THI
YOL. Y. NO. 45
The False Oracle.
BY BRET HARTE.
BY MARY AINGE DE VERE.
She pickod a little daisy flower
With fringe of snow, and heart of gold ;
All pure without, and warm within?
And stood to have her fortune told.
44 lie loves me," low she musing said,
And plucked the border leaf by leaf;
44 A little?too much?not at all?
With truest heart?beyond belief."
44 A little?too much?not at all"?
So rang the changes o'er and o'er ;
The tiny leaflets fluttered down,
And strewed the meadow's grassy floor.
" A little?too much?not at all?
With truest heart"?oh, magic brief!
Ah, foolish task, to measnre out
Love's value on a daisy leaf !
For she pulled the latest left
With 44 not all left," I heard her say,
44 Ah, much you know, you silly flower,
He'll love me till his dying day."
?Scribner's.
" Who Was My Quiet Friend ?"
" Stronger!"
The voice was not loud, but clear and
penetrating. I looked vainly up and
down the narrow darkening trail. No
one in the fringe of alder ahead ; no one
on the gullied slope behind.
14 Oh! stranger V*
This time a little impatiently. The
Californian vocative, ''Oh," always
meant business.
I looked up, and perceived for the first
time, on the ledge, thirty feet above rac,
another trail parallel with my own, and
looking down upon me through the
buckeye bushes a small man on a black
horse.
Fivo things to be here noted by the
circumspect mountaineer. First, the
locality ? lonely and inaccessible and
away fromjhe regular faring of teamsters
and miners. Secondly, the Rtrangcr's
superior knowledge of the road from the
fact that the other trail was unknown to
the ordinary travelor. Thirdly, that he
was well armed and equipped. Fourthly,
that lie was better mounted. Fifthly,
that any distrust or timidity arising from
the contemplation of theso facte had
better be kept to oneself.
All this passed rapidly through my
mind as I returned his salutation.
4 4 Got any tobacco ?" he asked.
I had, aud signified the fact, holding
up the pouch inquiringlv.
44 All right, I'll come down. Ride on,
and I'll jine yc on the slide."
44The slide?" Hero was a new geographical
discovery as odd as the second
. :i t l i . :i
tlitii. x u?u iiuucu uvn ifuc unu n
dozen times, and seen no communication
bctwoen the ledge and trail. Nevertheless
I went on a hundred yards or so,
when there was a sharp crackling in the
uuderbrnsh, a shower of stones on the
trail, and my friend plunged through
the bushes to my side down a grade that
I should scarcely have dared to lead my
horse. There was no doubt he was an
accomplished rider?another fact to be
noted.
As he ranged beside me I found I was
not mistaken as to his size; he was quite
under the medium height, and, but, for
a pair of cold "gray eyes, was rather commonplace
in feature.
x< You've got a good horse there," I
suggested.
He was filling his pipe from my pouch,
but looked no a little fmrnrised. ami
said: " Of course." He then-puffed
away with the nervous eagerness of a
.mau long deprived of that sedative.
Finally, between the puffs, he asked me
whence I came.
I replied from " Lagrange."
He looked at me a few moments curiously,
but on my adding that I had only
halted there for a few hours, he said: "J i
thought I knew every man between Lagrange
and Indian Spring, but somehow J
I sorter disremember your face and your |
name."
Not particularv oaring that he should :
remember either, I replied, half laugh- '
ingly, that as I lived the other side of
Indian Spring, it was quite natural. He
took the rebuff?if such it was?so quiet- !
ly, that as an act of mere perfuuetory !
politeness, I asked him where he came 1
from.
"Lagrange." .
" And you are going to"
'Well! that depends pretty much on j
how things pan out, and whether I can '
make the riffle." He let his hand rest
quite unconsciously on the leathern ;
holster of his dragoon revolver, yet with
a strong suggestion to me of his ability
"to make the riffle "if he wanted to,
and added: " But just now I was reck- '
'nin' on hiking a little/>a*ear with you." 1
There was nothing offensive in his 1
speech, save its familiarity and the reflec
tiou, perhaps, that whether I objected :
Or not, he was quite able to do as he
said. I only replied that if our paaear i
was prolonged beyond Heavytree Hill, I !
should have to borrow his beast To j
my surprise, he replied quietly: " That's i
so," adding that the horse was at my dis- :
posal when he wasn't using it, and half i
of it when he was. " Dick has carried !
double many a time before this," he i
continued: " and kin do it again; when
your mustang gives out, 111 give you a i
lift, and room to spare." :
I could not help smiling at the idea ]
of appearing before the boys at Red
Gulch en croupe with the stranger; but j
neither could I help being oddly affected
by the suggestion that his horse had 1
done double duty before. "On what ;
occasion, and why?" was a question I .
kept to myself. We were ascending the i
long rocky flank of the Divide; the nar- i
rowness of the trail obliged us to pro- <
cecd slowly and m file, so mat mere
was little chance for conversation, had
he been disposed to satisfy my curiosity*
Wc toiled on in silence, the buckeye
giving way to chimisal, the westering
sun, reflected again from the blank walls
biside us, blinding our eyes with its
ghire. The pines in the canyon below
were olive gulfs of heat, over which a
hawk here and there drifted lazily, or
rising to our level, cast a weird' and
gigantic shadow of slowly moving wings
on the mountain side. The superiority
of the stranger's horse led him often far
in advance, and made mo hope that he
might forget me entirely, or push on,
grown weary of waiting. But regularly
ho would halt bv a boulier, or reappear
from <??*? cA??n??at, where he bad
? BE
?
}.
patiently halted. I was beginning to
liate him mildly, when at one of those
reappearances he drew Tip to my side, and
asked me how I liked Dickens!
Had he asked my opinion of Hnxley
or Darwin, I could not have been more
astonished. Thinking it were possible
that he referred to some local celebrity
of Lagrange, I 6aid, hesitatingly:
" You mean ?"
" Charles Dickens. Of oonrse you've
read him ? Which*of his books do you
like best?"
I replied with considerable embarrassment
that I liked them all?as I certainly
/I.M
M.J Villi,
He grasped my hand for a moment
with a fervor qnite unlike his usual
phlegm, and said: "That's me, old
man. Dickens ain't no slouch. You
can count on him pretty much all the
time."
With this rough preface, he launched
into a criticism of the novelist, which
for intelligent sympathy and hearty appreciation
I had rarely heard equaled.
Not only did he dwell upon the exuberance
of his humor, but upon the power
of his pathos and the all pervading element
of his poetry. I looked at the man
in astonishment. I had considered myself
a rather diligent student of the great
master of fiction, but the stranger's
felicity of quotation and illustration
staggerod me. It is true that his thought
was not always clothed in the best
language, and often appeared in the
slouching, slangy undress of the place
and period, yet it never was rustic nor
homespun, and sometimes struck me
with its precision and fitness. Considerably
softened toward him, I tried him
with other literature. But vainly.
Beyond a few of lyrical and emotional
poets, he knew nothing. Under the influence
and "enthusiasm of his own
speech, he himself had softened considerablv;
offered to chancre horses with
^ J -- ? _ ^
me, readjusted my saddle with prof ?8sioiial
skill, transferred my pack to his
own horse, insisted upon my sharing
the contents of his whisky ilask, and
noticing that I was unarmed, pressed
upon me a silver mounted Derringer,
wliich he assured me he could "warrant"
These various offices of good
will and the diversion of his talk beguiled
me from noticing the fact that
the trail was beginning to become obscure
and unrecognizable. We were
evidently pursuing a route unknown
before to me. I poiuted out the fact to
ray companion a little impatiently. He
instantly resumed his old manner and
dialect
" Well, I reckon one trail's as good
as another, and what hev ye got to say
about it ?"
I pointed out, with some dignity, that
I preferred the old trail.
" Mebbee you did. But you're jiss
now takin' a pascar with me. This yer
trail will bring you right into Indian
Spring, and onnotieed, and no questions
asked. Don't you mind now, I'll see
you through."
It was necessary here to make some
stand against my strange companion. I
said lirmly, yet as politely as I could,
that I had proposed stopping over night
with a friend.
"Whar?" i
I hesitated. The friend was an eccentric
Eastern man, well known in the
locality for his fastidionsness and his
habits as a recluse. A misanthrope of j
ample family and ample means he had
chosen a secluded but picturesque valley <
in the Sierras, where he could rail
against the world without opposition.
" Lone Valley," or " Boston Ranch," as I
it wa? more familiarly called, was the
one spot that the average miner both i
respected and feared. Mr. Sylvester,
its proprietor, had never affiliated with
" the boys," nor had he ever lost their 1
respect by any active opposition to their '
ideas. If seclusion had been his object <
he certainly was gratified. Neverthe- i
less, in the darkening bhadows of the '
night, and on a lonely and unknown
trail, I hesitated a little at repeating his i
name to a stranger of whom I knew so
little. But my mysterious companion i
took the matter out of my hands.
"I-ook yar," he said, suddenly, "tliar ;
ain't but one place twixt yer and Indian 1
Spring whar ye can stop, and that's 1
Sylvester's."
I assented, a little sullenly. I
" Well," said the stranger, quietly,
and with a slight suggestion of conferring 1
a favor on me, " Ef you're pointed for <
Sylvester's?why ?I don't mind stopping
thar with ye. It's a little off the road? 1
I'll lose some time?but taking it by and
i r ?i. i. >? j
LargU X uuu t xuutu uimu.
I stated, as rapidly and as strongly as J
[ could, that my acquaintance with Mr.
Sylvester did not justify the iutroduc- '
tion of a stranger to his hospitality? I
that he was unlike most of the people ;
here?in short, that he was a queer ;
man, etc. 9 ;
To my surprise my companion answered
quietly : 44 Oh, that's all right. .
I've heerd of him. Ef you don't feel
like checking me through, or if you'd .
rather put 4 C. O. P.' on my back, why
it's all the same to me. I'll play it ,
done. Only you just count me in. (
Say 4Sylvester' all the time. That's .
me.
What could I oppose to this man's ;
quiet assurance ? I felt myself growing
red with anger and nervous with embar- ,
rassment. What would the correct Sylvester
say to me? What would the
girls?I was a young man then, and had
won an entree to their domestic circle
by my reserve?known by a less complimentary
adjective among the 44 boys " J
?what would they say to my new ac- !
duaiatance? Yet I certainly could not
object to bis assuming all risk on his !
own personal recognizances, nor could I
resist a certain feeling of shame at my
embarrassment.
We were beginning to descend. In
the distance below us already twinkled
the lights in the solitary ranclio of Lone
Valley. I turned to my companion.
"But you have forgotten that I don't
even know your name. What am I to
call you ?"
"That's so," he said musingly.
" Now, let's see. ' Kearney ' would bo
a good name. It's short and easy like.
Thai's a street in 'Frisco the same title.
Kearuey it is."
" But"? I began, impatiently.
" Now you will leave all that to me,"
he interrupted,jjwith a superb self-confidence
that I could not but tidmire.
" Th* ain't no account' It's
:au:
AND PORT
BEAUFORT, S. C.
mail that's responsible. Ef I was to lay
for a man that I reckoned was named
Jones, and after I fetched him I found
out on the inquest that his real name
was Smith?that wouldn't make no matter,
as long as I got the man."
The illustration, forcible as it was, did
not strike me as offering a prepossessing
introduction, but we were already
at the rancho. The barking of dogs
brought Sylvester to the door of the
pretty little cottage which his taste had
adorned.
I briefly introduced Mr. Kearney.
" Kearney will do?Kearney's good
enough for me," commented the soidisant
Kearney half aloud, to my own
horror and Sylvester's evident mystification,
and then he blandly excused himself
for a moment that he might personally
supervise the care of his own beast.
When he was out of ear shot, I drew the
puzzled Sylvester aside.
" I have picked up?I mean I have
been picked up on the road by a gentle
maamIaa /\n A A A in IT AA1*rtATT TTa
lUttUiHU, WUUBO UMUO lO UUV UDOl UCJ, JL1U
is well armed and quotes Dickens. With
care, acquiescence in his views on all
subjects, and general submission to his
commands, ho may be placated.
Doubtless the spectacle of your helpless
family^ the contemplation of your
daughter's beauty and innocence, may
touch his fine sense of humor and pathos.
Meanwhile, Heayen help you, and forgive
me."
I ran up stairs to the little den that
my hospitable host had kept always reserved
for me in my wanderings. I
lingered some time over my ablutions,
hearing the languid, gentlemanly drawl
of Sylvester below mingled with the
equally cool, easy slang of my mysterious
acquaintance. When I came down
to the sitting-room I was surprised, however,
Jo find the self-styled Kearney
quietly seated on the sofa, the gentle
May Sylvester, the "Lilv of the Lone
Valley, sitting with maidenly awe and
unaffected interest on one side of him,
while on the other that arrant flirt, her
cousin Kate, was practising the pitiless
archery of her eyes, with an excitement
that seemed almost real.
" Who is your deliriously cool friend?"
she managed to whisper to me at supper
as I sat utterly dazed and bewildered
between the enrapt^May Sylvester, who
seemed to hang upon his words, and this
giddy girl of the period, who was emptying
the battery of her charms in active
rivalry upon him. " Of course we know
his name isn't Kearney. But how
romantic ! And isn't he perfectly lovely?
And who is he ?"
I replied with severe irony that I was
not aware what foreign potentate was
lion +por-olinnr inrnmiifn in the Sierras
VUVU ViHl
of California, but that when his royal
highness was pleased to inform me, I
Rhould be glad to introduce him properly.
"Until then," I added, "I fear
tne acquaintance must be Morganatic."
" You're only jealous of him," she said
pertly. "Look at May-she is completely
fascinated. And her father too."
And actually, the languid, world-sick,
cynical Sylvester was regarding him
with a boyish interest and enthusiasm
almost incompatible with his nature.
Yet I submit honestly to the clear-headed
reason of my own sex, that I could
see nothing more in the man than I have
already delivered to the reader.
In the middle of an exciting story of
adventure, of which he, to the already
prejudiced mind of his fair auditors,
was evidently the hero, he stopped suddenly.
"It'sonly some pack-train passing the
bridge on the lower track," explained
Sylvester, " Go on."
"It may be my horse is a trifle uneasy
in the stable," said the alleged Kearney;
"he ain't used to boards and covering."
Heaven only knows what wild awl delicious
revalation lay in the statement of
the fact, but the girls looked at each
other with cheeks pink with excitement
is Kearney arose, and with qnite absence
of ceremony, quitted the table.
"Ain't he just lovely 1" said Kate,
gasping for breath, " and so witty."
"Witty!" said gentle May, with just
the slightest trace of defiance in her
roice. "Witty, my dear? why don't
yon see that his heart is just breaking
with pathos? Witty, indeed; why, when
tie was speaking of that poor Mexican
woman that was hung, I saw tears
gathering in his eyes. Witty, indeed 1"
"Tears," laughed the cynical Sylvester,
" tears, idle tears. Why, you silly
children, the man is a man of the world
?a philosopher, quite, observant, unassuming.
"
" Unassuming !" Was Sylvester intoxicated,
or had the mysterious stranger
mixed the "insane verb" with the
family pottage ? He returned before I
oould answer this self-asked inquiry,
and resumed coolly his broken narrative.
Finding myself forgotten in the man I
had so long hesitated to introduce to
my friends, I retired to rest early, only
to hear, through the thin partitions, two
hours *later. enthusiastic praises of the
new guest. from the voluble lips of the
girls, as they chatted together in the
next room before retiring.
At midnight I was startled by the
sound of horses* hoofs and the jingling
of spurs below. A conversation between
my host and some mysterious
personage in the darkness was carried
on in such a low tone that I could not
learn its import. As the cavalcade rode
away, I raised the window.
" What's the matter?"
"Nothing," said Sylvester, coolly,"
"onlv another one of those olavful
homicidal freaks peculiar to the country.
A. man was shot by Cherokee Jack over
at Lagrange this morning, and that was
the sheriff of Calaveras and his posse
hunting him. J told him I'd seen nobody
but you and your friend. By the
way, I hope the cursed noise hasn't disturbed
him. The poor feller looked as
though he wanted rest."
I thought so, too. Nevertheless, I
went softly to his room. It was empty.
My impression was that he had distanced
the sheriff of Calaveras about two hours.
Three and a half pounds of milk are
equal to one pound of meat; and only
estimate a cow to give 4,000 pounds of
milk in a year, this wonld make the
cow's product in milk equal in fowl
value to 1,000 pounds of meat, and this
1,000 pounds of meat would require a
steer, under ordinary feeding, four years
to produce, so that the cow produces ns
much return from her foed J? o**e year
se a steer is four,
FOR
ROYAL C<
, THURSDAY, SEP
A Russian General.
The Plevna correspondent of the London
Times writes : Major General Scobelofif
is a character?one of the most
striking men I have ever met; he is a
son of Lientenant-General Scobeloff, of
the Russian army, and has been in every
campaign the Russians have had since
he was old enough to enter the field.
In Khokand, where everything was
considered in a critical state, young
Scobeloff was left to cover the rear of
the army with five battalions and twenty
guns. His elders in rank and years had
selected him to bear the disgrace of the
expected catastrophe; but he did not
fancy this situation of affairs, attacked
the enemy (numbering forty battalions)
in the night, threw them into a panic,
and utterly routed them, remaining master
of the province. For this he was
made a major-general at thirty-one, and
became the object of much envy and
calumny at the hands of the officers
whose heads he had passed over.
At the recent battle of Plevna he had
his brigade of Cossacks and a battalion
of infantry, the latter numbering about
seven hundred men. Three hundred
and forty of this battalion fell in the desperate
contest, one hundred and seventy
of them being killed outright; unsupported
the remnant were compelled to
fall back, but they retreated in good order,
bringing away all the wounded, and
actually left the deadly line of battle
singing one of their wild but very melodious
mountain airs. A major-general, thirty-three
years of age, tall and handsome,
Scobeloff is the ideal of a benu sabrcur
of the old Murat type. Brave almost to
recklessness, yet possessing a certain
shrewd aptitude for estimating chances
and the strength of position.
He will make his mark in this campaign
should his carelessness of personal
danger not bring him before some fatal
bullet?he has already been wounded
six times during his career. Having
been appointed to the staff of the commander
of the Plevna army, he was on
the way to the camp of his cavalry brigade
to turn over the command to his
successor.
Tlic Writer's Cramp.
A paper read by M, JBouilland before
a recent meeting of the French Academy
if Sciences gives an account of his further
researches relative to lesions of the
brain. In his former communications
he demonstrated that the loss of speech
was due to a malady of the third circumvolution
of the left anterior lobe of that
organ. He now goes farther, and asserts
the three fucnltias which essentially
distinguish man from other animals
?speech, reading and writing?are each
controlled by separate portions of the
brain. In his researches he discovered
that the paralysis of one of those functions
corud exist without the others being
effected, and he gives as an example
a case in which he was called to a consultation
on a young man, whose avocations
compelled him to write continuallv.
At first the patient had felt a slight
weakness in writing, then a great difficulty,
and finally, an absolute loss of
the faculty. The result of the closest
examination could not detect any defect
Jr? fVirt mnc/?loc nf fViA arm nr hand the
latter retaining all its sensitiveness and
power for every other purpose than that
of writing, and all his other functions
being moral and in good condition. The
conclusion arrived at was that the source
of the infirmity must not be sought for
in the external organs, bnt in the center
itself of nervous action?the brain. The
young man was advised to write with
his left hand, which he rapidly succeeded
in doing. The defect from which he
suffered had long been known as writers'
cramp, just as the loss of speech was for
centuries termed paralysis of *the
tongue. Both designations were equally
erroneous, both being now attributed
to maladies of certain portions of the
brain.
A Bold Exploit
The following is from the diary of the
late Mr. Adolphus, the barrister and historian:
"May 8, 1840 : We had a dinner
party, among them Mrs. Matthews and
Curran, who told an amusjng story of an
agent to a nobleman in Ireland. It was
known to some ruffians in the neighbor1
' Al- ? A 1% A trt/1 Artl 1 rvolo/1 O 10TCrCi QflTYl
liuuu mai uc iiuu wucv/wu ? w^u ???.
for rents due to his employer. In the
middle of the night he heard thieves
breaking into his house. He jumped
out of bed, and arming himself with a
carving knife stood behind the door, and
closed it, so that only one could enter at
a time, which one would be shown in the
moonlight while he remained in the
shade. Four of the thieves entered,
and were dispatched one after another,
those without not knowing what had
happened. The fifth saw the gleam of
the blade in the moonlight, seized the
man, and a tremendous scuffle ensued. J
The agent struck several blows with his
weapon, but made no impression. He was
got down and his antagonist over him,
when feeling the knife, he found the point
was bent. He had the presence of mind to
press it strongly against the floor, so as
to turn it back, stabbed his adversary
dead, and, as he was alone in the house
and could liave no assistance till the
morning, retired to bed. He was
knighted for the exploit. Some one
said to him: 11 wonder you could go to
bed while there were on the floor the
corpses of five persons whom you had
killed ?' His answer was: ' It did make
me very uneasy; I could not get a wink
of sleep for nearly an hour!'"
A Little Off.
A Detroiter called at a livery stable
? 0 a 0
to secure a rig to take ins wue out ior a
ride, and he made it a point ask for a
docile animal. While the horse inter ded
for him was being hitched up she
reared up and acted very nervous, and
the proprietor explained:
"You needn't be a bit afraid of her.
She's simply a little off, to-day."
The citizen got into the carriage, was
whirled around the corner, and nothing
more was seen of him for two hours.
Then he came limping back and asked :
"That horse was a little off, wasn't
she?"
"Yes."
" Well, she kept growing offer and
off<-r till I concluded to get out, and
then the way she got off altogether was
bad for the buggy. Go *hd net
pieces, and we'll settle up,"
T T
OMMERCIAL
TEMBEK 20, 1877.
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Farm Notes?
Running spring water is far better for
cows whose milk is intended for firstclass
butter or cheese, than pond water
or even than w%ll water, since the quality
of the water influences the milk as
much as the character of the food.
Spruce butter tubs are the best;
white hemlock makes a sweet tub ; acids
from the oak color the butter and injure
its appearance ; white ash gives
the butter a strong flavor if kept long
and increases the liability to mould;
mania amalla anrl araaVa hotHv Snak
all tabs four to six days in brine before
using.
Alonzo Crafts has found a good use
for sour cider. He had a sow with a
litter of nine pigs which the sow would
not own. and towards which she was
very violent, and but for their timelv removal
the little pigs would all have
been killed. He gave the sow two
quarts of sour cider and in a few minutes
she lav down evidently " the worse
for liquor. While she was in this condition
the pigs were twice put to her to
suck, and when she recovered from her
" drunk " she owned the pigs all right,
and now seems exceedingly fond of her
progeny.
Have just examined a piece of evergreen
sweet corn which was planted with
seed selected by using only the upper
ear where two grew on a stalk last year.
The result is that nearly every stalk has
two ears on ; even five stalks in one hill
gave ten good ears, and I think that
there were as many single stalks with
three ears on as there were with only
one, but the two ears to the stalk were
almost universal. Now, as we are so often
reminded that we can improve our corn
by selecting seed, let us take the more
pain 8 thus to improve this most noble
American product:?Rural Home.
The farm of John Hawley, Brant N. Y.,
who has practiced the soiling system of
feeding for some time, contains fifty
acres, all' of which, with the exception of
a piece of timber and rough land, is under
* * m 11* ? A ? TT
a very nign siaie 01 cniuvanon. upon
the place are about ten head of cattle,
two horses and perhaps a few head of
loose stock at times. There are about
ten acres devoted to small fruits, such us
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries,
etc., leaving but forty acres to furnish
feed for the horses and cattle during
the year. The cows are many of them
grade Ayrshires, and Mr. Hawley is
turning his whole herd, to this breed as
fast as possible, as he thinks it adapted
to this system of feeding better than the
majority of breeds. To adopt this
system, preparations must be begun in
the fall, it appears, as some plant must be
ready to cut early in spring. A piece
of winter rye,large enough to furnish a
month's feed or so, is sown in the fall
which is ready to cut tho latter part of
April or beginning of May : then follows
millet (two or three varieties), clover,
sowed corn, etc. As fast as a crop is
taken off another should be sdwn, thus
keeping the land under crop all the
while. Mr. Hawley claims that his
soil increases in fertility every year';
in fact, it looks reasonable that a lot of
j 'n ?i x n.- ?M : <.
wecus Will UXllllUBt hic BUil jubh uo rnuv/u
as some profitable plant. Then the
manure pile is being constantly increased,
and the more crops raised the more
fertilizing material is there returned to
it Great care should be taken to save
all the liquids.?Chautauqua Farmer.
Household Hints.
To Prevent Decay in Meats.?
Sprinkle on.plenty of pulverized borax;
rub it well into the meat, and let it remain
five or ten minutes on ice, or longer,
if desired. Just before cooking
wash it well in a strong solution of borax
water, and do not rinse again. If it is to
be boiled or parboiled, add a little borax
to the water in which it is boiled; a
quarter of a teaspoonful will answer.
To Keep Lemons Fresh.?Place them
in a jar with water enough to cover them.
They will keep fresh in this way several
days without changing the water.
To Cure Bunions.?Bind a fine linen
band tightly around the foot and over
the bunion, sew it on if necessary, and
wear it day and night; bathe the feet
frennentlv in strong borax water, using
1 V ~ W ?
a teaspoonful of pulverized borax to a
ba8iu of water.
To Bid a Dog of Fleas.?Wash him
thoroughly with commou soft soap, such
as they use on board ships; or place
him on a newspaper and rub Persian insect
powder well over him, and the fleas
will drop out on the paper and die almost
immediately. This method is also
effective with rats.
To Make Calico Transparent and
Waterproof.?Take sir pints of pale
linseed oil, two ounces of sugar of lead,
and eight ounces of white resin ; the
sugar of lead must be ground with a
small quantity of it, and added to the
remainder. The resin should bc%incorporated
with the oil by means of gentle .
heat. The composition may then be
laid on calico, or any other such material,
by means of a brush.
Breaking Glass to Axy Required
Figure.?Make a 6 nail notch by means
of a file on the edge of a piece of glass,
then make the end of a tobacco pipe, or
a rod of iron of the same size, red-hot
in the fire, apply the hot iron to the
notch, and draw it slowly along the surface
of the glass in any direction vou
? * 11 11 _ a? x?
please; a cracn win ionow me cureeuon
of the iron. *
Good Use for Soap-Suds.?Save your
washing suds for the garden; if they are
poured over the roots of the plujn trees,
.they will kill the curculio; if turned at
the roots of the geraniums, roses, etc.,
they will enchanee their beauty tenfold.
To Clean Colored Silk.?Wash in
warm soap-suds, rinse in clear, warm
water, dry quickly, and iron on the
wrong side while yet rather damp. If
there are grease spots on the silk, press
with a tolerably warm iron under brown
paper.
The Queen of Madagascar has by
public proclamation liberated the whole
of the slaves in the island. By a treaty
with England in 1865 she engaged that
the practice of buying and selling slaves
should be discontinued, but her subjects
having evaded the treaty to a great extent
by pretending that their slaves were
purchased before the treaty came itltr*
force, tbe decisive step taken by fehe
queen h*? been rendered necessary.
RIBl
$2.00 per i
OREGON BILL.
8ome Facts About a Noted 8eout and
Hanter.
William Spence, alias Oregon Bill, is
in many respects a remarkable man. In
stature he is abont five feet nine inches.
His compressed lips and well set jaws
indicate a determined will. His nose is
well shaped; his eyes are gray, bnt full
of animation, and more especially when
interested in conversation, and his forehead
is high and well shaped. With
tfese features he has long flowing black
hair. The whole personnel of the man
is pleasing, and in marked contrast with
his reckless daring. He converses intel
ligently, and after the fashion of well
educated men. As a hunter, trapper
Indian fighter, marksman and wanderer
he is justly noted. He has been for
about eight weeks, and is still, confined
to his bed, in this city, from a cut on one
of his feet He is, however, con- <
valescent
His birth place is Port Natal, Sontk :
Africa, and he has hardly yet reached,
forty. His father having been killed in ,
battle, his widow, with her son William,
the subject of this sketch, immigrated
to England, where, through the influence
of friends, he soon was placed at
the Boyal Naval School at Greenwioh, i
where his progress was satisfactory; but
he could not be contented. His daring
and adventurous nature sought the sea,
and to a man-of-war he went. He was (
at sea for years, and during the time
distinguished himself for his bravery in
two engagements with pirates on the 1
coast of Africa. He participitated with
credit to himself in the last war with 1
Russia, and was present at the fall of
Balaklava. Boooming averse to being j
further on the sea he came to America j
and joined the Hudson Bay Fur Company.
For this company he travelled j
much among the Indians, gathering ]
peltiy. The year 1860 found him in
Portland, Oregon; from thence he went .
to St. Paul, Minn.; here he remained 1
one winter and was employed during c
that time by General Solly in a service
that was at once delicate and responsible, 1
which he discharged to the entire satis- 1
faction of his commander. From St. 1
Paul he went to Kansas, and there alternately
engaged in driving teams and t
buffalo hunting. From 1860 to 1865 he i
was an Indian fighter on the frontiers of i
Kansas and Texas, and in an engagement
with the red men on an occasion in j
which the whites were victorious, after a l
bloody hand to hand fight, he is said to j
have killed seven warriors with his pistol (
and bowie knife. During this period he j
spent some time in Missouri, and was at
Independence during General Prices .
raid. In 1872 he went East, attracting .
much attention, his exploits having pre- *
ceded him. His companions were W.
F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, and J.
B. Omahundra, alias Texas Jack. In
1873 he was the bearer of important dis
patches to General Garcia, in Cuba,
which he safely delivered. lie turning, 1
he came West, where he has since been 1
engaged in trapping, hunting and acting *
as guide for foreign tourists. As an 1
evidence of the man's wonderful accuracy *
in shooting, and it must be said also of f
recklessness, I will give two remarkable
instances : In Portland, Oregon, he had
a friend, John O'Madigan, now of this
city. While O'Madigan was walking
along the street smoking his pipe, and at
a distance of ten feet, and at about a t
right angle, Bill suddenly drew his pistol I
aud fired, the ball taking the pipe from a
the month of his friend, but doing him I
no harm. Again, last fall, Bill was in c
Lake City with deer for sale, and seeing v
his old friend O'Madigan passing up the t
same street, on the opposite side, he e
called to him to stop. When he had a
drawn his revolver John did s"?, facing s
him at the time. Bill fired, and the ball k
passed through the top of the hat of his a
friend. O'Madigan, in the best of ti
humor, called out: "Bill, don't shoot g
any more; it is too close." The history e
of this remarkable man will at some a
future time fill one of the most important e
chanters in a book of romance.?Denver t
Tribune. b
? b
Differences in People. si
There is a vast difference in people, #
However moralists and metaphysicians
may class them, there are opposite
points among the most similar which P
are broad contrasts?sweet and sour, B<
winter and summer?or any other pro- e
verbial antithesis. To some folks the n
leaves of a forest are all alike, and a ?
school full of boys presents only so many j1
fao-similies of each other. Such person- r!
ages regard all mankind as so many bi- rj
peds; of the difference between them
they are scarcely conscious. *
Some people soothe one like a strain 8
of music, while others agitate every e
nerve with the irritating power of a dis- J
cord. How much might be said about j*
the difference of people in their charac- ^
ters and actions. There are those who
turn pale at the sight of cheese, and oth- ?
era who shudder at the mention of car- ,
rots ; this one prefers hard eggs to soft,
and that one does not like buckwheat J
cakes. These marks by whick some of
our race are distinguished from the rest,
are but few of those which crowd the
- ? 1 - _i?
mind, mere are peopie wuo nu;
detest children; these who never have a &
moment to spare and those who don't b
know how .to get through the day. Your h
touchy people who are always pricking r
up their ears to catch the first faint ?
sound of an insult, and your people p
without humor who can never either a
furnish a joke or understand one. Jhere ?
are two causes of the great difference ii
perceptible in people. Much may cer- t]
tainly be ascribed to education, but v
much also to constitutional dissimilarity, a
Here is one on whom good music acts a
like enchantment; he cannot sit still h
while hearing it; his eyes fill with tears; s
he forgets all his troubles, and when the a
tune has ceased it is still in his mind, o
bursting out at intervals in fragments fi
and exclamations, and keeping him J
awake in the night bv its busy mental k
repetitions. Who shall say that his na- e
ture is the same as that of another who ?
finds in the Italian orchestra only a dis- g
agreeable scraping, whose lips cannot I
hum, whose imagination cannot contain r
a tune ? And thus on through life and t
in every day intercourse if we but ob- \
sereve a litte carefully, we will scarcely k
even,find two people alike?even those a
pursuing the same avocations and unite<k r
by the closest ties, are oftentimes the \
most dissimilar in thrir naturae c
%
?
JNE
. . ?
HDi. Single Copy 5 Cents.
Pumpkin Pi?u
I've tried the best
In East and West,
I've lunched 'neath tropic son,
I've tested all
The frnite that fall,
And like them every one.
Bat North or South,
No haman month,
I will the world apprise,
E'er tasted food
One-half so good
As our own pumpkin pies.
Words of Wisdom.
He that is everywhere is nowhere.
Confidence generally inspires confidence.
The greatest scholars are not the
wisest men.
Nothing is so uncertain as the minds
of the multitude.
No exoellent soul is exempt from a
mixture of folly.
To what use serves learning if the
understanding be away.
If individuals have no virtues their
vices may be of use to us.
Age makes us not childish, as men say;
it finds us still true children.
Two things the most opposite blind
us equally?custom and nov|}ty.
Fishes live in the sea as men do a-land;
the great ones eat up the little ones.
A kiss ought to be a mark of honest
affection, not a weapon of hypocrisy.
Prosperity does best discover vice,
but adversity does best discover virtue.
Reason cannot show itself more reasonably
than to cease reasoning on things
ibove reason.
. It is not enough to have great qualities
; we should also have the management
of them.
Let no man trust the first step of guilt;
t hangs upon a precipice, whose steep
leecent in lost perdition ends.
There are tnose tnai never reason on
vhat they should do, but on what they
lave done; as if reason had hit eyes belind
and could only see backward.
He that waits for repentance waits for
hat which cannot be had as long as it is
raited for. It is obsurd for a man to
rait for that which he himself has to do.
The passions are the only orators that
lever succeed. They are, as it were,
lature's art of eloquence, fraught with
nfallible rules. Simplicity, with the aid
>f the passions, persuades more than
he utmost eloquence without it
Oratory, like the drama, abhors lengthness;
like the drama it must keep
loing. It avoids, as frigid, prolonged
aetaphysical soliloquy. Beauties them(elves,
if they delay or distract the effect
vhich should be produced on the. audisnoe,
become blemishes.
The gravest events dawn with no more
loise than the m&rning star makes in
ising. All great developments compete
themselves in the world and
nodestly wait in silence, praising themelvee
never, announcing themselves not
,t&li. We most be sensitive and seaside
if we would see the beginnings and
sndings of great things. This is our part.
A Curious Surgical Operation. .
A boy named frank Hanafln. who had
- - - ? * * 1 J
>een injured in a sawmill nere, ana nau
?een, as we might say, almost skinned
live, was supplied with a new skin
>y taking pieces from the arms of eight
ir nine other boys. In the accident a
ery large wound was made in his back,
he snrface being one mass of red, quivring
flesh, though 1 wealthy in appearnce.
The wound, of course, was veiy
ensitivc, and the operation must bare
een quite painful to him. Drs. Picot
nd Maynard and an assistant performed
be operation. Around tha bed were
athered six or eight Irish boys, from
ight to fifteen years of age, from whose
rms had been taken, or was to be takn,
the skin needed fc> replace that
rhich wss lost As each was called on
y the doctor, he came forward, and
aring his arm, a small piece of skin was
kilfnlly cnt out with the lancet and ?
ently placed upon the raw flesh. About
birty pieces in all were so put on. Seviral
of the boys gave up more than one
ieoe, and.Folger Picot, the doctor's
on, contributed eight pieces. A youngr
brother of Hanafin's gave nearly as
lany. While the operation was going
u the boys joked among themselves ou
elping to make up Hanafin, and banared
eaeh other on the number of times
bey had submitted to be cut into for
be benefit of their playmate. The boys
rere generally very willing to give the
kin required, but after a while they
vidently began to think enough was
1 J 1V. mntdn^ Allf
8 good as a ieasi, tuiu uiej uum> vu.
oors, watching farther operations
tirongh the window. It is thought,
owever, that cnongli will consent to
ive skin, so that Hanafin's wonnd will
e entirely covered over, thus hastening
is recovery, and adding to his comfort
hen the wound shall Jiave healed.?Auurn
(N. Y.) Advertiser.
Death of a Noted "Medium."
The Sidftey (Australia) News says:
Ir. W. H. fl. Davenport, one of the
rothers whose performances as illusionits
have created for them a world-wide
eputation, died at the Oxford Hotel,.
Ling street, on Sunday morning, from
tulmonary consumption. The brothers
rrived at Sidney three weeks ago from # %
raw Zealand, where they had been givig
a series of performances^ but while ,
iiere William Davenport broke a blood
essel, and came to Sidney under the
J?minimi attendants. He
U?1W VI Uio
eemed to be recovering liis health after
is arrival here, and was in excellent
pirits, but broke a second blood vessel
gain last Thursday week, and another
ne yesterday morning. This l%st proved
ital. He was attended here. by Dr.
larkey, who, however, with Dr. Halett,
held out no hopes that he would
ver recover, the disease having taken a
inn hold on his system. He had been
offering from phthisis for some years,
le leaves a young widow, having been
narried five months ago. His funeral
ook place yesterday afternoon. Deceased
ras a native of Buffalo, and waa well
;nowu here and throughout the country
A ft "spiritual medium," whose bnntess
it was, with his brother, to give
rhat Spiritualists tenn "physical deramitrstioni,"