Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TjEvvis m:. grist, proprietor.| An Jntrepenitrent Jarnilg ftetospajer: Jar tjje promotion of % political, Social, Agricultural anil Commercial Interests af t|e j5ont|. |terms?$3.00 a year, in advance. VOL. 34. YORKYILLE, S. O., THURSDAY, SEMTEMBER 13, 1878. NO. 37. ?he ^torn irttw. THE WIDOW'S BATH. ~ ! "Now, Patty," said the Widow Peabody to her niece, Margaret Uuderhill, "arter you've washed the supper-dishes, and swept up, and brung in the clo'es, and folded 'em, and set some yeast to risin', and looked over them beans, and put some codfish tew soak for | breakfast, you can have the rest of the even ing tew yourself. You needn't light no candle?caudles cost money?you can see well | enough by the light of the fire. "I'm goin' over to Joe Hardcase's a minute. He's gone tew the village, I 'spose, 'long with the rest of the men folks, tew tend the puliteoal meetin', an' I, fur one, ain't sorry. Mrs. Hardcase is a nice woman, but I can't abide , Joe. I knowed him when he was a boy, au' J he was allers the greatest tease an' hector, never givin' us girls the least peace or quiet. If he could git anythin' to plague me an' his sister Sukey 'bout, it seemed as if we'd never hear the last on't. An' he's jest the same tormeut now that he ever was, pickin' up the least little thing you let fall, an' twiatin' it iutew suthiu you never thought of sayin'. j "Now, mind what I said about a light, an' ho lrporfn 1 'hnnt fires." , "What's that you say? You've got some meodin' to dew, and can't see without a candie ?" "Then get up an hour airlier in the mornin'. Sunlight don't cost nothin', and is a good deal the healthiest. Nothin' spiles the eyes so much as readin' or sewin' by a candle. Airly tew bed and airly tew rise, that's my motto." "'You don't want to get up before daylight,' hey ?" "I s'pose not Girls now-a-days had rather set up half the night, an' lay abed till noon; but there ain't goin' tew be no sich dewin's in my house, now let me tell you." "When I was at your age I should ha' been ashamed tew have had tew be called in the mornin'. I was up betimes au' got breakfast, an' had everythin' washed and put away afore daylight. " 'You're glad you didn't live in them days, hey ?' It would be a good deal better if you had, then ! You'd been brung up suthin' as girls orter be. As 'tis, what air you good lur? You're clean wilted down when uight comes, a dewin' the little work that has tew be done here, an' what you expect to dew when you git married, I'm sure I don't know ! An' who dew you 'spose will want you ? Nobody,'cept it's some oue as poor and shiftless as you be!" "'You guess you'll contrive to make out?' I know pooty well what you mean by that. I've got two eyes in my head, an' know how tew use 'em, tho' I make no matter of doubt but there air things that some folks d'ruther I wouldn't see. But you was never more mistaken in your life, if you think you're g iug tew have Dan Petengil!" "'You'd like tew know what I've got agin Dan ?" He's secoud cousin tew Sam Skinner . aud that's all I want to know about him ! I * have had all I waut of the Skiouers for oue g spell. There aiu't any more on 'em going tew t marry in tew my family. I jest give him a piece of my mind t'other day. I told him ] that he needn't be hanging round here no longer fur what he won't git. So you won't a see him no more. It's perfectly ridiculous! a young, half grown girl, like you, tew be want- j in' tew get married ! You ain't old enough e to think of such a thing !" t "'You're a year older than I was when I married ?" r "S'posiu' you be ? What's that to do with ^ it ? You'll live uutil you're twice as old agin afore you'll have as much sense! When I ] was young, girls didn't spend the heft of their time prinkiu' before the glass, an' were wuth j c suthin' more when they got married thau tew ^ be sot on the mantel under a glass tew look at!" > a "Now, mind and lock the door, and don't j let nobody in while I'm gone. When I come ? I'll tap ou the winder. Perhaps I shall go tew Salraantha's. If I dew I shall stay all e night; so if I don't come by 8 o'clock, you needn't expect me." j Dan Petengil was down by the clump of c maples, back of the house, watching Widow ^ Peabody's yellow shawl and green sun-bonnet until it disappeared around the corner. Then he marched boldly up to the kitchen door, which Patty had dutifully locked, as } her aunt bade her. t Patty was standing at the siuk by the win- a dow, her eyes growing very bright as she j caught a glimpse of the stalwart form on the f door-step. Half pleased and half frightened, she put! ] her head out of the window. | t "Is that you, Dan?" "Wal, it is," responded Dan, casting an g admiring glance at the pretty face framed in ; the clustering vines that clambered over the j casement. "I've been watchin' fur a chance | tew see you all the week. What's the reason ! ( yeu didn't go tew the 'apple-bee' last' Thurs- j day night? I waited raore'n an hour round } the corner so's tew go with you." j "I teased A'nt Sally intew sayin' I might j go, when all at once, arter I'd got all ready, j , she declared that I shouldn't stir one step. ( And fur nothiu' under the sun but because j j she heered as how you was goin*. She won't ; , scarcely let me stir out of her sight lately, fur fear I'll see you." ; j "The old she-dragon ! I'll be even with i | her one of these days. 'Twon't allers be as ! , she says 'bout your comin' an' goin'." !} "Ain't you goin' to let me in?" he pleaded, i "I darsen't, Dan. A'nt said when she went j ( out that p'r'aps she'd spend the night at Sal- ? mautha's, but 'tain't no ways sartiu. If she ! 6 should ketch you here, she'd nigh about take | my head off." "No she won't?not while I'm 'round!" | responded Dan, confidently, expanding his broad chest and stretching out his arms like ( a wind-mill. "She'd have tew to take my ' head off fust, an' I kinder think she'd find that a rayther diffikilt operation." Patty laughed outright, and encouraged by j j this, Dan continued: "I'll tell you how we'll fix it. You open the door, and I'll set right on the door-sill. If your a'nt comes I'll have time tew cut down across the garden afore she gits in." , This plan seemed as feasible as it was pleas-1 ant, and nothing loth, Patty opened the door. : j Ouce in, Dan made himself much at home. I Putting both arms around Patty, he gave her | a sounding kiss. j "You orter be ashamed, Dan," retorted ) Patty, coloring up to the eyes, but without i making the slightest motion to free herself. ( "I know I had," replied Dan, looking down ^ complacently upon his willing captive; "but I ain't, not one mite. I'd like tew know how 1 a feller is tew help himself, when a girl has < got cheeks an' lips as red an' temptiu' as j yourn? I declare, if you don't look good enough to eat." : Here, Patty thinking that he had been in-1 ( dulged quite as much as was good for him, slipped out of his arms. "Quit with your uonsense, Dan. I thought I you promised tew set on the door-step?" J ] "But I didn't agree tew set there alone ; I i expect you tew set 'long side of me." 11 "But that won't dew my work. A'nt Sal- < * ? I -Ml i ly left me enough to tiew to Keep me nusy mi : j Jr bed-time." j! "I'll warrant! an' long arterwards. But I there ain't any reason why you should dew it. j I'm boss here now, an' you ain't goin' to dew another stroke of work tew night. You've < done enough furoDe day. I got a letter yes terday from your brother Will. It's just as I thought 'twas; he writ you more'n a month ago. An' it's pooty clear tew my mind who's got hold on't. I'm goin' tew write him jist how the old woman treats you." "I'd ruther you wouldn't, Dan ; it'll only worry Will, an' won't dew me no good." "Wal, it's a burnin' shame, so it is," responded Dan. "You dew more work than any hired help I know of. An' she dou't give you no clo'es tew speak on, an' dou't let you go nowheres nor see nobody. But jist wait a bit. I've got e'en a'most money enough tew buy the snug little house I showed you, an' when I git enough tew furnish it, we won't ask no odds of nobody. Eh, Patty ?" The two sat on the back porch, laying happy plans for the future, and contriving ways by which they could elude the vigilance of the lynx-eyed widow, until the time bad passed for Patty to expect her. Then they went into the house. Unmindful of her aunt's parting injunction, that candles cost money, Patty lighted one, and the two seated themselves on the wide settee, in one corner of the cozy and pleasant kitchen, for the purpose of rehearsing the vows and protestations that lovers are never weary of repeating. In the meantime, the Widow Peabody, having gossipped herself out, and finding it too late to go to her daughter's as she intenJed, took up her march homeward. As soon as she turned the corner, she jaught a glimpse of the light through one of the side windows. "The sly, deceitful minx has got corap'ny, [ do believe," she said, quickening her footit eps. Opening the gate softly, she passed round to the back of the house. "It's Dan Petengil, I'll bet a cooky," she thought. "I mean tew see what they're up tew!" There was a broken chair under the winlow, and up she mounted. Peeping through .he window, that was only partially hidden )y the scant curtains, she saw Dan and Patty litting on the settee, Dan's arm around the atter, aud their heads as near together as hey could conveniently get them. "Aha! I've ketched you, have I ?" At the sound of that sharp, wiry voice, the igbt vanished. "You needn't put out the light. I see you, Dan Petengil." At that instant the broken chair lurched 'orward, bringing the widow suddenly to he ground. More angry than ever at this catastrophe, ihe stumbled upon her feet. She made a novement forward, in the darkuess and cou'usion, stepping upon some loose boards across he cistern, then she suddenly disappeared rom view. Fortunately, the cistern was only half full, )ut the water was rather too cold to be igreeable, and the widow set up a succession >f shrieks and yells that did not fail to bring Dan and Patty to the spot from whence they iroceeded. Unable to find any visible cause for the hrieks and cries for help that still continued, he two stared around in bewilderment. "What's all this noise about?" shouted Dan. "It's me ; Ive fell intew the cistern," replied l smothered voice at his feet. Getting down upon his knees, Dan peered nto the cistern, where the widow's head and houlders could be seen just above the water hat surrounded her. "Who be you, anyhow?" he inquired, learly choking in trying to repress all audi>le tokens of the laughter that shook him. "It's me?Mrs. Peabody. O-o-o I o!!-o !!! lelp me out quick 1" Dan, who thought this to be a favorable ipportunity for paying off old scores, shook lis head incredulously. "It's a likely story that Mrs. Peabody, or my other respectable woman, would be prowlng' about this time o' night, an' fallin' intew ler own cistern !" The widow's quick ear detected the smothered laughter in this. " 'Tis me, too!" she retorted ; "an' you enow it well enough, Dan Petengil! If you lon'r help me out 'twill be the wuss fur ton!" Patty now interposed. "Help her out, Dan." Without another word, Dan extended his land, and bracing with the other against he side of the house, brought the widow afely to terra Jirma, where she stood, shiver .-i.u ?iJ 1 Ug Willi UU1U ttUU 11 Iglllj V1J U TTfttCl U1 'rora her garments. " 'Tisyou, widder, sure 'nough !" exclaimed Dan, in mock amazement, "Who'd ha' hought it!" "You knowed 'twas when I fust spoke!" mapped out Mrs. Peabody. Then turning to Patty : "What air you giggling at ?" Patty's smiles suddenly changed to a look >f demure gravity. "Why, A'nt Sally, I thought you told me ?ou'd tap on the winder? What in the world )rung you 'way around here?" "What brung Dan Peteugil here, that's vhat I'd like tew know ?" retorted the wid>\v, suddenly changing her base, and turning ler flashing eyes upon Dan, who seemed noways discomposed by this home question. "I come tew show Patty a letter I had 'rom Will. But I guess it's time for me tew )e goin.' Good night, widder. I hope you won't feel none the wuss fur your bath?it's ayther cold weather fur sich." "Good night, Patty. I'll be round tew see jou ag'in next Sabba'-day evenin.' I promieid your brother that I'd see you ever week iartin, and I mean tew dew it!" ??? ?Ji Beer Drinking.?Beer is drank pretty 'reely in all parts of Germany, but in Mulieh it literally supersedes water, which is )nly used for boiling potatoes, washing dish?s and making beer. As much beer as a person cau drink can be had for ten pennings, )r about 21 cents, cold and sparkling, and it s not to be wondered at that everybody relies upon it, when good drinking water is so scarce, and if you put a lump of ice in it will :ost as much money. A visit to the breweries md beer gardeus and tap rooms of Munich would astonish the most inveterate beer-drink2rs of Baltimore. It is sold at the breweries in mugs holdiug about as much as four ordinary glasses, and so great is the demand that )f an evening when the spigot of a fresh barrel is turned, it is never stopped until the barrel is empty. We have seen five barrels thus running at one lime in a large establishment, the mugs being filled with remarkable dexterity. It is used in every family as part of the daily food, young and old partaking of it with all the freedom that we use water. Phey contend that it is healthy and much less injurious than coffee, and that as few persons injure themselves by drinking it to ? -? ~ 1~ ~ /Ifinl/mrr t nA ixces.s, IHIieia VJVJ UJ ujiuniug .uv iuuvii 2offee.?Bait Cor. Bashful.?A bashful young man went three times to ask a beautiful young lady if he might be the partner of her joys and sorrows, and other household furniture, but each time his heart failed him, and he took the question away unpopped. She saw the anguish of his soul, and had compassion on hira. So the next time he came she asked him if he thought to bring a screwdriver with him. He blushed, and wanted to know what for. And she, in the fulluess of her heart, said she didn't know but what he'd want to screw up his courage before he left. He took the hint. ; Ipsttltewcflusi ftradmg. "OLD HICKORY." Col. John B. Brownlow, in a friendly letter i to the editor of the Philadelphia Press, con; tributes the following reminiscence of Andrew ; Jackson: j In the days of our fathers, there lived in | Virginia an old planter, Major Hanley, who | was an oddity in his way. Some said he was ! crazy, while others declared that only au inordinate love of fun gave rise to his quaint doings. He might be called a practical joker, and it is said he never allowed a stranger to come and go without playing upon him one or more of his ridiculous tricks. One chilly, drizzly, autumnal evening, a horseman pulled up at the major's door, and requested hospitality for the night. He had wandered from his way and it was now too late to rectify his mistake. He was warmly welcomed, and when his horse had been taken in charge by a competent servant, and his saddle bags removed, he was ushered into the great living room, where a cheerful fire blazed in the enormous fireplace, and where candles were lighted. The major was a large, strongly built man, of middle age, bald headed, rather red in the face, and with an eye deep-set and twinkling. The guest was also of middle age, tall and spare, but compact and muscular, with features of a decided leonine cast, strongly marked, heavy brows, and a shock of thick, crisp hair, that stood up on his large head like the mane of a lion. Supper was announced, and after that the evening passed on pleasantly. As the clock struck nine, the host arose and excused himself for a few minutes. When he returned he was accompanied by a negro, who car ried a fiddle and bow, and the major himself carried a large horse-pistol in his hand. "My dear friend," said the host with a bow and a smile, "we must not let the evening pass without a little amusement. From your looks I know you can dance. I have one of the best fiddlers in the world. He learned to play in New Orleans, where music and danc iug are cultivated. So, sir, you will please take your place upon the floor, and dance us a reel. Let it be a Scotch reel?you look like a Scotchman. Come, make 110 delay. Strike up, Pomp." The guest protested that he could not dance. He had not done such a thing since his boyhood. But Major Hanley would not take no for an answer. He did not make many words. He cocked the pistol and swore that be would shoot the guest if he did not dance. The negro had begun to tremble, and once or twice he seemed upon the point of crying out, but fear of his master withheld him. The omfisf Hppmpd to consider the matter. b He looked at the major and the pistol. The man might be really insane, though if he was, there was much method in it. However he was there alone?none to behold his discomfiture?and mayhap, he thought, the tables might yet be turned. "Come, come 1 Dance,or I fire!" The guest arose and stood in the centre of the room, and there began to dance to the negro's music, but the music was wretched? so wretched that the major more than once threatened to shoot the negro if he did not play better. The poor wayfarer danced until he was fairly tired. The host was upon th? point of urging him on, when a horse's tramp was heard at the landing, and presently a servant put his head into the room and called the master out. Whether he forgot what he was doing, or he cared not to be seen outside with the pistol, we cannot say, but he left it on the table when he went out. As soon as the door was closed, the guest went to the table, aud took the pistol in his hand. As he had half suspected, it was not loaded ; it was as innocent as a horse shoe. But the traveler had his pistol ammunition in his pocket, and he quickly loaded the weapon with powder and ball, calling upon the darkey to witness. Shortly the major returned, and his first movement was to look for his pistol, which he found missing. "My dear sir," said the guest, with a low bow and one of the blandest smiles?a smile, however, quickly followed by a look that might have made a hero quail, "I found your pistol sadly deficient; but I have rectified all !. . V _J_ ... I L._' J? A I mat. iou see 1 nave iuy pwuci uuo& ouu ball pouch. The pistol is loaded, sir, secundem artem. We will continue the amusement by a dance executed by the maBter of the house; and let me assure you, I can use a pistol much better than I can dance a reel. Dance, sir, or by the eternal, I'll put a ball through your legs, if not through your head." The major was startled. There was soraeI thing in the man's words that almost lifted ! him from his feet aud took away his breath, | and in the look was a command, he could no more have disobeyed than he could have | hushed the throbbings of his own heart. He danced. The negro played now with j unction?played in a manner to reflect credit ! upon his New Orleans teaching. More than j once the dancer begged to be allowed to stop, j but that pistol, held by an iron hand, kept ; him moving. Had the weapon been aimed ; at his head or heart, he might have run the j i risk of the man's firing, but he really believed i the irate traveler would as lief break his legs j as not. i At length the visitor went to the fire-place j and discharged the pistol up the chimney, and I the major was suffered to sit down. As old ! ! Pompey passed him he stopped, and bent over ; I aud whispered in his master's ear: "For the Lor a raassy's sake, mas'r, don't | ; ye go for to cut up any more. I tell ye I j j knows dat'are man? Wough ! who would j I ebber forget 'im! He's General Jackson?de i rale Old Hickory, an' no mistake!" ; Major Hanley opened his eyes wide. There ! is no knowing what he might have done, but, as he was starting up, pale and affrighted, his j visitor, who had heard Pompey's revelation, ' put out his hand aud said with a smile: j "Hold on, major. Not a word. If you can be satisfied, I can. Let us have a bit of; repose?a bit of punch with it." The punch was brought, and as soon as the ' : host could regain his spirits, jollity ruled the ! hour. Of course the major had to tell the story ' of the comiug of the illustrious visitor, and through the weakness of old Pompey, the rest of the scene leaked out. Man and Woman.?Mrs. Roberts, in the j Washington Capital, very truthfully remarks: | Marrying a man to reform him is like being ' measured for an umbrella. It may or may j not be satisfactory ; but you might as well try i to make a politician honest as to talk to a ! woman who loves a man. No matter how j worthless he may be, she will brave every-1 thing, risk everything, sacrifice everything,! ! for him ; and I would not give a snap for her j if she didn't. Not long since, on the avenue,! I saw a man, respectable looking, in a help- I : less state of intoxication, a policeman on each side of him taking him to the station-house; | behind him was his wife, a young, nice looking and well dressed woman. She paid no atten- j j tion to the rabble following or the wondering i looks of the passers-by, but stuck by him, ! : trying to pacify and quiet him. I could not | help thinking how little a man would stand ! | by a woman. Man is of the nobler sex and ! a superior being; but he will get a woman iu j trouble, and then leave her to get out of it ' the best she can, HOW THE WEATHER IS FORETOLD. In former times the chief herald of the ! weather was the almanac, which ambitiously ! prophesied a whole year of cold and heat, wet ; and dry, dividing up the kinds of weather ! quite impartially, if not always correctly, j But the almanac, good as it was now and then, and the weather-wise farmers, correct a9 sometimes might have been, were not always able to impart exact information to the country; and they have been thrown quite into the shade of late, by one who is popularly known under the somewhat disrespectful I title of "Old Prob," or "Old Probabilities." He has become the herald of the weather to the sailor near the rocky, dangerous coasts; to the farmer, watching his crops, and waiting for good days to store them ; to the traveler anxious to pursue his journey under fair skies; and to the girls and boys who want to know before they start to the woods for a picnic, what are the "probabilities" as to rain. Every one who reads the daily paper is familiar with the "weather record" issued from the war department office of the chief signal officer at Washington. These reports give first a general statement of what the weather has been for the past twenty-four hours all over the country from Maiue to California, and from the lakes to the South Atlantic j States ; and then the "probabilities" or "indications" for the next twenty-four hours over this same broad territory. The annual reports of the chief signal officer show that in only comparatively few instances do these daily predictions fail of fulfillment. The reason these prophecies are so true is a simple and yet a wonderful one. The weather itself tells the observer what it is going to do sometime in advance, and the telegraph sends the news all over the country from the central signal office at Washington. The atmosphere has weight, just as water or any other fluid, although it seems to be perfectly bodiless. We must comprehend that the transparent, invisible air is pressing inward toward the centre of the earth. This pressure varies according to the state of the weather, and the changes are indicated by an instrument called a barometer. Generally speaking, the falling of the mercury in the tube of the barometer indicates rain, and its rise indicates clear weather. Sometimes the rise is followed by cold winds, frost and ice. What these changes really indicate can be determined only by comparing the baiometic changes, at certain hours, in a number of places very far apart. This is done by the signal service. Observations are made at about one hundred and forty stations, in different portions of the country, at given hours, and the results are telegraphed at once to Washington, where our faithful "weather clerk" receives them, reasoning out from them the "probabilities" which he publishes three times in every twenty-four hours. But the atmosphere varies not in weight only, but also in temperature. The thermometer tells us of such changes. Besides this, the air contains a great amount of moisture, and it shows as much variation in this characteristic as in any others. For the purpose of making known the changes in the moisture of the atmosphere, an :nstrument has been invented called a "wet-bulb" thermometer. We are thus enabled to ascertain the weight or pressure, the temperature, and the wetness of the air, and now it only remains for us to measure the force and point out the direction, of the wind._ This is done by the familiar weather vane ancTtfie anemometer. The vane shows the direction, and the anemometer is an instrument which indicates the velocity of the wind. It is by a right understanding of all these instruments that the signal service officer is enabled to tell what the weather Bays of itself; for they are the pens with which the weather writes out the facts from which the officer makes up his reports for the benebt of all concerned. Thus, however wildly and blindly the storm may seem to come, it sends messengers telling just where it arose, what course it will take, and how far it will extend. But it tells its secrets to those only who pay strict attention.?James E. Flint, in St. Nicholas. ORIGIN OF TWO WELL KNOWN PHRASES. "Cutting a Dido" is a phrase older than most people imagine. The husband of Dido, the Princess of Tyre, was Aeerbas, priest of Herrules. and that resnectable gentleman was murdered for bis wealth by the KiDg of Pygmalion, brother of Dido. The widowed princess was enabled to escape from Tyre, bearing with her the wealth of her husband, and accompanied by a number of disaffected uobles. After a variety of adventures they landed upon the coast of Africa, where Dido bargained with the natives for as much land as she could enclose with a bull's hide. Selecting a large, tough hide, she caused it to be cut into the smallest possible threads, with which she enclosed a large tract of country, on which the city of Carthage soon began to rise. The natives were bound by the letter of their bargain, and allowed the cunning queen to have her own way ; and after that when auy one had played off a sharp trick, they said they had "cut a Dido". That was almost three thousand years ago, and the saying has come down to our day. The phrase "to scrape acquaintance," comes to us from the Roman Emperor Adrian. He was at the public baths one day, when he saw one of his verteran soldiers scraping his body with a tile. That was such poor luxury that Alrian ordered that his old comrade should be supplied with more suitable cleansing materials, and also with money. On a subsequent occasion, when the emperor again went to the bath, the spectacle before him was highly amusing. A score of old soldiers who had fought under Adrian, were standing in the water, and each was curryiug himself with a tile and wincing at the self-inflicted rubbing. The emperor perfectly understood what he saw and what was the purpose of the sight. "Ha! ha !" he exclaimed, "you had better scrape one another, my good fellows." He added,"you certainly shall not scrape acquaintance with me." Another Marksman.?The St. Louis Evening Post says : "Adam Goldies, of Shannon county, Mo., is a great adept with the rifle, and has performed more real and marvelous feats of raarkmanship than even those with which Dr. Carver has of late been astonishing the world. At oue thousand yards he will hit the centre of the bull's-eye, and then send six bullets, one after the other, hitting the very indent made by the first. A potato thrown in the air Goldie will perforate with six bullet-holes before it reaches the grouud. Perhaps the most astonishing feat is his i. v? l.;., ? Kollo ot nnr? Thia ia Hnnfi in cicaduj^ bnu uujio i?v v*iwi ?. ...? ? the following maimer : Two ball9are thrown crosswise, and as they pass each other on their course, with quick, unerring aim and lightuing-like rapidity, Goldie will speed a bullet through both. Another feat is the placing of an inch strip of tin about three feet long in position, at thirty feet distance, and peforating it from top to bottom with thirty-six holes, all even distances apart. Goldie says he does not know where his wonderful skill comes from. He never handled a rifle until he was eighteen years, old, and to him it seems like an instinct. Ho would take aim and fire with unerring accuracy, and his wonderful feats soon acquired for him a mavelou8 reputation among his neighbors. Some of the feats which he has performed seem impossible. He was broken 299 glass balls out of 300 in twelve minutes with a forty-four calibre W'tH'bester rifle," THE HEART. The heart?the reservoir of the blood and the great central organ of the circulation?is a hollow, muscular organ, in the form of an irregular cone. It is enclosed in a membranous bag, but loosely, so as to allow free motion. Though forming one muscle, there are two distinct hearts, each side being divided from the other by a wall. It contains four cavities, each of which holds between from two to three ounces of blood. The whole quantity of blood in an adult man varies from twenty-five to twenty pounds. The heart contracts 4,000 times in an hour; there, consequently, pass through the heart every hour 700 pounds of blood. In other words, every drop of blood in the system passes through the heart twenty-eight times iu one hour, or once every two minutes. The human heart is deemed by poets and philosophers to be the seat of our affections and passions ; the seat rif mnenl life flnH /?hn.rftrtAr. nf our tinder standing and will, courage and conscience, and, by some men, looked upon as the root of life itself. The human heart has been considered by many of the dying, in past times, as a votive gift peculiarly sacred. And many instances are od record, of the burial of the heart apart from the place where the ashes of the body might repose. One of the earliest instances of this mode of heart-burial is that of Henry II. of England. Hs died in a passion of grief before the altar of the church of Chinon, in 1189. Hie heart was interred at Fontevrault, but his body, from the nostrils of which tradition alleges blood to have dropped on the approach of his rebellious son, Richard, was laid in a separate vault. When Richard Cceur de Lion fell beneath Gourdan's arrow at the siege of Chalway, the gallant heart which, in its greatness and mer cy, inspired him to forgive and even to reward the luckless archer, was, after bis death, preserved in a casket in the treasury of the cathedral which William the Conqueror built at Rouen ; for Richard, by a last will, directed that his bod_y should be interred in Fontevrault, "at the feat of his father, to testify his sorrow for the uneasiness he had created him during his lifetime." He bequeathed his heart to Normandy, out of his great love for the people thereof. When the body of the Emperor Napoleon was prepared for interment at St. Helena, in May, 1821, the heart was removed by a medical officer, to be soldered up in a case. Mme. Bertrand, in her grief and euthusiasm, had made some vow, or expressed a vehement de sire to obtain possession ot this as a precious relic, and the doctor, fearing that some trick might be played him, and his commission be thereby imperilled, kept it all night in his own room in a glass dish. The noise of broken glass aroused him from a waking dose, and he started forward, only in time to rescue the heart of the Emperor from a huge brown rat, which was dragging it across the floor to its hole. It was rescued by the doctor, soldered up in a silver urn, filled with spirits by Sergeant Abraham Millington of the St. Helena artillery, and placed in a casket. A BEER BREWERY. On entering by the large gate on ninetysecond street, the visitor begins to realize the immense amount of business that is being done. Huge wagons stand in the yard, and a dozen men are hard at work arouud them piling on the kegs containing the amber fluid which is destined soon to flow down the throats of thirsty New Yorkers. Forty-five of these immense trucks are constantly in use, requiring the services of 120 horses. The men look hale and hearty and work with a will, as if they liked their business. Passing through the room where two large boilers are situated to supply the steam power for the establishment, the visitor passes upstairs into a spacious office, where all the business of the concern is transacted ; thence into Hie mHSll-ruum, wueie aiauu twu cuuiuiuuo mash-tubs, in which the ground malt is placed and mixed with the water necessary to make a proper mash. From these tubs it is pumped into two huge copper kettles, and is there carefully boiled. When the mash has been sufficiently cooked the liquor is pumped away up to the 6fth story of the building, where an entire floor is occupied by an enormous cooler. Here the visitor could literally "swim in beer," as the cooler has a depth of nearly nine iuches, and will hold 500 barrels. It is here allowed to remain a short time, and when partly cooled is run over ice-coolers iu the fermenting tubs in the cellar. These cellars are a curiosity. Before descending into them, each visitor is handed a lighted candle to see his way. The faint glimmer of the candles reveals the ghostly outlines of immense vats, the receptacles of the disembodied spirits of the grain. A faint' glimmer is seen in the distance, revealing a ghostly form gliding among the vats, but, as ! the light nears, the ghost turns out to be a | rubicund and very jolly German, who greets j the party with a guttural heartiness that j speaks of contentraeut, good eating and excellent beer. He is the guide to the mysteries of the cavern, and after the usual salutations, takes the lead. Cautiously the visitors follow his footsteps among the labyrinth of vats and heaps of ice, until the four tiers of cellars have been explored, aud some faint idea has been formed of the enormous amount of beer ripening for the palates of the drouthy. There are about 200 fermenting tubs in which the beer lies from two to three weeks, until it becomes of that clear amber tint which is the delight of the connoisseur. When it reaches this stage, it is pumped into the storage vats and casks, which are almost innumerable. Some of them are sixteen feet high, fifteen feet in diameter, and bold about 550 barrels. In these the beer is kept four or five months. It is then drawn off1 into the kegs, in which shape it reaches the consumer. An Unparalleled Case.?The New York papers announced, a few days, ago that an Italian youth, aged 19, had fallen desperately in love with a French girl of 16 while they were crossing the Atlantio in a steamship together. He could speak no French; she could speak no Italian, and they had no common tongue in which to communicate their thoughts and feeliDgs. Nevertheless, he managed to inform her by eloquent pautomine of the fervor of his passion, but without making any particular impression upon her. He did dot despair, however. He continued his voiceless suit, and took occasion during its progress to inform her of his financial condition, giving her to understand that it was such as to fully justify him in the preparation of marriage. This part of his communication was observed to touch her; her former indifference disappeared; she j rapidly meltec! into compliance; and when they reached our shores they were promptly united. The New York Times comments: The sentimental will say that this proves that love needs no word to express itself; that it has its own peculiar language, silence that speaks, eloquence of the eyes, etc. The satrista will contend that money won where affection failed; and we are forced to admit that the thing lies open to this construction. But if such be the truth, let us remember; that the girl is French, a mere foreigner. Let us comfort ourselves that such a thing could not happen here. Who has ever heard of an American girl moved to marriage by the vulgar consideration of money ? An Albany clergyman was recently telling a marvelous story, when his little girl said, "Now, pop, say, is that really true, or is it just preaching?" VIRGINIA NEGROES. It is queer that such a merry, light-hearted race should possess so many gloomy superstitions. If a forest bird flies into a dwelling house they think Borae member of the family is dying. If a whip-poor-will cries three nights under the same window, or a screech owl ("6quinch owl" they call it) death is near at hand. The same idea is attached to the breaking of a looking-glass. If you drop any salt, make the sign of the cross over it immediately, to avert misfortune. You must never look behind you after starting on a journey, else ill-luck will betide you. I suppose this superstition took its rise in the extreme anxiety of some clever African to prevent any guests from returning on his hands after bidding them adieu. If a drought is drying up vegetation in the fierce heat of a Southern sun, a negro hunts for a black snake, kills it and then hangs it up to bring rain. Any one who throws doubt on this is regarded as a scoffer of the darkest dye. Some of their remedies are quite remarka ble. I knew of a woman with pneumonia being treated by a negro doctor entirely with corn bread crusts soaked in sugar and water. Greatly to the surprise of her family she died under this treatment. A favorite cure for chills in this country is to wrap the lining of a pullet's egg around your little finger and walk three times around a persimmon tree. All this must appear singular to people who are in what Artemus Ward calls "the haunts, the busy haunts of men but in this section of Virginia, where there are neither railroads, steamboats, patent medicines or advanced thinkers, all the primitive ways of thought, action and dress seem very natural. An old negro was asked one day how large he thought the world was, and he promptly replied : "It began at Richmond, and went a mile or two beyond master's plantation. The big mountain across the river was where it stopped on one side, and he had hearn folks say it ran below the Court House, but he did not know about that himself. All negroes have great fervor about religion, delight in going to church and to revivals. Whether these last do permanent good I do not know. An obdurate sister observed to a colored preacher who had gotten up one by holding forth on "the tidings of damnation," "You done been come and made 'em get religion, just like puttin' fire upon a tarrapin's back, what made him walk. You go away, an' de fire fall off his back, an' he stan' still." AX ELEPHANT'S REVENGE. Elephants have so much sympathy with depraved human nature as to think with Byrou, "Sweet is revenge." An anecdote of an elephant's revenge, translated from the French, is as follows: Upon one of the plantations was an English overseer named Bennett, an exceedingly cross and disagreeable man, who was employed by the master because of his great capability in directing affairs. Upon the plantation was an elephant named Dourga, that Bennett greatly disliked, and upon whom he often played mean tricks. His employer, after reproving him several times for his unkindness to the animal, warned him that if he carried his tricks too far, Dnurga would pay him back with interest. Finally the time came when Dourga's patience was tried beyond endurance. He was in the habit of receiving every morning from bis driver, a huge corn-cake covered with molasses of which he was very fond. One morning, as this cake was being carried to mm on a oamooo nuraic, 2)wwm, was passing, with a pot full of red pimento, threw it upon the cake, and then stopped to watch and mimic the grimances made by the elephant when he swallowed it. The result was easy to see. The poor animal, his mouth on fire, passed the day in a marsh trying to calm the thirst that was devouring him, and to appease the inflammation produced by the fiery dose he had swallowed. When evening came, the hour when Bennett brought the coolies from work, the elephant pounced upon him, picked him up with his trunk and pitched him headlong in a large reservoir or pond of water, which was thirty or forty feet deep. Bennett, who knew how ? x- .1 1 r\.?. LO 8W1H1, quiCKiy swara iu lilts euge. jl/uuiga allowed him to climb up the baok, when he picked him up again as if he had been a wisp of straw and threw him back in the water. This was repeated as many times as Bennett attempted to escape, until he was compelled to remain in the water, keeping his head up as well as he could. The affair would have ended with sure drowning for Bennett, if one of the coolies had not come to his rescue and forced Dourga away. The elephant never forgot the injury done him, and rarely allowed an opportunity to escape to still further revenge himself upon the overseer. Sometimes he would throw a paw full of sand slap in Bennett's face; again it would be a spout of water thrown over hina; at another time he would be pitched into a cactus bush, from which he would get out scarcely alive, so horribly scratched would he be. It was impossible to correct Dourga, and make him behave. The upshot of the whole affair was that Bennett was obliged to leave the plantation, which was not large enough for him and Dourga together, and his employer valued the elephant more than he did the overseer. LAW A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. The Albany Law Journal finds in Hall's "History of Eastern Vermont," some account of the laws which were in force an hundred years ago: "Burglary was punished by branding with a B in the forehead, and nailing one of the offender's ears to a post and cuttig it it off, and whipping; for a second offence there was the like branding, and nailing and cutting off* the other ear; for the third offence the punishment was death, the offender being deemed 'incorrigible.' Counterfeiting was punished by cutting off the right ear, branding with C, and perpetual imprisonment. Perjury was punished by a fine of ?50 and imprisonment for six months, but if the offender could not natj tho ftno ho tat nff hv sittinc in the pillory two hours and having both ears nailed and cut off. Wilful lying, to the public prejudice, or deceiving or abusing the people with false news or reports, was punished by fiue, sitting in the stocks, and whipping, the punishment being increased with each repetition of the offence, except that in no case was the number of stripes to exceed thirtynine. "Theft was punished by compelling threefold restitution, or fine by sort of temporary slavery, the prosecutor being empowered to dispose of the offender in service to any subject of the State for such time as he should be assigned to the prosecutor by the court. 'Unseasonable night-walking,' that is to say after nine o'clock, was prohibited, as was also the convening of persous under the government of parents, guardians, or masters, after that , untimely hour. 'Tavern haunters' were punished by posting their names at the door of every tavern, and prohibiting the tavern- ' keeper from supplying them with any thing in the way of strong drink. No clamorous , discourse, shouting, hallooing, screaming, ' riding, racing, swimming, or blowing of horns, was tolerated on the Lord's day. Listening outside of the meeting-houses daring the time of public worship, was not permitted. Secular meetings of any number of per- ' sons, in the streets or elsewhere, on Saturday or Monday evening, were forbidden under fine I or stocks." i How to Handle Gunb.?Guns should always be carried at the half-cock, as then ueither a blow on the striker nor a pull at the trigger will bring the former into action. There is no necessity whatever for a gun to be otherwise than at the half-cock unless game is immediately in front; and, further, it may not be out of place to add that it is dangerous when shooting in company for the gun to be swung round in taking aim with the finger on the trigger. The eye should follow the line of flight and the gun be raised at tbe proper moment. Accidents from guns bursting are rare; but caution is very necessary in getting over fences to see that no earth gets in the muzzle, or in Winter time, that the latter does not get blocked by snow dropping from bushes or otherwise. Those obstacles, although they may be easily removed, are quite sufficient, if they remain, to burst the strongest barrels when the piece is discharged. This is caused by the wonderful velocity of the expanding gases. This expansion, which is said to be at about the rate of seven thousand feet per second, is the same in all directions, and the least check at the muzzle of the gun causes such a sudden increased pressure in its sides, that the latter are unable to resist its effects, and are burst open. None is more cautious or scrupulously careful in the use of his gun than an old sportsman, and no one more readily than he detects and condemns carelessness in the manipulation of their guns in others. ^ The Origin of Sexes.?Aristophanes, the funny man of classic Greece, gives the following myth : Once upon a time man had three sexes and a double nature; besides this, he was perfectly round, and had four hands and four feet, one head with two faces looking opposite ways, set on a single neck. When these creatures pleased, the; could walk as we do now, but if they wanted to go faster they would roll over with all their four legs in the air, like a tumbler turning somersaults; and their pride and strength were such that they made war upon tbe gods. Jupiter resented their insolence, but hardlv liked to kill them with thunderbolts, as the gods would then lose their sacrifices. At last be hit upon a plan. "I will cut them in two," he said, "so that they will walk on two legs instead of four. They will then be only half so insolent but twice as numerous, and we shall get twice as many sacrifices." This was done, and the halves are continually going about looking for one another; if we mortals (says Aristophanes, with a comic air of apprehension) are not obedient to the gods, there is a danger that we shall be split up again, and shall have to go about in basso-relievo, like those figures with only half a nose, which you may see sculptured on our columns. The Danger of Boxing the Ear.? Scarcely a day passes, we believe, without some schoolmaster (or schoolfellow, in natural imitation of his master), giving a lad a smart box upon the ear. Few persons would be bold enough to choose the eye as a part upon which it was expedient to inflict a violent blow by way or moral education; but there is apparently, no end to the numbers who select an organ upon which violence is liable to be attended with much more dangerous results. For not only is deafness caused by boxes, which rupture (as they continually do) the drum of the ear, but the inflammation of the internal cavity, which is so frequent a result, may be followed years afterward, perhaps, by disease of the bone, giving rise to abscess of the brain, and having a ratal ter= aware how fruitful a source of suffering and danger is represented by the box upon the ear. We are informed, for example, of two cases under observation at the present moment, in which schoolboys have been victims of such assault. Surely, school-masters ought to have learned, long ere this, the danger of a mode of personal chastisement that has apparently usurped the place of others, which, if more disgusting, were not attended with an equal amount of peril.?London Lancet. 1 ? ? Be Something.?It is the duty of every one to take some active part as an actor on the stage of life. Some seem to think that they can vegetate, as it were, without being anything in particular. Man was not made to rust out his life. It is expected that he should "act well his part." He must be something. He has a work to perform which it is his duty to attend to. We are not placed here to grow up, pass through the various stages of life, and then die without having Hone anvthini* for the henefit of the human ~ j ? ? " race. Is a man to be brought up io idleness ? Is he to live upon the wealth which his ancestors have acquired by frugal industry ? Is he placed here to pass through life an automaton ? Has he nothing to perform as a citizen of the world ? A man who does nothing is useless to his country as an inhabitant. A man who does nothing is a mere cipher. He does not fulfill the obligations for which he was sent into the world, and, when be dies, he has not finished the work that was given him to do. He is a mere blank in creation. Some are born with riches and honors upon their heads. But does it follow that they have nothing to do in their career through life ? There are certain duties for every one to perform. Be something. Don't live like a hermit, and die unregretted. The longevity of the soldiers of the war of 1812-15 is something remarkable. Although the war closed sixty-three years ago, and a youth of eighteen at that time would now be eighty-one years, there are great numbers of veterans still on the stage of life. Under the recent act of Congress restoring to the pension rolls the Southern veterans who had been stricken off during the war of the rebel lion, more ttoan 31,uuu applicants tor restoration have already come in from the surviving soldiers, and 12,000 from soldiers' widows. They are still coming forward at a lively rate. The act was a measure of justice long delayed. There are few partisans so bitter as to grudge these old men and women the 68 a mouth that they draw from the Treasury of the country whose honor they defended. A Frenchman is interpreting Indian names. He says the Sioux Indians name their papooses after events happening at the time of their birth. As illustrative of this peculiar trait, Red Cloud is known to have taken that name from the fact that the western sky was overspread with red clouds at the moment of his birth; while the bringing in of a captive horse with a spotted tail gave to another chief the singular cognomen of Spotted Tail. Sitting Bull received his name because a buffalo bull was, by a lucky shot, thrown upon ite haunches in sight ot bis mother s resting place at the natal hour ; while the struggles of a fractious pony furnished a title for the redoubtable Crazy Horse. tfa?" The Secretary of War denies the report Btarted, it is said, in a Richmond paper, that the Southern Historical Society has been tendered free access to the Confederate archives in the War Department, or that Gen. Marcus J. Wright, a Confederate officer, is in charge of such records. Col. R. N. Scott, a Federal officer in the war, has charge of the archives. The War Department, in order to secure certain valuable papers now in the hauds of the Southern Historical Society, has arranged to furnish copies of certain records of purely historical value to that society in return. The old saying, "Excuse haste and a bad pen," has been attributed to a pig which ran away from home.