage by himself the screws and hinges
which opened the armor; but he knew
the iron man too well to scream at him, j
and so did Hexie. The object which j
excited her terror was something different,
and so 6trange and surprising
that it is no wonder she screamed.
fllosft bv the armor, half hidden bv a i
curtain of heavy tapestry, was an open
door, where never door had been known
to be. It stood ajar, and dimly visible
inside was a narrow staircase winding
upward.
"The hole of tho Bogiol" gasped
Hezie, clutching at Rafe's arm. He
started acd felt for the sword. It rattled
fearfully, and the sound completed
Ht xie's terror. She buret away, flew
like a scared lapwing dowu the gallery,
along the passages, and never st pped
till she reached tne nursery and her own
bed, where, with two pillows and the
qnilt drawn over her head, she lay sobbing
bitterly at tho thought of Ralph
left behind, to be eaten perhaps by the
Boftie ! Poor little Hexie !
Rilph, meanwhile, stood his ground.
His heart beat very fast, but ho would
not run away?that was for girls. It
must be owned, however, that when a
moment later the sound of muffled voices
became audible down stairs, he trembled
extremely, and was guilty of the unmanlike
act of hiding behind the curtain.
He was only ten years old, which must
plead his excuse with biijger boys who
are coLfiJent that they could never, under
any oircumstances, hide themselves
or be afraid.
The voices drew nearer,steps sounded,
and two figures came out of the narrow i
doorway. Could there bo two Bogies? j
No wonder they ato so much. But in j
another minute nil thought of Bogies
vanished from Ralph's mind, for in one J
of the figures lie recognizod his own sis-1
ter Winifred.
Her compauion w:is a man. There
whs something familiar in bus form. It
moved forward, and Ralph jumped so
that the big sword rattled again. Bogie
number two was his brother Humphrey,
mourned as dead ever since the summer
before, when so many brave gentlemen
gave up their lives for King Charles at
the battle of Naseby.
"What noise was tint?" whhpored
Winifred, fear.'ully.
"Some ^.oand from below," replied
Humphrey, after listening a moment.
"Must you go, Winnie V
*'I must, dear Humphrey. >dare not
absent myself longer left I be missed
and suspected. Oh, if to morrow were
but over, and you s tfe on the French
lugger aud over th<> sea! I cannot
breathe wiuie tins mamg ana uanger go |
on."
"I supposo I ought- to bo glad also," j
said Humphrey, ruefully ; " but to me
that French logger means exile and
loneliness and poverty, for tho rest of
my life, perhaps. Better have laid
down my life with tho rest at Nastiby, in
slrikiDg ono last blo<v for the king."
"Don't you speak sol" protested
Winifred, tearfully. " You nro alive,
thank God ; and onc<3 these wars are
over we may rejoin you, aud have a
huppy home somewht re, if not in the
land of our fathers. Now, dear Humphrey,
have you all you need for the
night?"
"Christmas cheer,"said Humphrey,
in a would-be chcerfoi voicc. "Beef
and ale?what bettor faro could be ?
You are a gallant provider, my Winnie,
and thero is need, for since I have lain
in that hole with nothing else to do, my
appetite has raged like a wolf. That
sheep's h?ad was wondrous savory. I {
say though, Wintie, what do the servants
think of the famine I create in the
larder?"
" Oh, the stnpid creatures fancy that
a Bogie has taken up his residence here.
A very hungry Bcgio, Joyce calls the
creature 1"
The brother and Rister laughed ; then i
thev kissed each other.
' GooJ-night, dearest Winifred."
"Good-night, brother," and Humphrey
vanished np the stairs. Winifred
lingered a moment; then, as if remembering
something, opeued tho door again
and ran after him. R >lph markod that I
who laid hor hand on i: particular boss in
tho carved wainscot and pressed it in
harJ, whereon the door sprnng open.
He stole ont. laid his baud on the same
boss, and felt the spring givo way undor
his touch. Some undefined idea of
stealing in later, to make Humphrey
a visit, was in his head ; but ho
heard Winifred returning, and hurried
out of the gallery. Putting back the
nword in its place, he entered tho
nursery. No Hoxio was visible-, but a
sobbing sound drew his attention to a
tumbled heap cn the bed
"Is that you, Heiie? Why, what
aro you crying about V pulling away
tho pillow which she held tight.
"Oh, Rafo! Then the Rogie didn't
oat you, after all!" And Hexie buried
her tfar-stained face on Iiis shoulder.
" Bogie! Nonsense! There are no !
ench things as Bogies !"
"What was it, then, that lived up j
that dreadful stairs ?" "
I can't tell you, only it was nothing
at all dreadful. Arid, Hexie, don't say I
a word about that door to any one, will [
you? It might ronko great trouble if j
you did."
" I did tell Deborah, when she fetched
the candle and asked why I oried,
that I saw a strange door in the gallery,"
faltered Hexio, truthful, though penitent.
"Oh! Hexie, how could you? I
don't like Deborah, and her father is a
knave. Humphrey said so one day.
How could you talk to her about the
door, Hexie?"
I?don't know. I was frightened,
and she asked me," sobbed Hexie.
"Will it do any harm, Rafe?"
" It may," said Rafe, gloomily. " Bnt
don't cry, Hexie. You meant no harm,
at all events."
" Oh, don't speak bo gravely and so
like Joyo?t" said Hexie, muoh troubled.
She cried herself to sleep that night.
Deborah, who undressed her, asked
many qnestione about the gallery and
the door.
\ " It was very dark, and perhaps she
mistook"?th&t was all Hexie could be
made to say. Ralph was disturbed and
wakeful, and Blept later than usual next
morning. He jumped np in a hurry and
made what haste he could with dressing
and breakfast, bat it seemed as though
they never took so much time before;
and* all the while he ate he was conscious
of a stfr and bustle in the house, which
excited his curiosity very muoh. Knocking?the
sound of feet?something unusual
was going on.
As soon as possible he slipped away
from nurse and ran to the gallery. The
door was half open. He looked in, and
stood still with terror. Men, in brown
uniforms and steel caps, were tnere
sounding the walls and tapping the
floor boards with staves. The gallery
seemed full of them, though when Rafe
counted there were but five.
" This man of iron was, in all likelihood,
a Malignant also," he heard one
of them say, striking the armor with his
fist.
"He is somewhat old for that. Mothinks
that is armor of the time of that
man of blood, Harry the Eighth. Move
it aside, Jotham, that we may search
the further panel."
So the heavy figure was thrust into a
oorner, and the men went on tapping
with their wands. Rafe groaned within
himself whon he heard them declare
that the wall sounded hollow, and saw
them searching for a spring. Twenty
times it seemed as though they must
have lighted on the right place. Twenty
times they jast missed it.
"We were ill advised to come without
tools," declared the man who seemed
leader of the party. " Come thou to
| my shop, Peter Kettle, and thou,
Bartimous and Zerrubabel, and we will
fetch Buch things as aro needful.
Jotham, stay thou here, to see that no
men escapeth from the concealment bohind
the wall."
So four of tho men wont away, leaving
Jotham striding ud and down as on I
guard. Presently came a shout from
beneath the window:
" Jotham! our leader hath dropped
his pouch in which are the keys of the
smithy. Hasten and bring it to the j
outer door."
"Aye, aye!" answered Jotham, and,
pouch in haud, he ran down tho stairs.
Nojv was Rafe's opportunity. Like a
flash he was ncross the gallery, his
hand on tho boss. The door 8ow open,
and he fell into the arms of Humphrey,
who, sword in hand and teeth set, stood
on tho lower stop of tho staircase,'prepared
to sjII his liberty as dearly as
possible.
" Rafe ! little Rife !" ho exclaimod.
" Hush I Tho man will come back,"
panted Rife. "Oomoaway?hido?oh,
where ?" Then with a Rudden inspiration
he drugged his brother toward the
inciila " lie / ricil I
11VSU llinut \JICT MV v>*V?r |
"Thoy will never think of searching;
there 1 Oh, Humphrey?make haste!
Got inside!"
There was no time to bo lost. With
the spe6d of desperation, Humphrey
unscrewed, lifted, stepped inside the
armor. Iiafe slipped the fastenings together,
whispered " Bhut your eyes,"
and flew back to his hiding place. Just
in tim3, for Jutham's step was on the
stair, and noxt moment ho onterod the
gallery, and resumed his march up and
down, little dreaming that the man
sought for was peepiug through tho hoi- :
met holes at him, net thvoo feet away.
Presently the other soldiers came j
back with hammers and wrenches, and I
iu a short timo the beautiful wainscot,
split- into pieces, lay on the floor. Suddtnly
there was a shout. The secret
door had flown opon, and tho staircase
stood revealed. Four of tho men, with
picks and pistols, propared to oscond,
while tho fifth guarded the opening bolow.
At that moment Winifred entered the
gallery from tho further end. She
turned deadly pale when she saw the
open door and tho men.
"Oh! Heaven have mercy!" she!
cried, and dropped half fainting into a :
chair.
R ife darted across the floor and seized j
her hand.
" Hu?li," he whispered. " Dcn't say 1
a word, sitter. He is safe."
"He! Who?" cried tho amazed
Winifred.
But now voices sounded from above.
Tho men were coming down. Winifred
rallied lie* courage, ro:-o and wont forward.
She was very wLite still, but she
spoke in a steady voice. Her two
brothers, Humphrey in his hiding place
aud little Rafo by her eide, both admired
her greatly.
" What is the meauing of this, Jothara
Green ?" she demanded. " By
what warrant Jo you enter and spoil our
house'("
" By tho warrant which all true men
have to search for traitors," said Jotham.
" You will Had nono such here," responded
Winifred, firmly.
" We find tho lurking place in which
one Kuoh has doubtless laiu," said Zerrn'oabfel.
" Where holes exist, look out
for vermin."
"You are leva than civil, neighbor, j
An old houso like this has many strange
Dooks and oornor6 of wh ch the inhabitants
may hnve neither uso nor knowledge.
If your search is dono, I will
beg you to make good the damage yon
faavo caused .is best you may, and with
as little noise as possible, that my
mother be not alarmed. Jotham Green,
yon are a good workman, I know. I recollect
how deftly yon once repaired
that cabinet for us."
All tho men knew Winifred, and her
oalm and decided manner made its impression.
Jotham slowly picked np tho
fragments of tho paneling and began to
fit them together. The rest consulted,
and at last rather "sheepishly, and with a
muttered half apology about " wrong
information," went awny, taking with
them the injured woodwork, which Jotham
undertook to repair. Rafe's first
words after they disappeared were :
"Winifred, you must dismiss Deborah.
It is she that has betrayed us."
" How do you know that, Rafe?"
Then it all came out. Winifred listened
to the tale with streaming tears.
"Ob, Rafe, my darling, how brave
you were ! You played tho man for us
to-day, and have saved?I trust yon have
saved?our Humphrey. The % men will
not return to-day, and to-night tho lug- i
ger sailf."
And Humphrey was saved. Before |
morning, well disguised, ho had made
his way across country to a little fishing !
port, embarked and reached France j
without further accident.
So that strango Christmas adventure |
ended happily. It was all long, long i
ago. Humphrey and Winifred and Rafe
lived their lives out, and lay down to
q nanfnnr mid a half since under tho ]
daisy Bpriuklod English sod. Little
Hexie died an aged womnn, before any
of us were born. Bat still the beautiful
old manor bouse stands amid its gardens
and pasture lands, with the silvery look
of timo on its gray walls. Still the armed
figure keeps guard beside^he secret
staircaso, the tapestry hangs in the old
heavy folds, evening reddens the cedar
walls and the polished floor, and everything
occupies the same place and wears
the same look that it did when little
Bafe played the man in that gallery, and
saved his brother Humphrey, more than
two hundred years ago.? St. Nicholas.
An Hnmble Hero's Death.
The Chicago Iribune has the following
account of the loss of four lives at a
fire in that city: It was in the Eastern
House that the loss of lifo took place.
The flames seemed to have enveloped
the buildings in a whiff, for when the
firemen came on the spot all the buildings
were abluze. Captain Bull winkle
and his men, who were first on the
ground, rescued all they could, and in
this work, as soon as they arrived, the
firemen bravely assisted. Kaiser's
family, Cella's and Geewe's, as well as
the Oockells, had a narrow escape. Mr.
Cockell employed considerable help in
hiu restaurant. They slept in the rear
part >f the second story, over the
kittu o. The fire burned fiercely here,
onf Tvl-inn tVia inmnf.r>? ronrn ftTCfllfflTlfid
ee;ace was almost cu' off. GockeU and
lr? family were awakened by a man
named James Allen, who boarded at the
Lonse, and their lives "were thus undoubtedly
saved. He was a tailor by
trade, thirty-seven years of age, and had
recently oome home from Boston, where
he left a wife and five children. This
man Allen proved himself a hero, and
met his death like a martyr in trying to
save human life. After he had awakened
nearly every one in the house, he
took his overcoat upon his arm and got
out upon the sidewalk. Finding that
there were yet persons in the building
he managed to got back. A poor girl
named Agnes Healy, aged seventeen,
who had been a waiter at tho restaurant,
was half orazed, suffocating with emoke,
and crying to be saved. He seized her
around the waist, and was about to carry
her to a window, but escape was cut off,
and the two perished together, and in
this way they were found charred and
lifeless, clasped in each other's embrace.
A little way from them were found the
bodieH of Emma Bart, or Bradley, a
dining-room girl, and George Broad.
The woman was about twenty-four years
oi ago imu murneu, uuu uei uurnu wuo m
Oolumbus, Obio. Broad was an Englishman,
twenty-six years of ago, and a
clork for Cockell. The bodies were not
burned so badly as to be unrecognizable,
and their appearance seemed to indicate
rather that they wore suffocated, the
debris covering and in a manner proserving
the remains.
Women and War.
Most wars of the last century, says
the New York Times, have resulted in
little less than waste of money and waste
of life. Nothing ha3 been gained oither
materially or morally; they have ended
nearly whero they began, plus countless
graves, invalids, shattered hopes
and broken hearts. Thcro have been a
few contests?contests for ideas, for |
human rights, for higher civilization,
but when such have been, women1 have
taken up tboir great burdens, mournfully,
though patiently and resignedly,
and have accepted what fortune brought,
not without poignant grief, but with
41- ? 4 l?nn / ?!-! ^ f ViOtT
people, cuu uu uumiucu. j.u uii-oub wis
the petition proposes that the two ]
Houses shall improve the three weeks '
preceding Christmas in forming and '
agreeing npon a'Constitutional amendment
placing in tho supreme court the '
duty of canvassing tho eleotoral vote. <
Most of the State Legislatures meet im- j
mediately after tho holidays, when the '
amendment could be submitted; and the J
latter holds to tho opinion that the
amendment could be ratified without '
delay, so that it could be made part of
tho Constitution and apply to the present
election. Both of tho Presidential
candidates, it is urged, would recognize j
the wisdom of this course, and both the .
Republican and Democratio legislatures ,
would ratify it. The petition dwells at ,
length upon the wisdom of removing !
this important mattor from a tribunal
that is likely to be affected by party
strife. (
Who's Elected.
One of tho teachers in a Sunday- 1
school was 4'stumped" badly during !
the services of the hour. He was teaching
the infant class, and, after explain- '
ing the lesson as well as ho knew how,
<-V?vr?TTT nnon ftm nnflotinn Viht firrnr.
UU lUlUn V^/VU VUV \|UVUI/AU?* MQM*
atively speaking, and told the children
they might ask him any questions that
suggested themselves. He was gratified
by a seven-year-old girl, who immediately
piped out: "Who's 'lectcd?" He
couldn't tell
Long Awat.?A traveler, who rode
up to a wayside tavern in Wisconsin,
baing told by a boy, who pointed to an
elderly woman standing in the door,
that "that ere woman is the landlady,"
politely bowed to her and asked:
"Madam, where is your husband?"
"Gone to Milwaukee for a stock of
liquor and lemons," said she. " Has he
been gone long ?" " Only twenty-three
years. The traveler rode on.
A CASE OF CREMATION.
The Burning of the Body of Baron de Pal in
In the United States, the only recorded
instances of cremation, except the
burning alive of prisoners at the stake
by savages, are those of the burning of
Henry Laurens, about 1816, of Henry
Berry, in Marion county, 8. C., last
July and that of Joseph Henry Louis,
Baron de Palm, Grand Cross Commander
of the Sovereign Order of the Holy
Sepulchre at Jerusalem, Knight of St.
John at Malta, Prince of the Roman
EmDire. late Chamberlain to his Majesty
the King of Bavaria, Fellow of the Theosophical
Society of New York, etc.,
which has just taken place.
This nobleman's life was a romance of
which his death, ombalming, preliminary
funeral id New York and cremation
in Pennsylvania are strange sequences.
He was a member of that diplomatic
corps which includes in every European
capital the brightest, the best educated,
the most accomplished of men, but ho
wearied of courts, possibly because the
expenses of German diplomatists could
not keep pace with those of English
ambassadors. With a fuiling income
and a stout heart he immigrated to
America, and landed in New York in
1868, a bachelor of some fifty years. He
pushed on to Chicago, and there from
time to time, in company with associates
who are well known among merchants,
he engaged in various bnsiness enterprises
and real estate operations. They
proved unfortunate. Toward the close
of the year 1875 he returned to Now
York where he died, and his funeral services
took place in May last, at the
Masonic Temple. By the will the Baron
requested that his remains be burned.
It being impractiacblo to burn the corpse
as he desired it to be burnedi it was embalmed
and laid in a receiving vault to
await the completion of the present
crematory by Dr. Le Moyno, of Washington,
Pa., and to that placo the remains
were taken.
The fnrnace is a cheap affair. Coarse
bricks and firebricks form the walls ;
the furnace door below and tho door of
the fireclay oven above it are of unoraamented
iron. The front of the furnace
resembleB that of any common furnace
for melting iron or reducing ores. A
sooty feeder of the fire stood in front of
it, ratber fatigued by a vigil of thirty-six
hours since the lire began to burn.
Before any guests wero admitted, the
body had been takon from the coffin,
completely wrapped iu a white sheet,
and laid upon an irou crate which stood
on wooden trestles in the center of the
reception room,, according to the old
Greek and Roman custom. It was injected
and surrounded with cinnamon,
cassia, frankincense and myrrh. A large
number of scientiflo gentlemen wore
present to witness tho affair. The body
was plaoed in tho furnace about eight
o'clock, and the fire was kept burning
about three hours, when nothing remained
bnt a confused mass of ashes in
the bottom of the retort. When tho retort
was cooled the ashes were gathered
in a Hindoo urn and will be preserved.
Patrick Henry's Prophecy.
Patrick Henry, in tho Virginia convention
on the adoption of the Constitution
of 1788, ppoko as follows :
" Your President n'-ay easily become
king.- Your S^.nato is do imperfectly
constiucted that your deareet rights
mar hn sacrificed bv what mav bo a
tilt; UUlibUUJJg LUUU^UU tuuu mvj
suffered and mado sacrifice in a holy
cause. It has bee a urged against
women, sometimes, that thoy are incapable
of beariug arms, of performing
military duty in the flold. There lmvo
been many exceptions to this rule, wbich
no doubt, however, holds generally .
good. If this incapacity bo a fault, it
is certainly a good fault, one to which
progress aud hnmauity should be lenient.
It mi#bt be said in women's favor that,
should -ehG have tho arrangement of !
affairs, wars would be far Ifss frequent, ,
if they did not cease altogether. She !
is not so strong, physically, nor so .
fierce as her brother man, but phe is
undeniably more moral and more civilized
; and where high morality and civi- !
lization are, war, often as it may happen, !
is always an anachronism. In any
strict gyuocracy?should there ever bo '
such a thing?the question of -women 1
bearing arms will not be discussed, for
war will be ranked, as in most cases it ,
deserves to be, as a relic of barbarism. .
The daya of trial by battle on a grand ,
scale would assuredly b? numbered, if !
statesmen and leaders who declare war,
and soldiers who conduct it, were capa- !
ble of feeling for any length of time tho
distress of mind, the agony of heart,
tho torture of soul, wbich every battle,
nil over tho civilized world, naturally
and necessarily brings to women. To
them men owe much more than thoy
ever think or concede; aud if men wore
more in the habit of looking through !
women's eyes, before they imperil
women's happiness in military venturos |
for ho good or wise end, they might give ,
themselves such wholesalo pause as
would turn the almost equally balanced
scales on tho side of beloved and blessed ,
peaco. 1
The Electoral Vote.
Ex-Senators Carl Schurz and John B.
Henderson, and other prominent men
of St. Louie, have forwarded a potition 1
to Congress relative to the counting of \
tho electoral vote. They say in the j
potition that the present condition of '
the country calls for some action which
shall settle tho political disquietude.
Tho clause in tho Constitution respecting
the canvassing of the electoral vote
ic nnnfod nrx! nrnnonnced inadeauate
?A,w?wv., X" *
and liable to diverse construction. The
attempt to canvass the voto in joint session
of Congress is deprecated as certain
to rai e partisan issues, and develop
a strife which may prove most disas- i
trous to the country. The petition then ?
proposes as the remedy that the whole ?
matter shall be transferred to the supreme
court of the United Slatos. It '
is urged that that is the only tribunal j
from which a fuir aud unpartisan de- '
cision, one which will satisfv the whole [
1- i tu:?j rril 1
small majority; and a very small minority
may eontinuo forever unchangeably
this government although horribly defective.
Where are your checks in this
government? Your strongholds will be
in the hands of your enemies. It is on
the supposition that your American
governor shall bo honest that all the
good qualities cf this government are
founded, but its perfect and imperfect
construction puts it in their power to
perpetrate tho worst of mischiefs should
they be bad men. And, sir, would not
all tho world blame our distracted folly
in resting our lights upon tho contingency
of our rulers beiug good or bad ?
Show me that age and country, where
tho rights and liberties of tho people
were placed on thechaucoof their rulers
boing good men, without a consequent
loss of liberty. I say that tho loss of
that dearest privilege has ever followed,
with absolute certainty, ovcry such mad
attempt. If your American chief be a
man of ambition and abilities, how easy
will it be for liim to rrnder himself absolute
? The army is in his hands, and
if he be u man of address it will bo attached
to hira, and it will ba tho subjeot
of long meditation with him to seize
the first auspicious moment to accomplish
his design. And, sir, will the
American spirit solely relieve yon when
this happens ? I would rathor have a
king, lords and commons, than a government
so replote with such insupportable
evils. It we mako a king, we may
prescribe tho rules by whioh ho shall
rule his people ; but the President in
tho field, at the head of his army, can
prescribe the terms on which ho shall
reign master, so far that it will puzzle
my American even to get his neck from
cinder tho galling yoke!"
They Were Homesick.
A letter from Hutisford, Wis., says:
Ibout the first week iu October last
ibout a dozen families and a few single
poung men left ttm town and neighborhood,
expecting to mako their futnre
lome in Oregon. We were, therefore, a
jood deal surprised about ten days ago
;o 6oe most of them back again. Some
)f them, on being questioned, declared
;hat the country was a miserable region,
irhere a man would find it difficult to
ive and anything but pleasant to die.
3arefnl inquiry, however, disclosed the
;rue state of the case. They had gone
;oo late in the fall. It rained almost
jonBtantly after they loft Wisconsin, and
incessantly during their stay iu Oregon.
3evcral of the children foil sick on the
way; nearly the whole party were utterly
homesick before they landed at Portland.
Freaks of the Registry.
1 /rs.n \ i,??,
Alio UOIlimuUB \\Jtt. J -iv/i iy ocw o/ UUD
the following: We have a file of the city
registration since 1863. It is queer how
3ome people grow. In 1863 a leading
manufacturer gave his age as forty-four,
in 1876 he is only forty-six years old.
Fie grows slowly. A shoe merchant in
1863 was thirty-seven, but in 187C he
claims to be only forty-seven. Bnt it is
the old bachelors and widowers who
grow old sl< wly. One widower, a merchant,
in 18C3, was fifty-four. In thirteen
years he has only reached sixtyfour.
One old bachelor registered himself
in 1863 as thirty-two, but we find in
1876 he has only reached forty-one. Another
of tho same species was thirty-six
in 1863, but has allowed the hair to
grow so as to cover the bald spot and he
now registers forty-five.
His Thinking. ? When a witness
was testifying tho other day he replied
to a question: "I think not, sir." "I
don't want to know what you think,"
thundered the lawyer. "Well," said
the witness, " I'm thinking under oath,
and that's as near as I can tell you."
That was something new, and tbe smile
went round, and then somebody suggested
thut possibly it might be a good
thing for lawyers, stump speakers and
some editors to do their thinking under
oath.
ONE OF DICKENS' CONTICTS.
Spending a Llletlmt In Hoiltnrj Confinemeat?Decorating
a Cell Under Dlfficnltlet?
\ SIniular Character.
Over thirty years ago, says a Philadelphia
letter, -when Charles Dickens
maBe the tour of this country that resulted
in his " American Notes," he devoted
muoh of his time to the inspection
of our prison system. Our principal
prison, then as now, was the Eastern
penitentiary, in which the system of
solitary conQnoment prevailed. Mr.
Dickens in a few graphic sentences
piotured the miserable condition of the
unhappy convictB to whom the sound of
a human voioe is almost unknown for
year after year.
That Mr. Dickens' notion of the system
was a fair one, the experience of
many years and the testimony of some
of the best minds of the age
[have shown; but many men are
BCiii living?some 01 mom now wxtmu
tho walla of the prison itaelf?-wlio are
ready to testify that the institution was
as light and airy thirty years ago as it is
now, and a recent personal visit convince
me that it is as pleasant and
wholesome a place as is compatible with
massive stone walls nnd unyielding bars
of iron. Possibly Mr. Diokens' imagi
nation, as is apt to be the case with men
of snch high strung sensibilities, was
wrought upon by his surroundings. At
all events, those who read his vivid description
will shudder more at the
picture so powerfully brought before
them, than they would be apt to at the
original. .
The building covers a square, and
branches off from a circular hall in the
center into seven long corridors, all
well lighted and excellently ventilated.
Everything is as clean as soap and water
can mako it; and within the cells,
which are ranged along tho corridors in
two tiers, there is neatness and cleanliness
which wonld shame many model
housewives.
In Dickens' time there was a prisoner
of forty yoars or thereabouts, whose dejected
appearance especially attracted
tho attention of tho novelist. He was
in the corridor fronting the entrance,
and had devoted all the time allowed
him from his work to painting and ornamenting
his cell and cultivating his
little garden?a patch of ground about
eiirht feet lone and fivo or six feet wide.
- Q - o
Diokena describes the cell and the garden
briefly, bat devotes a long paragraph
to the downcast expression and
demeanor of the prisoner.
It wa3 the arrest of this man?Charles
Langhoimer by name?that suggested
this letter. Langheimer was discharged
from the penitentiary in September last,
and latoly was bronght up before a
magistrate charged with stealing an
overcoat. He is seventy-four years old,
with bushy gray whiskers and grizzled
hair, and has all the appoarance of a
well-to-do mechanic. As far as I can
ascertain, ha is not a hard drinker, but
the police and the prison authorities
say that his long life has been one constant
series of larcenies. In prison he
loves to work, and shows great tasto and
ingenuity; bu-t, once at large, his itching
of the fingers returns, and he is soon
in trouble again. When Dickens saw
him, ho was serving his third term for
grand larceny. Since then he has
"jdone " three terms of five years each,
aud five otners or a year or two eacn, i
returning to the prison with the regularity
of the seasons.
The eoli he ooonpied in 1842 is one of j
the side shows of the prison, but the
garden in not as well kopt as it was then.
The walls snd ceiling of the cell are
elaborately painted in red, bluo, and
green. Every time be comes back he
tries to get his old cell; but failing in
this, he goes to a now one, and contentedly
begins tho work of embellishment.
When I saw him, just before his reloase,
he had wpont nearly a year in a cell in
the southern tier, and had painted and
arranged it so thoroughly that it looked
almost inviting. The paint he obtained
by soaking colored yarns in which he
worked in water, and extracting the dye.
Such trifles as he could obtain from the
chaplain or the warden ho utilized with
wonderful ingenuity. His garden bed,
like that described by Dickons, was
coffin shaped, but his flowers were
the brightest and most blooming in the
prison. Ho sat at his wheel as fcho warden
ushered me into the cell, looking up
with a pleaded expression at the sound
of our voices, but never stopping his
work for a second. An expression of
surprise at his wonderful ingenuity drew
forth a faint, flickering smile which was
painful to see, but after tho first glance
he did not look up again, although I
could sen that he heard every word wo
said, and watohed our motions sharply
out of one corner of his eye.
Ho will take up his old quarters for
a year or two more, and I am glad to
say that his comfortable cell has been
reserved for him. Ho is a standing ar- j
gument for the authorities of the prison !
in favor of tho silent system. "Why,"
they say, "if this man wanted to, lie
could get out of this Stato and into New
York as 6oon as ho is released, for our
prisoners seldom go away empty handed,
and there he could servo his time in
Sing Sing or on Blackwell's island and
herd with his fellows. This system may
?i- r i.i :ti?11
not wurh. iuo bumu wim tm uiuu, uuu iud
stories of iusanity arising from solitary
confinement are all bosh. Invariably
we find that onr insane prisoners were
mentally unsound when they came to
us.
?
The Esquimaux Dog.
i
An Esquimaux dog aeems to bo an
expensive luxury. On the return of the
Pandora from tho Franklin search expedition,
Captain AUen Young brought
back with him a fine specimen of the
Esquimaux dog, on whioh ho set groat
value. The animal one day got loose,
and for a long time was at large in the
neighborhood of Southampton. The
Hampshire farmers, taking it for a wolf,
turned out en masse with guns and
sticks, and killed tho poor brute. A
long bill for depredations committed by
tho animal was also handed to Captain
Young, who bad to recompense the Buffering
agriculturists. On the recent return
of the Pandora from the Arotic region?,
Liout. Arbuthnot brought home
a fino Esquimaux dog, the " king of the
pack." On November 20 the animal
got away, and caused much alarm, being
mistaken, as in the case of Captain
TT Cn* n rrrnlf Tf CI VlBlfr
AUllug a uug, iu! ? nvu. I
to a farm at Broomhurst, gobbling up I
four ducks and killing a fifth, but was
soon after recaptured.
The Lion Sermon.
Over two hundrod years ago there
lived in London Sir John Gayer, merchant
and lord mayor in the timg of
Ohnrlts I., and distinguished for his
loyalty to that unfortunate monarch.
During his traveling in Africa he was
wonderfully delivered?in answer to his
earnest prayer?from a lion, ana on ms
return Lome commemorated his escape
by endowing an annual sermon in his
parish church, accompanied by a contribution
of gifts to the poor. This sermon,
from that day to this, has been
called " The Lion Sermon." For more
than two hundred years this sermon has
Lieen preached regularly, and descendants
of the Gayer family are frequently
to be seen among the oongregation on
these occasions.
HARD TIMES.
THE CAUSE AND CURE.
Charlie.?Well, little wife, got on yonr
thinking cap, eh, instead of welcoming
yonr tired and discouraged husband
home after a hard day's work doing
nothing in the store ?
Maggie.?Yes, Charley, your complaints
about hard times have been running
in my head ever since dinner, and
lhave gone into a calculation.
Charlie.?A calculation 1 well, my
eweet, mathematical financier, can you
'how me how we are going to live this
year, with trade fallen off fifty per
cent., and twenty per cent, of the bills
that we do make gone to the dogs ?
Maggie.?Perhaps I can, by-and-bye,
bnt I have jnst finished a general estimate
of what might be done to cure the
hard times.
Charlie.?Better vet! Come, lassie.
out with the figures, and I will have
them posted on the bulletins, and quoted
on 'Change before nine o'clock tomorrow
morning.
Maggie.?Don't be sargastio, Charlie; 1
there may be more sense in this "goosie
head," as you sometimes call it, than
you think.
Charlie.?All right, Proceed to business.
Maggie.?Well, first, I must "preliminate,"
as Parson B. says, that hard
times come from waste.
Charley.?Our Bridget's waste, for
example 1
Maggie.?Be quiet, please, and do
not interrupt the speaker. ,
Charlie.?Beg pardon. I am all attention.
Maggie.?In the United States, in
1870, 81,500,000,000 worth of iirtoxieating
drinks and $610,000,000 worth of
tobacco were consumed ; the expenditures
for licentiousness were as much
more, giving a total of $4,220,000,000
luasted in the gratification of three appetites.
Suppose this sum was saved. It
would give to each of the 8,000,000
farmliaa in nnr lftTld ft frflfi Tflntal of 8200:
four barrels of flour at $7?828 ; one barrel
of pork, $22 ; one barrel of beef,
$13 ; six barrels of potatoes at $2?812 ;
three barrels of apples at $4?$12; 100 j
pounds of sugar at thirteen cts., $13;
forty pounds of butter at thirty-five cts., (
$11; one suit of clothes for the father,
$60 ; one suit of clothes for the mother, ,
$45 ; three suits of clothes for the children
at $25?$75 ; annual premium on a ,
lifo insurance policy of $1,500, $47. j
Total, $526 for each family, still leaving ,
$8,500,000 surplus unerpended,
CJharlifr?Maggie, yon astound me! ,
You have surely made some great mis- (
take! I
Maggie?Well, ran over the figures j
for yourself. You are no*:more enr- ,
prised than I was, but I can find no ,
error in the calculation. The amount of ,
liquor and tobacco consumed is as j
officially reported in the United States ;
census. The estimate of the amount j
wasted in licentiousness is my own, but ,
certainly far within the truth. Now, if j
wo could havo our proportion of those ,
artioles given to us this year, I think |
that wo might live comfortably, even ,
with the diminished trade. Certainly if (
all this amount wore saved but for a {
single year, the hard times would vanish. ]
Charlie.?You're a jewel, wifey 1 But
if hard times are to remain until men ,
cease their indulgences, I fear that pros- ,
perity is very far off. As for myeelf, I ,
can give up my wino without much self- j
denial, but my cigars have become a ,
necessity I ,
Maggie.?Oh, Charlie, don't say that, j
It makes me shudder; not that smoking
is so very distasteful to me, but your |
plea of necessity looks so like a surren-1
der of manliness to the power of an evil |
? ? II
iiaDit. j
Charlio.?Well, to my sorrow, I moat <
confess that whenover I have attempted t
to break off thd habit has floored me, i
and I have como out second best every ]
time. ]
Maggie.?Perhaps you did not try in I
the right way. ]
OLarlie.?I just tossed my cigar into i
the street, and said I wouldn't use an- ]
other, and didn't until I lost my appe- {
fcite, trembled all over like a leaf, lost <
my power of recollection, and really 1
thought I would go crazy, or break 1
down in a general collapse, then I took ]
the weed and was soon all 'right again. <
Maggie.?Did you crave it all that i
time ? I
Charlie.?"Crave it I" I was stark I
mad for it; dying for want of it. i
Maggie.?Have you never heard of a <
method of cure, perfectly painless, in- i
stantaneous, and so complete that the <
oraving never is felt. 1
Charlie,?Bosh! there isn't a medi- I
cine on earth that will do all that. i
Maggie?But suppose that a number <
of credible witnesses testify that they
have been personally cured in that way ?
Charlie.?If they are really credible
witnesses, and testify to acts in their
own experience, I suppose they must
be believed, but I should want to crossexamine
thom pretty closely first.
'Maggie.?They will not object, and,
if agreeable to you, we win invito VUO | i
of them, Mr. B, to tea to-morrow, when
you can quiz him all you like.
Charlie.?All right; but now let ua *
have some tea to-night, after which I ,
will enjoy my Havana (if those terrible
statistics will keep out of my head), in
anticipation of the marvelous reveal- J
ments of to-morrow. I
***** * **
e
(Charlie, Maggie and Mr. B. seated at ^
the table.) a
Maggie.?Have your cup filled, Mr.
B.?
Mr. B.?No, thank you. Sinco I was j
cured of my tobacco habit, I feel less in
need of stimnlants than formerly, hence *
rarely take more than a single cup of *
tea. *
Charlie.?That wouldn't serve me at ^
all. My thirst calls for a greater quan- 6
tity than that. t
Mr. B.?Perhaps not bo much thirst *
as the crv of suffering nerves for stimu- ?
lants under the depressing influence of *
the narcotic in your cigars. t
Charlie.?Well, whatever it be, an- ^
other oup, Maggie, please; and now, f
Mr. B., will you have the kindness to t
tell us about that wonderful enre ? c
Mr. B,?With pleasure. The story is *
very short. I had been a slave to tobac- !
co in various forms for many years. J
Had striven in vain to break off the j
habit, taken various substitutes, but
judging of my condition by the impera- j t
Hi.a?ooo nt t.hn frfivinc. I was more en- 11
VlTUil^Oa VA M . .? OJ _ ...
thralled than ever. That thought j I
alarmed me; then, too, I resented the |'
implied impeachment of my manhood, I 0
and nt last resolved that, cost what it *
might, I would sometime give up its 1
uso. But the terriflo strain of former 3
efforts deterred mo from beginning at 1
once. While in this stato, I casually f
mentioned my purpose and dread to an t
old friend who had been converted not 1
long before, and had abandoned all his *
bad habits together, when he surprised t
me beyond measure by exclaiming: 1
" Why,"B., it's all useless to have any J
fuss about the thing. Just go to the
Lord Jesus on your knees and ask Him,
not merely to help ydn to abstain, but i
also to keep you from "craving for it, 1
and He'll do it I I know He will, for I i
it ar\A Viaw? nflvflr had a desire for 1
it since. Just the same with the desire (
for strong drink. He swept the board \
for mo, and I've been a free man ever 1
since. Gloiy to His blessed name I" i
The earnestness and sincerity of my i
friend affected me, and I at once caught
the inspiration of the hope. I laid' my
tobacco qnietly on the shelf in plain
sight, sought a place of retirement, and
there on my knees asked God to take
away the appetite, and believed that he
would do it immediately. I felt no
ohange beyond a consciousness of trust
in Him to keep me, and returned to my
seat; the sight of my tobacco kindled no
desire, and I have had none sinoe. The
victory was perfectly easy, and grandly
complete.
Charley.?Well, I've left the piety of
the household pretty much to this good
wife of mine, but if that's what the Lord
does for those who trust Him, I'll take
some stock in that concern before it
rises on the market.
Mr. B.?It is "without money and
without price," salvation "unto the
uttermost;" and '' now is the accepted
time."
Was not Charlie's deoision, though
quaintly expressed, wisely made ?
_ i
End of a Family of Brigands.
One of the blackest of all crimes is
known as the Bender tragedy of Kansas.
The Bender family was resident in
Montgomery county, Kansas; tne
family consisted of "Old Man-' Bender,
his wife, his daughter Kate and his
son, a young man who is fo some considerable
extent acquitted in the public
mind of much that is charged without
distinction to his father, mother and
sister. The crime oi the crowd consisted
of murdering from mercenary
motives, and burying upon their wayside
promises not fewor than nine persons,
all of them travelers, and some of
them citizens of at least local prominence.
Though a number of sudden disappearances
had occurred in Montgomery
county, suspicion had not settled
on the Benders until after Dr.
York, brother of A. M. York, the exposer
of ex-Senator Pomeroy, had suddenly
"come up missing, and when
suspicion had finally fallen upon the
family every Inember of the same simultaneously
disappeared. Since their
disappearance no trace of them has ever
been found, notwithstanding the most
diligent search and the most intricate
plans and plottings of detective bureaus
Hia /wniifrtr nrflr. AH nf Ihis. nniil
within a few days, has been accepted as
the essential substance of what could be
discovered or explained relative to the
precednre.
Very lately, however, an unexpected
solution of the matter has been offered,
tliongh as yet it must not be accepted
is conclusive. Facts have come to light
which point very strongly to the sup
position that a vigilanoe committee went
do the Bendera' house, placed them in
their own wagon, drawn by their own
horses, and conveyed them to a secluded
spot not far off, on the edge of a largo
pond, and there extorted a full confession
from them of all their crimes, down
to the smallest details. After this the
Benders were never heard of, and it is
nore than probable that their bodies
i?ere carefully concealed, it will be remembered
that a few days after thi?-a
ivagon was discovered near this point,
)0 which a pair of horses were tied,
ffhich was known to bo Bender's property.
This was soon followed by the
innouncement that the home of the
Benders had been deserted.
It is said that Gov. Osborn was seretly
apprised of all these facts, which
will aocount for the fact that, on the
port of the Kansas authorities, no 3ys;ematio
effort has ever been made to apprehend
the Benders, and stories of their
ianture elsewhere have only excited an
ncrcdnlous smile at the State capitaL
Effects of Frost.
The workmen employed iq a Milwaulee
shipyard, on visiting the dry-dock
)ne morning to commence the work of
;he day, were surprised to find that the
itarboard wheel of the steamer Amazon
aad been slipped off the shaft. How so
ponderous a piece of iron oould have
seen removed was a puzzle that sorely
perplexed the men. On looking down
into the dock they diecovered the wheol
[ying there broken in two. An investigation
of the cause of the unusual ocjurreneo
dispelled the mystery and demonstrated
the power of frost. The
aab of the wheel, about fifteen inches
long, was slightly hollowed out at the
jenter to admit of its being slipped on
ivithont diffionlty over an uneven poriion
of the shaft end. This recess web
full of water when the boat was placed
h the dock and the keying had been to
jloso that the liquid?about a pailfnl?
pas exposed to the frost. As the water
longealed under the sharp wintry atnosphere
of the night it expanded and
jurst asunder the five-inch walls of the
ron, and the broken wheel fell with a 1
jrash.
i Ualliint AM Oantlnmnn.
JX UlUJIHUV V*w VIVMtAVWM*.
As an elderly couple were out walking,
t lady on tlie opposite side of the
itreet tripped and fell down. Tho old
gentleman rushed across the street,
aised his liat, and offered to assist her
n any potsiKj way. His wife followed
lim across at a slow pace, and witnessng
his devotion .to the stranger, she got
nadand sbook her fist at him. "It's
ill right?it's all right," he whispered.
'Yes," she hotly exclaimed. "Here
in unknown woman stnbs her toe, and
rou plow across the street to eat her up :
rith kindness. The other day, when I
ell down stairs, you stood and laughed
tnd chuckled and tickled your ribs, and
vanted to know if I was practicing for
i circus!"
That Centennial Ferer.
A Brooklyn (N. T.) physician who
las attended many cases of the characeristic
fever that resulted from visiting
he Centennial, says that he is conrinoed
that tne cause was not the bad
lanitary condition of Philadelphia, or of '
he Exhibition grounds, but the pnsmce
of fomites in certain articles on 1
ixhibition, which had been brought
iom some of the worse plague spots of
he earth?of Egypt. Africa, India, 1
^sia and South America. The doctor
urther adds that as a result of the Cenennial
wo shall bo inflicted with numirous
types or grades of fever hitherto 1
mlrnnwn to US.
The Lead.
Tho steamer Fanny was coming down
he tipper Mississippi loaded with pig
ead. Ag she was going over a shoal
>lace tho pilot gave the signal to heave
he lead. The only man forward was
i green Irishman. "Why don't you
leave the lead ?" "Ifl it the lead, yer
lonor? Where to?" "Overboard,
rou blookhead." The Irishman snatched
ip one of the pigs of lead and threw it
>verboard. Tho mate, in endeavoring
0 prevent him, lost his balance and fell
nto the river. " Why don't yon heave
be lead, and sing out how much water
here is?" "Tho lead is heaved, yer
lonor, and the moto's gone down to see
low much wator there is."
Though a Mohammedan who marries
1 French girl is not required to renounce
118 ruilgiuu, U?J CHUUUt CUllliaub a. vtuiu
narriago with another woman daring
ler lifetime. These unions usually turn
int well and are extremely prolifio, and
;he Arab husband submits passively to
ihe dominion of bis French consort,
is though he taoitlyacknowledged himself
af an inferior raoe.
li are i
Dare to be honest, good, and sincsre,
Dare to please Gofl, and yon never need fear.
Dare to be brave in the cans? of the right,
Dare with the enemy ever to fight
Dare to be loving and patient each day,
Dare speak the truth whatever you say.
Dare to be gentle and orderly, too,
Dare ehnn the evil whatever you do.
Dare to speak kindly, and ever be true,
Dare to do right, and you'll hod your way
through.
Items of Interest. >
Professor Swing says that a hat won
on a bet "comes down over the eyes of
the winner's soul."
A diffident man is in a tight place
Via Anaa nnt. Irnntr TtfVlftf, fcn flflv and
is afraid to say it.
Shakespeare in horticulture?" Thai
which we cauliflower by any other name
would smell aa sweet."
A Paris fashion writer ssys that ladies
have bonnets of seventy-five different
shapes to chooee from this fall.
On December 81,1875, Italy had a
population of 27,472,184 souls, against
a population of 26,601,154 on December
31,1871.
The wine crop of Franoe this year is
unusually large, being a third larger
than the vines promised at tho outsot of
the season. .
There are estimated to be over 1,000
Young Men's Christian Associations in
North America. The average number
of members is 170.
A Russian regiment, experimenting,
swam, with one band on their horses'
manes, across a river 250 feet broad in a
quarter of an hour.
The annual death rate in London now
averages eighteen par 1,000; in Edinburgh*
twelve; in Glasgow, twentyone
; in Dublin, nineteen.
Dr. Carpenter believes in confining an
habitual drunkard long enough to have
new food, without alcohol, produce new,
healthy tissues of the body.
Russia has 170,000 wolves within its
boundaries, and they destroyed last
year not only an enormous quantity of
cattle and poultry, but also two hundred
people.
imtrnn if
JTeiOUi-lO WUU uato uwtv* mmu *?
know how refreshing and invigorating it
is to lie abed cool, bracing mornings
and let their wives go down and build
the fire.
An Austin (Nev.) wife says she knows of
five husbands in that town who have
been made drankards by the excitement
of the late political campaign, her own
husband being one of the number.
For writing something bad on the
book of a postal card in Philadelphia a
young man had to scrape together 8100
or go to jail, notwithstanding he told
the judge that he was sorry for whai he
had done.
Williams College has graduated thirty
members of Oongrees, five United
States senators, eight governors, sixteen
indcreo of the supreme court, tliir
ty-two presidents of "colleges, aud 891
clergymen.
European paper makers are importing
the inner bark of the groat baobab tree,
from the fiber of which good paper is
made. The bark may be take a from the
tree once iu eight years witbont injary
to the tree.
A physician wrote r prescription, aud,
as the patient went out of the room, said
to him: " I wish you would lot me
know if that does you any good, for I
have myself been very much troubled
with rheumatism lately."
Dr. Oasin having heard the famous
Thomas Fuller repeat some verses on a
scolding wife, was so delighted with
them as to request a copy. "There is
no necessity for that," said Fuller, "as
you have got the original."
"See hare, Gripps; I understand you
have a superior way of curing hams. I
should like to learn it." " Well, yes; I
know very well how to cure them; but
the trouble with me, just now, is to find
out a way to pro-euro them."
When you see a young man and
woman leaning over the garden gate in
the twilight and hear a sound like the
" squash " of a potato bug beneath a
farmer's heelfcyou instinctively feel that
there has bg^Ji a climax of two eouis.
Tell us, angelic host, ye messengers
of love, shall swindled printers here below
have no redress above ? The shining
angel's band replied : "To us is
knowledge giveg^j delinquents on the
printers' books oaaftaever enter heaven."
Jeremy Bentham once said: "I
should wish that the years which I have
yet to live could be passed each at the
end of one of the centuries following
my death; I should then be a witness of
- - - 1? ?111 ?
the influence wrncn my worss wm exercise
on posterity."
When a blear eyed, bald headed
weather prophet is asked whether it is
going to bo a hard winter, he shuts
one eye, looks at the sun with the other,
digs up a clump of grass, examines the
roots, and says: "I don't know." He
is generally correct.
Mrs. Scott, a ncv.se, or Selkirk, Scotland,
has just been tried for culpable
homicide, inasmuch as she gave a baby
twenty-four hours old three drops of
laudanum, causing death. She got off
with six months' imprisonment because
"her Intentions were good."
Two gallons of whisky were consumed
by a man in Arkansas before he
fully recovered from the bite of a
larrantula. It was then discovered that
he had been stung by a wasp. The men
who contributed the whisky were too 1
mad to speak above a whisper.
Chinamen with white wives are common
in New York, but in San Francisco,
OWlDg IU VlUlCiiU uau^u v/*
the lirst marriage of that kind greatly
excited the public. The husband is the
wealthy ageut of a Chinese company,
and the wife is a teacher in a city mission.
Gay Fawkes day was celebrated
throughout England with unabated
vigor this year. To forestall dangerou3
outbreaks in towns where military garrisons
were quartered, the soldiers were
confined to barracks during the afternoon
and evening, and the police force
was augmented.
There will be live cclipxesin 1877, viz.:
A total eclipse of the moon on February
27, visible in the United States ; a partial
eclipse of the sun on March 14, visible
in Western Asia ; a partial eclipse
of the suu on August 8, visible in Alaska,
Kamschatka and the North Pacific
ocean; a total eclipse sf the moon on
August 23, partly visible in the Eastern
and Southern States, and a partial eclipse
of the sun on September 7, visible in
South America.
The Air We Breathe.
You tvho live and move in crowded
rooms without ventilation, remember
that man's own breath is his greatest
enemy; that air once breathed is unfit
for respiration because, as Professor
Wilder says: "1. It Las Jost about onefifth
of its oxygen. 2. It has gained
about an equal amount of carbonio acid.
8. It contains more or lejs effluvium, an
organic matter capable of decomposition.
The organic matter in considerable
amount is offensive. By decomposition
it beoomes a poison." *