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THE BEAUFORT TRIBUNE AND PORT ROYAL COMMERCIAL. VOL. V. NO. 49. BEAUFORT, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1877. $111 Iff Mil. dull CW 5 Cull Living1 on a Farm. ; i i ] How brightly throagh the mist of years. My quiet country home appears ! . ^ My father, busy all the day In plowing corn, or raking hay ; j My mother, moving with delight | Among her milk-pans, silver bright ; f We children just from school set free, ; i Filling the garden with our glee ! i ] The blood of life was flowing warm ' When I was living on a farm. I heard the sweet church-going bell As o'er the fields its music fell. j ] I see the country neighbors round Gathering 'neath the pleasant sound ; j \ They stop awhile beside the door, To talk the homely matters o'er? i The springing corn, the ripening grain 1 And "how we need a little rain." " A little sun would do no harm, 1 We want good weather for the farm.' ' { i i When autumn came, what joy to see The gathering of the husking bee, j i To hear the voices Keeping tune, f Of girls and boys beneath the moon, To make the golden corn-ears bright, More golden in the yellow light! j j Since 1 have learned the ways of men. 1 often turn to these again, And feel life wore its highest charm, | I When I was living on a farm. ] m=S=SB ( MISS DABNEY. j ! , f It had been universally conceded among j Louise Dabney's friends that she was not 1 a favorite with gentlemen?that fortune < so essential to feminine well-being, j Whether it was from lack of beauty I (though about that there were diverei- ] ties of opinion), or because of a cold and ] critical manner, a certain reserve, irre- j sponsive to the masculine touchstone, i an innate detestation of flirtation, of t making an effort to please one sex more t than another, who could Bav ? Louise 1 was herself aware that she inspired the masculine heart with no serious senti- 1 ments, and 6he may have wondered secret i ly by what spells other girls who were I not so well bred nor so intelligent, and cer- i tain y no fairer, gathered groups of lovers i about them, while she stood by, alone i and uueared for?not that she coveted a < plurality?but what charm had they to ; w hich she could not aspire ? Every | woman loves admiration, and it is not to j be supposed that Louise Dabney was ! i superior to this amiable weakness. \ \ * "Louise has never had a flirtation, a j love affair or a proposal," her friends j * would have told you; but they were not j ? quite correct in their verdict. She had i t had "an interest, "to put it mildly, ever j 1 since that dreadful night on the Continent { when her uncle had been brought lifeless i into the little out-of-the-way place among \ the. mountains, and had left her alone ; among peoplo speaking an unfamiliar j jargon, with the sea rolling between [ t herself and home; and Loring Northcote : a had come to her aid, though a total straDger, had taken iier burdens upon i himself, and had been like a shadow in a weary land to the desolate girl, and j had finallv escorted her home across the ; sea, with liis widowed sister as chaperon. : i Since that period there had been more j or less intercourse between them, to be * sure, but the half-tender regard he had f manifested toward her had seemed to crystalize, without developing into any- i tiring more personal and particular. . "It is only Lis way with all women," she said, and excused him in her heart. ] And when fhe had thanked him for all liis kindness, and said : 41 How can I 4 ever reward you ?" 44 By always com- a ing to me when you need kindness," he a had answered, but he thought: 44 She 1 c is less emotional that a sphinx." And \ though Louise bad more than half ex- J t pected that their relations would grow s closer as time sped, had, perhaps, some | ? right to expect it, yet Mr. Northcote had never advanced a. step nearer ; and ! a if she had abandoned hope, the flame i still smouldered, ready to be rekindled j by a word, a touch, and nobody the ! f wiser, not even the interested friends, ; a who thought Louise neglected her op- j f Dortunities ; that any other girl would 1 have had an offer, at least, under the j circumstances. ' y It was the following season, which she ; spent at the fine old mansion of a friend, : when, seeing the company dispersing! day after day bv twos, she resolved to i \ amuse herself like the rest?to do as the ; Romans. Every woman likes to believe ; that she has her own little attractions, , i and how was she to make sure of it if e she attracted nobody? Besides there c was nothing else to do. To abstain from * ] the popular amusement seemed like I reproaching those who engage in it Mr. | ^ Leroy appeared to adopt her views. If she walked, he followed like her shadow; j * if the river allured, his boat was at hand; if driving were in order, he i f handled the reins like a Jehu. Their ; acquaintance had begun, moreover, ] under the most favorable auspices, to 1 take a romantic view of it She had dis- ] covered that her pocket had been picked I \ on the cars of both money and tickets. ! A handsome stranger steps forward to 1 j the relief of the distressed damsel; grati-1 ] tude on one hand, gallantry on the other; he has established a claim to conversation, ; < and discovers that they are both bonud for j i the same hospitable roof at Valley Farm, j Could a flirtation i>e usnerea in more j propitiously ? \ \ "Really," whispered Mrs. Furniss, a j j fornight later, sitting on the veranda , i and looking toward Louise, who sat in i the hammock which Leroy was lazily : \ swinging, "I believe Miss Dabnev has made an impression." i "Who is Mr. Leroy ?" asked the gentleman to whom she spoke, and who had just arrived in the last train. "A capital catoh." " Alliterative at least. And has Miss Dabney landed him V" "She could if she would. It isn't his fault if she hasn't." "I shouldn't say that Miss Dabney was susceptible." "How did you find that out, Mr. Northcote ?" laughed the hostess. "By natural processes, I believe." " I'm told she isn't a favorite with your sex; but exceptions prove the rule. I never knew her to have a flirtation before, I confess." " Is this a flirtation ?" " On her side, yes. It's her very in- j difference that attracts Leroy. He's i used to being made much of, and to have j the girls thrown at his head, 60 to I speak. As slie doesn't want to marry him, she can afford to be audacious." 441 didn't think she would oondescend to flirt. ' 4 4 You seem to have made a study of Miss Dabney. I think she didn't wish to be left out in the cold. All my guests seem to be paired off this season. You still have to devote yourself to me, Mr. Northcote, unless I import another 1 blessed damoseL'" 44 Don't, I beg ; I am content with the blessings the gods have provided." 44 You might dispute Louise with Mr. Leroy, to be sure, 44 True. Let Us begin by interrupting die tete-a-tete." 44 Mr. Northcote," said Louise, 44 this s a pleasure for which Mrs. Furniss had aot prepared us." "F.rrnRp m?_ hnt vour friend doesn't ,ook as if he regarded it in that light," said Northcote, aside. 44 I hope I am lot de trop." " I didn't know that such humility as :hat hope suggests was a trait of your sex." 44 Shall I go away again ?" 44Why, certainly not, immediately; t would look as if *1 had snubbed you." 44 And I'm not sure but you have." It was doubtless pleasant to have a spectator witness her refutation of the popular prejudices respecting her want if attraction, and that the spectator should be Mr. Northcote added piquancy to the affair. 44 At leat he will see that somebody finds me worth cultivating," she reflected. But in spite of this she found herself incapable of entering into ;he spirit of flirtation with the same unxmcern after Northcote's arrival. She felt a perpetual insane desire to shorten he walks and drives, that she might lasten back to his neighborhood, and mow just how he was passing the time, hat she might see his face and hear his roice. But the further she withdrew, ;he closer Leroy pursued, the old adage hat a bird in hand is worth two in the lush not holding good in love affairs. The family had been picnicking in the woods one afternoon, where the pine leedles made a carpet, and a frolicsome Drook capered and bubbled down from ts mountain source. Leroy and Louise iad wandered away to collect brushwood to boil the tea-kettle, but had gathered flowers instead; and when the mnset had begun to fade, and warned hem to return to their party, they :ound it was something more easily said hau done. After some time spent in a . ain search for the right path, they seated hemselves on a mossy log till Louise ihould recover breath and strength, and 1 itudied such fragments of constellations is peered through the branches over lead, and listened to the lonely pathos of he whip-poor-will, and made the place ing with their chorus, not much daunted iy the situation, Leroy happy enough in he protracted seclusion which had bealleu him. Later he had waxed sentinental and poetical, and she had laughed it and interrupted his loftiest flights. "Wereyou ever in love, Miss Dabley?" he asked. "Scores of times ; from the age of six. [sn'tthat everybody's experience ?" "Not mine," he returned. "I was lever in love but once." " And who was the happy creature ?" he asked, recklessly, thinking he re 1 i. KrtV.V>l C11CU IV DVU1C UVUUJCV4tUV/J V1U? "Who was she? Why do yon speak n the sad imperfect ?" u Yon don't mean to say? " *' I mean to say that the only woman [ ever loved, or shall love, is?" " Oh, hark!" cried Louise, rising. * I hear footsteps?pardon the digresicn. * Lo, the conquering hero comes !'" he sang. "Oh, Mr. Northcote, how jhid I am to see you ! I didn't know as re should get home till morning," as hat gentleman wa\ed the brand he had tolen from their gyp9y fire and shouted, 4 Eureka I" "I didn't know but I was de trop igain, when I found you aud Leroy takng it so oozil.y," said Northcote, later, ib he opened Mrs. "Furniss' garden gate or lionise to enter, Leroy having been ilready captured by the hostess. " I eared 1 had mistaken my vocation, and jad not been cut out for a discoverer." "Indeed, I was never so glad to see ! rou in my life." " Really ? Was it so bad as that ? " We were so hungry." " I thought Leroy looked as if he rould like to eat me." " I doubt if you would be tender." " I could be, Miss Dabney. depend on ; t?both tender and true. There, don't 1 tart. You thought you had escaped Cliarybdis only to fall upon Scylla. Jpon my word, I was afraid you would lave accepted Leroy before I could find rou." " You thought I was to be had for the isking." " I feared you were not to be had at 01." " Rnt, wliv shonld von have eare<l if I rad accepted forty Mr. Leroys ? 44 Because, in the first place, it would ue a little unusual, and became I bought you might do better." 44 Thank yoH. I will go in now. Were there any letters to-night, Mrs. Fur:iss?" 44 Hera are two for Mr. Loring Northrote, ditto for Miss Mellish, and one? res, one?for Miss Dabney," replied that lady. 441 don't know the hand," Raid Louise, turning it over and studying the postmark. 44 Fairfield. I never heard of the place before. Some mistake, I fear." 44 Fairfield," repeated Leroy, catching the word, and speaking on the impulse, with a heightened color. 44It's anew summer resort. There's some sort of water there good for blues and biliousness." Louise opened the letter. 44 Miss DABXEY"(it began;,?44 You may think it an intrusion for me to address you, but I hear that you are staying at Valley Farm, under the same roof with Mr. Leroy, and that he is falling a victim to your cruel spell. I beg you send him back to me. He is mine ; he is all I have. I can not live without him. Before he met you, he was all my own. Have mercy, and send him back to me heart-whole 1 What will it signify to you ??only one conquest the less amoDg your soores, while it will mean either lifelong misery or happiness, as you may choose, to LizetteLaytox." The gentlemen had gone to the smoking-room, and the ladies of the house were chatting merrily about her as she read. Mr. Leroy had been trembling od ] the brink of a proposal that very night, I and yet he was engaged to be married, i How dared he mention love to her! But | had she b$$n blameless ? Hadn't she I j flirted deliberately with another girl's I I lover? What disaster had she not ? j wrought in her mad pursuit of an ad- 1 ; miration which she did not value! What c 1 should she say to him ? How could she i | send him back ? At what expense had f j her vanity been flattered ? Just to prove I that she was attractive like other women, f she had worked this wrong. To be sure, ? she had had no experience to guide her. t She hod supposed that the boundaries c of flirtation and love-making were more t clearly defined. She had never meant t to make Leroy love her; but, whatever ^ she had meant, it was all one to his poor foolish Lizette. Her regrets and selfaccusations beset her so sorely that she was obliged to leave the gay raillery about her and take refuge upon the veranda, where the shadows hid her ; and leaning her head against the lattice, where the dew-drenched passion-flowers shook out their sweetness, the hot tears filled and overflowed her eyes, and sobs seemed to tear her heart asunder. " 'Tears, idle, tears,' Louise," whis- T pered some one whose neighborhood she 1 had not heedfd. "Can I help you! i Shall I stay and try ?" i " Nobody can help me, Mr, North- * cote I have done such a dreadful thing! 1 I have?yes, I have been flirting with 8 another woman's lover. She has written * to tell me so?to beg I will send him t back to her. He is all she has, she says. ^ And 1?I don't care a fig for him ; and s what shall I do if he asks me to marry t him, as he may, you know ?" ^ ?? Ao Vin TrnnlH Viava rlnnfi if T hadn't t arrived in the nick of time, to-night." a " What shall I do ? How shall I send a him back heart-whole ?" t " You would avoid the dreaded ques- I tion, I fancy, if ho were to hear to-mor- c row that?that you belonged to some- c body else; that some one had stolen a t march on him?if he were to hear that e you belonged?to me." i " Oh, Mr. Northcote, to you ! You s don't want to own such a mischief- 1 maker." i " I want to own you, Louise." ? J Mr. Leroy, strolling out from the smoking-room, was petrified by the shadow of a pair of embracing lovers, E cast by the late rising moon. " Check- <] mated, by Jove!" he muttered, reflec- ( tively. " No fun hanging about here any longer. I had better go back to Lizette. ?Harper's Bazar. An Editor's Sanetun A few mornings ago, just after we had swept up and made our bed look as plump as a soda biscuit, we were surprised at hearing a modest rap at the door. Callers seldom rap?they usually kick. When we answered the summons we found two ladies awaiting entrance. They told us they'd always had a curiosity to see how an editor's sanctum looked and begged the privilege of entering and j looking 'round. They spent the next I half hour in extravagant praise of our j furniture, etc. " How spotlessly clean he keeps his Brussels carpet?it looks as t fresh and bright as if it had just come c from the loom," said one; aud the other n chimed in with " Yes, and do look how t sweetly that bed is made up. Those 1 pillows look like snow heaps and the o symmetrical plumpness of the bed is s something wonderful." And thus they t went on, now bestowing the most extrav- t agant laudations upon our statuary and e oil paintings, and then going into ecsta- a cies over the diamond studded chandelier, r 1 k ? -1 ?nrvAn nnr Y iuejf lUU&CU WlIU IHlUUiauuu u^vu VU1 r gold-mounted spittons and wondered I were we got the enchanted 6oap with 1 which our towel had been washed. They I fairly shrieked their appreciation of our a l>eautiful lace curtains and stared in mute f admiration before our golden-framed I full-length mirror. "Is this indeed an t editor's quarters, or are we in fairy- a land?" one of them gasped, and the s other, sinking on the luxurious sofa, I sobbed, "I do not know?I am be- a wildered by the magnificence around me. c Heiglio ! The above, alas, is merely a v fable. It is true that we were called a upon by two ladies, but ye gods ! what a v spectacle met their gaze. When they a entered we crawled under the bed among c the old boots and sardine cans and re- 1 mained there till they left. Their de- ? risive laughter still rings in oiir ears. 1 Their sarcastic remarks still lacerate our j t l>osom.?Franklin (Ay.) Patriot. j A Brave Russian General's Origin. v The Skobelefis have a singular origin. * In 1839 the Emperor Nicholas, while at \ a review of his whole army, ordered a , c | General Skobeleff to select the finest 1 j men in the army to form into a body of i imperial guards. In the first regiment * | examined, the general came across a fl i stalwart young soldier, who far surpassed j his comrades in appearance. The soldier ! 1 : said that his name was Kobelefl', and that j I he came from a village in the province ; \ ' of Novgorod. The general, upon hear-1c ing this reply to an inquiry he had made, i seemed greatly interested, and being ' ! told that it was only the youth of Kobe: leffs that had hindered his advancement ! e j from the ranks, at once gave orders that t I he should be made a non-commissioned t j officer. That evening General Skobeleff, 1 at a dinner given to the officers of the t 1 regiment to which Kobeleff belonged, t I told an anecdote. He said that many i i j vears before, when he was a private 11 soldier, he was on guard one day at the j <. i Winter Palace. While keeping guard j 1 i the empress passed by, and, after ; t j looking at him a few moments, asked J ? ' him his name. He replied that it was t ! Kobeleff. " Kobeleff," said the empress; i < : " I don't like the sound of that name ; ; > for the future you are to be called Skob- jI eleff." From that time the empressj t took an interest in his welfare, and ! c eventually, through her favor, he be- i came aide-de-camp to the czar. " I have 1 only one more remark to make," said the i general, " and that is that the young ! 1 ; fellow whom I raised to be an officer to-;' 1 day is the son of the brother I left at; c j home to look after our village home- 1 j stead." The nephew took his uncle's < i name, and subsequently himself be- 1 came a general. It is his son, "Skob- !1 i eleff the younger," who has just dis- ; 1 tiuguished himself before Plevna. 1 ?? i j About the most uncomfortable seat a 1 | man can have, in the long run. is self- j < 1 conceit. ' j .'ARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD. The Crop of Potatoes. Many fanners have large crops of >otatoes that cannot be sold readily. !fow, what is it best to do with them ? Shall they be sold for what they will jring, or is it best to put them in the jellars? Or in the absence of cellaroom, is it best to cover them in the ield ? When they can be sold at a fair jrofit, my advice is to sell them in the all; but if they cannot be thus sold, jither store them in your cellar or bury hem in the field, and trust to your hances to be able to sell them during he winter around home, or to forward hem to a market early in the spring, riiere there is transportation by water in Ipril. Canals are of little benefit to pota068 growers except in the fall, as they ire not open early enough in the spring. I great many potatoes can be sold in ullages and large towns during the nild weather, and they must be sold >efore they sprout much, Potatoes are vorth twenty-five cents a bushel to feed o stock? raw to cows and horses and sooked with meal for swine. To buy potatoes in the field, select a dace a little elevated and dig down as ow as you can dram the excavation. It nay be two feet, one foot, or but a few ncnes, according to the drain that rill command it. Suppose that you lave 200 or 300 bushels to bury, the bed heuldbe made about eight feet wide nd as long as necessary, with the potaoes four or five feet deep in the oenter. Vhen all are in position take long rye traw and set it against the two sides of he heap thick enough to shed rain, [lien throw earth against the sides of the ninVi^ innlioa tlll'nV htlt ndllfi alC DLL U1 jluvuvu VJLi?v?, MVW it the top where the straw meets, as an dr hole mnst be left open here till abont he time when the ground may be ex>ected to freeze, when a thick covering >f earth all over must be applied. In old climates, as in the Northern States, his covering should be from fifteen to lighteen inches thick ; and if the straw b wt^l applied, the potatoes will stand my weather that may be expected, [ his system is better than to put them nto deep pits, as was the custom fifty 'ears ago.?T. B. Miner. A Valuable Table far Fanners. ' The following table contains the lumber of pounds in a bushel of the tifferent articles named : )f Bran 12 lbs. Blue grass H ' Shorts 18 " Dried apples 25 " Oats 32 " Dried peaches 33 " Hemp seed 44 " Timothy seed 45 " Caster beans 4G " Barley 7. 48 " Flax seed 56 " Rye 56 " Shelled oorn 56 " Onions 57 " Wheat. 60 " Clover seed 60 " Mineral coal 70 " Salt 75 " Coruoncob 75 " Norway Women and Weddings. The women on holidays turn out in he old Norse costume, the chief feature I which is the bodice, which is often aade of some bright-colored velvet, urned down in front with white silk,and aced before and behind, according to iur author, " with several yards of fine ilver chain, each chain ending in a silver >odkin, in order that they may be the >etter threaded through double rows of yes (in themselves strikingly pretty rticles of silver), that run in four linos ip the back and front of this showy of Scandinavian haberdashery." loth men and women are very fond of [urge bright buttons and of silver or >lated ornaments. A Norse redding is lways preceded by a series of presents rom" the bridegroom to the bride, rirst, there are about two dozen mealubs of various sizes,elaborately painted; nd last and crowning glory of the trouseau, there is a wonderful clothes-press, nside, as far as regards drawers large nd small, and brass pegs and racks for rockery, it is a marvel of ingenuity; rhile outside it is a perfect triumph of rt. The ground tint is a warm bright 'ermilion, painted all over with green nd yellow scrolls, enlivened with wreaths >f gorgeous flowers, and piles of briliantly lined fruit, pleasingly interspersed rith quaint lover's knots and bleeding learte transfixed upon Cupid's darts, in he midst of which are the names and )irth-dates of the liberal donor and >li8sful recipient of this magnificent redding-gift. A Norwegian maiden, eho is generally as sober as a linnet in ler ordinary attire, appears on her bridal lay glittering in all the oolors of the ainbow. On her long fair hair is set an intique crown of silver gilt; and her >odice, stiff as a cuirass, is thickly tudded with beads, silver-gilt brooches, aid small mirrors. This bridal adornnent is too valuable to be the individual nopertyof any Norse belle, but belongs o the district, and is hired out for the | . About Thiers. The prints abound now with pen iketches of Thiers. ' A writer in Applemi's Journal says of him :?To us he ippeared a short, thick-set, squareKwi'oHi'nrt.lioirfl/1 nnfmn/rinnfl lit JVOUCVl, W?,iuu6-U?.v-, , Je man, with a good deal of sparkle and ! jood deal of obstinacy, brimming with j rony and " fightnervous, petulent, J ineasy, and charged throughout his liminutive body "with a seemingly inexlaustible vitality and force?a physical rait well fitted to his strong, determined, ind bellicose character. Rather German i han French in plivsiognomy, he was all jrallic and Marseillaise in his impetuous j nvacity and demonstrative manner. | Most engaging, no doubt, in converse- j ion, and when talking in the social oirsle ehowing at once his brightest and his i nost amiable side, it was evident that he lest enjoyed political life, especially vhen that life was freely checkered by a landemonium of strifes of the forum. To see him in the tribune, with his cup >f coffee or his glass of claret bv his side, lis handkerchief in his hand, and bis joal-black eyes glaring out from beneath :he big, square spectacles which he alvays affected, was to see him when his fullest force and genius were in play. Fie was a good hater, and probably never m orator lived who felt more keenly the usury of forensic combat than Thiers lid in his old-time contests with the prim and austere Guizot-. A TERRIBLE ENCOUNTER. The Political Meeting that Ended In a Horrifying Combat Between on ex-Cnited States Minister and a Mall Agent. A writer in a Western paper, giving some reminescences of Gassins M. Clay, once United States Minister to Russia, tells the following story of an appalling incident in his career : Mr. Clay's duel with Robert Wickliffe, Jr., grew out of some remarks made by the latter in a public speech when they were running for the Legislature in Fayette county, Ky. They fought on Mr. Clay's challenge, ripar Tjcminvillo Mav 15. 1S41. shots be ing exchanged without effect, owing, Mr. Clay has always held (since both were dead shots), to the inferior quality of the powder employed. His seconds, one of whom was Albert Sidney Johnston, refused to cormtenance Clay's demand for another fire, and the duel ended thus, but without a reconciliation, Three years later, when Garrett Davis was running (in the Whig interest) against Wickliffe for Congress, Mr. Clay warmly opposed Wickliffe, and followed him through the canvass, making a habit of publicly contradicting Wickliffe when he spoke. Wickliffe declared that he did not notice these interruptions because he thought Clay wanted to fasten another quarrel on him. Clay declares that Wickliffe's friends conspired to provoke him into a brawl at Russell's Cave, where a political meeting was to be held, August 1, 1844, a mail agent, Samuel M. Brown, being summoned to Kentucky to do the work. The meeting was held ; Wickliffe spoke, and Clay interrupted his statement with a denial, pulling a paper from his pocket and announcing that he was prepared to prove his words. Brown then called him a liar and struck at him with an umbrella, Clay retorting with the butt-end of his whip. Suspecting a concerted attack, Mr. Clay attempted to draw his knife, but was seized and dragged a distance of fifteen feet. Releasing himself he heard Brown cry out, " Clear the way," and a line was immediately opened between them, Brown with a cocked pistol in his hand taking deliberate aim at him. Clay advanced unon him with his knife. Brown waited until they were within four feet of each other, and fired. The bullet struck the silver mounting on the scabbard of Clay's knife, directly over his heart He was staggered by the shot, but reached Brown, and dealt him a terrible blow directly on the top of his head, laying the skull open and exposing the brain. The friends of Brown' again seized Clay, and caught his arms just above the elbows, which interfered with his handling his weapon, but in spite of it he confinued hacking away at Brown's head and face, inflicting horrible injuries. He cut out one of his eyes, split his nose, cut off an ear and sliced his face in a dozen places, 60 disfiguring him that his most intimate friends subsequently failed to recognize him. Clay himself was struck with chairs, canes and fists by outsiders to make him desist, but without effect, owing to his prodigious strength, until finally it was found necessary to throw Brown over an adjoining fence to prevent his being killed outright. The last blow Clay aimed at him struck the top of the fence, and the mark remained there for many a year. When the combat was over Clay raised his bloody kuife aloft and cried out: "I reiterate my statement, and defy anyone iu this crowd to dispute it." No one, however, cared to challenge the accuracy of his information under the circumstances. For the offense of mayhem Mr. Clay was subsequently put on his trial, bnt Brown's evidence was so straightforward and truthful that it acquitted him. Mr. Clay, impressed with his adversary's manliness, sought a reconciliation, but Brown rejected all his overtures. In October, 1845, Brown was killed in a fearful steamboat exnlnninn hia son afterwards was an I ? , officer under Clay in the Mexican war and his warm friend. The Diamonds of Barmah. The Indian princes and nobles ure greedy of diamonds beyond all people, and there is but one" country in the world in which any product of nature is held more precious than this wonderful combustible gem, whose nature, indeed, we know, lmt whose genesis is still a mooted question for science. That conntry is Burmah, the land of the white elephant, where the finest rubies sheltered in the earth's breast are found, and are rated far above diamonds. As the King of Siam prizes his cats, so the King of Burmah prizes the rubies of his country, jealously prohibiting the export of them, so that the beautiful aluminous stones?which do but glow with a clearer and richer color when ex-! posed to a fire in which the diamond would be consumed and disappear?can only bo procured by stealth or favor of private individuals. No European has ever bq^n permitted ! to see the king's wonderful ruby?"the size of a pigeon's egg, and of extraordinary quality;" and the sale of the two magnificent rubies which were brought ! to England in 1875?the finest ever known in Enrope?caused such excitement that a military guard had to escort the persons conveying the package to the ship. Five days' journey southeast of Ava lies the home of the blood-red gems, the jealous earth in which the people believe that they ripen, becoming from their original colorlessness yellow, green, blue and last of all, the matchless ruby-red. Next to these rank the rabies which are found in the Tartar wilds of Badakshan, and which the people there believe are always found in pairs. When one of the seekers has discovered one he will freoncntlv hide it until its mate be ! found. Oat of the World. Some half-dozen Scotchmen passed l through Duluth, Minn., recently, on ! thei" way from McKensie's river, which | i is 1,300 miles to the northwest from ; Dnlnth, and which runs to the Arctic : ocean. They went to that barren country some ten years ago from the islands i to the north of Scotland by ship direct to Hudson's bay, and until they got to Fisher's Landing, on the St. Paul <fe Pacific railroad, on the r return, they 1 had never seen a railroad. They knew ; nothing about the Franco-Prussian war, j in fact they had been practically out of I the world. A DESPERATE DEFENSE. Thrilling Story of the Siege of a Uuitsiaji Fort in Aula Minor, as Told by One of the Garrbton. One of the most remarkable episodes of the present war, which, however, has not as yet received all the attention it deserves, is the defense of the fort of Bayezid in Armenia by a Russian garrison, 3,000 strong, against a Turkish army numbering 20,000 men. The Moscow Gazette gives the following interesting extracts from the private journal of one of the officers of the garrison : "June 10.?The enemy has blockaded us on all sides, and intercepted the aqueducts. One cistern and a few bags of biscuits is all we have to live on. At | night, by the light of the burning town beneath us, we saw the atrocities perpetrated by the Kurds on the help* lees inhabitants. It was horrible beyond description. Women and children were thrust alive into the flames and carried about the streets on lances, horribly mutilated and shrieking with anguish. The sight was so sickening that one of our officers was quite overcome by it and had an attack of brain fever that night June 18.?General assault of the Turkish forces, which we succeeded in repulsing towards nightfall. Our rations have been reduced to half a pound of biscuit and one glass of water per diem. June 20.?A parlimentaiy came with a sum| mons for us to surrender. Our com- I mander answered that being so much stronger, the Turks could well try and take the citadel by storm. * * * June 26.-? Oar ration has been further diminished to a quarter of a pound of biscuit and two spoonfuls of stagnant, rotten water. We suffer terribly from hunger and thirst. After a day's hard fighting I am utterly prostrate and scarcely able to write these few words. June 28.?For two davs and two nights we have been exposed to a terrific cannonade. On the 29th a general assault, which we repulsed, followed by repeated injunctions to surrender, to which our answer was the same as before. July 1. ?Our ration to-day is one-eighth pound of biscuit and one spoonful of water. Starvation is approaching rapidly. I nave seen some ui our meu vun uui slices of flesh from the half-putrified carcass of a horse and eat them. . July L?Again a summons to surrender, this time written in Russian by a Pole in the Turkish servioe, Colonel Komarofif. Of oourse our answer remained unaltered. July 7.? We have repulsed one more assault. It is the-last one. We cannot hold out much longer. Mines are laid out to blow up the citadel and the garrison. f It is better so than starve. July 10.?The cannon ! Never has any music sounded so sweet to eur ears. It is General Tergukassoff, who comes to save us. I am so weak that I feel utterly unable to write or move a finger., But we are saved. After the siege had been raised there remained of the garrison about 2,000 men, who were mostly so utterly worn out that they had to be carried out of the citadel The came of the gallant oommander of this equally gallant garrison is Captain Stockvitch. A War Romanee. The war correspondent of the London Timet relates this incident of the,battle of Rasgrad : As the Russians began to | waver and their fire to slacken as the Turks were pressing forward with increased vigor, a young Russian officer was seen standing just behind one of | their batteries waving his sword and I boldly encouraging his men to stand their ground. Over and over again he rallied the troops who were pouring out of the trench, but it was of no use ; it was not in his power alone to stem the tide of victory. His men, animated by his example, turned and held their own for a few minutes, but the fire was too heavy for any human thing to stay and I live. They could not bear it. They fell on their knees and entreated him to fly, but not au inch would he stir, and at j last he stood for more than a minute ab- j solutely alone, save for the dying and i the dead piled in heaps around him. It could only end one way amid the j storm of bullets which were raining j around him thick as hail; one at last1 found its way to that noble heart, and he foil /IoqjI a a fVio TSirba Rwent over the ! parapet and dashed past the spot where he lay, the colonel, struck by the boy's extraordinary courage and devotion, gave orders that he should be decently buried. In the evening he reported to the com-1 mander-in-chief that the body was that of a girl. I give this most astounding declaration of the colonel upon the authority of one of the English officers of , the serdar's staff, who tells me that he j was really present when it was made. It j seems almost incredible; but, true or! false, no braver heart ever beat than now i sleeps in that little grave on the sonny slope of Kacelyevo. More Telephonic Discoveries Still another development of the powers of the telephone has been made. An experiment in New York demonstrated i that the current of one telephone would j divide itself into numerous smaller cur- j rents, sufficiently strong for at least six : telephones, a discovery unparalleled in j the science of telegraphy. Connections ; were made between the central office and six other places in the city, and a cornetj played in the central office was distinctly ; heard in the other six offices. A rather embarrassing discovery was made the other day. "Whilst putting up a new line, the person engaged in the work accidentally dropped the wire of a lino between a business establishment and the residence of one of the proprietors, and overheard a conversation between an employee, at the place of busi: ness, and the wife of the proprietor, at j home. Fortunately no dangerous secrets were betrayed. Thirty - one miles from Colorado Springs, starting out by the grand Uta pass road, is to be found one of the greatest curiosities of the continent?a grove of mammoth trees in stone, theremains of some extinct forest of primeval times. These trees lie just on the edge of the South park, and are accessible by good roads. The group first discovered and best known is a natural grove of im- j mense trees, from fifteen to sevantoeu feet in diameter and forty to fifty feet in j circumference, ' i Aii Expeditions Poet* At ft social party in Virginia Oity, Nov., say8 the Gold Hill News, Sam Davis bet an ovster snpper with one of the gentlemen that Capt Jack Crawford could, in less than fonr minutee, write acrostics on the first names of any fonr ladies in the room. The fonr names were selected and .handed to the poet scout, and in twelve minutes and nine seconds the following productions were finished Esteemed and most bewitching little creature Truth and honesty I see in every trace ; 'Tis sweet to watch the sunshine in each feature And say, may heaven bless your pretty face Louise, I scarce know what to say, Or how to write fair girl of you ; Unknown by me until to-day, I'm rare I can't tell what to do, Bo strange we meet, so strange we part, 'E'en as heart oft speaks to heart Rose, sweet Rose ! Fairest of your sex! Oh, how sparkle those blue eyes of thine; Sweet your face, without one care to rex ; Esteemed by all the good and meet divine. Henrietta, fair, bewitching! Ever bright be thy sweet face; Never may thy life be clouded, Radiant beams life's pathway trace. In the future may with gladness Ever be thy prospects bright Till the traces of all sadness Turn and leave your heart to-night? Anxious, waiting heart goodridght Items of Interest. A difficult lock to pick?One from i bald head. A woman in Ohio recently married her eighth husband. Kansas is almost exactly in the center of the United States. A householder advertises rooms to let to gentlemen furnished with gpi. The Forty-fifth Congress oontains one hundred and seventy-five lawyers. In Los Angeles, CaJL, they mash grapes and feed them out to the oees. " That's only a wedding trip, " said the groom, as he stumbled over the bride's trail. About thirty-three millions of dollars of fractional silver have gone into circulation. , .. . At San Antonio, Texas, the citizens have requested the maydr to allow bullfighting. A woman in Polo Pinto, Texas, gave birth to a child on a Thursday sadbon the following Saturday gave finth^/o two CQ0r6, ? i !!?? ? When a man and woman are made one, the question is: " Which orient* ^Sometimes there is a long struggle between them before the matter is settled. < In many parts of Australia the gradual disappearance of the natives an^ their doge has led' to an immense increase in the herds of kangaroos. ' A grave old man told his son that if he did not grow less dissipated he would shorten his days. "Then, dad," said the boy, " I shall lengthen . vgrJiighta." It is estimated that over. 150^000 persons in this country are engaged in the keeping of bees. This includes farmers and others who make the production of honey a portion of their occupation. The Boston common cottiMul recently resolved, by a vote of thirty-six to nineteen, that no wines, cigars, lager, cider or mineral water shonld be famished at entertainments or with refreshments paid for by the city. * >d San Francisco has the first W9d the only endless wire-rope street railways. The cars stop and start easily, and ran more rapidly than horse-cars. In eastera cities the frost and snow of Winter would render them useless, but in San Francisco they promise to entirely supersede horse cars. ; 4Ti She sat upon the parlor lounge, 4nS William, he sat bv her. * And neither spoke a single word,r Bat both g&zed in the fire, At last he clasped her dimpled hkxtd, And told her of hi* love, H. And swore he woold be true to. kar, By moon and stars above. He said he oonld not live without? Before he coald say more Her dad came in, and with a dab Enticed him oat the door. h * t * A (California papor describee )" the latest tiling out " as a new home-shoe mode out of tliree thicknessesc/ rawhide, compressed together by" lieavy pressure. It is said to last longer, weighs only one-fourth as modi as the common shoes, never splits the-hoof, and has uo bad influence on the foot It is so elastic that the horsey step is never uncertain. This will remind the farmers who drove cat Me and - horses across the plains in early days of the fact, now almost forgottten, that this is no new invention, for the cattle, and liorses, too, were often shod with shoes made out of buffalo hide, cut from the neck, where the skin is almbet an inch thick .jirM Stanley's White Companions. The two companions selected by Mr. Stanley to accompany him on hfs long and adventurous journey through Africa were two young Englishmen, brothers, named Francis and Edward Pocock, and Frederick Barker. In all his letters from the interior Stanley writes of these . in the warmest terms of friendship ; and a perusal of the letters of the Pocoeks shows clearly that this feeling was reciprocated heartily by them. The melancholy fate of these brave Englishmen, so far from their homes and t.imi'ir foctii ft aVio/inw over the bright iauuij | vwvw w -fT?L-? U ,? ^ ^ ness of Stanley's success. All three have fallen victims to duty, and their young lives have been tributes to the cause of science, which their oountrymen cannot fail to remember. J?o fi. in their lonely graves near the south shore of the Victoria Nyanza, and the other in the depths of Congo, in which river he was lost by beinu swept over the falls of the Massasa on the 8d of J one. Though separated in body by the broad plains ana forests of Africa, brave spirits such as theirs must dwell in happy union in the other life. Their letters fronp African-first from the two brothers, and then from the survivorhave attracted considerable attention on account of the unaffected honesty of style and filial piety that characterized them.