The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, February 01, 1877, Image 1

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THI VOL. y. NO. 9. The Baby for Me. I have heard about babies angelic, ?lin ? ucnvvxiiv luoiv iu uicu ciro, And hair like the sunbeams of morning When first they appear in the skies, And smiles like the Riniles of a cherub, And mouths like the buds of a rose, And themselves like the lilies and daises And every sweet flower that grows. My baby's the jolliest baby That any one ever did see; 1 here's nothing angelic about him, But he's just the right baby for me ! Hi-; smile's not at all like a cherub's, But rather a comical grin; And his hair?well, it favors the sunbeams, When sunbeams are wondrously thin. I His eyes, though they're blue, like the heavens. Are remarkably earthy with fun; And his mouth's rather large for a rosebud, Unless 'twere a half opened one. His hands don't resemble a fairy's In the least. They're a strong little pair, As you'd think, I am sure, if he'd got you. As oft he gets me?by the hair ! And he isn't a bit like a lily, Or any sweet blossom that grows, For 110 flower on earth, I am certain, Has a dear little cunning pug nose. He's himself?full of mischief, the darling, And as naughty as naughty can be; And I'm glad that he isn't angelic, For he's just the right babv for me ! THE WARDER'S DAUGHTER. j Marion Hyde was a cripple, but for all that she was beautiful. Her father was warder in a prison. Among the prisoners was one at the registering of whose name at his entrance Marion had been present, and something in liis youthful j though sullen face attracted her pitiful gfcince. He had stolen repeatedly from his benefactor, and finally had admitted into the house in the nighttime a gang of burglars, who had secured considerable ' booty and made off with it in safety, save ; one, after severely pounding the proprietor of the house. This one who was not | able to escape betrayed the complicity of : the young man in the affair. He was j tried, convicted and sentenced. There was no redeeming feature np- 1 patently to the story, but somehow that ! fa 'e haunted the girl's gentle thoughts. Perhaps it was l>ecause she had a young , brother who "fcas a wild lad, wandering just now in disgrace, no one knew whither, and all the more tenderly loved by ( Marion l>ecause of his sad ways. One day as she leaned on the window sill, looking with a wistful sadness into the yawl at the prisoners, one of them locked up, antl, clianged as he was in every wan, tlrn feature, she knew again the black, sullen eyes that yet were so uehow like an angry, obstinate child's, j Her glaucc followed him as though | fascinated, and as he * passed from sight j she sighed softly and went in to look at tin prison record for the poor hut's name. It was Aymer Preston. The next she knew of him he was in the sick ward. For a few weeks slie saw irm tnere, but the gloomy eyes never softened, only gazed straight before tliem from their ho1 low sockets, or hid themselves obstina ely behind their wasted lids. He never spoke, he scarcely ate; and the prison physician told Marion that he was dying of sheer inanition. "It is my opinion he's trying to starve himself to death," he said. Marion drew near the sick lad. She bent over him and spoke with gentle firmness. But she might as well liave talked to the blank wall, for all sign he gave of having heard her. Marion left the ward with a shocked and anxious face. " Let me know if there is auy change, or you tliink of anything that I can do," she then said to the doctor. But at dusk the doctor was called away by serious illness in his own family, and near midnight the assistant, going his ! rounds, found Aymer Preston dead in bed. " It's either make believe or heart break," Dr. Putney said, sharply, when word was brought him, and he ordered that Preston's body should be kept wrappod in blankets and not removed till he saw it. The order was obeyed, but when three days saw no change in the form, Dr. Putney having meanwhile examined it, it was removed to the dissecting-room. Marion Hyde's ^window commanded a view of this mysterious and horror inspiring apartment. As she stood at her window that night she thought, with a vague thrill of pain, of the one cold, still tenant of that terrible room. She was not a timid, superstitious creature, nor by any means given to nervousness; so when she saw the window of the dissecting-room slowly lifted, and a gaunt, wild face appear at the opening, instead of screaming or running away, she sto<xl still. She knew that her heart was throbbing wildly, but * she knew also that it was no phantom she looked upon. Doctor Putney had been j right all the time. Aymer Preston was j not dead, and thus he was making one wild effort for liberty. Marion Hyde j stood aud watched him. She could Hot have called out just then if he had been the most desperate and hardened criminal within those walls. Besides, the poor wretch was only making himself. He could not escape even now unless by a miracle. She saw him stop presently beside a window, which opened into an upper hall, aud after a long effort raise it and slowly drag himself through. Obeying an impulse which she could not at the moment control, Marion softly opened her door and passed out without her crutch for fear of the noise. She j reached the hall just as this poor wasted . creature, after a brief rest, was urging ' his half paralyzed limbs to renewed effort. At the sight of her he gasped aud dropped in a swoon, and Marion hurried to his side. She dared not leftve him, so she waited, nibbing bis cold hands between her tender palms, till he at last opened his eyes and she made him comprehend th?t *he wanted him to with fecr. C BE 1 " I won't go back to prison," lie whispered, between lbs set teeth. " Yt?u need not," she said, simply, and ^ led him to her own chamber. There was positively no other place Q tliat was safe from the strict search that j ^ she knew would be instituted as soon as j( he was discovered to be missing.? She procured him some garments which had j} belonged to her brother, and she got him ^ such food as would be safe for him to eat g after his long fast. , He regarded all her movements with ( the incredulous wonderment of a child. " What has been the matter with me ?" I ^ he asked, after a while. 44 I could not I v stir any more than though I was dead, 1 v but I knew all that was going on about v me. Ugh ! it was frightful waiting there j in the dissecting-room. I believe it was only the horror of it helped me to break i the frightful spell." | ^ 44 I suppose you were in a sort of > trance," Marion said, thoughtfully. g 44 What are you going to do with me ?" j c he asked again. i v 441 don't know,. I am sure," she said, ' v with a sigh ; 44 but you are safe here till r I can think." I j 441 don't expect you to believe me, ; but I am <os innocent of the crime for j which I was brought here as you arc." j ~ 44 Guilty or innocent, I pity you, you [ are so young." Concealing him till the hue and cry > were over, Marion smuggled him through j the gates in a woman's dress and with a r basket of soilecT clothes. And so the j mystery of Aymer Preston's escape re- , mained a mystery. * * * * a The years moved on. Marion was twenty-five. Her father was dead. Her } idolized brother liad perished in a brawl, c She was alone in the world ; an invalid, g living on the merest pittance earned with j 1. her needle, but the same sweet-faced, lj sweet-voiced girl who had won flie hearts n of the prisoners in the gloomy abode of L which her father had be^n warden. e One day she was sent for to see about f, some embroidery. She was received by 1] a young lady, and something in the c young girl's -bright face drew Marion's 0 glance unconsciously. Where had she r seen those eyes, so large and so intensely Uack ? o 44 Why do you look at me so ?" asked the young girl, with naive eagerness. v 44 You remind me of some one I have t] known," Marion answered, simply. 44 Xo one ever accused me of looking y like anybixly but Robert before," laughed v the girl. ji 44 Ah, yes, you do. I see the resem- j blance now quite strong," and Marion's j face flushed with emotion. 44 Perhaps t you are related to him. His name was lj Aymer Preston." f, 44 Oh!" cried the young girl, springing 8 up, 44 and vou are lame and vvmi^namd J 'iciiH. T ! 1. JO iU^UJV/U XiJ UC. JLVU mv, AWM V ^ i knew it. Ob, Robert, what will you c say ?" .. . * ' t She vanished from Marion's astonished t: eyes, with the words on her lips. She r was back, however, in a trice, and with her came a tall, dark haired, heavily t bearded gentleman. o "Marion Hyde? Is is possible?*'he r exclaimed, clasping both the little trem- c bling liands in his and putting them over * and again to his lips, which were quiver- p ing with emotion. "Surely you know me ?" " You?you are Aymer Preston," stammered Marion. " I was Aymer Preston, I am Robert L. Liesson. A relative of my mother's left . me his property on condition of my tak- I1 ing liis name. I have searched for you j' vainly, Marion Hyde. My prosperity has been bitter to me till now I find you. * Oh! you sliall never touch needle or work ^ again." , "No, indeed, that vou shall not," _ * " chimed in she who had been the means ' of this happy recognition ; mid as she ! said it, both her arms were round Mari- ? on's neck, and she was sobbing and kiss- ! ing her alternately. " Robert always a said he would never marry anybody but a you, and you'll have him, won't you, a dear ?" " I have proved mv innocence of tliat ? charge of robbing my guardian," said Robert, gravely. " But it was long be- r fore I could do 60. I followed up the ^ man whose testimony convicted me, till he lay dying, and gave me a written con- s fesaion of false witnesses. My guardian c. paid hirtT to injure me. He wanted me . out of the way. I will not be so abrupt j 0 as to ask von to marrv me now, but as a * 1 - 7 . . ;o this rash sister of mine has said so " much, I can do no less than testify to its I truth. I have always loved your sweet, J s dear face, Marion. I shall never cease " to wish it my wife's face till that wish is , realized." i | r And then he left Marion to his sister's j1 petting and soothing. I "This morning I was alone?not a 1 friend in the wide world, and now "? A burst of tears came to her relief. a She is Robert Liesson's wife now, and a her beautiful eyes are as dovelike as ever with compassion for the unfortunate. ii How Rank Clerks are Yi atched. f, Every bank and every hotel in the v large cities has its own private detective, j ^ who watches all who come and all who ! " go, from the partners and officers to the ^ bell boys and messengers. It is told of a the president of a well known banking J b institution that now and again he sends ; s for some one of his clerks and holds 8 some such conversation as this: "Last Tuesday," he will say, "you spent the evening at Jones' billiard saloon, did you not ?" A ".Yes, sir," will stammer the astonish- p ed clerk. I "lrou took during the evening six o rounds of drinks with your three com- s panions, of which you paid for four, did tl you not ?" i e "Yes, sir," replies the astonished I p youth. ti " Tlien you went to Mills' and lost 815 i p at faro, is it not so ? Don't deny it?I v know. I know all about you." : ti Tlie president v. ill then go on and tell ! ii his n;an where he lives, how he lives, i t whom he associates with and where he ; t, gets his clothes; all this to let him see r that he is watched, and to warn him 8 against wrong doing of any kind. j c Without discussing the wisdom of sub- j s jocting a mail to such a system of snr- ! t veillance as this, without defending the a man who has so little self-respect as to 'J submit to it, it mu6t be said that it is c v?ry effective in keeping young men in v tb? right path. ! f 1ALT] LND PORT BEAUFOET. S. C (iocs Info Stcanihoatinir. The late Commodore Vanderbilt, with hat forecast of vision, that essential elcaent of genius which in every important vent of his career never failed to assert tself, saw that sailboats were destined to ase their supremacy while he was inter- i sted in sailing vessels. Eleven years iad passed since Fulton's experimental rip up the Hudson. Abandoning" his uccessful business, he accepted the post f captain of a small steamboat at a salary f $1,000 a year. At that day passengers o Philadelphia were conveyed by steam?ont from New York to New Brunswick, there they remained all night, and the iext morning took the stage for Trenton, ! ["hence they were carried by stage to ^liladelpliia. For twelve years he com- ; aanded the steamboat (which was owned I iv Mr. Gibbous) running between New 'ork and New Brunswick. The hotel at sew Brunswick where the passengers ' topped was at the same time given in harge of his wife, whom he married | rlicn only nineteen years of age. She | [ as the daughter of a neighbor on Staten ; sland. Her maiden name was Sophia ' ohnson, and thirteen children, nine J laughters and four sons, were the fruits f this marriage. The hotel business 1 iroved more profitable than the steam- J ioat, and why he remained as captain so , i>ng was for the reason that the State of ; Jew York had granted to Fulton and fivingston the exclusive right of run- j ling steamboats in New York waters. Relieving this grant unconstitutional, as t was afterward declared by the supreme 1 ourt, Mr. Gibbons ran his boats in dofi- . * ' * ' * i , i i ^ nee 01 it, ana urns mvoiveu iuiqhuu m ? j ierce contest with the authorities of New fork. The brant of the battle fell on Captain Yanderbilt. For sixty succesive clays an attempt was made to arrest lim. Leaving his crew, who were also iable to arrest in New Jersey, he would pproach the New York wharf, with a ad at the helm, while he managed the ngiue. As soon as the vessel was made ast he would conceal himself in the old. At the moment of starting an oilier, who would be changed every day in rder to avoid recognition, would be in eadiness to arrest him. " Yon are my prisoner," would say the fficer, hipping him on the shoulder. " You are more like my prisoner," rould respond the captain, and then or!er: " Let go the lines." Fearing to be carried to New Jersey, diere a retaliatory act threatened him ritli the State prison, the officer would ninp ashore, or failing in this, beg to be nit ashore, which request was of course olitely granted. in this and other liings the captain managed to evade tlie nws. He fought the State of New York or seven years until Chief Justice Marhall declared New York wrong anil New ersev right. The opposition tried vainy to buy him off. " No," replied the aptain to all such offers, " I shall stick r> Mr. Gibl >ons until he is through his roubles." And he did stick and lie caried his point. Mr. Gibbons offered to raise his salary i) So,000 per year, but he declined the ffer. " I did it on principle," was his eply to the question why he refused a ompensation tliatwas so manifestly just. ' All I ever cared for was to carry my oint." - ????? An Indian Romance. A dark, swarthy looking individual, ressed in semi-Indian garb, was at the Jnion depot, Omaha, making numerous aquiries in very imperfect English dia ect concerning tlie name of C. G. Gasill, who left some portion of eastern owa for an overland trip to California Tiring the gold excitement of 1851. liis half wild fellow claimed that he was lie son of this Gaskill, and that he was bout five or six years old when his Either set out with his family for the verland wagon trip to California. The Eimily, two years later, were in Arizona, nd oue night the Apache Indians made n attack upon them and carried him way, while the others made their escape. Ir. Gaskill has a very vivid recollection f the battle, and also the long wagon rip from Iowa, while he has little or 110 ecollection of the home or just where it ras located. He was carried away by the ndians and lived with them, sharing the ame neglect and attention as their own hildren, until he grew to manhood. He escribes his life as being pleasant and ne that he fully enjoyed. He became cquainted with the great chief Cochise nd followed him in many of his battles, le painted, tattooed and besmeared his kin like the savages themselves, until ow it has the same coppery color. He escribes Cochise as being a great warior and a most wonderful savage. He emained with these Indians until alxmt ix years ago, when he was captured by lie Comanches in one of their battles rith the Apaches, and with them he led wandering existence, first as a captive nd afterward as one of the tribe. Last ill he became tired of such a mode of niul lr>ft- flip trihp nnd mnlHnrv AM/wvmw ;?j - ? o is way toward the Pacific coast, made aquiries concerning his family, but iiled to learn anything of them. In his randering, nomadic life he had accumuited considerable wealth in the form of old dust, and on the proceeds of this he ras traveling in search of his lost home nd friends. No one seemed to be able :> give him any information, and lie tarted on his way east to prosecute his earch iu Iowa. A Flimsy Defense. The case of Ann L. Neill against tiie jn'rican Popular Life Insurance Comauy was brought to trial before Judge hreedman and a jury, in the superior ourt, at New York city. The plaintiff ued on a policy of ?5,000 taken out on lie life of her deceased husband. The ompauy defended the action on the round of a discrepancy of one year in he aee of the insured, eriven in his ap licatiou for insurance, as compared nth tlic statement ofj his age given on lie proof of his death. The son of the usured, "who put in the proof of death, estitied that lie must have made a misake. Judge Freedman promptly diected a verdict for the plaintiff for 5,195. An extra allowance of five per ent. was awarded to the plaintiffs conn- : el. Tlie judge also refused a stay of he entry of judgment for sixty days sked for by the company's corn, so I. die courts require a pretty good reason n tlio part of a life insurance company, ' dicn tiio tatter endeavors to evade the ! ayxac-nt of a policy, i FOR1 ROYAL C< THURSDAY, FI a .. LOVE TRIED BY FIRE. Ten SrroiidH ol" Doubt nil A>;o of Aitoi:y.~A Farmer nnd hi* Wife Dfnoribr Ihcir Nenxntiou* iu the Fnlliua C'ar?. If every individual who. went down with the ill fated railroad train at Ashtabula and lived through the experience were to write up his or her sensations and adventures none would display that coolness and heroism described by Johnson B. Orburn and his wife, who were on their way to the Saginaw valley. Both are past forty, and Mr. Orburn is an Oliio fanner, who lately purchased a farm in Saginaw county. As the train pulled out from Ashtabula the fanner's wife began eating luncheon, and her husband was trying to read a newspaper by the light of the dim lamp. He says he felt the first movement when the bridge gave way. He first imagined that one of the wheels under his car had become detached, as the corner of the car seemed to settle down a little. He dropped the paper and seized the hack of the seat in front of him. Then the whole car seemed to lift up, and several women shrieked in alarm. There was no sensation of falling. On the contrary, both agree that they thought the car was running up a steep hill. This would prove that the rear end of their car settled down first. From the time the bridge gave way till the cars struck the ice uot more than ten seconds could have elapsed, and yet during that brief interval the husband threw one arm around his wife, she grasped the seat and asked what had happened, and he told her to secure a brace for her feet and added : " We are off the track and running through the fields !" The rear end of their car struck first, smashing itself to kindling wood, the debris being thrown over the passengers in front. The farmer found himself on the floor, held down by a mass of wreck on his left leg, while liis wiie was uirowu uuru?a liim, with the wreck of two or three seats holding her against the side of the ear. "While thus held, and before either had spoken, one end of the car settled a little and the wife was releasal. "Mary, are you living?" asked the husband, being his first words after the fall. She replied that she was not even hurt, beyond a bruise or two, and by this time the shouting and confusion around them proved that the train was off the track, though neither one suspected that it was more than a tumble into a wayside ditch. It was wonderful how ft woman could retain her presence of mind under such exciting circumstance, but Mrs. Orbnrn didn't even cry out after the shock. Scores of other passengers were shrieking in pain and flight as the cold waters flooded one end of the car and the flames began to eat rfway at the other. The woman cleared herself of the broken seats just as the fire started, and she then ascertained tlirfC her husband was pinned fast to the floor by the wreck of matter on his leg, which was partially bent around one of the iron standards of a seat. She worked with all her might to set him free, but the raging flameswere now only a few feee away, and the smoke and heat were becoming terril) le "Mary, take hold of my foot, bend my leg toward you with all your might and see if yon can't break it!" called the husband, who thought he could easily free himself if the leg was released from its cramped position. The wife seized his foot, meaning to obey, but at that moment the car lurched over a little and her husband released himself. When they left the car her drees was on fire, showing that another minute would liave enveloped both in the flames. Both were able to walk to the hotel as soon as released, liaving escaped with only a few bruises. The heroic wife and i.1?? ?~~ vaa/iit 4-n nlioxr Imr liiume r wiis nui umj tcouj w vuvj uv> husband's orders, but she had a plan of her owu. " Wlien I saw the flames just upon us," she said, "and wliile I was sure that my husband would be burned alive, I made up my mind to put one of the cushions over him, lie down on top of tliat, and hope that, while I was being burned up help would come to him for our children's sake." " I was afraid she wouldn't be strong enough to break my leg," added the husband, " and then it would be all up with me. I was going to have her get out, and then, rather than be burned alive, I was going to destruction. Well, I had tliis big knife in my right hand pocket, and ruv right arm was free to get it and usejt!" A Plucky Captain. The schooner Baracoa, of Booth Bay, Me., discharged a cargo at Ponce, Porto Rico. The customs authorities there declared that there was an informality about the matter, although no fraud was charged, and a tine of $4,300, gold, was levied against the vessel. No time was given the captain to consult with the owners at home, and the officer was in trouble. A Spanish gunboat lay alongside the schooner and threatened at any moment to take possession of her. The captain of the schooner not appreciating the positidh in which he was placed, slipped her chains and at half-past eleven o'clock a. m. went off like a bird, and before the astounded and dumbstruck officials on the gunboat could collect their senses. She got all sail set, and was three miles away in the briefest possible time. As she went off she sprung her luff and sainted the poll with her colors three times tliree. The gunboat was sent in chase as soon as she could get up steam, but the schooner was out of sight in a very short time. A Self-Made Man. No better specimen of the " Whittington " ideal of the English self-made man could be found than the late Mr. George Moore. His life was exactly that of the Industrious Apprentice. He used to tell how he first came to London without a friend or a sixpence, and, walking about the streets, entered a draper's shop to ask for employment. This was at first refused; but the owner was won by some answer, or something in the bearing of the candidate, who, on the day of his engagement, set before himself two purposes to be worked out?to be head of the establishment and marry his trwidfor'a Til both of these aims lie succeeded; and the house of Moore, Copestakc <fe Co. is now one of the most important Miolwde stovps in th* kisgdos*. T T "\mnuni!"Dr!T A T. yTlUi.UiJXVVJ.AU. 1BRUARY 1, 1877. A I'MOIT. AXXOrXOEJIEXT. ' i How .In in eg Horrlun Bennett, Sr., Informed I tin- 1'iihlic ofllig Approaching .Uurriaue. The following is the annonnccment of 1 the intended marriage of the senior James Gordon Bennett as published by him in the Jlcrald in June, 1840. It created a sensation when it was pubj lished: TO THE READERS OF THE HERALD?DEC- I LARATION OF LOVE?CAUGHT AT LASTGOING TO BE MARRIED?NEW MOVEMENT IN CIVILIZATION. I am going to be married in a few , days. The weather is so beautiful ; times are getting so good ; the prospects of | political and moral reform so auspicious tliat I cannot resist the divine instinct of honest nature any longer ; so I am going ' to be married to one of the most splen- ! did women in intellect, in heart, in soul, in property, in person, in manner, that I have yet seen in the course of my interesting pilgrftnage through human life. * * * I cannot stop in my career. I i must fulfill tliat awful destiny which the Almighty Father has written against my 1 name, in the broad letters of life against the wall of heaven. I must give the world a pattern of happy wedded life, | with all the charities that spring from a nuptial love. In a few days I shall be married according to the holy rites of the most holy Christian church to one ' of the most remarkable, accomplished : and beautiful young women 01 uie age. , She possesses a fortune. I sought and found a fortune?a large fortune. She has no Stonington shares or Manhattan stock, but in purity and unrightness she is worth half a million of pure coin. Can any swindling bank show as much ? In good sense and elegance another half million ; in mind, soiil and beauty, millions upon millions, equal to the whole specie of all the rotten banks in the world j Happily, the patronage of the public to the Jlcrald is nearly $25,000 per annum, almost equal to a President's salary. But property in the world's goods was j never my object. Fame, public good, usefulness in my day and generation, the religious associations of female excellence, ?the progress cf true industry?these have been my dreams by night and my | desire by day. In the new and holy condition into which I am about to enter, and to enter with the same reverential feelings as I would heaven itself, I anticipate some signal changes in j my feelings, in my views, in my dur; poses, in my pursuits. What they may be I know not?time alone can tell. My ardent desire has been through life to reach the highest order of human exeel| lence by the shortest possible cut. Associated, night and day, in sickness | and in health, in war and in peace, with i a woman of the liighest order of excel[ lence, must produce some curious rei suits in my heart and feelings, and these j results the future will develop in due time in the columns of the Jit raid. Meantime I return my heartfelt thanks I for the enthusiastic patronage of the i public, both of Europe and America. | The holy estate of wedlock will only in| crease my desire to be still more useful. ; God Almighty bless you all. James Gordon Bennett. j Mr. Bennett published a postscript to ! the announcement to the effect that until after his marriage and honeymoon he I would have no time to waste in replying to the attacks of rival editors, and two days after the wedding the event was j noticed as follows at the head of the edi: torial columns of the paper : MARRIED, On Saturday afternoon, the sixth inst, by the Rev. ])r. Power, of St. Peter's Catholic church, in Barclay street, James I Gordon Bennett, the proprietor and j editor of the New York Herald, to Henrietta Agnes Crean. What may be the effect of this event on the great newspaI per contest now waging in New York time alone can show. Practicing Economy. The practice of economy on the part 1 of the people of the United States, says an exchange, for thirteen years has had a marked effect on imports, which have fallen off* so heavily as to materillay affect the income of the government from customs duties. The customs receipts in December were nearly $2,000,000 less than in November, and $2,316,177 less than in December, 1875. The receipts from customs during the last six months of 1876 were $64,530,058, and from Internal revenue .they were $57,033,420, ! which was a falling oft' from last year of $11,962,000 in the former and $424,372 in the latter, and upward of $12,000,000 in all. The result of this large falling off is that the liabilities of the government in December exceeded its receipts by $3,585,142. During the last six i months of 1876 the public debt was diminished $6,578,000, which is $2,338,428 less than during the last six months of 1875. These figures show the effect of the private economies ot tiie people on ] the resources of the government, ami if imports continue to fall off during this year as they did in 1876 there will be an increase of the public debt. This state of things calls for prompt and wise legislation on the part of Congress. The Russian Army. A correspondent at Paris, discussing the various rumors concerning the condition of the Russian army, says the truth is the army continues to be organized with great rapidity. The men are neither so unhealthy nor so discouraged as they have been represented to be, and will be perfectly ready to take the ti?ld in two months, provided a capable general is placed at their head. The real complaint of the Grand Duke Nicholas is inefficiency. The moderation of Russia I is not caused by military weakness, but i by her desire to throw the blame of pro- 1 yoking war in Turkey. Inky.?Report lias it that a river of genuine ink has been discovered in Algeria. It is formed by the union of two streams, one coming from a region of ferruginous soil,the other draining a peat swamp. The water of the former is strongly impregnated with iron, that of the latter with gallio acid. When the two waters mingle the acid of cue unites with the trVm of the other, forming n true > ink. I RIBI $2.00 per t Co<xl for the Eyesight. They tell an incident in Chicago about mortgaged property and old Long John Wentworth, who is considered one of the real estate fathers of Chicago. Almost every piece of land in Chicago is mortgaged. Mr. Wentworth is a venerable, grand old man. No one knows his age. Senator Logan says that Long John fell out with Columbus at Palos, and came over to America in a Cunard steamer and bought up some corner lots in Chicago before the great Italian uavi' i e .!_ gator set out on 111s tour 01 uibuu*c*j. However, I regard tliis as an error, which one of the returning boards should correct. Ex-Mayor Hoyne here says that for the last year Long John Wentworth has been known to stand for hours in front of the piece of ground owned by the government, and on which Mr. Mullett has tried, in the new post-office, to build a young American ruin to vie with Kenilworth castle. He says l\Ir. Wentworth has stood in front of the board fence J surrounding this piece of government ! land and peeked?actually peeked j through a knothole into this post-offi^, yard for hours at a time. Mr. worth's actions got to be very mysteri- j ous. They begun to excite the grave ! comments of the whole city. 44 What j does he mean," they asked, "standing1 there, liom* after hour, looking through j the knotholes and cracks in that post- J office fence ?" One day the truthful, silver haired Mr. Story of the Times saw Mr. Went- 1 worth looking, as usual, through his fa- I vorite knothole. You know Mr. Story ' would not tell a lie for all the hatchets j in Virginia. Well, after he had watched j Mr. Wentworth one day for about three hours, standing there in a drizzling rain and peering through a crack, he went up to him and said: " Mr. Wentworth, I beg your pardon, but I can't bear this suspense any longer. Tell me what in the name of Grant and the returning board are you looking at ? What "? " Oh, nothing, Mr. Story, nothing but"? 44 4 Nothing but!' That's a pretty j way to talk, Mr. Wentworth, after stand- I ing here in the rain for three hours with your eyes on that ernck ! Looking at - nothing but!' Likely story, Mr. J Wentworth. No, sir; there's a mystery ! here somewhere. Now tell me?tell me ; what you see." 44 Well," said Mr. Wentworth, 44 if you must know the truth, Mr. Story, the honest truth, I came out here to improve my eyes. It does my old eyes good, and lias done 'em good ever since the lire, ; to come here and look through the fence i and see a piece of land in Chicago that1 ain't mortgaged." If any one doubts this story, and I am j DUIiJ IU Iliac uituij uuogiuuvu are disposed to be always questioning the veracity of my stories, they can come here to Chicago themselves and see the cracks in the fence ai^" the knotholes aud the land without any mortgage on it ! that Long John Wentworth looked at. ?Eli Per kin*. North Caralina Bankers. The "bankers," who live along the North Carolina banks, are a peculiar people. Like the Florida " cracker," their origin is wrapped in mystery. They # have little intercourse with the world,' and that little is confined to an interchange of commodities. They are expert fishermen and hunters, and the j range for both is wide. They make their j own nets, hollow out a cypress log, and fashion and trim it to the semblance of a boat, cultivate a little patch of potatoes, and live and flourish in a sort of rude independence, if not antagonism to their more civilized neighbors across the Channel. They are happily ignorant of the making and unmaking of Presidents, and the turmoil of the world generally in no way disturbs the equanimity of their lives. At the extreme end of Bogue banks, and eight miles from Cape Lookout, is Fort Macon. A broken down parapet and a few dilapidated looking guns constitute the fort. A row of neat cottages shows the quarters of the officers, aud a solemn tower is said to be the hospital So close a resemblance does this fort bear to a prison tnat uesertion is 01 vrxy common occurrence. In tliis emergency the soldier and banker are of use to cacli other. The former, after making his escape, takes his way along the banks until lie falls in with a banker's hut, and there disposes of his blouse, pants and cap, receiving in return a complete suit of nondescript apparel. Tlien the transformed soldier is ferried across the sound by the accommodating banker, becomes a civilian, cancels his engagement and is rarely brought to justice. A few years ago a soldier, tired of the monotonous life of the crazy old fort, made his escape iu the customary manner, and, after wandering through several States ' in the direction of the frontier, at last i found employment in a circus. There he completely sunk his identity, and became a daring bareback rider. More than three years had elapsed, when an officer strolled into the show, at that time performing in Iowa. The officer recognized the delinquent and, armed with the necessary extradition papers, clapped his hand on the soldier acrobat, and conveyed him back to his old quarters at the dismal end of Bogue banks. Length of Days. The following table shows the duration of the longest and shortest days in the principal capitals throughout the world, corrected for refraction, etc., and earned out to the nearest minute : Latitude. ?#?<?? Dfj. Mia. H. M. H. M. Washington... 39 0 N 14 52 ? 22 Stockta 1 ni 59 20 N 18 30 5 54 Copenhagen... 55 41 N 17 20 6 54 St.Petersburg. 59 56 N 18 44 5 4 '. Berlin 52 31 N 16 33 7 4) London 51 31 N 16 32 7 44 j Edinburgh.... 55 07 > lI aa u oj Dublin 53 22 N 16 66 7 18 Amsterdam.... 52 21 S 1J 44 7 81 Vienna... 48 13 N 15 63 8 17 Pans 48 50 N 16 6 8 10 Madrid 4-) 25 N 15 0 9 14 Lisbon -"W 4-2 N 14 CO ? ?-l Cairo 30 3 N 14 0 10 10 Naples 40 50 N 15 3 9 14 Constantinople 41 1 N 15 4 9 12 Calcutta W 36 N* 13 20 10 42 pekln 39 85 14 84 9 18 Cape Town.83 68 8 14 22 45 P?i>4S?i) ' 8 M J* 13 *? 11 84 j m ?i s ii n I *9 I innm Single Cm 5 Cents. Hf.i.ic nf Iniprpfit. AlVflUO VI A.a?v< .w The average age of sheep is ton years; cows, fifteen; hogs, fifteen, and horses, not used as beasts of burden, twenty. Said a man to another : " Don't forget the baby ; give my love to him." Said the other man : " '? ain't a 'im, 'e's a 'er." A London newsboy found a 82,(XX) diamond which he carried about in his pocket for a month without knowing its worth. Citizens of Fort Griffin, Te^ps, captured eleven men who were trying to n.n off twentv-seveu head of stolen horses, and hanged them all in the woods. Some physicians now claim that the general prevalence of diphtheria is due in a great degree to the gas which is thrown off from coal stoves in ill ventilated rooms. If, as was the case in " a lottery litigation," in New York, a stockholder in a lottery fails to get his own sharo of the money, what are the chances of the ticketholder ? In nearly every city throughout the country the exits of theaters have been officially examined since the Brooklyn disaster, and in most of them alterations have been ordered. Don't put the point of your lead pencil in your mouth. The frequent practice has resulted in the ruin of health, and in many cases in paralysis and death Besides it is*a vulgar habit. So far tliis year, not less than 36,000 head of beef cattle have been driven from eastern Orego; and eastern Wash ington down toward the Pacific railroad, the greater part destined for San Francisco. A Philadelphia policeman, convicted of murder, is to have a new trial because at the tiipe of the deed, in the language of the judge, " his reason had been torn up by the roots and judgment jostled from her throne." Many a fanner's boy goes into some city and struggles along until middle life, with nothing to show for his labor except that he has thoroughly learned that a half starved lawyer is less to be envied than a well fed fanner. The people often make blunders in their choice ; they are apt to mistake presence of speech for presence of mind ; * * ?.m tbn tliev love so to neip a man noc uum ranks that they will spoil a good demagogue to make a bad general. She wouldn't stand to have a tooth pulled for one million two hundred thousand dollars, she said, and yet she walked the streets all day in tiny gaiters, * two sizes too sn all for her, and thought nothing of it; but then nobody saw the tooth, and several naw She gaiters. While Dr. James Actams, of the _ . don hospital, was removing the limb at the hip joint from a boy, to alarming collapse occurred, and the patient sunk fast. ITie operator instantly had eight ounces of blood injected ?from his arm to the boy's, and then completed the operation. The boy is doing well. About 1,200 Icelanders have immigrated into Manitoba and settled on Lake Winnipeg at a place which they call Gimli. The colonial government has given them land and helped them to get over. They are very unlucky, however; this winter, numbers of them, especially children, having died of smallpox. Four wars within tli9 last fifteen years have cost Great Britain upward of ?16,000,000 sterling. The Persian expedition cost ?900,000. The outlay on the Chinese war amounted to ?3,114,000. The New Zealand war, which did not extend beyond the year 1866, was covered by ?765;000; and the Abyssinian war entailed the expenditure of ?8,000,000 or ?9,000,000. It is a fact worth thinking about that Africa .is three tames as densely populated as America. The estimated number of inhabitants in Africa on about eleven and a half square miles of territory is more than twice that in America on alxrat fifteen and a half square miles. In imoripA thp averaare is five and a half people to the square mile, in Africa, seventeen and a half. The number of pilgrims who assembled " last year at Mecca is stated to have b.een 140,000. Of th<?e 40,000 were conveyed by sea, and the remainder by caravans across the continent. The whole ntimber is below the average of former years, the falling off being accounted for by the French government having forbidden the pilgrimage from Algiers in consequence of the prevalence of cholera in Syria. The Dead of the Year. The year of our Lord 1876 will always s, be remembered for the deaths of great men and women which occurred during the twelve months. Of preachers and priests Cardinal's Antouelli and Tarnoczy, the Rev. Henry Boehm (who had lived and done good works for a century), the Rev. Dr. Bushnell, Protestant Episcopal Bishop Johns, the Rev. Dr. Sprague, the Rev. George Peck, President Stearns of Amherst College, Bishop Janes of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the Rev. Dr. Durbin are among the manv who have died. Among notable statesmen and jurists the deaths are recorded of Francis Beak, Reverdy Johnson, President Roberts of Liberia, Chief "r?A"? Uolotpnro PT-Gnvernor J libllCC \Jl -W? Wise of Virginia, together with those of Speaker Michael Kerr, H. H. Starkwerther, Trusten Polk, H. G. Blake, John A. Searing, Allen T. Caperton, Francis P. Blaur, Sr., and James W. Nye, all of whom were, or had been, members of the United States Congress. Turkey lias lost two sultans, although there has been little apparent mourning there for either of them ; Portugal has lost a princess. Of soldiers, Santa Anna, the American Generals Custer, Bragg, G. A. Smith, Gordon Granger are a few of those who have died. The American navy has lost Commodore Stephen Decatur, John Pope and Admiral Stringhom. George Sand, Harriet Martineau, Henry Kingsley, Francis Pnlacky, Alexanoer Bussel, John Foreter, Orestes A. Brnwnson, G. M. D. Bloss, Charles C. Cheeney, *nd George Alfred Lawrence have ended forever their literary lnlx>rs. The utsicr* has lost Charlotte Cushiijaii and Frederick Lemaitre. New York lout Alexander T. Stewart; Beaton its noblest phiUnthropiit, Dr. Samuel G. Sows, and tk9 list 11 itiU iuoompletsj A