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lewis m. grist, proprietor. | !|n Inkpcnbcnt Jamilo ftctospjjer: Jfor t|e ^promotion of t|e ^political, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of % Sontjj. |terms?$3.00 a year, in advance. VOL. 20. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, 1STOVEMBEB 19, 1874. lESTO. 47. (The jitorg Idler. From the New York Mercury. THE CLOWN'S GREAT TRICK. BY THOMAS PICTON. Everybody out west has heard, at some time or other, of Sam B , then known on ac count of his peculiar propensities and his ex^ perience as a circus manager, in the exhibition of which equestrian establishment he likewise participated as a clown. In this city Sana was recognized as a bookseller and orotner tc the founder of a firm which became a celebrated publishing house during the halcyon hours of cheap literature. Being of a roving, restless and intractable disposition, he found him self in this metropolis a fish out of his element, and hence, with a full confidence in his individual and busiuess capacities, he determined upon carving out a fortune in the Greal West. With a keen knowledge of human nature, he conjoined an equally profound one ' of the mysteries of all games, wherein cards play a productive feature. Forming a copartnership with a well-known publisher in this city, Sam went to Cincinnati to dispense a goodly assortment of popular literature, cheap* indilTerent, high priced, low priced, and of volumes dear at any price. ..?. The busiuess proved, according to Sam's ac. count, a most promising one ; the books went off like hot cakes, of which Sam, like Oliver Twist, cried for more, but inasmuch as the resident partner failed to perceive the first symptom of a remittance toward this direction, the solicitations of the foreign branch of the copartner-snip simply induced the city member to present himself, in person, in the land of promise in lieu of the invoice of inanimate wares. The New York representative of the lucrative firm, anxious to witness the realization of a fortune with his own eyes, thereupon closed day-book and ledger, and wended his way toward the Queen City of the West, irreverently designated, by envious detractors, as Porkopolis, or sarcophagus for the porcine race. Arriving at this point, the bookseller set about looking after both his partner and his store, but being at the same time a temperauce man and a stranger, he was at sore perplexity to discover the proper locality of the ? one or the other. At length, stimulated through possession of a bill-head, he defined the topographical position of the establishment in which he flattered himself to possess half interest. With the assistance of a pocket map and a small boy, as guide and compass, the stranger finally reached within the neighborhood of his accredited property. The New York partner looked around him with inquisitive eyes; he scanned the signboards denoting the street name ; he computed the numbers given above the shop doors; ultimately, after a series of peregrinations and calculation, he arrived at the conclusion that he had reached his destination, particularly when he observed that he was standing in front of what bore semblance to a bookstore. To make assurance still more sure, he cast a hurried glance over the contents of the show window, and behind the plate glass had the satisfaction of perceiving a goodly collection of books, some bearing his own imprint, and others familiar to his eye as a purchaser at the trade sales. Then the New Yorker, remembering that among the many articles charged against the firm, was a handsome '? * - .-I- __J A._ J * item tor a resplendent signooaru, tunieu in quest of that directive article. To his astonishment, even that valuable commodity for advertising purposes was wanting, while to add to his perplexity, he noticed, gazing listlessly from behiud the counter, in solemn vacancy upon the task of doing nothing, a countenance tiie features in nowise resembling those of his rotund and jocular copartner in trade. "I suppose Sam's just stepped out ?" casually remarked the gentleman from New York, as he entered the store. "Sam ? Who's Sam ?" replied the man behind the counter, in a slow, drawling tone, evidently awakened from a profound reverie, as he looked upon the intruder with stupid curiosity. "Why, Sara B , as a matter of course," rejoined the New Yorker. "Sam B ! Oh! yes, I've heard somebody say something about the man," and the man relapsed into semi-somnambulance. "Why, don't he own this place?" said the New Yorker, pettishly. 4lT " mnllfirl flift mol. A W13II iu ucavgiio ucuut, ?v|/i?v\? wuv mv? anchobc individual, with a sigh, clearly indicating that the burden of ownership rested upon his shoulders ; "I wish I had ray pork for it." "Pork?" ejaculated the New York partner, amazed at the curious nature of conducting the book business in that section of the west.'! "Yes, pork," quoth the bookseller, mournfully, "prime at that, the best in the market, I'd trade back aud give boot." "Then you traded for this store did you?" again inquired our city friend, faintly endeavoring to remember whether the books of the concern contained any reference to pork, whether packed, in lard or in oil. "Yes, I did," and the new proprietor groaned audibly. "Did you buy of Sam ?" suggested the gentleman from New York. "Sam be hanged !" muttered the ex-porkseller, with a sonorous and significant emphasis, as he turned his back, with the evident intention of communicating no further information. "Where can I find Sam ?" ouoth the stran J ger, complacently. "In ," aud here the melancholy individual most irreverently named a locality, mention of which before ears polite, is habitually reserved for the exclusive use of sensational preachers. "Thank you. I'll go and find him," interposed our citizen, meekly. "You'll find him sooner or later," chimed the Cincinnatian, with a dryness of expression of which a casual observer would conceive him to be incapable; "you're on the right road, and if you come from New York it may be a change for the better." The emigrant from Manhattan, appreciating the impossibility of extracting further light from the Forkopolitau luminary, beyond the self evident fact thfjt the basis of his share in a prospective fortune had been myeteiiously converted into pork, which had doubtlessly changed hands and substance before his arrival, departed on his way to a promiuent hotel. Somewhat unnerved by his change in circumstances, our friend ventured to enquire of a clerk whether he was aware of the whereabouts of Sam B , who once kept a book store in the city. "Sam B !" exclaimed the clerk, with an appearance of astonishment, "who don't know Sam? Why, he's the gayest fellow out. I reckon I know him ; why, he's been here ever since he came to town." The New Yorker at once comprehended the mystery of the transfer of his capital in trade and the depleted appearance of the shelyes, which he had noticed as the cause of his unconscious melancholy in success or in business. It was evident that Sam had been at his old tricks in living beyond his means upon their stock. But our city friend, being used to the ways of the world, mastered his emotions, and tranquilly inquired if Sam was visible. " Let me see," meditated the clerk ; "but I guess he's busy with a parson from York? they've been praying since diuner time." While the ring of the clerk's laughter still hung upon his ear, the man from Manhattan I clambered up the mahogany stairway, prece- : t ded by a sable waiter in a white neckcloth, j c who halted respectfully before the door of the c apartment, presumptively occupied by the re-! c , doubtable Sara and his ministerial friend. i j Upon entering the chamber, wherein he an-! c ticipated the unexampled spectacle of Sam j engaged in religious devotions, the New York- s ! er was not astonished to find his partner im- f ! mersed up to the very eyes in the mysteries j ' of a game of brag, while to his amazement \ he perceived in the so-called divine a maker j \ 1 of playing cards, with whom he had oftentimes ! traded. The latter was no less astonished at f 1 j this unexpected arrival, but contrived, by a i ' j significant motion of his head, to convey his c '; desire for the maintenance of an incognito, ( 5 while Sam, with unblushing effrontery, thun- t ' j dered out in a tone of sincere indifference: c " I "If you want to talk to me, stranger, you'll; ' j wait till we finish our little game." '; Cut by both acquaintances, each of whom * ' I evideutlv were acquainted with the other's ; 3 ' | professional occupations, the New Yorker |. made a virtue of necessity and beguiled the ^ monotony of his compulsory muteness by c watching the process of the game, in which, as j r he was aware, the card manufacturer would j 1 ! j certainly ring in upon his adversary marked i ' ,: ones, and he was timorous lest Sam's admitted | r r i skill at play would prove of no avail. But I j as the game progressed, he was astonished to j ! find that Sam, notwithstanding his antago- j ? j nist's advantage, was progressing a heavy | j winuer. Vainly, as the stakes augmented, did F ' the pretended divine change deck after deck 11 of cards ; exhibiting the more novel and in- r ' j geniously arranged patterns of the advantage c [ commodities, but at every deal he was scientif- F ! ically outplayed by his implacable and com- i ' j placent adversary, accepting each change in j I material unhesitatingly and with seeming in- j t j difference. i * ! "I never saw such cards before," quoth the j 1 putative parson, as he proposed to substitute j F another pack, upon which he intended to i " ' stake the hazard of his skill. "No, not in j my life, that's so." ; r ; "Well I have," murmured Sara, in a low ! tone, proceeding on with the game as if uoth- v i ing could discommode him. And then taking ( advantage of his competitor's excitement, he I 1 played steadily and coolly, keeping his hand I1 ! comparatively out of sight. I J I * " ~~ .1 "Well, this lays over all cock-fighting!" said the pretended minister, as he observed his | final venture taken down. "I won't play i P ; another hand against such infernal luck." "It ain't luck, old fellow," coolly observed Sam, as he disposed of his winnings, "it's pure J! skill, my boy; for you see you make them 'are I articles," and the speaker pointed maliciously r j to the marked backs of the cards, "and I, you v j see, play them !" Then, turning to his part- 1 ner, he added in an enthusiastic manuer, ' "Glad to see you, old hoss; you're just the ^ i man I'm looking for." < j In humiliation of spirit, the card raanufac- j turer, poorer in purse than in his own confij dence, beat a precipitate retreat, leaving the e two partners to discuss the affairs of the firm. "You see," quoth Sara, after having enumerated the many obstacles imposed in the ^ way of a successful prosecution of the book s, business, "the people out here don't appreciate literary merit, not by a long shot; they don't buy books, for it ain't in their line, so I , thought we might as well give them something . they would like. So, my boy, I just swapped !5 off the store, which was dead stock, for some- . thing that'll make our eternal fortune." 9 "What did you trade for? Pork, of course," inquired the York member, that ar- a j tide being the main vehicle of exchange, j "No, siree!" returned Sam ; "better even * ! than prime pork." 1 | "What in the name of thunder was it, a i then ?" demanded his copartner, j "A circus, old fellow," responded Sam, with j 0 ! a knowing chuckle. "It'll pay most magnifi-1 f'1 . i cent, especially when I'm in the ring." " "Count me out of that ring," was the sole 11 j response of his disgusted friend, who despite ? | of Sara's eloquent description of the beauties , | of a wandering existence, and the tempting e i offer of a heavy salary as perpetual treasurer, 1 the man from New York disposed of his in- ? terest in the transformed speculation, sight unseen. The next day the morning journals announced the dissolution of the publishing * firm of B & Co., and the advent of the j great mammoth and monstrous circus of Sam ? ' B , sole proprietor, manager, Shaksperiau j! and every other clown. r i Notwithstanding the somewhat singular manner in which our eccentric hero'came to ^ j enter the sawdust profession, he prosecuted ^ I j the business with success and popularity, j ; j until, unfortunately, the happening of a bad season not only threw a damper upon his ^ , hopes but reduced him to the very unpleasant j | necessity of borrowing a considerable sum of ' i money, and as ill success was by no means dis- jj . j sipated, this financial expedient was continued , uutil the mammoth show became absolutely ^ and literally enveloped in I 0 U's. Weeks 1! and mouths passed, the spare time of the .; Shaksperiau jester being employed in concil?| iatory addresses, until finally a deputy sheriff j appeared and took possession of the traveling | concern. . | "Look here, old fellow," quoth Sam to the t : agent of the law, as he perused the document ^ .j of attachment, "suppose you sell me out, ; what will I bring!" ? The deputy made an inventory of the property, and at once perceived that the sale of ? 1 movable articles would in no wise compensate . I - ? t _ .. X t* ll _ .1 1 ' I me complainant ior me ueiuunu. "Now," said Sam, "I want to do the square * i thing. You see a circus ain't much without T V ! show folks. Now, there's a trick horse, what is the use of him without me, and what is the ^ ! use of me without the horse. To pay we j i must go together. Besides, if I can't run the 1 machine, who can? If I burst, I can't pay, j1 aud the cattle's got to be fed, and they'll eat their heads off inside of a month." | The profundity of Sam's logic struck the agent of the law with considerable force ; so he hurried to the creditor, and informed him ; | that he was very much in the condition of the i j winner of the elephant. There was no use | I grumbling, however, so the money-lender, in j j perplexity, concluded to do the best which j lay in his power, which was very little of a i ] 1 satisfactory character. ! ^ "I say," quoth Sam, as the custodian of the j property made his dajly appearance to look ' ^ j after affairs, ''you seem to be a pretty handy , kind of a chup, and I've been thinking, suj)- i j pose you and I go in and run the machine. ! It won't do to hurst the shop up ; that won't pay neither of us. Let the thing go along, ^ ! and as I've been thinking over a great trick j J I which is sure to bring a house, I'm pretty sure jf to do a good business and you can go snacks." The deputy was delighted with the propo- ^ sal; there was something both fresh and ! agreeable in the idea of being connected with a a circus establishment, which fairly captiva- j , ted the senses of the deputy, who strenuously j, advocated the adoption of the scheme by his i1 principal, as the only means of getting his c [ money back. Ultimately the copartnership t , j was agreed upon, and for several weeks the , mammoth show traveled about in Ohio, to the ; ?rlonuf\r u'Iia frnm , great saMsiuciiwn wi mi. ...... time to time, remitted small sums, in part q | liquidation of the judgment by virtueof which ii s | he held a lien upon the property. h , | "How about that great trick ?" observed the o deputy as he perceived a visible decrease in a the night's receipts. ii "It ain't time for that yet," responded Sam 8 blandly ; "I keep that for a last resource, as , e 1 , it's bound to work well." i p Weeks passed, and Sam with his show retimed to Cincinnati, where, as a matter of1 ourse, the popularity of the managerial jester t Irew excellent houses. The deputy and the , ireditor were both delighted with the prosjectof a speedy settlement of the outstanding :laim. i "You're going to play that trick now?" uggested the deputy sheriff, anxious for his fees and compensation. "It won't do in Cincinnati," replied Sam, j vith a knowing leer; "we'er doing well enough 1 without it." Several davs after a delegation of notables j rora the opposite side of the river invited the j uimitable Sara to become the recipient of a :oraplimentary testimonial in the town ofi Covington, in the neighboring State of Ken- j ucky, under the auspices of the leading offi- j :ials. "Now's the tirae, old fellow," quoth Sara, ixultantly, as he placed the document in the j lands of the deputy. "I'll astonish them and rou too. I'll do that great trick." Visions of a handsome recompense floated lefore the eyes of the deputy, who was raoreiver anxious to view his execution of that nuch promised great trick, so long and myseriously withheld from the public. Hence le cheerfully consented to allow the establishnent to pass over the river and open for the ntertainment of the Kentuckians. "Don't forget the great trick, Sara," sug;ested the deputy. "You"ll see it before the night's over," redied the jester. The circus entertainment yielded a peculiary harvest; Sam excelled all his previous Irolleries, yet the sheriff, who watched the lerformance narrowly, failed to see the prorased trick. "Sam, you didn't do that great trick," said he sheriff', as he entered the box office, to get lis usual share of the receipts. "Vno T'uo rlrmo if- " nimth SfllTI hililfinilslV. * A f V VIUUV ?Vy VjuuWM J J >ocketiug the entire contents of the treasury, 'so get out of here." "I hold this property under an attachment," ejoined the sheriff, in virtuous indignation. "You and the attachment be hanged," whistled Sam maliciously; "it might do in )bio, but we're in Kentucky now, and I don't hink I'll cross the river for a time at least. ?ow what do you think of the great trick? t's a great joke when you come to know it." The sheriff saw the point of the joke when ie reflected that through his carelessness, the iroperty had passed beyond the jurisdiction j f the court issuing the process whereby he ; ad temporary control of an establishment | riiich had slipped from beneath bis legal ngers. Yet, like a philosophical genius, he eturned to his discomfitted employers all the riser for the practical lesson evolved through he clown's great trick. Sit! iMtflmrt SECRETS OF SUCCESS. [ow the "kings of business" at the north made their money. James Parton has beeu lecturing in New rorkon the "Kings of Business." We make ame extracts from the Tribune's report: the magnitude of riches. I can well believe the familiar story of ohn Jacob Astor's saying that "a man who > worth ?250,000 is just as well off as though e were rich." The mind easily becomes haituated to these new magnitudes. Thomas i 5rassey, the English railroad contractor, had tone time 80,000 men in his employ, whose rages cauie to about ?500,000 a week, and hey were at work in eight countries?Engand, France, Spain, Italy, Venezula, Canada nd Australia. He wrote a note one day oreriug 10,000 wheelbarrows and 3,000 wagns. In the course of forty years he construced, or helped to construct 150 railroads, and e did all this with less fuss and worry than mnv a man experiences in running a peauut tand. We have a greater than Thomas Jrassey in Cornelius Vanderbilt, who, at ighty, quietly made up his mind that the ime had come for us to have a four-track ailroad between New York and Buffalo. Some one said to him, "I don't know of any our-track roads." "I don't," said he, "but he Central must have twu more tracks, and hope to live to see them laid." Aud probbly he will. The care of an estate of 840,100,000 and the management of all his railoads only occupy two hours a day, and durng that short time he does not appear to be ery busy. By three o'clock he is usually on he road, erect, magnificent, driving a pair of ast horses, in an open buggy, unattended, ^nd now the question occurs: Who are these incrowned monarchs of the modern world? iVho are they? Where do they originate? Jy what means do they accumulate these ;reat resources ? In what respect do they lifler from the men who attempt a similar areer ana tall out ot the course disabled and ; lefeated ? Is it their virtue, or their want of 'irtue, that give the success? These are ineresting questions, because these men are the nasters of our modern world. They carry he purse, aud pay everybody, and it is appaently a law of nature that the hand which igns the check wields the power. As a rule, hese kings of business begin life near the botom of what is called the social scale. They ;enerally begin very poor. Crabb Robinson ecords that the late Lord Southampton ap-1 died to the bishop of Llandaff for advice how : o bring up his son that he would get forward n flip wnrlrl "T know nf but. nnp whv " rp " ;* . ?j ? : lied the bishop. "Give hira parts and povrty." "Well, then," said the father, who . as noted for his free living, "If God has iveu him parts, I will manage as to the povrty." Another English nobleman, Lord j )erby, mentioned a curious circumstance in mint the other day. At a gathering in Ausralia four people met, three of whom were hepherds on a sheep farm. One of these had aken a degree at Oxford, another at Camridge, and the third at a German. The fourth . as their employer, a squatter, rich in flocks , ml herds, but scarcely able to read and write, , juch less to keep his owu accounts. But I enturc to say the squatter knew sheep, knew mid, knew markets, knew wool. It is an un-1 uestionable fact that both in Australia and ; America these founders of huge business are, j s a rule, unlettered men, whose college was : rough, hard, long grapple with material j hings. It is also true that they usually take old, very early in life, of some plain work hat lies under their noses, and keep to that ntil it issues into something large and magiflcent. The wealthiest and the most poweru 1 house of business in Europe is that of the tothsehilds. The founder of the house, one u ml red years ago, was a boy in his father's noney changing office at Erankfbrt-on-the- j Iain. He discovered that some of the coins i.,i??w i [I W mutl li is lUbUCi uvai b ii ?u till ai initial vaiuu : s specimens, and he used to spend the first ay of the week?the Jew's idle day?in pick- j :)g out such coins from the mass for sale to ollectors. That whs the beginning of his ! aveer. ?}e took hold, you will observe, of he work that lay most obviously before him. j iiow some men have become iucii. j Isaac Rich, who left a million and threeuarters a year or two ago to found a college a Boston, began business thus: At eighteen e came from Cape Cod to Boston with three r four dollars in his possession, and looked bout for something to do, rising early, walk-1 ng far, observing closely, reflecting much, j ioon he had an idea : He bought three bush- i Is of oysters, hired a wheelbarrow, found a j lieec of board, bought six small plates, six I iron forks, a three-cent pepper-box, and one or two other things. He was at the oyster-boat, | buying his oysters at three in the morning, wheeled them three miles, set up his board near a market, and began business. He sold out his oystersas quick as he could open them, at a good profit. He repeated this experiment morning after morning, until he had saved 8130, with which he bought a horse and wagon, and had five cents left. " * * - t j i "HOW are you going 10 uouru your nurse i aaked a stable keeper, who witnessed the audacious transaction. "I am going to board him at your stable." "But you're a minor," replied the acute Yankee. "And, mind, I can't trust you more than a week." The next morning the lad, who had established a good credit with oystermen, bought thirteen bushels of remarkably fine oysters, which he sold in the course of the day at a profit of 817. So he was able to pay off his horse's board. And right there in the same market he continued to deal in oysters and fish for forty years, became king of that business, and ended by founding a college J thus affording a new illustration of Professor Agassiz's theory that the consumption of fish is serviceable to the brain. So Astor, on reaching New York with his capita] of seven flutesand a few shillings, goes to work beating furs for two dollars a week, and keeps at furs, until he is able to build Astor Houses and Astor Libraries. So Girard, finding himself at Philadelphia during the Revolutionary war, when the town was held by the British troops, all ordinary business being paralyzed, falls to work bottling claret for the English officers, and followed up that i -- *:ti ,.e CI UU LIii ll> Luaue illUi IUC Ullici luciuuuui UI Pennsylvania. William Chambers, the founder of the great publishing house of Edinburgh, coming out of the apprenticeship at nineteen with five shillings capital, set up a book stall with ten pounds worth of books, all bought on credit. The Harpers began by cautiously printing 500 copies of Locke on the Understanding, and Daniel Appleton by publishing a minute volume, bound in blue paper, two j and a half inches square, called "Crumbs of Comfort." George Stephenson, brakernan to a steam engine at the mouth of a mine, began, it is true, by soling his sweetheart's shoes and demanding a kiss in payment. But this was only a youthful sally. Her name, however, was Ann, and she was a servant girl. But soon he began to tinker at his steam engine, and kept on in that way until he invented the | locomotive, and created, with the aid of his [ son, the railway system. In those lecturing tours, which are far more instructive to rae than I can be instructive to any one else, I frequently see immense establishments, and always visit them when I can. Nine times in ten, if I am told their history, I am informed that the founder was a poor man, who began business on next to nothing. In Chicago, a fewyears ago, a mechanic invested his whole capital and credit, too, in the making of one rough, strong farm wagon, the first ever made west of the lakes. It was all he could do to live while he made it, and if he had not had the good luck to sell it immediately, he would have been in a sorry plight. When I was there, twenty years after, he had a factory which turned out an excellent wagon every seven minutes. SECRETS OF SUCCESS. It is essentially the same story with all these j Kings of Business. They learn how to do i some one thing superlatively well, and then they keep on doing it better and better. Near Pittsburg there is the great Cambria Iron | Works, which employ seven thousand persons in making steel rails and iron?a great town ' of people, all in the service of one company. "What is the secret of such a development of business as this?" a visitor asked of the president and ruling spirit, Daniel J. Morrell. His answerwas: "We have no secret. We always | try and beat our last batch of rails. That's alii the secret we've got, and we don't care who | kuowsit." Why are the Rothschilds the first j bankers of the world ? Because in a business j career of one hundred andtwoyears they have never failed to keep an engagement. Why is the Chemical Bank in New York the most solid and profitable bank in America? Because in the panic of 1857, when all other banks ceased to pay gold for their notes, that bank did not and never has. When gold was at 286, if you presented one of its 850 notes at the counter, ana astea ror its equivalent in ; gold, you got $50 in gold. Why is the yEtna j Insurance Company of Hartford the first of its kind in America? Simply because, after the great fires of New Y ork, Portland, Chicago, Boston, it did what it had undertaken and engaged to do?paid its losses. In the whole world I do not believe there can be fouud a business fifty years old which is not founded on the principle of rendering an equivalent for all that it receives. Honesty is the rock upon which all enduring successes rest. I was very much struck during the late panic with three rules which Vanderbilt gave to men in Wall street: "1.1 Never use what is not your own. 2. Never buy what you cannot pay for. 3. Never sell what you haven't got." Next to honesty, I think we must place, as a condition of king-: l : i I.j T u 1 smpiu uusjiiess, Kuuwieuge. x imvc wiwcncu that the men who take the lend in affairs, whatever else they lack, are sure to possess a minute and entire knowledge of their branch of business?such a knowledge as can be got only by taking hold and doing every part of it. Girard, as sailor, mate and captain, had j visited every port with which, as a merchant, he traded. He knew the men, the people, the markets. Astor, with a pack on his back, had tramped over the whole fur-producing region of New York and the lake country. No ; man ever knew furs as he knew them. He : loved a fine fur as a connoisseur loves a fine picture. Stewart has the best touch for silk ; or velvet and the best judgment of colors of I any man in his establishment. All the Har- j pers, young and old, began by setting type; and working the press. The late John Wal- I ter, proprietor of the London Times, called at \ the office of" the paper one day before going to i the House of Commons, of which he was a member. While there a courier brought in a ; package labelled "immediate and important," j which he found to contain news of the greatest! interest. It happened that all the oomposi-; tors were gone to dinner. He took the des- j patch to the composing-room, set the type ; himself, and by the time the men came back ! he had it all ready to go into a second edition,; which was immediately issued. He knew the i business from top to bottom?knew it in his 1 brain and knew it in his fingers. So Horace Greeley, on returning from his first visit to 1 Europe, made up the steamer's news for the Tribune before she entered the harbor. The steamer arrived at six in the morning, after ; all the papers had been printed. Going straight to the office, he, too, found the com-! positors all gone home, and the pressman just : preparing to go. He began forthwith to set! the news in type; and he never left tl\e eqse ; till it was ?\11 ready for an extra. Then he j started up town to see his family. Old Jonas; G'hickering, old Mr. Steinway, could make a I piano from the legs to the keys, every part i outside and inside. The original Delmonico j was himself an admirable cook. A thousand ! examples could be given, showing that the . capital of a house of business is not money, j but brains. SELF-CONTROL A NECESSITY. Again ; Before a man can be a king of busness, or a king of men, he must be monarch of himself. A great part of the secret of being able to control others is self-control. I re- j member Robert Bonner pointing out a person j going to the office of the Ledger, and saying : I i "I worked by the side of that man for years | settiug type, and a very good workman he was. I Do you want to know the reason why he is still a journeyman printer and I am not?" I did want to know the reason. "Well," said he, "the reason is this: He used to buy five dollar pantaloons, and as soon as they began to look shabby he cast them aside, but I bought coarse, strong three dollar ones, and wore them out. That is the reason." , KINGS OF BUSINESS, KINGS OF MEN. But all these qualities that I have mention-1 ed?honesty, knowledge, self-control, resolu- J tion, perseverance?will not make a man a king of business. An individual, let him be the greatest man that ever lived, cannot accomplish much unless he knows how to avail himself of the services of others. In going over the letters and dispatches of Napoleon Bonaparte, I detest him, but he had his good _ * points. looming auuco. uic uiuic wi?u i.iiw painshetook to distinguish and gratify the men who served him. In our complicated modern life, a man may get together an enormous mass of property and yet never become a king of business. There are kings and there are slaves of business, and it is not till a man has made a fortune that we can certainly tell to which of these classes he belongs. AN EIGHTY-TON GUN. The London Daily Telegraph writes : "It j may not be generally known that the principle upon which all our guns are now made is that discovered by Col. Fraser. Briefly, it consists of a series of coils welded together in such a way that the grain of the iron is best opposed to the explosive force of the powder, and encircling a steel tube, the interior of which is rifled. A long bar of iron?say eight inches square?previously prepared, is slowly drawn from a furnace to a length of about three hundred feet, and wound into a double coil in the form of a cylinder. This is again heated and placed beneath a steam hammer, where it is welded together by tremendous blows which so effectually do their work that a cylinder capable of bearing the greatest possible strain is formed at a comparatively trifling expense. Several of these coils being made, they are placed in order on a long steel tube, which has been made in Sheffield, and the weapon is finally turned out at an average cost of about ?60 a ton, as against nearly ?150 at Krupp's factory in Essen. Upon this principle, then, it is resolved to construct an eighty ton gun, which should be able to pierce twenty inches of iron at a distance of a thousand yards, with a shot 1600 pounds in weight, and by the aid of 300 pounds of powder. The length of this magnificent piece of artillery was fixed at twenty-seven feet, its diameter at the trunnion six feet, and at the muzzle sixteen inches, inside measurement. It was calculated that such a gun would be able to deliver its mischief-working missile, at a distance of nearly ten miles, and that it would 1 at the same time, be easily placed in the turret of a war ship, or the embrasure of a battery, and worked quickly and without difficulty. Of course, there were many difficulties in the way of the construction of such a weapon. : No steam hammer, such as that which Krupp possesses at Essen, was to be found in England, no forges were built large enough for such a tremendous 'heat;' no cranes were in position to hoist such a weight. But all these difficul- I ties were speedily overcome by the skillful of- j v. k..!U ? liUlBJS UL IT UU1TVIUU. J. IIC JUigco itcio uuiii) (* huge steam hammer of forty tons weight, with ' double action arrangement and a striking power of nearly a thousand tons, was made,and very soon all was in readiness to begin the con- : structiou of the great gun. Curiously enough, < his Majesty, the Emperor of Russia was the i first to see one of its coils welded, and since < that time the work has been gradually going on, till now the steel tube, the breech piece, ] one coil and the trunnion are finished ; so that i it is certain that by June next the gun will be j ready for trial. It will then consist of the following parts : A tough steel tube inside, I weighing nearly sixteen tons, and measuring i about twenty-four feet in length; a breech- i piece coil twelve feet iu length ; one central, < another coil nearer the muzzle, and the trun- I nion coil. The cascabel through which the . fire from the friction tube is communicated to i the cartridge inside the gun is of steel, and i immensely strong." < "REMARKABLE PREMONITION." Another very remarkable incident is added to the many startling things which have oc- ; curred in these "latter days." Our readers < will remember that we gave an account of the j | sad death of our venerable fellow-citizen Rev. j i Henry Asbury, which occurred on the 1st i i of October, 1874. Mr. Asbury had retired |< to his room and bathed his chest with kero-. i sene oil, to relieve a paiu with which he was ] afflicted and which had been relieved by the j same application previously. After bathing | with the oil, by some accident of which he 1 could give no accpunt.hecame in contact with the blaze of fire, and the oil igniting he was ] soon enveloped in flames. He ran into the | yard, but before assistance could be rendered i his clothes were burned to ashes and his body ! j almost to a crisp. From this painful and dis- j i tressing accident he died the same evening at ? 6:20 o'clock. I When his wife came to his relief in the yard he remarked, "I am gone?I have to die." lie then walked into the house, and I i 1 i 1 1 * J il _ & 11 I i wnen ne jay oown ne reiatea me lonowmg ; i wonderful incident of his life. He said that! J "about fourteen years ago an angel appeared i to him; he felt the breeze of its wings and the angel told him that his end would be nierrible i one." He continued : "I see it all plainly j I just as the angel told me; this is no fiction; 1 you will find it written down in a meraoran-1 i dutn among my papers. I kept my mouth 1 I closed to exclude the fiamcs so I could be able ] to tell you all about it." After his death the I following written memorandum was found ] carefully pi'eserved among his papers: "an kxtraohdinaky kvknt of my i.ifk." | | Sfi'tkmiiku lftth, ISfiO.?As I was coming from j s Tate's Factory, up tlie river at night to where my j sou John and my wagons were camped, on the j old plunk road, unatigol passed by mo. I felt the j ' breeze of its wings, and it spoko to mo and told . < me what would be my end in this life. I believe j , every word oftJod, whether spoken by angels or j . men inspired; and my whole hopo of happiness j 1 here and hereafter is infiod through Jesus Christ, j ( His Son, and my Savior. Amen! ji II. Asbury. j Mr. Ashury was an "old soldier of the cross," who had served his God faithfully and j well, having been a local minister in the Methodist Church for about forty-two years, : 1 we believe. His death was as peaceful and 1 triumphant as his life had been devoted and 4 consistent. His anticipations of heavenly rest i1 were sweet and joyful and his soul grew rap-14 turous as he spoke of the "depths of the wis-;. dom and knowledge of God." A short time before he expired he had him- j 4 self raised in the bed and bid a most tender j J and affectionate farewell to his family; when j1 he was laid down again he locked his hands l. together across his breast, closed his eyes and 1 died without a shudder. So this good man |s passed into his "eternal rest" prepared for i 4 God's people. We are forcibly reminded of;4 the foreshadowing of Peter's death as related i( by the Apostle John in his epistle, chapter 1 21, verse 18.?Lincoln, iY. C., Progress. If Give a man the necessaries of life and he wants the conveniences. Give hitn the f conveniences, and he craves for the luxuries. ; r Grant him the luxuries, and he sighs for the j c elegancies. Let him have the elegancies,! 1: and he yearns for the follies. Give him all I j together, and he complains that he has been a cheated both in the price and in the quality t of the articles. o A DOG SURGEON. The Wilmington, (Del.) Daily Commercial has the following: One of the most remarkable instances of sagacity and animal reasoning?for it is more than instinct?that we have ever yet heard of, took place yesterday afternoon at the residence of Whitefield Crawford, southeast corner of Seventh and Madison streets, in this city. The principal actors in the case were a large dog belonging to Mr. Crawford, of the St. Bernard and Newfoundland breed, about two years old, who readily answers to the name of Carlo, and an ordinary house cat, named Dick. Between the two a strong feeling of friendship has always existed, each sharing the other's meals, and at night Dick, appreciating a soft bed, always found it by lying upon the top of his goodnatured friend Carlo. On Wednesday last, on Mr. Crawford's return from market, he cut a piece of fresh meat into small pieces for Dick, but accidentally a needle and thread lying close by got mixed with the meat. This poor Dick swallowed, or attempted to swallow, with the meat, but not succeeding, the needle stuck in his thnoat, from which he of course suffered intensely, and in his suffering he had the entire syrapa thies of his friend (Jarlo. JLixe a sKinrui physician, Carlo set about discovering the seat of the disease, which he found existed in Dick's neck. After an apparent consultation between the two, one as patient, the other as physician, Carlo com raenced operations by licking Dick's neck, the cat holding its head to one side to give Carlo a fair chance. The licking operation continued all day Thursday, and at intervals during the night, Carlo occasionally pausing to press his tongue against the neck of his feline friend, as if trying to force some sharp pointed instrumenton the inside through the cat's neck to the outside. Yesterday the same operation was continued by Carlo, until about four o'clock, when he was seen with his whole body quivering with excitement, trying to catch something with his teeth, in which he succeeded, and giving a sudden jerk he pulled the needle through the hide of the cat, where it hung by the thread which still held it from the inside. The remainder of the operation was performed by a daughter of Mr. Crawford, who pulled the thread through and stuck the needle in the fence close by. The joy of Carlo knew no bounds, and frisking his bushy tail about, and rubbing his shaggy sides against his master, he showed his full knowledge of what he had done by going to the cat and licking the wound in the neck, and then to the needle in the fence, which he examined very minutely, saying in actions almost as plain as words, "See what I did." A son of Mr. Crawford coming home from his labor, was met by Carlo, who turned and ran to where the needle was, and smelled it as if to explain the case more fully to the new comer. We need only to say that those who doubt the truth of this statement, should call at the place designated, where the dog, the cat, the needle, and the wound in the cat's neck, can all be seen. The dog himself will point out the needle, and give evidence of the truth of the foregoing facts as narrated. How Daniel Webster Prepared His Speeches.?In one of the debates in Congress which suddenly called Daniel Webster to bis feet, he made a brief but very eloquent 3peech, apparently without any opportunity for previous preparation. In the course of his remarks he drew out the following sentence, which has ever since been admired as one of the most harmonious and expressive in the English language. He was speaking of our military conflict with Great Britain: "Our fathers raised their flag against a power to which, for purpose of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of glory, is not to be compared?a power which has dotted the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose morning drumbeat, following the sun in its course and keeping pace with the hours, cir+ Vir? oortK toltk Ana nnntiniinna on/1 tin. L/ll>0 IftlU tUi III *1 till UUW VVUVIUUVUU HUVI uu broken strain of the martial airs of England !" As he sat down one of the Senators congratulated him upon his speech, and, alluding to the above passage, said that to him it was inconceivable how Mr. Webster, in a speech so manifestly unpremeditated, could have formed 30 perfect and so beautiful a sentence, which with hours of study he could not improve. Mr. Webster replied that the passage was not extemporaneous ; that in his summer vacation he visited Quebec, and while standing upon the massive and almost impregnable citadel there, looking out upon the wondrous scene of national grandeur and of nature's loveliness spread before him, the idea occurred to his mind. He immediately took his seat upon i gun, and with pencil and paper sketched the thought in the most appropriate language be could at the moment command. Upon arriving at the hotel he sat down at his leisure and wrote it and rewrote it, with manv interlineations and erasures until he had J molded it into the form of words which satisfied him. He then laid it aside in his retentive memory, to be used when the occasion should offer. The opportunity arose upon that day. The Mistakes of Lovers.?"We are satisfied, from the communications of our correspondents, that a vast deal of the domestic unhappiness which afflicts the land has its origin in the mistakes and follies of courtship. While a man is courting bis sweet-heart, he acts in a way which is certain to unfither for bard, matter-of-fact, domestic life. He calls ber an angel, sylph, a fairy, and tells her that she is too angelic for the cares of this world, | that when she becomes his wife she shall Dever know trouble or sorrow, but that her life shall be one unending round of blessedness and peace. Having convinced the poor girl that she is % sylph, a fairy, an angel, and that as his wife die shall never know toil or care or trouble, he marries her, and straightway she is expected to do all manner of work, such as no sylph, 3r fairy, or angel ever did, could, would, or should. And the husband who was to shield ber from all care, grumbles at her because the :offee is muddy, because the steak is scorched, j because the bread is heavy, and drives her | frantic by boasting of the admirable way in ivhich his mother always kept house. The wife being neither sylph, nor fairy, nor ingcl, but a woman, of course soon begins to etaliate, and reminds the husband of his own "ailing; and matters goon from bad to worse,, md perhaps ends in the lifetime alienation of I ,he weddca pair. The means of avoiding these perils of keen-1 ng house should be provided while the par-! ;ies are keeping company. Let them regard . me another as real man and woman ; not as deal man and angel. Instead of assuring me another that no care or trouble shall ever nvade their home, let [them look the realities j iquare in the face. They will then see that! hey are going to have their full share of: rouble, unless they fit themselves to do all j lomestic work in a superior manner aud to neet every anuoyance of life with patience ind forbearance. Bueaciiy Horses.?The habit of jumping euces runs in families, among horses, very reuarkably, though any colt we ever saw will asily take it up. Ninety-nine horses in a ' iundred, as we use them, have no occasion to ump, and a three foot fence will confine them fter they are four years old, if they have, up o that time, never learned to jump. W. H., f the Western Farmer, says: To prevent jumping, I have found just two ways effective. Buckle a surcingle around the body, then the I halter-strap through the fore-legs to this; tie so that the ho;*se can not get his head above ! the point of .he shoulder. Second?Place , upon the horse a common halter with forehead . strap; sew to this a piece of sheep-skin, the ; wool side next the head, and hanging low | enough to compel him to hold up his head too high for a spring to enable him to see the top of the fence. This latter suggestion we value, as applicable to colts, to which the temptation to jump is liable. 4 Allowing Children to Play on Sunday.?If the play of little children is in itself innocent, and not of a nature to disturb others, (I mean seriously, for some people are much too easily disturbed) why not let them play on the Sabbath ? But the example, says * one. The example? It is just what it should be. It is an example of "sweet reasonableness," worthy of imitation. It is not an example of worldly buying and selling, or of reveling, or unseemly rioting. So far from conflicting with the grand old fundamental rules of love to God and one's neighbor, it may and should be made a means of promoting both. The plays of children are their best opportunities of learning the Golden Rule; while, on the other hand, let any parent strictly forbid playing of any sort, and enforce an unnatural quietness of conduct, "because it is God's holy day," and the unreasonable (?) little soul straightway rises in open rebellion. "Oh I I wish it was Monday. I hate Sunday because I cannot do anything I like on Sunday !" In polemics, whenever an argument proves too much, it proves nothing and falls to the ground. So in the settlement of the Sunday question, a Jewish or Puritan interpretation in behalf of the little ones is only a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, a bar to all real settlement of this momentous question. Who that ponders this subject does not feel forebodings as to the Sunday of the future? And as the children of to-day will, to-morrow, hold in their hands the power over these questions of the morals of America, let us be wise enough to implant in their hearts a genuine love, and therefore true reverence for that pearl of all days. Let us "take heed that we offend not one of these little ones."? Independent. ? The Boys in Bed.?Whoever has lifted the curtains of boys' alcoves, soon after their inmates have gone to bed, and has looked lov ingly in, has seen a pretty sight. Generally the faces are lying most restfully, with hand under cheek, and in many cases look strangely younger than when awake, and often very infantile, as if some trick of older expression, which they had been taught to wear by day, had been dropped the moment the young ambitious will had lost control. The lids lie shut over the bright, busy eyes; the air is gently and evenly fanned by coming and going breaths; there is a little crooked mound in the bed; along the bed's foot, or on a chair beside it, are the day clothes, sometimes neatly folded, sometimes huddled off in a hurry; bulging with balls, or, in the lesser fellows, marbles ; stained with the earth of many fields where woodchucks have been trapped, or perhaps torn with the roughness of trees on which squirrels have been sought; perhaps wet and mired with the smooth black or gray mud from marshes or the oozy banks of streams where muskrats have been tracked. Under the bed's foot lie the shoes?one on its side? with the gray and white socks, now creased and soiled, thrown across them ; and there, in their little cells, squared in the great mass of night, heedless how the earth whirls away with them or how the world goes, who is thinking of them or what is doing at home, the busiest people of the world are resting for the morrow. Do Horses Reason??0. W. Fiske, in Our Dumb Animals, says: For many years I have made the horse a subject of thought and study. At times I have been led to believe that horses have reasoning powers, and can understand and apply them in various ways. For the last two years I have driven my mare nearly every day over the same road. About one mile from my home are two roads, one leading to the church, the other to the depot. Now six days in the week I drive to the cars, and on Sunday to the church. At the point where these roads separate, I give ray mare her head, leaving her free to make her choice, and on week days she will go straight to the depOt, and on Sundays she goes, of her own free will, to the church ; I never knew her to fail me yet. It puzzled me for a long time to learn how she should know any difference in days; and I have come to the conclusion that she reasons from facts? facta connected with every day life. On week days I start from my stable in a two-wheel carriage ; on Sundays I start from my house in a carryall, thus making an entire change, both in time, place and carriage; and from these facts she must be guided in her choice of roads. Many say this is instinct; if so, where does reason begin? Be Helpful.?It seems a strange thing, but it is nevertheless true, that sharing auother's burden will lighten our own. If you begin doing little things for your neighbor, it will very soon be easy for you to perform great deeds in his behalf. We all need help from each other. No man is sufficient unto himself. Trust in Providence is nothing but a higher belief in humanity. You may feel very much depressed some day, discouraged and well-nigh despairing, when some kind friend happens in?God sent?and you are soothed, cheered and encouraged ; the vail is lifted and you are happy once more. Many are able to give substantial help to those who [are in need ; money, to tide over some financial trouble ; food, to keep a family from starving ; gifts that nourish the heart with assurances of love; something that may be a trifle in itself, but helps to make up the sura of human happiness, But perhaps you cannot do this; you have a large family and a limited income, or are otherwise prevented from making the hand the almoner of the heart. Well, then draw on the spiritual treasury. Give kiud words to those who need them ; comfort those who are bowed down ; speak lovingly to little children, and encour? agingly to those who faint for this support. Stand ready to help everybody. Watching One's Self.?"When I was a boy," said on old man, "we had a schoolmaster who had an odd way of catching the idle boys. One day he called out to us, 'Boys, I must have closer attention to your books. The first one that sees another idle I want you to inform me and I will attend to the case,' " "Ah !" thought I to myself, "there is Joe Simmons, that I don't like. I'll watch him, aud if I see hira look off his book I'll tell." It was not long before I saw Jee look off, and immediately I informed the master. "Indeed !" said he, "how do you know he was idle ?" "I saw him," said I. "You did. And were your eyes on your book when you saw him ?" I was caught, and I never watched for idle Doys again. If we are sufficiently watchful over our own conduct, we shall have no time to fiud fault with the conduct of others. Time is short, and if your cross be heavy, remember you have not far to carry it.