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THE TRIBUNE.
VOL. I.?NO. 5. BEAUFORT, S. C., DECEMBER 23. 1874. * $2.00 PER ANNUM.
The Brown Thrush.
There is r merry brown Ibruah sitting np in
the tree.
" He's singing to me ! IIo's singing to mo !"
And what iloos ho say, littlo girl, littlo boy?
" O, the world's running over with joy !
Don't you hear ? Don't you soo ?
Hush ! Look ! In my tree
I'm as happy as happy 'can b? !"
And the brown thrush koops singing, " A
nest do you sec,
And five eggs, hid by mo in tho jiuiiport
roe ?
Don't meddle ! don't touch ! httlo girl, littlo
boy,
Or tho world will lose some of its joy !
Now I'm glad! now I'm froo !
And I always Hliall bo,
If you never bring sorrow to mo."
Ko tho merry brown thrush sings away in tho
tree,
To you ami to mc, to you and to mo ;
And ho sings all the day, little girl, little boy,
" O, tho world's running over with joy !
But long it won't be,
Don't you know? don't yon tseo?
"Unless wc aro as good as can bo ?"
THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS.
A Thrilling (Sketch.
Dick Archer was the station agent,
and a-s there was little to do, the place
just suited him, as he was fond of fishing
and hunting. Besides Dick, there
wro a porter nud a boy. Tho porter
was a quiet, lethargic man, tho son of
one of his lordship's woodmen ; and I
don't know how the station would liave
got on at all, little as there was to do, if
it hadn't been for the boy. That boy
was n perfect treasure. I never saw any
boy like him for energy and firmness.
One day Dick camo and told me
that there was to be a party np at tho
Hall, a sort of upper servants' party.
At fifteen minutes after midnight the
up express passed through at full speed,
and it was Dick's duty to bo at tho station
to see the lino all clear. Half an
hour before tho express came a goods
train usually, but it rarely stopped. Our
siding was not long enough for it to
shunt into, and if there wasn't a truck
to leave, it ran on to Greatford, a principal
station on the line, where it shiuited
for tho express to pass. After thoso
two trains had gone by there was nothing
more for the station master to do.
I did not carc to go, but went to
please Dick.
Near the Hall was tho Hurford Arms
inn. The landlord had a very pretty
daughter, too, Ellen Lanford, and in his
quiet way Dick was very fond of her.
Between ourselves, I liked her too, and
thought about her more than I should
have cared to acknowledge.
I was rather sprry for Dick, because
I could see tho girl didn't-care for him.
She was really a nice girl, I assure you,
well brought up and educated, and tnere
was a charm about her tliat seemed to
entangle one whether one would or not.
However, I wasn't going to interfere with
Dick ; it would liavo been a pretty return
for liis hospitality to have cut him
out 011 his own ground, even if I'd had a
chance of doing it.
I fancied that Dick had made up his
muui u> nnng inuigs 10 a crisis tins particular
night. He'd got himself up very
spruce in a dress suit and embroidered
sliirt, and altogether looked very well.
The Lanfords were going up to tlio Hall
in one of their own flies, and were to
tako Dick with them ; so we walked up
to the Burford Arms together. There
stood the fly waiting at the door, and
Mr. Lanford, dressed in a blue coat and
brass buttons, capacious whito silk waistcoat,
silk stockings, and shorts.
" Wliero's Ellen ?" said Dick.
" Oh," said Mr. Lanford, " she's got
a ba<l cold, and won't come ! Jump in,
Mr. Archer."
Dick's face fell, and he hesitated as if
he'd a mind to say he wouldn't go either;
but he couldn't exactly do it, and he
crawled into tlio fly and went off with
old Lanford, as woc-begono as if he wero
going to execution.
I stood in the porch of tlio Bnrford
Arms, not thinking of going in, when all
of a sudden the thought came into my
head that Ellen hod done this on purpose.
Dick had mado such a fuss about
this party and her going to it that she
had como to the same conclusion as myself,
and had mado up her mind that he
was going to put a certain question to
her that very night. Now her not going
meant that she didn't want the question
jiiikml T ftftii'f /looninhA wl^ot o fix
wont through mo as I thought of that.
The coast was clear. Dick's chanco was
gone. Was there a chance for me ?
Was I doing a sneaking thing ?
I wondered, as I opened the door quietly
and walked in. As I went down the
matted passago my heart went loudly
pit-a-pat. I had come to a resolve on the
instant, and every faculty I had was
working hard to justify it. Here was a
girl whom I hadn't known for more than
a fortnight in a position in which of
choice I should not havo looked for a
wife, and yet I know tliat I must needs
go on. I had sot my face tliat way, and
thero was no turning it.
The result of it was that beforo I left
tho inn I had told Ellen that I loved her.
and had received her assurance that sho
loved mo in return, and I was most
happv.
I left tho inn and walked to the station.
Dick was there, not having attended
the party.
" Dick," I said, plunging at onoe into
tho middle of the subject?"Dick, would
you bo surprised to hew: that I was engaged
to bo married ?"
", It was the paraffine lamp over his head,
no doubt, that threw such a yellow
sinater glare into Dick's faoe as he slowly
Vix
j
t /
raised his eyes from tlio paper before
liim.
"To bo married," said he?"to be
married, eh ? Who is the fortunate fair,
I wonder ?"
I was rather relieved to iuid that Dick
was taking it thus lightly, and I went
on : "I have proposed to Ellen Lanford
to-night, and she lias accepted me. If
I've interfered in any way with you,
Dick, I'm sorry ; I didn't intend to,
but"?
" Interfered with me ?" interrupted
Dick, with a sort of a sneer. " Wliat on
earth should make vou think that? I
may have flirted a littlo with her, but
that's my way with girls. I assure you
I had no intentions except a little diver- I
sion."
" That's lucky," said I, coldly, for I
didn't like his tone.
A.11 of a sudden we heard a low murmuring
sound, caused by the humming
of the wires of the telegraph overhead,
and tho gcntlo vibration of the woodwork
about us.
"It's the express," cried Dick, his
face turning quite livid, " and I haven't
locked up tho points ! Come and help
mo, Ned. The ' goods' dropped a truck
at the siding, and I never locked the
points."
He hurried out upon tho platform and
away to tho Bwitcli that turned the points
off and on. I followed him closely, not
expecting, however, that my Servians
would be required, as tho affair was only
one of an instant.
Dick ran to tho switch, and I stood by
the lino watching him and looking- out'
lor uio express, xno line, as I have
said, ran tkrougli a wood ; and just beyond
the station tlio ground rose a little,
so that there w as a cutting Cwenty or thirty
feet deep. At the top of the bank was
the distance signal, which now showed a
white light to the up line. Beyond that
the track ran straight away over a broad
level country. It was a fine piece of
engineering that; a road as straight as a
dart, spanned here and there by bridges,
converging gradually till it vanished to
nothing on the horizon. Fiyo miles or
more away you could discern tlio lamps
of an advancing train on a clear night.
I could see the lights now, merged into
one yellow point that twinkled like a
star in a mist ; and the hum of the approaching
train was distinctly to be
heard, and yet she was two miles away.
Two miles away! That meant two
minutes?that was her headlong speed ;
for every throb of one's heart that mighty
moving mass had leaped a flying stride
some sixty feet. And behind this rushing
coil of iron, fire, and hot scalding
vapor, luxurious men and soft-limbed
women sat and dozed away the moments
?reading, perhaps, or busy at some
trifling task, or talking drowsily, the
lamps shining softly down upon their
hoads; and here in this quiet country
nook, the moon looking placidly down
and the stars twinkling tlirougli the rifts
in the white fleecy clouds, lurked death
in wait.
" I can't close the points, Ned !" cried
my friend, iu a hoarse excited whisper ;
" come and help me."
Had I thought for a moment I should
have rushed to the'handle of the distance
signal and turned it to " danger
but I was confused by the imminence of
the peril.
" There's something between the
points," he said, " that prevents their
closing."
j. nut tuung wiH iriwh. wnere ine two
seta of rails converged?the main line and
the siding. The siding was now open, so
that tho advancing train would be turned
front the line, hurled against the earthen
bank and massive timber structure at tho
end. Stay ; I had found tho source of11
the mischief?between the end of one of
tho moving points and the iron flange
tliat acted as a stop when it was fully
closed was a round white stone. I kicked
the stone away with my foot ; the points
were spring ones, and closed sharply with
a clang, pinning my foot be^veen the
flange and tho iron rail.
44 Dick," I cried, 44 open the poiuts ;
I'm caught!"
I saw his face in the moonlight ; it was
liko the face of a corpse, but his eyes
gleamed with ferocity ami malign triumph.
Deliberately ho fastened the
cluun and padlock to tho switch and
locked it up ; then ho made a few quick
strides across the line and throw his arms
round my struggling frame.
44 You'll be married, will you," ho
liissed into my ears, 44 to your pet, your
uiixuiig, your naien f
In that moment I remembered her face,
and that I was then speaking some such
endearing words. Then, and now ! All
my new-born happiness seemed to return
upon mo in a flood of sudden, unspeakable
bitterness. Yonder came the train,
the earth quaking at its passage, rushing
upon us with horrible, staring eyes ;
whistling, shrieking, roaring, frothing
out great gusts of white, hot steam, the
glaro of its furnaces swooping like lightning
flashes across tho dark, steep cutting.
Pinned to tho ground by my foot,
the strong grasp of a madman about my
arms, I made ono desperate, ineffectual
struggle, gave ono despairing cry?I remember
nothing moro. Other hands
must toll you tho rest.
vt.t.rv nnvnwniw tiiw otadv
After ray dear Nod had left mo on tho
night he nrst said that ho lovod mo, I
rested for some time on tho sofa, fooling
tired and quite sad somehow, and yet
very happy. Then I put out the candles,
and was going to bed. I was passing
through tlio bar when I caught sight of
a slip of paper twisted up and addressed
to me in large, blotched letters. It was
from Richard Archer.
I declare that I never gave Mr. Archer
any encouragement?at least not more
than any girl might nave done to a young
man who was trying to make himself
agreeable ; certainly never sinoe I saw
Edward, and felt how vastly superior ho
was in every way to this Mr. Archer.
The note was short and rough.
" Ellen," it began, not that he had any
right to address me in that way?certainly
I was not and never had been "Ellen"
to him, but so it was?" Ellen, you have
deceived me, you and Neil Walters ;
but I give you warning it is for tho last
time. You and he shall never marry ; I
will see you both dead first."
I was dreadfully frightened when I
read this ; but I came to the conclusion
it was mere rodomontade when I began
to think it over calmly. I langlied at
the idea of that whipper-snapper, little
Archer, doing any damage to my Edward,
and yet I was uneasy. Then father
came homo in rather a bad temper. The
party had been a failure, for everybody
hail been upset by that young Archer,
who behaved liko a madman at the hall,
told everybody of liis troubles, and
abused father to all the company, and at
last went off to walk home Jo the station,
seeming quite wild and disturbed.
" It's all your fault, too," said father,
" flirting and encouraging that young
chap to come here." Father went to bed
and bado mo put tho lights out and go
to bed too. But still I couldn't'get rid of
my uneasy feeling ; I couldn't make up
my mind to go to bed while I was uncertain
as to what might be happening at
the station when ltichard and Edward
met, as tney would bo sure to. I ran
down the garden and opened the gate
gently, and went along tho path. In a
moment I stood upon tho bank overhanging
the line, and thou I heard tho
express whistling and moaning a long
way off. I made up my mind to stay till
the train went by; and I watched it
coming on, its lights gradually growing
more distinct, and the wreaths of steam
it threw off looking like white fleecy
clouds in the moonbeams. All of a sudden
I heard a sort of smothered cry in
the direction of the station, and, turning
round, I saw two men were struggling
upon the railway line, right in the way
of tho express. They were Edward and
Archer ; and then in a moment it struck
me that Archer, mad with disappointment
and jealousy, meant to murder his
friend and kill himself at the same time*
by means of the express train. The
train was just upon me, in another half
minute it would be over them. I could
do nothing ; I could only scream aud
look up to heaven. Aud then I saw a
light above my head, the distance signal
of the station shining "All right" to the
advancing train. Instantly there came
into my head one of those iuspired
thoughts that seem to bo communicated
by Providence in moments of sudden
danger. The wire of the signal by
which it was moved from the station ran
along little posts along tho side of the
line. If I could only reach that wire and
turn the signal to danger, I might yet
save my lover.
I dashed down the bank and over the
ditch at the bottom, and there my foot
struck against the wire of the signid, and
seizing it with both hands, I dragged it
with my utmost strength ; but it would
not move?no, I could not move it an
inch either way. I knew the reason
afterward. It wits rm? nf ?otunX
signals, thnt always point to danger unless
held at safety by the wire from tho
station ; and this wire now being held
tight by tho lever at the station, which
was fastened in its place, nothing could
move it. Tho ground was now beginning
to tremble under me with the swift rush
of tho train, and still the terrible wire
mocked all my efforts. In a transport of
frenzy almost I cast myself upon it. It
broke?yes, it broke with my weight suddenly
thrown upon it?and with a clang
-and clatter the signal-lumps went roumi.
An indignant roar of whistling from the
engine told me the signal had been seen,
but with hardly abated speed the train
now went past me. * I shrieked loudly
and waved my hands, and I saw the lire
fly from tho metals, and heard the discordant
scream of the wheels against the
rails. Then I rose and riui toward tho
station.
Tho train had been stopped just in
time : tho buffers almost. toue.lie<l mmr
Nod, who was pinned there, unable to
escape. Ho was dreadfully bruised, too,
by the iron boot in which his foot lmd
boon fixed, and wo feared at one time
that tho shock of tlioso dreadful few
minutes would havo beon too much for
him. But wo took liim to our house,
where ho had careful tending, I assure
you, and beforo long ho was his old self
once more, and doubly dear to his Ellon
for tho perils ho liad undergone ; and I
nevor can bo sufficiently thankful that he
was spared to me, for ho is 0110 of tho
dearest and best?
CONCLUSION BY TIIE ORIGINAL AUTIIOR.
Rather than listen to my wife's rhapsodies,
I dare say you would like to hear
?U\/UU my J/1SVJ1 iiiriiu A.IUUIU, Wilt WW
sudden frenzy had so nearly been fatal
to me. I must do him the justice to say
that I don't believe this outrage of his
was premeditated. It seemed that on
this night the goods train had dropped a
truck at the siding, and tho porter, to
save liimself tho troublo of running backward
and forward to tho switch, had
jammed a stono in to keep the points
open. Tho porter had gono off home,
forgetting that ho had left tho stono
thero ; and knowing that tho points were
self-closing, and tliat it was tho station
master's business to lock them up, had
thought no moro about the matter. Tho
station-master, his head full of other
things, had forgotten to go and lock up
tho points till ho heard tlio distant roar
of tho express ; and then, sudden opportunity
presenting itself to his warped
and jaundiced mind, he had clutched at
the opportunity of involving his miserable
solf and Ins successful rival in ono
common doom. After that Dick went
raving mad, and was confined in an
asylum. He was discharged cured, and
went away to America, where he was
soon after killed by an engine 011 a level
crossing. I always made out that it was
an accident my being fastened in the
points, ami that Dick was trying to save
me ; but now that he is dead, there is no
harm in telling the whole truth.
? _>
Antarctic Icebergs.
In the diary of the Challenger's voyage
to the Antarctic regions, very accurate
; descriptions of icebergs arc given. At
1 the beginning of an iceberg's independent
I existence, it does not possess those fan[
tastic forms wliiroare so often described.
Near the Pole they were nearly all huge,
; flat-topped cubes of ice, from a quarter
i to half a mile across, and 150 to 250 feet
1 above water. This corresponds to submersion
amounting to nine times this
height. This is the iceberg ns it appears
j just after breaking awny from the glacier,
I where it was formed, and beforo the sun
begun to affect it. As it floats into
warmer regions it slowly melts, and assume^
the almost unimaginable forms so
oft< mi seen. Rut an iceberg is by 110
means short-lived. In the Southern
i ocean south of 64 dep. latitude, the tem,
perature of the -water, except for n few
feet at the surface, where it is warmed
by the sun, is 29 do#. Falir. This is
3 dog. bel?)w the freezing point. Even
the surface water close to the ice is of
this temperature, so that the iceberg
moves in a bath of this low temperature.
! Only in summer is the water warm enough
to melt a notch around it at the sea level.
This notch is.never more than thirty feet
deep, and tho waves striking in break
down the overhanging cliff, and tho iceiceberg
rises somewhat, the notch deepening.
This action is most vigorous on
the weather side, which accordingly becomes
the lightest, causing tho iceberg
to turn slowly round. It is to the cavities
thus formed, surrounded by ice of
various thickness, aud containing more
or less water, that tho rich colors of icebergs
are <lue. " Where the crevasses,"
| says the diary, '? or other weak parts in
I the upper surface of the parent glacier
| extend down to tho water-lino of the
floating iceberg, the sea, having a less
solid part to withstand it, soon excavates
a ipost beautifully defined and picturesque
cave, the sides of which, reflecting light,
color the interior with an exquisite cobalt
blue, the tint of which increases in
warmth and riclmoss as the depth extends,
When these occur on the side
that is afterwurd raised, no description
can do justieo to the picturesque appearance
of this line of fairy grottoes." ?
The glaciers from which icebergs are
I broken off reach far out to sea. A glacier
j of 2,000 feet thickness will have to push
its way out to a depth of 1,800 and more
l ieet beiore its front can bo broken by
the tloative force of the water. Such a
glacier, pushing its way over an ocean
; bed having the same slope as the Atlantic
! basin off* the coast of New Jersey, would
j touch bottom for more than 240 miles
I beyond the land, and for the whole of
I this distance glacier markings would be
| found. The observations on tempera;
ture above spoken of show that the glaI
eier does not break off by overweight
due to undermining, but is broken by
the buoyant pressure of the water.
A Hundred Extinct Volcanoes.
The San Francisco Chronicle gives the
following in an account of a recent :
meeting of the Academy of Science of
that city: Dr. Harkness spoke of dis1
coveries made by himself in parts of
Plumas and Lassen counties little known
hitherto, A tract of country containing
about 8,0(H) square miles, he described i
not only as volcanic, but showing
traces of recent volcanic action, and hav- ,
ing witliin its limits 100 extinct volcanoes.
A large crater on the dividing
line of tho two counties had dammed up ;
the lake, giving it a new outlet, and 1
spreading its waters over mi area of three
square miles. Tho volcanic cone is higher '
than Vesuvius. Ashes and scoria) are
scattered all down its sides. In different
parts of the lake are stumps of trees,
ftomn of flu^m fnrfxr.firn in l?nio-l?4
and allowing above the surface. Some
of them, standing on tho lava, are only j
partially burned through, indicating
1 that the matter ejected from the volcano
was not all in a melted state. In other
places occur round cavities, which were
sounded by Dr. Harkncaa and liis party,
and stumps found at the bottom. Higher
up, the trees, though untouched by the
lava, were burned by tho heat. The
growth of a portion of tho trees since
the eruption shows about twenty-five
annular rings. Tho lava from the volcano
covers about 100 square miles. An
old resident of lied lilufT, who was in
the neighborhood in 185.'!, told tho doctor
that he saw a bright sheet of flame
: rising from the mountain, which con
tinucd during Ins entire stay. Shaved
Head, ail old Indian of the Mill Creek
tribe, says that in his youth the region
was alive with volcanoes in active operation.
No Necessity for Change.
Moore's Itural New Yorker advises
every farmer who is doing well and making
a fair ineomo from bis special kind of
farming to l.o cautious in changing it for
other branches concerning which he is
not familiar, for the chances are that the
new business will not yield any more
profit, and perhaps not so much as the
one with which he is acquainted. Wo
believe tho profits from dairying are
often overestimated ; and while its advantages
are often tho topic of discussion
and laudation, it is proper tliatsomo
of the disadvantages be made to appear,
and then the balance of account may bo
struck and no one need be led astray.
Four thousand persons waited in tho
streets all night at Paris to see tho execution
of Moreau, who poisoned his two
i wives?and the execution was postponed.
A Famous Kliodc Island Chowder.
Some of our readers, says the Providence
Journal, will recall the lafco James
Brown, a gentleman of genial and accomplished
manners, some of whoso social
sayings have como down to the present
generation, and shall not he gainsaid.
The following is his rocipe for a chowder,
very famous in his day, and not altogether
forgotten in ours :
ST. JAMES' OnOWDER FOR SEC.
Take six slices of good pickled pork
(pig preferred), ami fry them in the bottom
of a good-sized dinner-pot, turning
the slices till they are brown 011 both
sides. Take out tho slices of pork, leaving
the drippings in tho pot. Take seven
pounds of tantaug, dressed (leaving the
hoiuls on), or ten pounds of scup (tautaug
to bo preferred), and cut cacli in
tlireo pieces, unless small, when cut
them in two. Place in tho pot, on the
drippings, as many pieces of lish as will
fairly cover tho bottom of the pot.'
Throw into the pot, on tho fish, throe
handfuls of onions, peeled and sliced in
thin slices. Do not be afraid of the
onions ! Put in over this salt and pepper
to taste, as in other soups. Then lav on
the six nlin>H nf nnrl- nn Hm r>f Sio
pork tlio rest of the tisli ; cover this with ,
three luuidfuls more of onions peeled and
sliced. (Nine or ten onions in both layers
will suffice, though more will not injure
it.) More pepper and salt, to taste.
Then pour into the pot water enough .
just to come fairly even with the wholo,
or partly cover the samo. Put the cover ,
on the pot, place it on the tire. Let it
boil gently and slowly for thirty minutes.
It is to boil thirty minutes, not
merely to be on the lire thirty minutes,
and at all events let it boil until the onion !
is done soft. Pour in at this point about
a quart (a common bottle) of best cider 1
or champagne, and a tumbler full of port
wine, and at the same time odd about two i
pounds of sea biscuits. ]
Note.?If, when tlio onion is done, you '
find there is not liquor enough in the 1
pot, soak the sea-biscuit in water for a
few moments before putting them in. I |
would recommend the practice goner* 1
ally. i
After the cider, wino and crackers are ]
put in, there is no harm in stirring the
wholo with a long spoon, though it is
not necessary. Then let the whole boil
again (not merely be over the tire) for j
about live minutes, and the chowder is ,
ready for the table. Before dishing up
let the cook taste it and sec whether it
lacks pepper or salt, when, if it does, it is
a good time to add either.
Note.?Also, never boil a potato in
chowder. If you waut potatoes, boil
them in a separate pot, and servo in a 1
separate dish on table.
Advice to a (Jirl who "Finished."
Gertrude, yu tell me that yu hav been j
two years in a boarding school, and lmv
just finished yure edukashun, and want j
t,(l klio Tvlint. vii hIuiII <ln liort.
Listen, mi gushing Gertrude, aud I
will tell yu.
Get up in the morning in good season,
go down into the kitchen, seize a potato
l>y the throat with one liand aud a knife 1
with the other, skin the potato, and a 1
dozen more just like it, stir up the buck- 1
wheat batter, look in the oven and see J
how the biscuit aro doing, bustle '
around generally, step on the cat's tail, (
and help your good old mother git breakfast.
, i
After breakfast put up the yung chil- <
droll's luncheon for skool, help wash up 2
the dishes, sweep, put things in order, 1
and sumtimes during the day, nit at least f
two inches and a half on sum ono ov t
yuro brothers' little blue woolen stock- t
ings for next winter.
In other words, go to work and make f
yureself useful, now that you liav bekum ,
ornamental, and if yu have onuy time f
left, after the beds are all"made, and the i
duks hav been fed, pitch into the pian- j
nn, and make the old rattle box skream (
with musik. ]
Go tliis for one year, ami, sum likoly i
yung fellow in the naberliood will hear
ov it, and will begin to hang around yu,
and say sweeter things than yu ever
heard before, and finally will giv yu a
chance to keep house on yure own hook, t
Yu follow mi advice, Gerty, and see if i
ho don't.?Josh Hillings. i
1
United States Lighthouses.
Tlio annual report of tlio Lighthouse ,
Board of the United States, after review- ,
ing the organization, character and his- ,
tory of that branch of tlio service, says : ,
The magnitude of tlio lighthouse sys- j
torn of the United States, and consequeutly
that of the duties of tlio Board (
and the responsibilities connected with
tlieni, may be inferred from tlio follow
ing facts :
First?The coast from the St. Croix
river, 011 the boundary of Maine, to tho
Itio Grande, on the Gulf of Mexico, includes
a distance of 5,000 mile3.
Second?Tho Pacific coast lias a length .
of al?out 1,500 miles. ,
l'liirtl?Tlio great nortliorii lakes about ,
3,000 miles.
Fourth?The inland rivers of 700 '
miles ; making a total of more than 10,- i
(XX) miles. i
The following table exhibits a synopsis
of what has been accomplished in aid of
navigation along those extended lines, by
far the longest of thoso of any nation in
the world :
Lighthouses and lighted beacons 608
Lighthouses and lighted beacons finished
and lighted during the year ending July
1, 1874 25
Lightshi|>s in position 21
Fog signals operated by steam or hot air
engines 40
Day or unliglited beacons 846
liuoys in position 2,865
An appropriation of 880,000 is asked
for tho proper preservation of the records
and means of rendering them
readily accessible.
Items of Interest.
In Indiana 660,000 children go to
.school.
A paying young man is better than a
promising one.
8ome girls are angry when you toll
them you love them. Others are angrier
when you don't.
" Sokretz," says Josh Billings, "is a
bad investment?if you pass it, yu lozo
the principal, and if you keep it yu loze
interost."
J. lie report tliat a successful poultry
dealer act up-a carriage, arose from his
statement that he had made his ooop pay,
this season.
Now is tho time when the poor little
castaway exclaims, " Say, Johnny, don't
wo pity them littlo fellows as hain't got
any nice warm barrel to sleep in ?"
A Milwaukee woman's bonnet oosts,
upon an average, about $15, but she has
the bill made out for $30 or $40, in order
to show it to tho woman noxt door.
A Maine college professor throws out
tho suggestion that hazing might easily
bo prevented if parents ftuly understood
the virtues of the corrective shingle.
A foreign journal refers to the story of
a great speculator who floated a company
for working a salt mine of inexhaustible
extent, which turned out to bo
the sea.
An individual who was about to start
a paper in tho interest of the glove
makers and dealers was rather disgusted
at tho suggestion that it should be called
The Jfatul Organ.
Five colored men have been elected to
the next Congress, all new men. Two
are from South Carolina, one from
North Carolina, one from Alabama and
one from Louisiana.
An English girl laughs at the idea that
a woman cannot live comfortably with
her mother-in-law, and advertises for
some good-looking young fellow to give
her a chance to try the experiment.
He who every morning plans the transactions
of the day and follows out that
plan, will accomplish twice as much- as
one who makes no plan ; when the disposal
of time is left to chance, all things
will he huddled together.
A girl in South Carolina, playing with
an empty champagne bottle, fell down,
broko the bottle and cut her throat with
the gloss. As a gun is dangerous without
lock, bo is a gkauipagno bottle, dangerous,
whether it is loaded or not.
No nurse girl should hold pins in her
mouth?it is too dangerous.* It is much
more convenient and safe to make a pin
cushion of the baby. If the baby cries,
drive tho pins home by patting the child,
and if that won't do, give it paregoric.
An iu?rA utu! f.l>rAA-t/inflia nf lan/1 Vuuir.
Lng 1,639 vines, near San Jose, California,
yielded this year 49,760 pounds of
grapes?the Charboneau?from which
bhe most famous Burgundy wines are
made?and 6,000 gallons of wine will be
made from them.
A gentleman said to his gardener :
" George, the time will oome when a
man will be able to carry the manure of
m acre of land in one of his waistooat
pockets." To which the gardener replied
: " I believe it, sir; but he will
no able to carry all the crop in the
itlier."
Corpulent old lady?** I should like a
;icket for the train. Booking clerk (who
liinks ho will make a joke)?" Yes ; will
/ou go in the passenger train or cattle
rain ?" Lady?" Well, if you aro a
specimen of what I shall oxperienoe in
he passenger train, give me a ticket for
lie cuttle train by all means."
If in your business you are grasping,
sordid, tricky, some clork in your employ
vill lie the samo ten years hence, made
to l>y you. If you are fretful and endons
as a woman or wife, more than one
?irl will catch the fever of your ooniuct,
and somewhere ahead make hor
ionic as unhappy as you are now making
/ours.
Mad Emperors.
The rumor abont the impending inutility
of the Czar of Russia is not ex
ictly a now one. Frequent fits of melmoholy
liave led people before now to
predict fliat his lifo would terminate with
softening of the brain. His well-known
friendship for Homo, the spiritualist,
md the suddenness with which he was
uncustomed to summon the eelebratod
tncdiiun to commune with him at Ems,
used to make the wiseacres shake their
beads and hint that the Czar was
" queer." The Romanoffs have produced
mad emperors before now, though
up to the time of Alexander I. their derangement
invariably took rather savage
forms. Paul I., the grandfather of the
present Ernperor, was assassinated
through a conspiracy of nobles whom his
violent caprices had goaded to frenzy.
His son Alexander, surnamed the Blessed
?the samo who did so much to infuse
Qrcntlenoss into the triumphs of the allies
[iver Napoleon?died, it is said, from
poison taken under the influence of a
iingoring melancholy to which he was
first subject after his return from the
armed occupation of Paris.
Luster Sheep, a New Breed.
At a recent exhibition in Bremen a
fleece was exhibited from South Australia
of a yearling ram, which was remarkable
for its fine silky luster and softness, and
the unusual length (over five inches) of
the smooth, fine wool, as well as for its
beautiful, almost dazzling whiteness. All
were satisfied that a fine, firm yarn, and
vorv suDerior cloth oonld bo made from
it. It was stated that it wm a result of
in and in breeding of Negrefcti sheep
with Leicester (Lincoln) rams ; the number
of generations required was not
stated, however.
? 'Jt ii