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An Independent Family Journal---Deroted to Politics, Literature and General Intelligence* - . . ....... . . , ... ? - ? . ? ?? ? ?. ? 3 j mm^ HOYT & CO., Proprietors. ANDERSON 0. H.( S. O., THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 1871, VOLUME 6?NO. 46: WANTED AT THE OBOSS SOADS. I was in a hurry to reach home. No wonder, for it was the wildest night I had ever known in my life, and the country road over which I tool: my way as bad and as dark as country roads is in general. Consequently I was walk? ing at. a great rate, with the collar of a rough coat over my ears, and a comforter tied over iny soft hat and under my chin, to keep it on and to protect my ears, when suddenly a man stood fall in my path, and caught me by the arm. "Hallo!" said he, "You're just in time ; you are wanted at the Cross Roads to-night." - Tho voice was the voice of a ruffian. I fan? cied myself attacked by a highwayman. I stood quite still and strove to show him by a manner that I was able to protect myself. "What the deuce am I wanted at the Cross Roads for?" said t "Unless I should choose it would be hard to get me there." But instead of producing a pistol and de? manding my money or my life, he answered in an altered tone: "Beg pardon; I made a mistake. I thought it was my brother, and wanted to frighten him. Bad night, sir." ? "Very 1" said I. "You don't know the time ?" he asked. "It was seven when I left the train at L??," I ?aid I. ,. "Thank ye," said the man, "Good night" If his object had been robbery, probably he had decided, from my rough mufflers, that I was too poor a man to be worth the trouble. But arter all, I said probably he spoke the truth. A man may have such a voice without being a highwayman, no doubt So I went on homeward, and soon found my-1 self under shelter, and partaking of a warm and savory supper. . My mother was there, and my brother Ben. Bam was a great and strapping fellow who could beat any other boy of his age for miles around, if it came to wrestling, or boxing, and as good humored a boy as ever lived; a boy always to his mother, although he had exercised his right to vote already in one Presidential election. When supper was over and we had chatted for an hour, we went' up-stairs together. We share one room. The moment Ben's head touched the pillow he always went to sleep. That night I followed his example. j But I aid not Bleep without a dream?a dream in which I felt a rough grip on my arm and was roused by a crying in my ear: "Wake up ! you're wanted at the Cross Roads," It was so real, so palpable, that when I start- . ed broad awake I actually believed that some one was in the room?the man who intended robbery or violence. But when I had lit my lamp the room was empty, except myself and I Ben, lying snoring on his pillow. I went to the door; it was locked. I went to the window; the rush of rain against the panes was all I heard. I even went across the pass-1 age to my mother's room. She was awake.?1 There hs.d been no unusual sound she was quite sure. Only a dream, born of my meeting with the strange man upon my road, I felt sure had awakened me. I went to bed and fell asleep again. Again I was awakened by the same words?this time they came to my ear by an unearthly voice : "Wake up, you are wanted at the Cross I Roads-* I again sprang from the bed and said to Ben: "Wake up! did you hear a yelling ?" "My star," said Ben, "Yelling 1 wake up 1 You lairly frightened me." "Ben," said I, "wait until I light the lamp. I heard another voice. There must be some one in the house or outside." So we lit the lamp, and we searched, but in vain. "Nightmare," said Ben when I told him my storv. "Ben," said I, "what is there at the Cross Roads?" "A house," said Ben. j He had lived in the neighborhood a long while, and I but a short time. "One little house, besides two oak trees and a fence. An old man lives there, a rich old fellow, and a bic of a miser they say. His grand daughter keeps house for him." "Ben," said I, "that fellow may have meaut barm to them, I may be wanted at the Cross Roads." "Brother," said Ben, "go to sleep. Yotf had j a nightmare"?and Ben plunged in between j the olanketa and was soon snoring again. I also in ten minutes was sleeping soundly as before, but the wakening quickly came again. I opened my eyes to see a girl standing at the foot of the bed. A girl with white robes and golden hair all about her shoulders who wrung her hands and cried, "Oh, wake up; you are wanted at the Cross Roads." This time I started out of bed bathed in a eold perspiration. I trembled Kkc a leaf, and had no doubt that I bad received a supernatu? ral warning. "Ben," 1 cried, "Ben, for the third timo I've been told that I am wanted at the Cross Roads, and I am going." And I began to dress myself as speedily as possible, listening meanwhile to the storm, raging madder and wilder than at any other period since its commencement Ben remonstrated with me in vain. At last he began to huddle on his clothes. "If you have gone mad, I must go with you and take care of you," he said. "But fancy another man going in a storm like this to the Cross Roads, because a nightmare advises him to do so, and what would you think of him ?" I said nothing. All I could have answered would have been: "I am impelled to go; I dare not refuse, whatover may be thought of me-" In ten minutes we were splashing through mud and rain along the road. It was perfectly dark; now and then a blazing red star in the distance told us that a lamp was gleaming through the rain, in some cottage window, but otherwise we would not have been conscious of our proximity to any habitation whatever. At last nearing the spot where tho road from S- crosses tho road from P-, we wero indeed, in as solitary a place as could be well imagined. ? The house, which abutted on the very angle of the roads called in familiar parlance the Cross Reads, was the only one for some dis? tance in either direction, and certainly ousueh a night we are not likely to meet many travel? ers. ? .,, "Well," ho said, "how now ? will you go home and have another nightmaro ?" But hardly had the words escaped his hps when a shriek broke on the air, and a woman's voice plainly coming from the interior of the cottage cried: "Help! help ! help!" . "Ben," said I, "we are wanted at the Cross Roads,"' and then, understanding each other, without more words we made our way to a win? dow through which a light shone. A muslin curtain draped tue panes, but through it we saw an awful sight. An old man lay upon tbo floor and ovor him bent a ruffian, clutching his throat, and holding I a pistol to his ear, while another man grasped a shrieking girl by the arm?a girl in a floating night dress?with such long golden hair as be? longed to the woman of my vision, Not a moment was to be wasted. Ben flung his weight against the slender lat? tice und crushed it in, and we had grappled with the ruffians before they knew whence the attack came or how many foes were upon them. I do not intend to describe the struggle; indeed, I could not if I would. But we were men, and inspired by the cries of the helpless old man and the terrified girl, soon had one of the villains bound and the other lying prostrate on the floor. Then Ben started for assistance, and before morning both were in jail. Ben admitting, as we shook each other by the hand, that we were "wanted at the Cross Roads." The old man was not a miser, but he had saved some few thousands for his old age, and living more plainly than he need have done had given rise to the rumor, and so brought the burglars to the Cross Roads, in the hope of booty. The girl, a beautiful creature of seventeen, and as a story is not acceptable to the lady reader withont a flavor of romance, I will tell them that she became in after years, not my wife, but the wife of my darling brother Ben. Henry Ward Beecher's Stepmother.? It is well known that Mr. Beecher keeps a re? porter in his church. The form of Mr. Ellen wood is as well known as that of the Plymouth paster. He has sat for years at a little table in front of the platform, and takes down every? thing that Mr. Beecher nays?his notices, prayers and sermons. These Mr. Beecher re? vises before they are published. Sharp, racy, humorous utterances, keen remarks, sentences thrown off in the heat of speaking, witticisms that shake tho Plymouth audiences as the for? est leaves are shaken by the wind, are often missed in the public report Many of the il? lustrations lo?e much of their point, because no reporter can take down the manner of their utterance. Last Sunday morning he brought his stepmother on to the platform. He de? scribed her as a woman of great excellence, but as a great martinet. Strict in her religious practices and teachings, and like the mistress' of Dotheboy's Hall,' she gave her children weekley a stiff dose of the Catechism. She was the pink of propriety, and held in abhor rance all Yahi aua trifling amusements. Dr. Beecher had a weakness?that of playing on the fiddle. He mixed up Yankee Doodle, a round country dance, and Old Hundred, and he did not exactly know where the one began and the other ended. One day he was amusing himself on his favorite instrument, and struck up a genuine jig which unsanctified had been running in his head ever since he was a boy. Jnst at that moment the mother came in and, catching the inspiration of the tune, placed her bands on her hips and actually danced a min? ute. Mr. Beecher described the scene. He stepped back on the platform, placed his hands on nis hips, and showed the audience how his mother did it. He described the consternation of tha children. He clasped his hands, rolled Up the whites of his eyes like a regular Maw worm, opened his mouth, drew down his hip, and stood the personification of rustic horror. The whole scene was irresistibly comic. He wound up with the moral that if his mother had danced more and plied the Catechism less be would have had a happier childhuod.?Bos tan Journal. Sermon on a Miser's Death.?If there be anything in this world which is mournfully laughable, it is the spectacle of a dead miser, lying in helpless inertia, and quite unable to protest, though never so faintly, against the undertaking and other sepulchral extrava? gance. It is only then that we begin to com? prehend the metaphorical etymology of the word: "Miser?miserable, pitiful, woe: sorry, abject." Here is tho poor capitalist, with all his pinchings and parings, his hoarding and scra? pings, his savings and secretings, come to this at last 1 The fact puts life into the moldiest morality. All is left behind?the unmytho logical heirs will not so much as place a penny to pay Charon into the fist which will never gripe again, or upon the palm which will itch no more. There-will be newspaper paragraphs about the queer creature in the coffin, like the one which we read concerning Thomas Boyle, a miser just defunct in Philadelphia. He was bell-ringer at the Navy Yard, dwelt seventy years alone in a garret, was worth eighty thou? sand dollars salted down in roal property, begged all the clothing which he wore from the generous sailors, and whenever it was washed he washed it himself With all his wealth there was not a poorer creature in the city. He attained the superlative of the adjective?he was miser and he was miserriuius?living in such fearful foreboding of penury that he at? tempted, at one time, to enlist as a common sailor at seventeen dollars a month. Here, as in all such cases, wfes prudence, un excellent quality in itself, run to sheer lunacy. It will always be so, when the business of money-gev- , ting is pursued for the sheer sake of getting money?a crazy hunt which does nobody, not even the hunter himself, any good. It may be hard to convince the world that this mania is substantially no better than that of the spend? thrift?that, in fact, it is, all things considered, less creditable to human nature?yet such seems to us to be the truth. Negro Debts.?No caso involving the pay? ment of debts contracted for tho purchase of slaves, has been or will be tried at the present term of tho Court. When the first case was called, Judge Orr expressed his regret that ho could not concur in the recent decision of the Supreme Court of this State, and that he would feel himself constrained to instruct the Jury that debts contracted for slaves could not bo collected, and that the prohibition in the State Constitution was not a violation of the Consti? tution of the Uuited States. He suggested that it would perhaps be most prudent to continue all such cases until tho de? cision of the Supremo Court of the United States upon the question should be announced. The members of the Bar approved of the sug? gestion, and all that class of cases was contin? ued. Judge Orr has a very distinguished precev dent for his determination in this case. In the case of the State vs. Wells, (2d Hill, G87,) Judge Enrlo decided that tho Congress could not confer jurisdiction on the State Courts to try violations of the criminal law of tho United States. It went to'thc State Supreme Court; the Court reversed his decision. Two years later, the caso of the State vs. McBride, involving the same principle, came be? fore-him on the Circuit, and he refused to re? cognize tho decision of the Supreme Court in the caso of the State vs. Wells." Jin appeal was taken, and the remodelled Appeal Court of the State over-ruled the decision in the case of the State vs. W*>!is, and sustained the position taken by Judge Earlc. This last case will be found in Rice's Law Reports, pago 400.?Green c'dle Mountaineer. Kindness* Eres Toward the Humblest? la Barer Lost* Ei ihn Burritt illustrates this maxim with Che following story: A poor, coarse-featured old woman lived on the lino of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where it passes through a wild, unpeopled dis? trict of Western Virginia. She was a widow, with only one daughter, living with her in a log hut, near a deep precipitous gorge, crossed by the railway bridge. Here 6hc contrived to support themselves by raising and selling poul? try and eggs, adding berries in their season, and other little articles for the market. She had to make a long, weary walk of many miles to a town where she could sell her basket of pro? duce. The railway passed by her cabin to this town ; but the ride would cost too much of the profits of her small sales, so she trudged on generally to the market on foot. The conduc? tor came finally to notice her walking by the side of the line or between the rails ; and, be? ing a good-natured, benevolent man, he would often give her a ride to and fro without charge. The enginemen and brakesmen were also good to the old woman, and felt they were not Wronging the interests of the railway company by giving her these free rides. And soon an accident occurred that proved that they were quite right in this view of the matter. In the wild month of March, the rain de? scended and the mountains sent down their rolling, roaring torrents of melted snow and ico into this gorge, near the old woman's hut.? The flood arose with the darkness of the night, until she heard the crash of the railway bridge, as it was swept from its abutments, and dashed its broken timbers against tho craggy sides of the precipice on cither sido. It was nearly midnight. The rain fell in a flood, and the darkness was deep and howling with the storm. In another half hour tho express train would be due. What could she do to warn it against the awful destruction it was approaching ? She had hardly a whole tallow candle in herhou3e; and no light sho could make of tallow or oil, if she had it, would live a moment in that tempest of wind and rain. Not a moment was to be lost; and her thought was equal to the moment. She cut the cord of her only bed? stead, and shouldered the dry posts, Bide-pieces and head-pieces. Her daughter followed her with their two wooden chairs. Up the steep embankment they climbed, and piled all their household furniture upon .the line a few rods bafore the black/awful chasm, gurgling with the roaring flood. The distant rumbling of the train came upon them just as they had fired tho well-dried combustibles. The pile blazed up into the night, throwing its red, swelling, boom? ing light a long way up the track. Iu fifteen minutes it would begin to wane, and she could not revive it with green, wet wood. The thun? der of the train grew louder. It wa3 within five miles of the fire. "Would they see it in time ? They might not put on the brakes soon enough. Awful thought! She tore her red flannel gown from her in a moment, and, tying it to the end of a stick, ran up the track, waving it in both hands, while her daughter swung round her head a blazing chair-post a little before. The li ves of a hundred uncon? scious passengers hung on the issue of the next minute. The ground trembled at the old wo? man's feet. The groat, red eye of the engine burst upon her as it came around a curve.? Like as a huge, sharp-sighted lion coming sud? denly upon a fire, it sent forth a thrilling roar that filled all tho wild heights and ravines around. The train wild at full speed ; but the brakesmen wrestled at their leverage with all the strength of desperation. The wheels ground along on the heated rails slower and slower, until the engine stopped at the decaying fire. It still blazed enough to show them the beetling edge of the black abyss into which the train and all its passengers would have plunged, and into a death and de? struction too horrible to think of had it not been for the old woman's signal. They did not stop to thank her first for the deliverance. The conductor knelt down by tho side of the en? gine ; the engine driver and the brakemen came and knelt down by him; all the ptuson gers came and knelt down by them; ana there, in the expiring light of the "burnt-out pile, in the rain and wind, they thanked God for the salvation of their lives. All in a line the kneclen; and prayers sent up into the dark heavens such a midnight voice of thanksgiving as seldom, if ever, ascended from the earth toy Him who seeth iu darkness as well as in se? cret. " Kindness is the music of good-will to men ; and on this harp the smallest fingers may play heaven's sweetest tunes on earth. Whipping Houses.?Professor Maguer, in speaking upon the education of horses, says : "I would caution those who train- or uso horses against exciting the ill-will of tho ani? mal. Many thiuk they are doing finely, and are proud of their success iu horse-training by ineaus of severe whipping, or otherwise rous? ing and stimulating the passions, and then, from necessity, crushing tho will through which the resistance is prompted. No mistake can be greater than this, and there is nothing that so fully exhibits the ability, judgment and skill of the horseman as the care and tuet displayed in winning, instead of repelling, tho actiou of the mind. Although it may be necessary to use the whip sometimes, it should always be ap? plied judiciously, and great care should be taken not to rouse the passions or excite the will to obstinacy. "The legitimate and proper use of a whip is calculated to operate upon the sense of fear al? most entirely. The affections and better na? ture must be appealed to in training a horse, as well as in training a child. A reproof given may be intended for the good of a child, but, if only tho passions aro excited, the effect is de? praving and injurious. This is a vital princi? ple, and can be disregarded in the management of sensitive, courageous horses, only at the im? minent risk of spoiling, them. I have known many horses of naturally gooA character to be spoiled by whipping onco; and one horso that was made vicious by being struck with a whip once, while standing in his stall. "Sensitive horses should never be left, after thoy have been excited by the whip or other means, until calmed down by rubbing or pat? ting tho head and neck, and giving apples, su? gar, or something of which the auimaris fond. Remember, the whip must be used with great caro, or it is liable to do mischief, and may cause irreparable injury." The Growth ok Shad.?According of Mr. Green, the well known pisciculturist of New York, shad do not attain their full growth sooner than at the age of three or four years. These views arc formed from the examination and comparison of the young shad hatched out in artificial brooding troughs and those caught in the Hudson. Young shad hatched out are at the age of six weeks only one and one-quar? ter inches long, and not larger round than an ordinary sized darning needle, whilo in- tho month, of June shad five inches long arc caught in the Hudson. The theory is advanced that the five-inch shad: is on.; ytjur old, and, having remained in the rivor, or near its mouth, du ring the first twelve months, comes up the river with the old Bhad in tho spring. How to IMslJtognish Poisonous Serpent* In thffl connection, it mtj not bo unir forest? ing to mention some characteristics by which poisonous serpents in the United States can al? ways be distinguished. Iu the first placoj ire have no venomous specleB with longitudinal Btripes, nor any or which tho color is entirely green; black or brown; We may therefore, eliminate all striped and all uniformly colored snakes, "garter s?akes," "black snakes," "green snakes," etc., from tho series of the kinds that arc-to be dreaded. Our poisonous serpents are marked with transverse blotches, which aro also characterized by having a broad triangu? lar head, considerably and appreciably wider than the narrow neck, this expansion of the head being required to accommodate the poison glands. I Again, tho poisonous species possess a deep pit or cavity on each side of th? face, between the eye and the nostril, always very definitely marked, the nostril being at the end of the snout. The stories therefore of the venomous character of the "black snakes" and "garter snakes" are fabulous. It may be well enough to mention, while on the subject of poi-onous reptiles, that no lizard of any kind aro known to produce poisonous wounds. Some, like" the alligator, produce a serious wound by a bite; but there is nothing whatever analag?us to the venom of the ser? pent to be found in any order. Nor is there any credence to be placed in the stories of snakes with a poison apparatus in the tail.? Every neighborhoood in the United States has a legend of a so-called "hoop snake," which takes its tail in its mouth, and runs rapidly down hill after some terrified individual, and on reaching him, uncoils, and lashes out the sting of its tail, which, fortunately, strikes into a tree near by, to the great relief of the ex? pected victim, The tree then has to bear the fruit of the charge, and in twenty-four hours it is found to have oeen completely killed, all the leaves on the branches having withered. It is not uncommon for certain species of Bnakes to have the terminal plates of the tail coalesced into a kind of bard, conical point ? but this has no penetrative power, and contains no concealed sting, liko that of the bee or wasp, such as is ascribed to the hoop snake by its credulous historian?. One North American serpent, the Elapa Ful vius, (the "harlequin," or "coral" snake,) a species beautifully annulated with black, red and yellow, belongs to a poisonous family, in which they are small, permanently erect poi? son-fangs, instead of movable ones of the rat? tlesnake and copperheads. Our species has, however, never been known to attempt to bite, if, indeed, it possesses the power to do any in? jury. The South American coral snake, an allied species, is said to be extremely danger? ous. Shekman and the Radicals.?With an effort to disparage his influence upon Northern public sentiment, but with poor concealment of their chagrin at his course, tho leading Radical journals assail General Sherman for his recent speech at Now Orleans. Having regarded Sherman as their own property, and as the heir apparent to the Presidency, whenever Radical necessities should drive the party to nominate him, as was tho case in the selection of Grant, these Radical journals do not relish tho proba? bility of losing him. They show their teeth and snarl at him. The N. Y; Tribune of Thurs? day has a column on the suject, in which the General is unceremoniously handled. It calls his speech a "Democratic Godsend," while he is called "the most talkative of our Generale.," and a believer "in tho government of the sword." His "ignorance ol politics" and "tho ambitious and arrogant mind of tho brilliant soldier" aro ridiculed. It is hinted that he is itching for tho Presidency, and tho opinion in expressed that "he would make a bad President for us all." We may hero bo pardoned for asking, if his speech is a "Democratic Godsend," what kind of a send is it to tho Grant Radi? cals? The Philadelphia Prm, in a ebort paragraph, refers to "the pro-Southorn ideas" contained in the General's address as greatly pleasing tho friends of the Ku Klux and the "enemies of the Republican party." The Washington Chronicle dom not believe that he made the speech as reported?but if he did it is to be regarded either as "one of his ?erratic growls," or as "a bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination." General Sherman's bomb has evidently pro? duced a panic in the Grant camp. His speech was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. The probabliity is that in a short timo he will be one of the best abused men in the country. But the more ho is villified by the extreme Radicals the more acceptable he will be to the moderate men of the country?and the more too. (if we correctly understand his character), will he be confirmed iu his own manly and in? dependent views, and the less likely will he be to submit to the dictation of the Radical man? agers. _ A Safe Place to Carry Money.?An amusing incident occurred in a crowded passen? ger car near Hillsboro on the North Carolina Railroad tho other day. While Mr. W. W. Davics, the gentlemanly conductor, was collec? ting tickets from his passengers, all responded promtly except one old fat lady Who sat next the door, and who seemed to be reaching down as if to get something she had dropped on the floor. When her time came to pay she raised her head and thus addressed tho blushing con? ductor : "I allers, when I travels, carry my money in my stockin', for, you sees nothing crva get at it thar, and I'd thank you, yourtg man, just to reach it for me, as 1 am so jammed in 1 can't get to it. I forgot to get a ticket at the depot." The conductor, who, by tho way, is a very modest man, glanced at the other passengers, some of whom wore laughing at his plight, one or two young ladies among them blushed scar? let, and he l)eat a sudden retreat, muttering something about not charging old ladies, etc. His cash was short that trip Iho faro of one passenger. The case was laid before the direc? tors, who havo excused tho conductor for this time.?Newbcrn Republican. Slightly Mixed.?A friend who married a widow, explains as followH how he got mixed up in his relationship: "1 married a widow who had a grown up daughter. My father visited our house often, fell in love with my stop-daugh? ter and married her. So, my father became my son-in-law, aua*?iy step-daughter my moth? er, because sho was my fathers wife. Somo timo afterwards my wife had a hoii?he was my father's brother-in-law, and my uncle, for he was tho brother of my Btep-mothor. My father's wife, that iH my step-daughter, had also a son ; he was, of course, my brother; and in tho meantime my wife became my grandmother; because she was my mother's mother; I was | my wife's husband and grandchild at tho same i time. And as the husband of a person's grand-1 mother is his grand-father, I am my own grand? father._ ? A female lecturer says the only decent thing about Adam was a rib, and-that wont to make something better. A Bemarkablb Cask?A Man Orafted Like a Tree.?Tho case of George Gardner df this city who, an oor rendors may remombei; had his foot crushed on the M., K. & T. R. E., some time since, has given rise to an experi? ment, and a result in surgery of great Interest to the profession, and destined to command the attention of scientific readers everywhere. A report of the case will doubtless find its way to the medical journals, but we may, without im- j propriety, give an Outline of the experiment; It has always been difficult to cause the heal? ing of wounds where any large surface of the skin was gone, as nothing but skin will produce new skin, and this only for a short distance (less than an inch) around the margin. Hence, in making amputations, it has always been con? sidered necessary to preserve a "flap" of skin to fold over the exposed end of the limb in order to form a covering of skin and a good "stump." But in Gardner's case the patient was too weak to admit of amputation, and it was a question of life or death to save tho ankle-joint and to form a skin covering for tho crushed and mangled stump. This was done by a wonderful process, viz : by transplanting or grafting on the wounded part from time to time a small portion of skin from another part of the body. Pieces of skin not so large as a grain of wheat were taken from the patient's arm and grafteu/on the lace? rated stump, where they took root, as it were, formed nucleus for growth, and gradually 1 spread till the whole surface was completely covered with a sound and hew integument of skin, and the young man has a good ankle joint and a beautiful stump. The surgeon in charge (whose name we are not at liberty to use) does not claim to bo the discoverer of this treatment, the credit of which is due to a celebrated surgeon of Paris?Mr. Reverdin, we believe. But the present case is believed to be the most clearly defined and em? inently successful one yet treated in the United States, and as such will undoubtedly excite much interest in scientific circles.?Sedalia {Mo.) Times. M?N?*.?The life of money, like the life of trade, is in activity. Every dollar put into cir? culation in ordinary times stirs out another dollar, and the process continues Until all branches find themselves thriving. It is tho holding back that does the mischief. If coun? try merchants could collect one half that is due them, the money would speedily pass into the hands of the wholesale dealer, and he,- in turn, would pay it to the importing houses, Whose heaviestdisbursements ahroadare made through tho medium of an exchange of the products of this country for that of others. This trade se? cures a market for the farmer, whose money has cone the circuit to the relief of every one ; and has finally come back to be sent on the same round again. The proce<*s is much more rapid than many imagine. A multitude of small debts which are due, and might easily be paid instead of postponed, lock up in tho ag? gregate a vast amount of funds that ought to be circulating,- stimulating trade, reviving busi? ness, and giving life and activity to every kind of pursuit. The "nimble dollar" doing the office for which it was designed, will pay an average of ten dollars of debts daily, while the same hoarded up or laid away when honestly duo to some tradesman or mechanic, practically loses its usefulness, and for the time being is lost to the world1. Accumulated money is not generally an evidence of public prosperity, but often the reverse of it, as it means stagnation. It is the small sums that move quickly that count. There is no real scarcity ot funds in the country. Tho real trouble is an indisposition to put them afloat. A Wonderful City is London.?It is four times more populous than New York and St. Petersburg, twice as populous as Constantino? ple, has two-thirds more people in it than Paris, and one-fourth more than Pekin. It contains as many people as Scotland, twice as many as Denmark, ana three times the number of Greece. Every eight minutes, night and day, one per? son dies; every five minutes one is born.? Eight hundred thousand havo been added to the population since 1851. Only half a million of all this population attend public worship, and there are a million of ndscntces, who, if inclined to attend, would require to have 800 ? new places of worship built; 100,000 people work on Sundays; there are 140,000 habitual gin drinkers; 190,000 intoxicated people every year taken ofF the streets ; 100,000 fallen women ; 10,000 professional gamblers; 50,000 children trained to crime; 30,000 thieves and receivers of stolen goods. There are 10,000 public houses and berr shops, frequented regu? larly by 500,000 persons. In every 890 of the population one is insane. There is one baker for every 1,208 persons ; one butcher for every 1,553 ; one grocer for every lj?OO ; and one po? liceman for every 608 inhabitants. On the other hand, out of 00,000 street Arabs, 30.000 ; are at ragged schools. There Are 400 Bible women ; 380 city missioiiarfesv and 30,0t)0 per? sons attending public worship in' the theatres every Sunday evening. It is a world in itaelf. A Volunteer Prisoner.?Tho New York . Tribune has the following: Is not this, related in a private letter from London, rather a re? markable story ? About ten years ago a young American from New York, Walter Hastings by name, dining in London in company with Lord C-, expressed tho opinion that solitary con? finement iu a dark cell was net so dreadful a punishment as had been represented. His Lordship?so goes the talc?offered Hastings ?10,000 if he would undergo entire seclusion for ten years. The proposition being a'grecrfto, a cell was fitted up in Lord C-'s t,ow\ house. It was from twelve to fifteen feet square. The prisoner was to be allowed candles, a few books, writing materials, plain food?the latter served by a man who was not to be seen. In this way Hastings has been living for a decade of years, his term expiring about the 1st of the present month. He is now released, and has received, we suppose, his hard earned money. He emerges from his dungeon in rather a dilapida? ted condition, appearing, though only thirty five, like a man of sixty-five years of aco, his framo stooping and bis steps tottering, his faco sallow, his hair and beard white, his voice tremulous, and hitr speech hesitating. He is coming directly to' America. ? Archbishop Manning is out against ex? travagance in female attire. Ho said: "Men have improved since the last century in this respect, but the attire of women has become more costly, ostentatious and singular, even to strangeness, and thus money wasted which should clothe the naked, feed the poor; or ed? ucate the children. ? "It is not often," says the Nashville (Tenn.) Union, "that wo see city mayors in State prisons; but we saw a convict, on Thurs? day, at work at tho capitol as a carpenter, who is said to have been formerly Mayor of Cleve? land. He sent many prisoners to the peniten? tiary, but finally got there himself." ? A Massachusetts man has commenced; swallowing himself. He has got his teeth I down. Home Courtesies.?How many of iis; brethren and sinters, make home the rag-bone of ill-huniors and capricos, and wretched moods of every kind, while we carefully hide theui from the stranger 1 When the guest arrives we" slide a chair over the rent in tho carpet, and slide a tidy over the worn edge of the aofii; cushion, and lay. a prettily-bound book ?vet; the ink-stain upon the parlor table-cloth ; aha so at his coming the flying hair is smoothed; and the sullen look is gilded with a smile, and the sour tone is suddenly wonderfully sweet: Shriveled old Autumn blooms in a moment in? to rosy Spring. And how is a youth to know that this house, where everything seems to smile, is not always as warm and sunny as he finds it? Yet this young woman, so neatly dressed, so quietly mannered, so fascinating tb\ the young man, may be the most inefficient of human beings. Still he can never know it un? til it is too late. He cannot put it to the proof He takes the divinity upon trust; All.that he* knows is that she is a woman, and that h'e loves, And whether he thinks that household intel? ligence and thrift and endless courtesy come . by nature, like Dogberry's reading or writing, 5 or whether he assumes that, having & matbtt'i his peerless princess has been carefully ta?ghfc all the duties of a queen, or whether, as liifl most probable, he knows only that he loves, the duty of the parent is still tho same. * * * * But for the ordeal of the house? hold who can come too well prepared? And what parent, what human being Who has Id?f? ed by experience, but would gladly equip every* child with the most perfect equipment? No) Dorinda Jane, to whom the youth, crusty at home, will presently come sweetly smiling, it i? not the flowing hair, and the graceful dress, and the bloom upon the cheek, and the soft luster of the eye, that will make home happy. No, nor is it his horses and plate, and the lux? ury and ease he promises. And you, dear 8ir^ and Madam, who permit that boor to sit surly at the table, and to growl in monosyllables at home, you who sutler that fair-faced girl to grow up utterly unequal to the duties to Whieft she will be called, you are responsible; Rules of Etiquette.?Before you bow to ? lady in the street permit her to decide whether you may do so or not by at least a look of re? cognition. "Excuse my gloves" is an unnecessary apol? ogy, for the gloves should not be withdrawn to shake hands, and then it will be discovered that you have gloves without calling attention to the fact. When your companion bows to a lady you* should do so also. When a gentleman bows to a lady in your company, always bow to him in return. A letter must be answered, unless you wish to intimate to the writer that he or his subject is beneath your notice. A visit must be returned in like mahnet, even though no intimacy is intended. A smiling countenance is pleasant, but ex? cessive laughter should be avoided, especially' when it is possible for any one to suppose' him? self derided by it. Whispering in company' is always offensive, and for the reason that per? sons present suspect that they arc the subject of it. ? A quaint old Scotch proverb ruins thus :* "An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy." ? The heart is tho only thing that increases iu value by being broken. ? It is not the sharpest people who succeed the best. Many an instrument is so keelr thai it cuts those who handle it, worst of all. ? Down east they call finger posts ministers because they point the way to other people, but don't go themselves. ? "My dear, it is very wrong for young peo? ple to throw kisses." ""Why, manimay they don't hurt, if they do hit." ? An Indiana paper notices the death of an old subscriber, and touchingly adds: "We are sorry to hear of the death of any of our sub? scribers who are prompt about paying up/" ? A Boston paper is "in favor of women* voting if they want to." A Western paper "would liko to see the man who could make them vote If they didn't want to." ? Give a mau brains and riches, and he is at king; give a man brain? without richeey and he is a slave; give a man riches without brainsy and he is a monkey. ? Placing the eyes under water, and rapidly opening and closing them, will serve to Keep them in a healthy condition; and very irrtfca preserve and prolong the sight. ? An Irish paper savs that, "irt the absence of both editors, the publishers hatte succeeded in securing the services of a gentleman to edit the paper this week." ? A negro, after gazing at some Chinese, shook his head and solemnly said, "If dewhite folks be so dark a* dat out dar, I wonder what's de color of do black folks ?" ?A showman advertises that among his other curiosities is the celebrated "difference" which has been so often split by bargain makers. Ho says he has both halves of it. ? A young man with a good trado or horP orable profession, is not oldiged to ask many favors. He will hew his way to success, while the unstable and shiftless will grow tirod, de-' spair and fail. ? A young Hoosier once said to a Hooaieress, "Sal, is there anybody courtin' you now?" And Sal replied: "Well. Sam, there is one fel? low sorter courtin' and sorter not; but I reckon it is more sorter not than sorter.'"' ? A man lately tirade application' for insu? rance on a building situated in1 a village where there was no fire engine. In answer to the question? "What are the facilities for extin? guishing fires?' he wrote: "It rains some? times." ? An Towa farmer, delirous with fever, jumped down a thirty-foot well, climbed out,, and speedily recovered. And now the doctor*' in his town want all the wells filled up. 'Fhey/ say' if invalids adopt such a hygienic mode off treatment, physicians must starve ? A nie? young man put a sbest round him4 to scare a Dutchman. The Ueatortie gentler man says: "I shust jumped'out from de corner1 und vip der cost all do time. I would vip him' if he vas a wnole gwrvevard-." Some one asked* the young man what ailed his black eye, and1 he said he had" received bad news from Ger? many. ? A man was arrested' in Buffalo Iaht Weelc ' for stealing a barrel of salt When arraigned' in the court he pleaded destitution:- *}You' couldn't eat salt," said the judge.- "Gib yes I could, with the meat I intended-' to steal." This reply cost him six months. The judge; had no appreciation of delicate humor. ? null's Journal of Health", writing of lbn-* govity, states that out of orte thousand persons4 who have' reached4 seventy years, it will' be' found that about 48 are clergymen, orators ami public speakers, 40 are farmers, 33 arewwfciog mcn, 32 soldiers. 29 lawyers, 27 professer* and' 24j physicians. One half of all wh<y live die before, t&e'age of 17; only one'person in a hun? dred- reaches 00, and ene in ten thousand reaches 100. Married persons live longer than single;.