Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, January 09, 1889, Image 1
lewis >i. grist, proprietor. | jIndependent Jamiln Jbrapapcr: Jttr the promotion of fejotitral, Social, |4traulturat and (Foinmerriat Interests of the $outh. |terms?$2.00 a tear in advance, j
. VOL. 35. | YOBKVILLE, S. P., WEP^^SDAYTJAJSTIJARY" d,1889. ' . NO. 3."" |
Choice foctnr.
BE FIRST.
What your conscience bidB you do,
'Hasten to obey it.
' Evil promptings soon would win,
? If you should delay it.
' Ira quarrel should arise,
Be the first to leave it.
Be the first to pardon ask,
Be the first to give it.
If to othms evil comes,
Do you^oest to stay it.
If they need a helpful word,
Be tne first to say it.
If a toilsman duty calls,
Put your efforts to it.
If you see a work to do,
Be the first to do it.
If a slander should arise,
From your lips repel.
But, if any good you know,
Be the first to tell it.
Conscience holds the prize of peace;
Do well, and obtain it. f ? -Duty
gives the crown of joy; j
Faithful be. and gain it. ***f
kpriDg'
i ' fit ftOTjj frifaui
I i anil i! iit
l In the bosom of one of those spacious
I coves which indent the eastern shore of
the Hudson, at that broad expansion of
the river denominated by the ancient
Dutch navigators the Tappaan Zee, and
where they always prudently shortened
sail and implored tne protection of St.
Nicholas '"hen tney crossed, there lies a
small ma. .at town or rural port, which
by some is called Greensburg, but which
is more generally and properlv known
by the name of Tarry Town. This name
was given it, we are told, in former
days, oy the good housewives of the adjacent
country, from the inveterate propensity
of their husbands to linger about
the village tavern on market days, be
that as it may, I do nbt vouch for the
fact, but merely advert to it for the 6ake
of being precise and authentic. Not far ]
from this village, perhaps about three ]
miles, there is a little valley, or rather i
lap of land, among higji hills, which is <
one of the quietest places in the whole 1
world. A small brook glides through it,
with just murmur enough to lull one to i
repose; and the occasional whistle of a ]
quail or tapping of a woodpecker is <
almost the only sound that ever breaks ]
in upon the uniform tranquillity. I
I recollect that, whei a 6tripling, my :
first exploit in squirrel ihooting was in a ]
grove of tall walnut trees that shades f
one side of the valley. I had wandered j
into it at noon time when all nature is 1
peculiarly quiet, and was startled j
by the" roar of my own gun ;
as it broke the Sabbath stillness <
around and was prolonged and rcverber- 1
ated by the angry echoes. If ever I <
should wish for a rctrci wliither I might 1
steal from the world and its distractions, ]
and dream quietly awaf the remnant of '
4 I l*n/ttr /\^ vtAnA *w/Mw 1
a uuuuicu ixiu, x iviiyir ui uuuu uiuiu j
promising than this Utile valley. 1
From the listless refoso of the place, j
and the pecuUar character of its inhabit- i
ants, wno are descendants from the
original Dutch settlers, this se- <
questered glen has bng been known i
by the name of Sleepy Hollow, and i
its rustio lads ire called the ]
Sleepy Hollow boys throughout all the ]
neighboring country. k drowsy, dreamy j
influence seems to hang over the land j
and to pcrvado the 7ery atmosphere. ]
Some say that the plae was bewitched j
by a high German dictor during the j
early days of the settlement; others,
that an old Indian chitf, the prophet or
wizard of his tribe, hdd his powwows
there before the county was discovered
by Master Hendrick Hzdson. Certain it
l _ ts that the place still cmtinues under the- J
a open over the nw^M^egooctpeople,
causing them to w^"^ a continual reverie.
They are give*, voall kinds of inar<velous
beliefs; are subject to trances and
visions, and frequently tee strange sights
and hear music and voices in the air.
The whole neighborhood abounds with
local tales, haunted spots and twilight
superstitions; stars snoot and meteors
glare oftener across the valley than in any
other part of the country, and the nightmare,
with her whole nine fold, seems to
make it the favorite sceneof her gambols.
Tho dominant spirit, however, that
haunts this enchanted region and seems
to bo commander-in-chief of all the
powers of the air, is the apparition of a
nguro on horseback without a head.
It is said by some to be the ghost of a
Hessian trooper, whoso head had been
carried away by a cannon ball in some
nameless battle during the revolutionary
war, and who is ever and anon seen by
the country folk, hurrying along in the
gloom of the night as if on tho wings of
the wind. His haunts are not conlined
to the valley, but extend at times to tho
adjacent roads, and especially to tho vicinity
of a church that is at no great distance.
Indeed, certain of the most authentic
historians of those parts, who
havo been careful in collecting and collating
the floating facts concerning this
spectre, allege that the body of the
trooper, having been buried in the churchyard,
tho ghost rides forth to the scene of
hnttlo in niMitlv finest of lik hojul nnd
that tho rushing speed with which he
Bometimes passes along the hollow, like
a midnight blast, is owing to his being
belated and in a hurry to get back to the
churchyard before daybreak.
Such"is tho general purport of this legendary
superstition, which has furnished
materials for many a wild story
in that region of shadows; andtho spectre
is known at all tho countryfiresides by
tho name of tho Headless Horseman of
l Sleeky Hollow.
^ It is remarkable that the visionary proV.
penSity I havo mentioned is not confined
ft to the native inhabitants of tho valley
[ but is unconsciously imbibed by every
r one who resides there for a time. Howf
over wide awake they may have been before
tlicy entered that sleepy legion, they
aro sure in a little time to inhale tho
* witching influenco of tho aii and begin
to grow imaginative?to dream dreams
'idfrt 1111 sco aPl)lu'itions<
- I mention this peaceful spot with all
Vs|? possible laud, for it is in sush little reVftpgk
tired Dutch vallcvs found hem and there
I V vi? embosomed in the great sUto < >f New
L ?f York that population, manncs and cusI
\ toms remain fixed, wliile the great tor1'
\ rent of migration and improvement
I. which is making such incessant changes
in Ather parts of this restlas coimtry
I _ sweeps by them unbb.u uro '
?ag/' like those little nooks of Stillwater which
boffk* a rapid stream, where we inav see
thotetraw and bubblo ridiag qnietlv at
1 / anchor, or slowly revolving their
K mimic harbor, undisturbed by the rush
B uf tho passing current. Though many
I years nave elapsed since I trod.
UkL the drowsy sliades' of Sleepy IIollow,
E yet I Question whether I should not
still find tho samo trees and tho saine
B families vegetating in its Jheltcred bo
som.
A In this by place of natura thorc abode
K in a remote i>eriod of American history, i
I. ^hat is to say, sorno thirty yean since," a
worthy wight of tho naino of Iehabod
Crane, who sojourned, or as In expressed
! it. "tarried" in Sleepy Hollow, for tho
purpose of instructing the children of tho
vicinity, lie was a native of ConnectiJ
cut, a state which supplies the Union
1 with pioneers for the mind as well as for
I tho forest, and sends forth yearly its
legions of frontier woodmen anil count rv
schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane
[ was not inapplicable to his peison. lie
was tall, but exceedingly lank, with nar- I
4 row shoulders, long arms and W h,, !,. j
fj that dangled a inilo out of hk l)r< ^7
feet that might have served eW.vplq'
and his whole frame most Ucselv lmnc*
I together. liis head was sn^i ^ fl.{?
at top, with huge ears, 1^0 preen,
glassy eves and a long snipe ^ * that
it looked hke a weathercock DCrclied
upon his spindlo neck to tellvh ri, u-w
I _ tho wind blew. Toseehimstr^g Jong
tho profile of a hill on a ^vindyday with
his clothes bagging and AutteW 'about
him, one might havo mistake ?im for
tho genius of famine descen^ 'upon
the earth, or some scarecrow ebped from
[ a cornfield.
His school house was a low luiidin" of
ono largo room, rudely conar^j 0flogs;
the windows partlyand
I partly patched with leavesof iw,
I It was most ingeniously secii^ at vacant
hours by a withe twhfcd in tl'ie
handlo of the door, and stakesagainst
the window shutters; so that hough a
thief might get in with perfec he
would find sotno embarrassm^ jn ' et_
ting out?an idea most prob^jy borrowed
by the architect^ Yost V^gf0llteJ1
from tho mystery of an eel pot. Tho"
school house stoou in a rather lonely, but
pleasant situation, iust at tho foot of a
woody hill, with a brook running close
by, and a formidable birch tree growing
at one end of it. From hence tho low
murmur of bis pupils' voices, conning
over their lessons, might be hferd of a
drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a
beehive, interrupted now and then by
the authoritative voice of the master, in
the tone of menace or command, or, peradventure,
by the appalling sound 01the
birch as be urged some tardy loiterer
along the flowery path of knowledge.
Truth to say, bo was a conscientious man,
that ever bttre in mind the golden maxim,
"Spare the rod and spoil the child."
Ichabod Crane's scholars certainly were
not spoiled.
I would not ha Ve it imagined, however,
that he was one of those cruel potentates
of the school, who joy in the smart of
their subjects; on the contrary, he administered
justice with discrimination
rather than severity; taking the burthen
oil tho backs of the weak, and laying it
on those of tho 6trong. Your mere
puny stripling that winced at the least
nourish of tho rod, was passed by with
indulgence; but tho claims of justice
were satisfied by inflicting a double portion
on some little, tough, wrong heaaed,
broad skirted Dutch urchin, who sulked
^^sw^^a^^rew^gged^d
"Doing his duty by their parents."
he never inflicted a chastisement without
following it by the assurance, so consolatory
to the smarting urchin that "he
would remember it and thank him for it
the longest day he had to live."
When school hours were over ho was
3ven the companion and playmate of the
larger boys; and on hohday afternoons
would convoy some of the smaller ones
home, who happened to have pretty sisters
or good housewives for mothers,
noted for the comforts of the cupboard.
Indeed, it behooved him to keep on good
terms with his pupils. The revenue arising
from his school was small, and
would have been scarcely sufficient to
furnish him with daily bread, for ho was
i huge feeder, and though lank, had the
lilofi'nn. rvftWQ?? rtf on Villf
.1 I WO VI U** lAiinvvMViM-i
to help out his maintenance, he
was, according to country custom
in those parts, boarded and
lodged at the houses of the farmers,
whose children he instructed. With these
he lived successively, a week at a time,
thus going the rounds of the neighborhood,
with all his worldly effects tied up
in a cotton handkerchief.
That all this might not be too onerous
m the purses of his rustic patrons, who
ire apt to consider the costs of schooling
i grievous burden, and schoolmaster) as
mere drones, ho had various ways of
rendering himself both useful andagreeible.
He assisted the fanners occasionilly
in the lighter lalxtrs of their farms,
helped to make hay, mended the fences,
took the horses to water, drove the cows
from pasture and cut wood for the wincr
fire. He laid aside, too, all the dominant
dignity and absolute sway with
ivhich ho lorded it in his little empire,
he school, and becamo wonderfully genie
and ingratiating. He found iavor in
like the Hon pold, which whilom so
magnanimously the lamb did hold,
ho would sit with a child, on one knee,
and rock a cradle with his foot for whole
hours together.
In addition to his other vocations, he
was the singing master of tho neighborhood,
and picked up many bright shillings
by instructing tho young folks in
psalmody. It was a matter of no little
vanity to him on Sundays, to take his
station in front of the church gallery,
with a band of chosen singers, where, in
his own mind, he completely carried
away tho palm from tho parson. Certain
"it is, his voice resounded far above
all the rest of the congregation, and
thero aro peculiar quavers still to be
heard in tliat church, and which may
even be heard lialf a mile off, quite to
the opposite side of tho mill pond, on a
still Sunday morning, which are said to
be legitimately descended from tho nose
ot Ithabod Crane. Thus, by divers little
makeshifts, in that ingenious way which
is commonly denominated "by hook and
by crook," the worthy pedagogue got on
tolerably enough, and was thought, by all
who understood nothing of tho lal>or of
head work, to have a wonderful easy
life of it.
The schoolmaster is generally a man of
Gnmn nnnnrtanco ill tVm fnri'ilo rirplo nf
a rural neighborhood, being considered
a kind of idle gentleman liie personage,
of vastly superior taste and accomplishments
to the rough country swains, and,
indeed, inferior in learning only to the
parson. Ilis appearance, therefore, is
apt to occasion some little iir at the tea
table of a farm house, and tile addition of
a supernumerary dish of cakes or sweetmeats,
or, peradventure, th< parade of a
silver teapot. Our man of letters therefore
was peculiarly happv in tin} smiles of all
tho country damsels.-^Tlacv lie would
figure among them in th? churchyard
between sendees on Sundays, gathering
grapes for them from the wild vines that
overrun the surrounding trees; reciting
for their amusement all tlio epitaphs on
the tombstones, or saunts-ing with a
wholo l>;vy of them along the banks of
the adjacent mill pond, wiile tho more
bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly
back, envying his superior elegance
and address.
From liis half itinerant (life, also, ho
was a kind of traveling gazftte, carrying
the wholo budget of localfgossip from
houso to house, so that he appearance
was always greeted with satisfaction. Ho
was, moreover, esteemed, by the women
as a man of great erudition, for he had
read several books quite through, and
was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's
"History of New England Witchcraft,"
in which, by the way, ho mojt firmly and
poterHy bclieigiLoMte.. ^tln .
H' .'as, in fact, an odd mixture of
smtfii . lxrowdness and simple credulity.
His appetito for tlie marvelous
and his powers of digesting it
were equally extraordinary, and both
had been increased by liis residonco in
this spellbound region. No tale was too
gross or monstrous for his capacious
swallow. It was often liis delight, after
his school was dismissed -in the afternoon.
to stretch himself on the rich bed
of clover, bordering the little brook that
whimpered by his school house, and
there con over old'Malhcr'sdiroful tales,
until the gathering dusk of evening
made the printed page a here mist before
his eyes. Then, as In wended his
way, by swamp and stream and awful
woodland, to mo larm noise where no
happened to be quartered,every sound
of nature, at that witchi^r hour,tluttered
his excited imagination the moan
of the whip-poor-will* frc&n.ho hill side;
the boding cry of the tree t<xd, that harbinger
of storm; the dreary hooting of
thc screech owl; or the sudien rustling
in the thicket of birds frigjienwl from
their roost. The fire flies, too, which
sparkled most vividly in die darkest
places, now and then statical him, as
one of uncommon brightness would
stream across his path; and if, bv
chance, a hugo blockhcadof a beetlo
came winging his bluncg-ing flight
against him, the poor varlt was ready
to give up the ghost, wii the idea
that ho was struck witl a witch's
token. Ilis only resourco o: such occasions,
either to drown thou}it or drive
away evil spirits u as to singjuhu tunes,
and the good people of SleiT>;lIollow, as
they sat by their doors of n evening,
were often filled with awo atiearing Ids
nasal melody, "in linked s\v>tness long
drawn out," floating from he distant
hill or along the dusty road.
Another of his sources of ftrful pleasure
was, to pass Icing ^winta evenings
with tho old Dutch wives, j they sat
spinning by thoiirejv.-ith a r<> cf apples
roasting and sputtering alonghc hearth,
and listen to their marvel^ tales of
ghosts, and.gobliiis,and hatted fields
Tho whip-poor-will is a bird ^ich Is only
heard at night. It revives its Bjd from
notes, which is thought to resemble word&
*
ana naunleU brooks, and haunted bridges
and haunted houses, and particularly of
the headless or galloping Heasian
oi the Hollow, as they sometimes
called him. Ho would delight them
equally by his anecdotes of witchcraft,
and of the direful omens and portentous
sights and sounds in the air, which prevailed
in the earlier times of Connecticut;
and- would frighten them wofiilly with
speculations upon comets and shooting
stars, and with the alarming fact that the
world did absolutely turn round, and
that thev were half the time topsy turvyl
But ir there was a pleasure in all this,
while snugly cuddling in the chimney
i corner of a chamber that was all of a
raddy glow from the crackling wood fire,
and whero, of course, no specter darea
to show its face, it was dearly purchased
by tho terrors of his subsequent walk
homewards. What fearful shapes and
shadows beset his path, amidst tho dim
and ghastly glare of a snowy night!
With what wistful look did he eye every
trembling rav of light streaming across
the'waste fields from some distant window!
How often was he appalled bv
some shrub covered with snow, which
like a sheeted specter beset his very path!
How often did lie shrink with curdling
awe at the sound of his own steps on the
frosty crust beneath his feet, and dread
to look over his shoulder, lest he should
behold some uncouth being tramping
^lojgabel4ad him! And how^ofteawas
Eyth?wi> in A complete dismay by some
rushing blast, howling among the trees,
in the idea that it was the galloping Hessian
on one of his nightly semirings!
All these, however, were mere terrors
of the nigh j, phantoms of the mind, that
walk in darkness; and though he had
seen many specters in his time, and been
more than once beset by Satan in divers
shapes, in liis lonely perambulations, yet
daylight put an end to all these evils;
and he would have passed a pleasant
life of it, in despite of
the devil and all his works,
if his path had not been crossed by a being
that causes more perplexity to mortal
man, than ghosts, goblins and the whole
race of witches put together; and that
was?a woman.
Among the musical disciples who assembled
one evening in each week to receive
his instructions in psalmody was
Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and
only child of a substantial Dutch farmer.
She was a blooming lass of fresh 18;
plump as a partridge; ripe and melting
and rosy cheeked as one of her fathers
peaches", and universally famed, not
merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations.
She was withal a little of a
coquette, as might bo perceived even in
her dress, which was a mixture of
ancient and modern fashions, as most
suited to set off her charms. She wore
the ornaments of pure yellow gold,
which her great great grandmother had
brought over from Saardam; the tempting
Btomaclier of the olden time, and
withal a provokinglv short petticoat, to
display the prettiest foot and ankle in
the country round.
JLcnaooa crane naa a sore ana roonsn
heart toward the sex; and it is not to be
wondered at, that so tempting a morsel
soon found favor in his eyes, more especially
after he had visited her in her paternal
mansion. Old Baltus Van Tassel
was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented,
liberal hearted fanner. He seldom,
it is-true, sent either his eyes or his
thoughts beyond tho boundaries of his
own farm, out within these,'everything
was snug, happy, and well conditioned.
He was satisfied with his wealth, but not
proud of it;- andpiqued himself upon the
hearty abundance, rather than tne style
in wliich ho lived. His stronghold was
situated on the banks of the Hudson, in
one of those jyeen, sheltered, fertile
nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so
fond of nestling.: A great elm tree spread
its broad branches over it, at the foot of
which bubbled up a spring of the Boftest
and sweetest water, in a little well,
formed of a barrel, and then stole sparkling
away through tho grass to a neighboring
brook, that babbled along among
alders and dwarf willows. Hard by the
farmhouse was a vast barn, dud might
flail was bust# resounding, within > it
morning to night; swallows and martins
skimmed twitterng about the eaves, and .
rows of pigeoni, some with one eye
turned up as if watching the weather,
6ome with their leads under their wings,
or buried in ther bosoms, and others,
swelling, and cooing and bowing
about their darns, were enjoying the
sunshine on tie roof. Sleek, un
wieldy porkers were grunting in
the repose and abundance of their
pens, from wheice sallied forth, now
and then, troops of sucking pigs, as if to
snuff the air. A stately squadron _ of
snowy geese wero riding in an adjoining
pond, convoying whole fleets of ducks;
regiments of turkeys were gobbling
through the farm yard and guinea fowls
fretting about it like ill tempered housewives,
with their peevish, discontented
cry. Before the barn door strutted the
gallant cock, that, pattern of a husband,
a warrior and a file gentleman, clapping
his burnished wipgs and crowing in the
pride and gladnea of his hearts?sometimes
tearing up tie earth with his feet,
and then generously calling his ever
hungry family of vives and children to
enjoy the rich monel which he had discovered.
The pedagogue's mouth watered, as he
looked upon this samptuous promise of
luxurious winter fare. In his devouring
mind's eye ho pictured to himself eveiy
roasting pig running about, with a pudding
in its belly and an apple in its mouth;
the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a
comfortable pie, ana tucked in with a
coverlet of crust; the geese were swimming
in their own gravy and the ducks
pairing cosily in dishft. like snug married
couples, with a decent competency
of onion sauce. In the porkers he saw
carved out the future Bleek side of bacon
and juicy relisliing hani; not a turkey,
but he beheld daintily trussed up, with
its gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure,
a necklace of savory sausages;
and even bright chanticleer himself lay
sprawling on his back in a side dish,
with uplifted claws, as if craving that
quarter which his chivalrous spirit disdained
to ask while living.
As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all
this, and as ho rolled his great green
eyes over tho fat meadow lands, the rich
fields of wheat, of rye, of buckwheat
and Indian corn, and the orchards burthened
with ruddy fruit, which surrounded
tho warm tenement of Van Tassel,
his heart, yearned itfter the damsel
who was to inherit tfc domains, and
his imagination expa/ JK with the idea,
how they might be^^Bly turned into
cash and the money, hi immense
tracts of wild land,fi/^^fcinglo palaces
in the wilderness. busy fancy
j alivatly v 'i ti,] pfermtH-*
to him tho blooming Katrina, with a
whole family of children, mounted on
the top of a tVagon loaded with household
trumpery, with pots and kettles
dangling beneath: and no beheld himself
bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at
her heels, setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee?or
the Lord knowg wheref
When ho entered tho house, tho conquest
of his heart was complete. It was
<me of those spacious farm houses, with
llisrll ridced, out lowly Klnnir>rr roofs.
built in tlic stylo handed down from the !
lirst Dutch settlers. The low projecting
eaves forming a piazza along the front,
capable of being closed up in bud weather.
Under this wero lmng flails, harness,
various utensils of husbandry, and nets
for iisliing in tho neighboring river.
Benches wero built along the sides for
summer use; and a great spinning wheel
at one end, and a eliurn at tho other,
showed tho various uses to which this
important J>orch might bo devoted.
From this piazza the wonderful lchabod
entered tho hull, which formed the center
of tho mansion, and tho placo of usual
residence. Hero rows of resplendent
pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled
nis eyes. In one corner stood a huge bag
of wool, ready to bo spun; in another, a
quantity of hnsey wolsey, just from tho
loom; ears of Indian corn, and strings of
dried apples and peaches, hung in gav
festoons along tho walls, mingled with
the gaud of red peppers; and a door left
ajar, gave him a peep into tho best parlor,
where tho claw footed chairs and
dark mahogany tables shono liko mir,
rors; andirons, with their accompanying
shovel and tongs, glistened from their
covert of asparagus tops; mock oranges
and conch shells decorated the mantelpiece;
strings of various colored birds'
eggs wero suspended abovo it; a great
ostrich egg was hung from the center of
the room, and a corner cupboard, knowingly
left open, displayed immense
treasures of old silver and well mended
I china. 1
From tho moment Icliabod hiid his i
eyes upon these regions of delight tho
peaco of his mind was at an end, and his i
I only study was how to gain the alfec- ]
tions of tho peerless daughter 0f Van i
Tassell. In tlxis enterprise, however, ho i
had more real difficulties than generallj
fell to the lot of a knight errant of yore,
who seldom had anything but giants, en
chanters, fiery dragons and such like
easily connuered adversaries, to contend
with; and had to make his way merely
through gates of iron and brass, and
walls of adamant to the castle keep,
where the lady of his heart was confined
all of which he achieved as easily as c
man would carve his way to the centei
of a Christmas pie, and then the lady
gave him her hand as a matter of course.
Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win hit
way to the heart of a country coquette
beset with a labyrinth of whims and caErices,
which were forever nresentlg
new difficulties and impediments,
ana ho had to encounter a host oi
fearful adversaries of real flesh and
blood, the numerous rustic admirers,
who beset every portal to her heart;
keeping a watchful and angry eye upon
each other, but ready to fly out in the
common cause against any new competitor.
Among these the most formidable was
a burly, roaring, roystoring blade of the
name of Abraham, or, according to the
, Dutch abbreviation, Brom Van Brunt,
the hero of the country round, which
rung with his feats of strength and hardihood.
He was broad shouldered and
double jointed, with short curly black
hair, and a bluff but not unpleasant
countenance, having a mingled air -of
run arrogance.- womtis Horctrfean
frame and great powers of limb, he had
received the nickname of Brom Bones,
by which he was universally known. He
was famed for great knowledge and
skill in horsemanship, being as dexterous
on ( horseback as a Tartar. He was
foremost at all races and cock fights,
and with the ascendancy which bodily
strength always acquires in rustic life,
was the umpire in all disputes, setting
lus liat on one side and giving his decisions
with an air and tone that admitted
of no gainsay or appeal. He was always
ready for either a fight or a frolic; had
more mischief than, ill will in his composition;
and with all his overbearing
roughness there was a strong dash of
waggish good humor at bottom. He had
three or four boon companions of his
own stamp, who regarded him as their
model, and at the head of whom he
scoured the country, attending every
scene of fend or merriment far
round. In cold weather he was distinguished
by a fur cap, surmounted
with a flaunting fox's tail; and when the
folkB at a country gathering descried this
well known crest at a distance, whisking
about among a squad of hard riders,
they always stood by for a squall. Sometimes
his crew would be heard dashing
along past the farm houses at midnight,
with whoop and halloo, like a troop of
Don Cossacks, and the old dames, startled
out of their sleep, would listen for a
moment till the hurry scurry had clattered
by, and then exclaim: "Ay, there
goes Brom Bones and his gang!" The
neighbors looked upon him with a mixture
of awe, admiration and good will;
and when any madcap prank or rustic
brawl occurred in the vicinity, always
shook their heads, and warranted Brom
Bones was at the bottom of it.
This rantrpole hero had for some time
singled out the blooming Katrina for the
object of his uncouth gallantries,
and though his amorous tovin
gs were something like the gentle
caresses and endearments of a bear, yet
it was whispered that she did not altogether
discourage his hopes. Certain it
i, his advances were signals for. rival
candidates to retire, who felt no inclination
to cross a lion in his amours; insomuch,
that when his horse was seen tied
to Van Tassel's paling, on a Sunday
night, a sure sign that his master was
courting, or, as it is termed, "sparking,"
within, all other suitors passed by in
despair, and carried the war into other
quarters.
Such was the formidable rival with
whom Ichabod Crane had to contend,
and considering all things a stouter man
than he would have shrunk from the
oompetitipn, and a wiser man would
have despaired. He had, however, a
happy mixture of pliability and persebut
tough: though he bent, he never
broke; and though he bowed beneath
the slightest pressure, yet the moment it
was away?ierkl?he was erect, and carried
his lieaa as high as ever.
To have taken the field openly against
his rival would have been madness; for
he was not a man to be thwarted in his
amours any more than that stormy lover
Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made his
advances in a quiet and gently insinuating
manner. Under cover of his character
of singing master he made frequent
visits at the farm house; not that he had
anything to apprehend from the meddlesome
interference of parents, which is so
often a stumbling block in the path of
lovers. Bait Van Tassel was an easy, indulgent
soul; he loved his daughter better
even than his pipe, and, like a reasonable
man and an excellent father, let her have
her way in everything. His notable little
wife, too, had enough to do to attend to
her housekeeping and manage the poultry;
for, as sho sagely observed, ducks
and geese are foolish things and must be
looked after, but girls can take care of
themselves. Thus, while the busy dame
bustled about tlio house or plied her spinningwheel
at one end of the piazza honest
Bait would sit smoking nis evening
pipe at the other, watching the achievements
of a littlo wooden warrior, who,
armed with a sword in each hand, was
valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle
of the barn. In the mean time Icliabod
would carry on his suit with the
daughter by the sideSrT^ho spring under
the great elm or sau-. King along in the
twilight, that hour e^mavorable to the
lovers eloquence.
I profess not to knt\K how women's
hearts are wooed and won. To mo they
have always been matters of riddle and
admiration. Some seem to have but one
vulnerable point, or door of access;
while others have a. thousand avenues,
and may be captured in a thousand different
ways. It is a great triumph of
skill to gain the former, but still a
greater proof of generalship to maintain
possession of the latter, for a man must
uattlo for his fortress at every door and
window. He that wins a thousand common
hearts is therefore entitled to some
renown; but ho who keeps undisputed
sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed
a hero. Certain it is, this was not
the caso with the redoubtable Brom
Bones; and from the moment Ichabod
Crano made his advances, the interests
of the former evidently declined; his
horse was no longer seen tied it the palings
on Sunday nights, and a deadly
feud gradually arose between him and
the preceptor of Sleepy Hollow.
Brom, whor had a degree of rough
chivalry in his nature, would fain have
Wfed-maftere flin'," uii'V
settled their pretensions to the lady
according to the mode of those
most conciso and simple reasoners, the
knights errant of yore?by single combat;
but Ichabod was too conscious of the
superior might of his adversary to enter
the lists against him; he had overheard
tho boastor Bones that hewould "double
the schoolmaster up and put him on a
shelf;" and ho was too vary to givo him
an opportunity. There was something
extremely provoking in this obstinately
pacific system; it left Brom no alternative
but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery
in his disposition, and to play off
boorish practical jokes upon his rival.
Ichabod became tho object of whimsical
persecution to Bones and his gang of
rough riders. They harried his hitherto
peaceful domains; 6moked out his singing
school by stopping up the chimney;
broko into tne school house at night, in
spito of his formidable fastenings of
withe and window stakes, and turned
everything topsy turvy; so that the poor
schoolmaster began to think all tho
witches in the country held their meetings
there, but what was still moro annoying,
Brom took all opportunities of
turning him into ridicule in presenco of
liis mistress, and had a scoundrel dog
whom ho taught to whine in tho most
ludicrous manner and introduced as a
rival of Ichabod's, to instruct her in
psalmody.
In this way matters went on for some
timo, without producing any material
effect on tho relativo situations of tho
contending powers. On a fine autumnal
afternoon, Iehabod, in pensive mood, sat
enthroned on the lofty stool from whence
ho usually watched all the concerns of
liis little literary realm. In his hand he
swayed a ferule, that scepter of despotic
power; tho birch of justice reposed on
three nails, behind the throne, a constant
terror to evil doers; while on the desk
before him might bo seen sundry contrahand.
articles and prohibited weapons,
detected upon the persons of idle urchins;
such as half munched apples, popguns,
whirligigs, fly cages, and whole legions
of rampant little paper gamecocks. Apparently
tliero had been some appalling
act of justico recently inflicted, for hi*
scholars were all busily intent.upon their
r books, or slyly whispering behind them
( with one eye kept upon the master; and a
. kind of buzsing stillness reigned
> throughout thft school room. It was
I suddenly interrupted by the appearance
r of a negro fn to* cloth Jacket and trousl
ers, a round crowned fragment of a
, hat, like the can of Mercury, and
; mounted on the back of a ragged, wild.
l half broken celt, which he managed
with a rope by wap<? halter. He came
' (Uttering up tothe school door with an
invitation to Icbahod to attend a merryi
making, or "quilting frolic," to be held
I mat evening at Mynheer Van Tassel's;
. and having delivered his message with
. that air of importance and effort at fine
language which aj negro is apt todis'
play on petty embassies of the kind, he
[ dashed over the brook, and was seen
scampering awiy up the hollow, full of
the importance and nurry of his mission.
All was now bustle and hubbub in the
i late quiet school'room, The scholars
were hurried thramrh their leMons with
out stopping at trifles; those who were
i nimble skipped over half with impunity,
and those who were tardy had a smart
i application now and then in the rear, to
quicken their speed or help them over a
tall word. Boo ja,were flung aside without
being put away on % shelves, inkstands
were overturned, benches thrown
- dd%n and the whole school was turned loose
ah hotib Afore-, the the usual .tin1?s
green m ioy a$theic early emancipation.
The gallant Ichafcpd now spent at least
an extra half hour at his toilet, brushing
and furbishing up uis > best and indeed
only suit of rusty I lack, and arranging
his locks by a bit of broke? looking glass
that hung up in theschool house. That i
he might make his appearance before his
mistress in the true (tvleof a cavalier, he
borrowed a horse fibm the farmer with
whom he was domiciliated,!a choleric old
Dutchman of the name of Hans Van Ripper,
and thus gallantly mounted, issued
forth like a knight errant in quest of adventures.
But it is tieet I should, in the
true spirit of romantic story, give some
account of the looks and equipments of
my hero and his steed. The animal he
bestrode was a broken down plow horse
that had outlived almost every thing but
his viciousness. Be was gaunt and
shaggy, with a ewe ieck and a head like
a hammer; his rusty' mane and tail were
tangled and knotted with burrs; one eye
had lost its pupil, and was glaring and
Bpectral, but the othtr had the gleam of
a genuine devil in it.' Still he must have
had fire and mettle is his day, if we may
judge from his name, which was Gumpowder.
Be had, in pact, been a favorite
steed of his master's, the choleric Van
Ripper, who was a fu^043 rider, and had
infused, very probably', some of his own
spirit into the animal; for, old and
broken down as he looked, there was
more of the lurking devil in him than in
any young filly in the country.
Ichaboa was a suitable figure for such
a steed. He rode With snort stirrups,
which brought his knees nearly up to the
pommel of the saddle: his sharp elbows
stuck out like grasshoppers'; lie carried
his whip perpendicularly in his hand,
like a scepter, and as die horse jogged on
the motion of his arms was not unlike
the flanninc of a nair of winirs. A small
wool fiat rested *011 the top of his nose,
for so his scanty strip of forehead might
be called, and the stilts of his black coat
fluttered out almost (o tho horse's tail.
Such was the appearance of Ichabod and
his steed as they shtfnbled out of the
S'e of Hans Van Ripper, and it was alether
such an appiritfon as is seldom' ~
>e met -with in brorfd daylight.
< It was, as I have said, a line autunmal
day; the sky was dear and .sgfene,
and nature wore thai rich fifiQ golden
livery which we alwa*5#s30eiate with the
idea of abundance. The forests had put
on their sober brown;'and yellow, while
some trees of the tenderer kind had been
nipped by the frosts iixto brilliant dyes of
orange, purple and Scarlet. Streaming
files of wild ducks W?gan to make their
appearance high in the air; the bark of
the squirrel might fee heard from the
Sovesof beech and hickory nuts, and
e pensive whistle qff
I""*2lJwdptaiang their farewell
banqxyfets. In of; fullness of their
revelry tfaey fluttered, chirping and
frolickingV from buah -to bush and tree
to tree, oppricious nom the very profusion
anfrv variety around them.
There was the ' honest cock robin,
the favorite game of stripling sportsmen,
with its loud querulous note, and the
twittering blackbirds flying in sable
clouds; and the golden winged woodpecker,
with his crimson crest, his broad
black gorget, and splendid plumage; and
the cedar bird, with its red tipt wings
and yellow tipt tail, and its little monteiro
cap of feathers; and the blueiay,
that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light blue
coat and white hndcrclothes, screaming
and chattering,.nodding and bobbing,
and bowing, and pretending to be on
good terms with' every songster of the
grove.
As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way
his eye, ever open to every symptom of
culinary abundance, ranged with delight
over the treasures of jolly autumn. On
all sides he beheld vast store of apples,
some hanging in oppressive opulence on
tho trees; some githered into baskets
and barrels for the market; others
heaped up in rich |iles for tho cider
press. Farther on ho beheld great fields
of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping
from their leafy coverts, and holding
^,,4- si .1 1, - -4? A
uut VUC7 |UUI UiOU v/i- tuiu IJcloL^ puu*
ding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath
them, turning up their fair round
bellies to tho sun, and giving ample prospects
of the most luxurious of pies; and
anon he passed tho fragrant buckwheat
fields, breathing the odo: of the bee hive,
and as he beheld then, soft anticipations
stolo over his mind of dainty slapJ'acks,
well buttered and Varnished with
loney or treacle by the\delicato little
dimpled hand of Katrina Tan^ Tassel.
Thus feeding his mini with many
sweet thoughts and "sugired suppositions,"
he journeyed along he sides of a
range of lulls which look oir upon some
of tho goodliest scenes of he mighty
Hudson. The sun gradually vheeleu has
broad disk down into the west The wide
bosom of the Tappaan Zee lay motionless
and glassy, excepting that here and there
a gentle undulation waved and orolonged
tho bluo shadow of the distant iiountain.
A few amber clouds floated ir the sky,
without a breath of air to more them.
Tho horizon was of a fine golden tint,
changing gradually into a puie apple
green, and from that into the diep blue
of the mid heaven. A slanting ray lingered
on the woody crests of tnt precipices
that overhung some parts of the
river, giving greater depth to tin dark
gray and purple of their rocky sid?s. A
sloop was loitering in tho distance, dropping
slowly down with ftetMe, lm? ?n.y
'"nanghig useleSiJyagaifiwji^nast; and
as tho reflection of the sky gleamed along
tho still water it seemed as if the vessel
was suspended in tho air.
It was toward evening that Ichabod
arrived at tho castlo of tho Ileer Van
Tassel, which he found thronged with
the pride and floWer of tho adjacdnt
country. Old fanners, a spare, leathern
faced race, in homespun coats and
breeches, blue stockings, nugo shoes and
magnificent pewter buckles. Their brisk,
withered little dames, in close crimped
raps, long tvuistcil gowns, homespun
petticoats, with scissors and pin cushions
and gay calico pockets hanging on
tho outside. Buxom lasses, almost as
antiquated as their mothers, excepting
where a straw hat, a fine riband, or perhaps
a white frock, gave symptoms of
city innovations. Tho sons, in short
square skirted coats, with rows of stupendous
brass buttons, and their hair
generally queued in the fashion of the
times, especially, if they could procure
an eelskin for tho purpose, it being esteemed
throughout tho country as a potent
nourisher and strengthener of the
hair.
Brom Bonos, however, was the hero
of the sceno, having come to the gathering,
having come to the gathering on his
favorite steed Daredevil, a creature, like
himself, full of metal and mischief, and
which no one but himself could manage.
He was, in fact, noted for preferring vicious
animals, given to all kinds of tricks
which kept the rider in constant risk of
his neck, for ho held a tractable, well
broken horse as unworthy of a lad of
spirit.
TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.
Products of Scandinavian Labor.
Tho exhibition of the products of Scan
dinavian industry, opened at Copenhagen,
has reached unexpectedly large
dimensions, and has been converted in a
measure into an international exhibition.
The Russian exliibit is said to be magnificent,
the public museums having been
directed by the czar to display their
treasures. In the hygienic department
there are more than 400 exlnbiturs.?
New York Post.
JUiscettancoujs fading.
BUTTONS.
"Where's Buttons, Mary?" said little
Alice Smith, the ?ash girl in a Fourteenth
street dry goods store to her friend, Mary
Simmons.
Mary blushed and looked guilty, although
she hastily disclaimed any knowledge
of the person alludtd to.
"How should I know vhere he is? I
don't even know his name. I can't imagine
why you girls aro always teasing
me about him." And Mary petulantly
went on with her work of rearranging
the disordered showcase and w^jjb feminine
tact displaying the newest guods in
the mpst conspicuous places.
But, despite her disclaimer, pretty
Mary was thinking more about "Buttons
than she was willing to confess.
In fancy she could see his broad shoulders
and the half bashful, half conscious
smile on bis face as he appeared before
ner counter on me previous weetc tte
certainly was a strong young man She
could tell that by his brown, muscular
hand, And besides there was such an
buttons, from which the gklsJiad nicknamed
him, and Mary argued from his
tngenuousn^fe and his respectful maimer
that he must be entirely different from
the young men whom she encountered
on her way home at night and wh6se
bold glances of admiration always made
her blush.
A hundred times a day Mary found
herself looking down the long store
toward the door, expecting and even
hoping, although she aid not confess the
hope to herself?that he would come
again. Twice he had been there already,
and, to tell the truth, he had bought
enough buttons to keep him in those useful
articles for five years. What ho could
want with so many buttons was more
than Mary could divine.
In anticipation of his coming Mary arranged
and rearranged the buttons in
the case. There was an almost endless
variety of buttons. China shirt buttons,
bone coat buttons, wooden buttons covered
with cloth; glass buttons, iris tinted,
reflecting the gaslight in gleaming rays.
But not one or these shone so brightly as
the eyes which had met hers over the
counter for one brief moment and then
had been hidden by the long lashes which
dropped over them.
The chances of his coming back seemed
very small indeed to Mary when she remembered
that he had bought two cards
of shirt buttons and enough trousers
buttons to start a small store.
"I wonder if he is going to sew them
on himself?" said Mary to herself, a
smile indenting two dimples in her
cheeks. "If he does, he will have but
tuns an uvei iiiui.
In fancy Mary could see him sitting in
his shirt sleeves with a slender needle
between his clumsy thumb and forefin
ger, trying to fasten a button on his
shirt. She could see it all The compressed
lip, the slip of the needle as it
stole under his thumb nail, the muttered
imprecation; and she laughed at her
thoughts in such a merry way that the
floor waiter censured her, and she resumed
her work with a conscious blush.
But the memory oL."Buttons" gradually
faded trogv^inrfo. mind as the
weeks wept-by. He did m.'* put in an
appearance again, and as
sibpped their chaffing there was ndihing
left for the interest to feed upon. Tu6D
came the anti-poverty fair, m which a
great many of the girls were interested.
Their sympathetic Hearts were attracted
by the golden hopes of a poBsibleera
when all want, all misery, all poverty
would be done away by the new theories
which were so rife in this city. What
comforts, new dresses, unlimited ice
cream and peanuts were contained in
thosa magic words "anti-poverty 1"
And so, urged on by her desire to help'
the community at large, and perhrv^9
zeal of a zealot. \
She was assigned to take charge of a
stand containing articles of verfcu and
bric-a-brac, and in addition to these waa
an assortment of sleeve buttons, a most
beautiful array, made of gold, peart
onyx, and some inlaid with precious
stpnes.
Every night after the store closed
Mary hastened, sometimes very tired and
footsore from standing all day, to Madisbn
Square garden. There were prettier
girls than Mary behind some of the
counters, but none with a more demure
and winning manner, none with a more
sunshiny smile or brighter eyes, and so
the table over which Bhe presided had no
lack of customers.
One night when the band was playing
and the hunting shining in the gaslight
Mary looked up and found "Buttons"
confronting her. As their eyes met he
stammered:
"01). excuse me, miss. I didn't know
it was you. I just called around to see
if?if"
"If what?" said Mary, kindly, anxious
to relieve his embarrassment.
The young man fingered his cane uneasily,
and carefully averted liis gaze
from Mary, for he could feel that she anticipated
his want. Then he mustered
up courage and blurted out:
"If you had any buttons!"
Before she could .ly he added hastily:
r'The fact is that those shirt buttons I
bought of you down at the store had
such small eyes that I could not get the
thread through them. It may be that
the thread was too coarse. But, confound
it all," ho continued, his embarrassment
melting away before her assuring
and sympathetic smile, "I've
had to pin my shirt collar together ever
since I came to the city. Besides that,
you can imagine what a job it is for me
to pin one or these stiffly starched collars
around my neck!"
"But I thought gentlemen were in the
habit of wearing collar buttons," said
Mary, with a reassuring glance.
"So they do here in the city. But when
I left Otsego county my mother made?me
half a dozen new shirts in the old fashioned
way, and perhaps I?I?I"
Here he colored up again, and Mary
came to the rescue with:
"Of course, you like to wear the shirts
because your mother made them. I'll
tell you how you can fix it. Bring the
shirts down to the store to-morrow and
I'll get a poor "oman to fix button holes
in ih? ?h.rt so thai you can uso collar
buttons."
He 6tammered out his thanks and,
bewildered by the glamour c: Ihe bright ,
eyes which beamed so kind<y upon him,
he bought n $9 red" velvet album, for ;
which he had no use and which sug- I
gested each time he looked at it as it lay
m his bedroom the dainty hands which i
had wrapped it so deftly in the pap&r i
parcel, the string and the paper or which
tie had hidden away in his valise.
Mary was not aware of it, but that ,
night when she hoarded a Madison avenue
car to go home, a tall, swarthy
young man, with a bundle under Ins
arm, stood bv the driver on the front
platform. When she alighted at Grand
street sho was unaware that behind her,
dodging along in the shadows, came the
young man and the bundle.
How her heart would have fluttered
had she known that when she lit the ;
night lamp in her chamber its gleam j
was watched by a nair of dark eves in j
the street below, and that only when a
pulf of breath from her rosy lips put out j
the shimmering flame did lingering foot- i
steps die away upon the pavement in the j
direction of the Bowery.
But the next night found "Buttons" at
the fair. This time ho brought the shirts !
with him, and was even bold enough to
ask Mary to go to supper with him. But
ho had not courage*enough to ask if he (
could accompany her home.
Did Mary send the shirts to the poor
woman whom she had spoken of? Oh, |
no; as tired as sho was on arriving -at
homo she sat up until 1:80 making outton
holes in "Buttons'" shirts. And
while she was snipping with her scissors,
and her needle was flying in and out, her
lover was pacing back and forth on the
opposite side of the street, his heart od
tiro with the delirium of love.
Those were pleasant days for Mary, t
Her eyes took on a new luster, her cheek
assumed a more roseate hue. The elixir
of Iovo had animated her with new life.
All rlo rr elm hnmmod iin/tar YiGT hrPflth?
J
Just a little sunshine,
Just a little rain;
Just a little happiness.
Just a little pain.
At last, one night just before the fair
closed, "Buttons" mustered up enough '
courage to ask if he could accompany
her home. His excuse was that the nighty |
was wet and 6he had no umbrella, 1
she consented, so shyly, oh, so shyly,grnA
suggested that &s the fair closed cBUk
they should walk. As they went down
the Bowery with its brilliant shqp windows
and the sidewalks shining in the
light it was necessary to walk close together
because the crowd was so great
and the umbrella was small.
It was curious, but neither had eyes
for the dazzling scene along the route.
"Buttons" beguiled the way with the
story of his life. He told her?and she
listened carefully fearful that she might
lose a word?how he had come to the
city from Otsego county and was fortunate
enough to secure a job as a blacksmith
in a railroad car shop. His name
was Tom Murphy. He had a good trade,
and one of these days he intended to get
married if he found a girl who was willing
to take a homely fellow like him.
Here Mary archly said:
"Why, I dont think you're homely."
Tom gave her hand a squeeze, just a
little one, and then they walked in silence
for awhile and at last arrived in
front of her father's house.
"I can't ask you to go in," she said, in
a deprecating manner, "because it's too
late. Gut can't you come around some
other night?'
Could he! Could the starp shine!
Could a duck swim! Well, he Bhould
rather guess he could! But thtfewasa
held her hand while the rain fell with a
flinftv Hrin ion tho ximbrcIlsL/
- ?'What Is it? aho said/palpitating Hfar
a frightened rabbit
A Dig lump came up In Tom's throat
and a mist swam before Ms eyes. He
turned pale as he placed his hand beneath
her chin ana raised her drooping
head so that he could look into her eyes.
"I was wondering," he continued, in
an unsteady voice, "if you would bo
willing to give up selling buttons and
devote your whole time to sewing buttons
on my clothing!"
"Oh, Tom!" she said, struggling to get
away. But he held her fast and for an
instant the Irish frieze overcoat and the
waterproof were pressed close together
by a sturdy blacksmith's arm. A gust of
wind came around the corner and carried
the answer away, but it must have
been favorable to his wishes, for Tom astonished
the Italian chestnut vender on
the corner by buying out his whole stock
and otherwise acting like a good natured
lunatic.?New York Evening Sun.
, Bulwer I,ytton as a Dandy.
Until hjs death in disagreeable old age,
Bulwer Lytton (then Lytton Bulwer)
posed as a dandy and imagined himself
a man of exquisite taste in dress. He
was as gorgeous as D'Israeli himself, in
gold and jewels and flashy waistcoat,
but he didn't carry them well, as Willis
testifies: "Toward 12 o'clock, Mr. Lytton
Bulwer was announced, and enter
the author of 'Pelham.' I had made up
my mind how he should look, and between
prints and descriptions thought I
could scarcely be mistaken in my idea of
his person. No two things could be moro
unlike, however, than the ideal Mr. Bulwer
in my mind and the real Mr. Bulwer
who followed the announcement. Imprimis
the gentleman who entered was
not handsome. I beg pardon of the
boarding schools, but he really was not.
He is short, very much bent in the back,
slightly knock-kneed, and if my opinion
in such matters goes for anything, as ill
dressed a man for a gentleman, as you
will find in London. His figure is slight
and very badly put together, and tho
only commendable point in his person, as
far as I could see, was the smallest foot
J^ever saw a man stand upon."?The
Ha&erdfe,1**.
,Beet Root"B^jar In Europe.
continental authcflfcshaa calculated
thatf the production of sugar from beet
r/yOt grown in Europe during the year
Vo87 will show a very decide^ reduction
on the previous year. From the figures
for the past year?which are, oi.-cSurse,
more or less approximate?it is osl^Bated
that 875,000 tons less of beet rot2, has
jn root
countries of Europe during 1887 than in
1880. The decrease is not confined to
one country, but is general, the single
exception being Belgium, which has, it is
estimated, produced 100,000 tons last
year, as against 91,000 tons*in 1880. In
Germany and Austria the decrease
amounts in each country to about 100,000
tons. Russia shows a diminished production
of 75,000 tons, while France,
more fortunate, comes within a few
thousand tons of the previous year. The
total production of beet root in 1880 was
2,625,000 tons, and last year it is estimated
the crop did not exceed 2,350,000
tons.?Chicago Times.
Men in Extreme Distress.
Who are these who stand on bleak
corners handing circulars, programmes?
Who are these who come to the house
door when the shades of night have
closed comfort and domesticity within,
and, .ringing, ask enough with which to
buy a night's shelter? Who are these
that timidly and with faint heart, late at
night, sidle up to passers along the streets
and ask for help?
Sometimes they are dead beats. Sometimes
they are condensed offense, stenchful
and infamous, but oftener, and indeed
oftener than you think or imagine,
they are men driven by extremity of distress,
and by a perfect regiment of woe,
to that last resort, their wits. They aro
at their wits' end for a fire, for a bath,
for a bit of bread, for an unbroken shoe
for a moment's comfort. You turn them
from your door. The police move them
on, the societies with long names and
ueep pucauia iuub t,u cunsiuei
their cases.
Who wonders that the prisons are full?
?Joe Howard in New York Graphic.
Good Being Done for Womed.
Already has the kindergarten, the
thought of Froebel, left its impress upon
the womanhood of this generation; and
the free kindergarten now being Introduced
by generous hands into our large
cities for the education of the little boys i
and girls of the poor, will save to good <
citizenship, to self nelp and culture, many ;
a poor girL j
Twin sister to this, so far as women
are concerned, are "Women's Industrial
and Educational unions," the conception
of Abby Morton Diaz, of Boston. *
This takes the woman adrift as it were, '
gives to her shelter, culture and bread; ]
finds her work adapted to her education, 1
and competent pay; inculcates self re- 1
spect, and gives to her companionship 1
and surroundings worthy of respectable j
womanhood. When these unions bo- <
come established in every city, and in 3
every considerable town, the objection ,
made by the editor of a New York jour- ]
nal, that "women are of little value as
reporters because they cannot go into the' *
6lums," will be overcome, because there
will be no slums.?Belva A. Lockwood
in The Cosmopolitan.
]
Preserving Flowers' Natural Colors. '
\ method of preserving the natural j
colons of flowers, recommended in the ]
Deutsche Botanische Monatsbefte, con- '
sists ik dusting salicylic acid on the plants i
as they lie in the press and removing it
again with a brush when the flowers are
dry. Red colors in particular are well
preserved by this agent. Another method ]
of applying the same preservative is to j
use a solution of one part of salicylic f
acid in fourteen of alcohol by means of ?
blotting paper or cotton wool soaked in j
it and placed above and below the flow- ?
ers. Powdered boracic acid yields nearly
as good results. Dr. Schonland recomnmn.lr,
nn .'m*
LLitTiiuo, tn au iiiij;iuvfiiiriii 111 biiu uiuiuuu
of using sulphurous acid for preserving g
the color, that in tlio case of delicate x
flowers they might be placed loosely be- g
tween sheets .of vegetable parchment bo- ?
foro imm?rsion in the liquid, so as to J
preservo their natural form.?Home
Journal.
Aggravating; to the Eye. r
It is a curuus fact that most of the p
stout and od faced women at Long f
Branch are prodigal in the use of red j
parasols, and lie stouter -and tho redder e
they are, tho bigger and brighter aro
their sun shade. One can but think of
glorified beets h looking at them. On a J
cloudy day or ii a cloudy country, or as i
a bit of color to ight up a landscape, the t
red parasol does very well, but il^esV, m
fulfills its missionin color and .slze^wufl
the head of a pre* church
bronze faced Budthist
stall of a
woman.
Russia's Permit to Live.
Every citizen must have a permit to
live in the country. These permits are
issued annually upon the payment of a
fee. If he wants to leave the country or
go from one to another he must notify
the police, for that branch of the government
must know where each inhabitant
of the vast empire sleeps every night. In
the provinces the rigid surveilance is relaxed,
but at St. Petersburg and Moscow
and other places visited by tourists there
is a constant contact between the sovereign
and the subject that is disagreeable
to both. The police grant permission to
go and come readily. There is no interference
with traveljuor with trade. Submission
! submission! that is all. No one
can get a ticket at a railway station nor
on a steamboat without showing a permit
to leave; no hotel will entertain a guest
till he shows his passport. One cannot
go anywhere or do anything without the
consent of the authorities, but it is easily
obtained, and costs forty copecks for'the
stamp that appears on the document; about
fifteen cants.?Cor. Chicago Times,
Monkey with Yellow Fever.
During, the epidemic of yellow fever
-that prevailed some time ago in Caracas,
profession hpH an opDOttanity
ta aee, in onn-oLthe public houses of
llUlli 1 . . -TTVOm. M-ith
that disease. The .principal symptoms"
were found to manifest themselves in a
manner so marked that there remained
nf AV* 4-UA A#
UUI/ LilC 1UU3U UUUUV VIA IUO ?JfXl L Wi tiJC
physicians who observed them that it
was an undoubted case of yellow fever;
there was injection of the eyes,-a certain
state of stupor, sharp thirst, nausea,
elevated temperature and at last prostration,
anuria and black vomit. For threo
days the poor animal remained in this
sad condition, each day growing wotse,
until the fourth day, when the case
terminated fatally.?Public Opinion.
The Moor on a Home Top.
As I was making my toilet one morning
I chanced to see a Moor mount to the
flat roof of the opposite house. Placing
himself in a quiet corner, shielded by the
higher wall of an adjoining building, he
turned toward the morning sun?or,
rather, toward the holy Mecca?crossed
his arms upon his breast and reverently
bowed his head. After a moment or
two he knelt down and touched his forehead
to the floor three times. He then
sat back upon his heels for a few minutes,
as if in meditation, then repeated
his prostrations, and rising crossed his
arms again over his breast and remained
sometime in this reverential attitude.
Finally he prostrated himself a third
time, and with that finished his morning
devotions and disappeared. Truly, he
went upon the house top to pray.?Boston
Transcript
A Bit ot Porcelain.
It is while examining a collection of
Japanese, Chinese and Corean porcelain,
pottery and faience that one realizes the
fact that no hard work illuminated by
taste or genius perishes from the world.
The original designers of a certain form
of porcelain may be forgotten these
thousand years, and so may the men who
discovered this color and that, and those
who found out the secret of under erlaze
and over; the way to heat just so much
at one stage of the painting and just so
little at another; the inventor of a harmonious
blending of all that his piflfecessors
had discovered. But all tneir
\york told, and here is the result?a bit of
porcelain that when examined at leisure
and in the sympathetic frame of mind is
found to rank itself wjltb great poetry,
great music, great sculpture.?New York
Cor. New Orleans Picayune.
A Lesnon to Horsemen.
A Canadian writer draws attention to
the fact that many horses are subjected
-w Behig put! 'itKG*
their mout/hs on very cold mornings without
precaution being taken to free them
from frost!. He makes the following remarks
on the subject, which are certainly
worthy of consideration: "The bits should
be carried into the house and thawed out
by the Ipitchen stove, or dipped into a
pail of water. If you want a lesson you
will not 'soon forget in regard to this
matter, prut your tongue against a bit
that has been exposed all night to a zero
temperature. It will stick fast, and you
will not get it freqjfwithout leaving some
of the skin behind." Giving horses ice
water is also cruel, and not calculated to
conserve the health of the most useful
helper man has on the faun.?Chicago
Times.
The Deadly Jungle Fever.
Siam's great teak and ebony forests
are several hundred miles from the coast.
These are so dense that the superintendent
of the construction of telegraph, Mr.
Fritz?an American?consumed two or
three months in cutting a way for a line
through a forest of 6ixty-five miles.
There was an advance party of some
500 natives cutting the trail, and a second
party of 170 putting up tho poles
and wire. Elephants were used for all
carrying. So terrible was the jungle
fever that in that one jungle some 250
natives died within two months. If a
dose of twenty grains of quinine failed to
break the fever death almost immediately
ensued.^?Carter Harrison in Chi*
cago man.
Reporting Bismarck's Speeches.
The task of taking down the prince's
speeches is not an easy one. The official
stenographers often trip up on his words,
as in his recent speech, wherein the correction
had to be made about his reference
to Russia and Bulgaria. The incorrect
version came from the unofficial accounts,
and the correction from the prince
himself. The stenographers who take^
his words have afterward to write out ,
their notes in long hand, and these are
submitted to the chancellor, who makes
corrections before they are published as
the official utterances.?John P. Jackson
in New York World.
Alcoholic Coma.
In cases of alcoholic poisoning?the
comatose condition of intoxication?the .
promptest recovery of consciousness will
follow the subcutaneous injection of a
mixture of one part of ammonia with
two to six parts of water. Police surgeons
who have to deal with cases of unconsciousness
will find this a convenient
method of determining whether a given
case is due to whisky, compression of the
brain or nervous disorder.?Chicago
News.
Serpent* of the East.
A Singapore missionary says that tho
leadly ?obra of tho Indian archipelago
never exceeds the length of five feet.
The hamadryas, a snake often confounded
with the cobra, attains tho
length of fifteen feet and is very fierce.
The python sometimes grows to be twenty
feet long.?Chicago Herald.
I
Australia's Big Caterpillar*. !
Australia has some giant caterpillars.
Mr. A. S. Olliff, of Sydney, mentions ono (
TiAfVi 1 o rro nKnn/lonf /luwi'nr*
xiVKii Aua ?u, uuuiiuaiui uunii^ itiu paov
season, as being seven inches long, and I
specimens of larv? of two other species 1
neasure eight inches in length.?Arkausaw
Traveler.
A Mystery Solved.
The mystery regarding the whites of
sggs after the ice cream factories have 1
lsed up their yelks is explained by a !
itatement that they are used to make 1
dbuminized paper for photography.? 1
s'ew York Sun.
Artificial Petroleum. 1
Professor Mendcleef has sueceedediiu '
naking petroleum/ frpm anineral^^HU
tances, whick. cannot be
rom thcinatural article. !
K'troleunii is of niinvtf-aJ
ering. )
It i^^Ulnt $1
f
For the Yorkvllle Enquirer.
REMINISCENCES OP WESTERN YORK.
We would have our readers understand
that those referred to in a previous chapter,
were not the only persons ever scared
at Unity church, in ante-bellum times.
The writer had a little show of his own,
on one occasion, there. In th<* spring, or
early in the summer of 1858, I went to
Whitesides's mill. I had to go by Unity
church. William H. Hardin was the
miller. It happened that I found the
mill idle, and it was only a short time
before I was ready to return home. The
millpr f"R5ll TTarHir^ AI annvarcLfl that
the fish were "bedding." He proposed |
that we seine awhile, to which I readily !
agreed. We procured an old seine he had, ' J
and after mending some of the holes in it, |
went into the creek. At first we couldn't J
do much, for the rocks hung the seine at j
almost every step. Calvin Whitesides . J
came and joined us. He took one staff ,
while I carried the other, and Bill Hardin 1
followed to unhitch the seine. We began 1
at the upper ford, hod, going down stream, J
by the time we were opposite the mill, wsl
had caught a fine quantity, v Jtim
ArT. "7*4
anxious to try still further. By thit tip?
Uncle Tommie Whitesideeea'me down to, ~Vj
the mill and told Bill Hardin that he ^
would attend to the mill and give us a 1
chance to fish the remainder of the after- \J|
noon if we chose. . r ^
We kept on down the creek to the bridge,
nearly a mile, frequently swimming W^ere
the water was too deep to wade. W'hett
we got through we had fifty-two fine fish.
Of these each man took a fourth, and we al?
lowed Bill a fourth for tha seine. I now
had thirteen to start home with. Whea
we returned to the mill, Bill's wife had
become uneasy about him and came to see '
what he was doing. When she saw the
string of fish we had, she said : "They're
fine 'uns; why, they're big enough to
make mackerel uv." X'
It was now dark, and I had a long road
to travel. As I trudged along atr a pert
gait, I felt quite happy, except for the wet
clothes I wore. Along the road everybody
had, apparently, gone to bed, and not a
single living being was to be seen, for tho
night was quite dark. When I had passed
Mount Vernonchurch but a short distance,
I heard something out in the woods on mv
left. I supposed it was cows and though*
nothing more of it. As I went on toward
Unity it seemed to keep about opposite
me. Still 1 thought it wascattle, and think
so yet. Just before I came to the chnrch I
heard a rail fall off the graveyard fence. My
whole frame was struck with terror. $fy
hair stood straight on end, and cold ehills '
ran up and down my back. The open
church doors frowned a thousand terrors
upon me, while the ghosts of "Jack, the .
Sailor" and others, who in life were objects
of my derision, dashed, as it were, upon my m
mind. Like the negro who was about to '
be caught by the patrol, I asked the feet to
take care of the body, and in a very few
minutes I had passed Mr. John Morrow's
at full speed.
When I got home I found that I had
lo9t three of my largest fish. For thea^^^
Mr. J. D. Wylie had offered me a half djfiftjHffj
lar as I came by his house. I was
sixteen years old, and had-always
taught that of ghosts and such
was supreme folly to||tok^much
about. I was in
cenV?xpeTieuc^'JfSr.ttbe loTna^ntysejf^^*
a laughing stock for the community, j fl
knew not what to do. I concluded tbatdf
nobody had seen me on my haffirsftoffiV i I
would be all right. But Mr. Morrdv^ne. I
groes.no douht, had seen me andX-ouftl 'I
be talking about it next day. So the.fi rgt 8
chance I had at Rube, (one at the ae^ro 1
men) by some carefully arranged Ijues-^ 8
tions, I learned from him that my presence I
on that night hadn't been noticed by them.\ 1
I now felt comparatively easy, except that \
somebody, perhaps, had played a prank
upon me, and was still enjoying it at my
expense. This I had no meapa of finding
out, unless they would tell it themselves. fl|
The first chance I had I went into the
graveyard to see if the cattle had been
browsing over it. I found that they had, ^8
and that nearly all the fencing had been j
thrown down. I was now warranted in 1
concluding that there was nothing there fl
more than anywhere else, and from that * 8
day to this I have felt nothing more than 8
a solemn awe when l am passing such
places. J. it. 8.
Tea and Coffee as Rivals.?Coffee
and tea are natural allies, but they are
also natural rivals. As against alcoholic ?
drinking in any form, they are combined.
It is over the unoccupied territory, after
alcohol has been driven away, that tine "
contention between the two comes. Taking
the world through, the general verdiqt
seenps to be in favor of tea. Two of the ^
largest empires in the world?China and '
Russia?are tea drinkers. In Bokhara
and Samarcand, and in most parte of Central
Asia, the tea-urn is forever steaming.
On the other hand, the Arab and the Turk, V V
and with them the whole western part V
of the Mohammedan world, are coffee- ?
drinkers. The decision of Europe is Dot
absolute for either side. It seems, to be ^
very much determined by what we may I
call the accidents of the case. The nations
which can get good coffee drink coffee. /
Those which can get good tea drink teay
Those which can get both drink botbV V
England claims to be onelof these, but
preference of England is boyond all doubt
for tea and not for coffee. The unfair
choice is very largely compensated for in
the United States?the chief coffee con- fl
suming country in the \yorld. English- fl
men, too, would probablyf make more use fl
nf coffee than thev do if thev could once m
be induced to overcome the initial dif- a
Acuities of having it prepared as it ought ,
to be?["London Times.
? <r\ /
A Clever Woman.?Grace, while traveling
in the West, an Englishwoman was fl
obliged to take a seat in one crowded car,
while her friends entered the next. Her M
neighbor in the seat was a disagreeable-1
lookiDg fellow, whose feature showed an ! fl
alarming amount of low cunning, promis- ?
ing actual knavery. In spite of tne En- j
glishworaan's distrust of him, she fell fl|
asleep, and was awakened bjKfeeling her ,
companion withdrawing his hand from i J
her pocket. '
Her first impulse was to raise an alarm;
her second, to ascertain the extent of her
loss. It proved that the thief had only
9ucceded in taking her baggage-checks, B
and as his ticket was marked "Chicago" a
the lady resolved to wait until they reached
that place, also her destination.
The train ran into the station atChica* JBH
go, the pickpocket made his way to'thi, Bfl
door, and the lady walked beside hina.";:
A baggage express messengejfl^woassyMfj^^U
by the car, and the lady
"This has
she
messenger
astonished the
the tables
the checks,
.^^^ ^B^HBH^bhh
yM