Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TRL-WEEKLY EDITION- WINNSBORO, S. C., JUNE 11, 1881 865. ------------.-- ESIAB ISHED A FrER ALL. Oh, this weary world, with its restless toiling, And its fitful fever of unceasing care I Oh, this selfish world, our kindest actions Boiling, So that our stained souls can scarcely rise in prayer I "Peace 1" I hoar the preaoht r-poet call, "This world is God's world, after all After all." Oh, this weeping world, full of pain and sor row, Full of breaking hearts that, once were strong and brave, Full of dark despair that hopes for no to morrow, And love whose memory is but a gravel "Peace I" I hear the proacher-poet call, "This world in God s world, after all After all," This In God's world ; so the birds are singing, So the happy fiolds are glad with golden wheat, So the sun is shining, so the flowers are springing, So the heavy heart again with joy may beat, Only listen how the strong words fall, "This world is God's world, after all After all." If 'tis God's world, why should we work weeping ? Why should we go heavily by night or day? "He givoth His beloved while they are sleep. ing," Lie loves the cheerful toiler, who can say, "I fear no grief, no wrong (6hat can befall; This world is God's world, after all A fter all." The Good -for-Nothlng. "Richard's main fault is that lie's just good for nothing," and Josiah Broadbent tapped the ashes out of his pipe in a very desponding way. "I don't believe that, Josiah, Nature does not put such a grand dome over a fine face for 'nothing.' Richard has not hid a fair trial, that Is all about it." The subject of this conversation sat at an open window at the other end of the long parlors, and as the two older men looked toward him he raised his eyes from the book in his hand to follow the upward flight of a white-winged flock of pigeous. Rational, full, deep-set eyes, and a bright keen face, surrounded by soft, light, curly hair. Most people would have looked at such a face in a man with dim d.ubts and foreboding. Richard was a stray soul in a stray body in that plain matter-of-fact fam ily. None of the Broadbents hed ever been the least like him. Yeomen, woolstaplers, spinners and weavers, great hard headed hard lsted Yorksluremen,what kin to them was this bright, clever youth, who looked like a knight j ist stepped out of a fairy book? At first Richard's love of learning had rather amused his household. Old Josiah was not averse to seeing his son carry off all the honors of his school, and when peo ple spoke of the lad's attainments, and of the promising career before him, he thought of course they meant that Richard would greatly increase the business of Broadbent & Sons, and perbaps in the end get into Parliament. But Richard showed no disposition for business, and after a year of fruitless and aggravating efforts to find something lie could do in the works, the trial had been abandoned. His elder brothers, Stephen and Mark, were very fond of this lad, who was ten years younger than either of them, and whose beauty and bright ways had been their pride for twenty years. Indeed Itichard's mother dying at his birth, these "big brothers" Lad adopted "little Dick" with all their hearts, and when he con plained that the smell and noise of the works made him ill, btephen had spoken very decidedly to Uis father about forcing the trial further. 'There's plenty o' brass l' Leeds' bank to keep him' father, aiid Mark and I can well fend for oursel's. Let the lad be, He's noiie like us.' And Josiah, having also a tender spot in his heart for his youngest son, had sighed, and left Richard very much to his own de vices. But every now and then he wanted his grumble ab'ut the lad's shiftless, good for-nothing ways, and this night he had it to 'his chief friend, the R1ev. Sam uel Sorley, Rector of his parish. Mr. Borloy knew Richard better thiaii either his father or brothers, and lhe was glad the subject had been opened. "Josiah," lie said, gravely, "tell Stephen and Mark that I want Richard for four years. You can give him a thousand pounds or not, just, as you trust ine, but at the end of that time 1 think i'll prove Richard Broadbent no fool." ."What wilt do wi' him, Samuel? Benid him to Oxford?" "Thou must ask no questions, Josiah, ll ,have the lad entirely at my own disp E sal." Then the two men looked toward Rich ard again, but he had left his seat, and was strolling off toward Saurhamn Park. They walked to the wmidow and watched him. and his father lifted the book he had laid down, and with a mixture of contempt and Indignation threw it aside. At this moment 8tephen Broadlbent en tered the room and said, angrily: "Father, Dick's off to Saurhiami wood again: I'm willing enou' to let Dick play the fool I' our house, but dang me If lie shall meddle i' t' squire's." "What does thou mean, Stephen?" "I mean that our Dick ahi' Miss Baurhanm have gotten sonic love nonsense together. I know It. I tell thee how: Jim Hlarkness going home from I' works has seen them meet Ivory night. Now I ween't have it." Fathier and son were bot~h equally angry and distressed, but this cirecumstaiice so favored the rector's proposition that it was eagerly seconded by Stephen, and was re garded as settled, Then the rector put himself in Richard's way and met him just at dark outside Baurhamn Parx. Hie was a man accustomed to look well after his pa rishionerB and their children, both tempo. rarily and spiritually,and therefore Richard was neither astonished 'nor offended when he sid: "I hohavo you been walking with,Dick? Te'lhl e the truth, miy son.." "W th Agnes Saurham, sir." The ght of love was still In the young fellow' face, and the rector could not hellp noticin ow handsome he was. He did not say him: "You have no right, Rich ard..-th f' beyoinda your station. You are going to make a deal of trouble," and soon. On the contrary, hc praised Agnes' beauty and worth, and then sho Ned him how lawfully the squire might refuse her hand to iny man until he had done something to prove himself worthy of it. . "What can I do, sir?" "I will tell you, Richard." And then the old man took the young ons arm and talked so solemnly and so earnestly that Richard caught his enthusi asm,and whatever Mr. Borley's plans were, he entered heartily into them. "You shall have every help that money can give you, Richard, only mind, I will have no love making, and your proceedings shall be kept a secret from all your friends. I don't want Stephen and Mark running up to see you and meddling in my plans." One thing Richard, however, insisted on; he must see Agnes once more, and tell her he was going away; and Mr. Borley agreed to this, on condition that lie saw the squire also. The first interview was easy and satisfactory enough; Agnes praised his am bition aid genius, prophesied all sorts of honors to him, and promised to wait faith fully for his return. Her father was a dif forent person to manage, and Richard's heart quaked as he entered the squire's own peculiar parlor. It was a surny room, lit tered with odds and ends of hunting and fishing matters; and the squire was sitting on a big, old-fashioned sofa, playing with a couple of thorough bred black English terriers. .le Raid, frankly enough: "Good-day, Richard 3roadbent:' but he did not trouble himself to rise, for the Broadbents had been tenats of Saurham from the lays of King Stephen. That in these cotton-spinning days they had grown rich did not alter their position at all in Squire Baurham's eyes. Fifty years ago the great landed proprietor did not consider money as an cquivalent*for good birth; so the squire treated Richard pretty much as he would have done a favorite servant. "Miss Saurham says that thou art going away, Richard. What for, lad? "To study, sir." "Yes, yes. 'When lands and money all are spent, then learning Is most excellent.I I have always heard that; but, lad, thy fa ther has money-why need thou go study?' "Because, sir, I wish to make a great name, to become famuous; then, sir, per haps, Squire-then-" "The dickenal Speak out, lad-then whatt" "Then, sir, perhaps you will permit me to tell .you how dearly I love Miss Saur ham.' "No, Richard, I shall never allow any. thing of the kind. If 'twer not for old Josiah I would say worse than this to thee. Come, Giddy, come Rattle, we will go t6 the hayfield. I hope thy study, Richard, may teach thee to be more modest and sensible." Richard watched the sturdy figure in its green coat, white corduroys, and buff top boots across the lawn, and then, with a very angry feeling in his heart, left the Hall. He disappeared soon afterward, and after a few desultory inquiries from various ac quaintances, he seemed to be forgotten. The Broadbent mills went on as usual. Josiah and. Stephen, and Mark passed to and from them as regularly as if their life was ordered by machinery; and once a week the rector went up to their house, smoked a pipe with Josiah, and generally said, as he left: "All is'well with Richard, Josiah-very well indeed!" In the fourth year of his absence there was much trouble between the mill owners and the operatives. The masters were everywhere threatened, and many mills were set on fire, and the excitement and terror was hardly allayed even when the prominent offenders had been imprisoned. Their trial was one that affected the iinter eats of all mar.ufacturing districts, and the spacious court-house was crowded, Josiah of course, was present; so were Mark and Stephen. Now, if there was anything these men had an almost idolatrous respect for, it was the paraphernalia of the law. Those advo. cates in their black gowns,those grave men in their imposing wigs, those wise-looking calf,-bound volumes, the pomp and cere mony of -the aheriffs, constables,and criers, were to them the most obvious representn tive of the majesty of English law and power. Conceive, then, their amazement, when prominent among these gowned advocates, giving directions to other lawyers, and do moanirng himself as one having authority, was Richard Broadbent. Old Josiah flushed and trembled, and touched Btephen and Mark, who were also too much affected to do anything but gravely nod their heads. But when the argume3nts were over, and Richard Broadibent rose as a special pleader in the matter, curiosity changed to amaze ment and amazement to enthusiasm, Such a speech had never been heard in West Riding before. It was cheered and cheered till even Yorkshiremen's lungs were weary. The good rector had his reward when lie stood beside his protege, and saw the squire and the city magnates crowd round the brilliant young lawyer with their con gratulations. But far greater was his joy when old Josiah and Stephen and Mark pressed forward with radiant faces and full hearts. 'They were not men given to speech and the hrappy father could say nothing but, "God blesa thee, ladi" while Stephen's and Mark's pride and love found its full expression in, "Well, ilckl Dick!" But no words could have been more satisfac tory. The good-for-nothming had found his vo cation. Two years after his departure from Leeds ho had been called to the bar at Gray's inn, and since then, by his tact and eloquence had made himself one of the ac knowledged leaders of the Oxford circuit. 'l-here was now nothing that his father and brothers would not have done for him, but lie asked just tihe one .thing Josiah was loath to move in; ho wished him to speak to the squire about his daughter. Josiah promised, but lie was thinking of deputing the business to the rector, when the way opened unexpectedly. Ceining out of Leeds bank ho met the squire, who had a troubled and preoccupied looit. lIe passed Josiah with a nod, then suddenly turning and touching him, said: "Josiah Blroadbent, your house and mine have been long friends, eh?" "May tha*, Squire, Broadbents served Saurhanms when King hstphenwas fighting for the cown o' England; they are just an ready to serve them, now." "I believe it, Josiah. I want four thou trouble. I would rather owe it to you tha mortgage Saurham." "Thou can have ten thousand pdunds twenty thousand, if thou need it, squire an' Josiah Broadbent wants no security bu Squire baurhain's word-he wor a bad ui if he did." Then Josiah, standing there on Marke street;laid his bank book on a bale of wool and signing a blank check, put it into th, squire's hand. The fewest words in such cases -are best With the tact of a.true gentleman he turne4 the conversation to Josiah'sson, and finall: hesitating a little, said: "There was some bit of youthful lov making between Richard and my Agnes thou didst not know it, belike, Josiah." "Yes, that for he were sent away main ly; but he's as fond as iver about her Thou mustn't strive wi' him, aquird-lov is beyond our ordering." "I had no thought of it now. Richar( has prove his metal. You may tell him I Agnes says 'Ye' still. I'll never be the on to say 'No.' "Thank you, Squire, It's a great honor; an' If so be you'd niver name the mone to the young uns, I'd tak it kind. That'i between us, Squire; I can't draw a swor< for you as Rufus Lroadbent did for th< first Squire of Saurian, but I can draw E check for you, and I'm proud and glad tc do it." As lichard had secured Agnes' "Yes' the future arrangements were easily settiec and within a year lovely Agnes Saurhamr became Richard Broadbent's wife, and th< squire has had good cause to be proud o the alliance. Old Josiah also lived to Be( his son not only one of Her Majesty's coun so], but also Member of Parliament for hii native city, and a Baron of the Court of Exchequer. Thus the good-for-nothing in a spinnEin mill was good for an honorable and noble career in a court room. Old Time Card Playerd. In the early history of Indiana, card playing was more than an amusement; with a good many men it was "busir-eas.' The founder of Lafayette. "old" Digby, was for many years the most noted playe on the Wabash. There are many anec dotes of him that have bden handed down and are worth preserving. If the old set. tiers are to be believed "Old Dig" and the late Judge Pettit had many a lively tussle at the card table. On one occasion the two sat down early in the forenoon at then favorite game of "old sledge," five dollars a game. About four o'clock in the after. noon, when Pettit was about seventy dol lars winner, lie announced to Digby &hat he must quit. "What are you g.ing to quit for ?" inquired Digby. "I want to go and take care of my horse," replied Pettit. In those days every lawyer kept a horse to ride the circuit. "I can go without my dinner," the Judge continued, "but I am not going to abuse my horse just to accom modate you at this game." Pettit retired with Digby's $70 in his pocket. The next morning, bright and early, they wero at It again. Digby had a big streak of luck, and before 12 o'clock had bagged $120 of Pettit's money. Raking from the table the last $10 put up he announced to Pettit that lie was going to quit. "What areyou going to quit for ?" inquired Pettit. Why, I must go and feed my horse, John." "Why," replied Pettit, "you'have'nt got any horse I" "Well, John, If I haven't got any horse," slapping his hands on hi breeches pocket, "I've got the money to buy onel" The game was closed. Digby, who was a bachelor, had a one-story frame house put up on Main street, close to where the canal now is, as an office and sleeping apartment. After it was finished, but the p'astering not sufficiently dry to be occu pied, Digby and Pettit sat down to play their favorite game of old sledge. Digby's money was soon' exhausted and Pettit de clared the game closed. *Digby proposed one more game, staking his now house against a certain sum of money. The game was played and Pettit was the winner. The next morning lie made a bargain with a house-mover to remove the building to a lot lie owned on the south side of Main street, a little cast of the public square. The wooden wheels were put under, and in the afternoan It was started up Main street with a long team of oxen before it, andl at darn it had just reached the public square That night Digby and Pettit had another game, and in the morning there was a readjustment of the wheels, and the house was started on its return toward the i'iver. It reached Its proper place in the street, and was left to be put back in i old position on the morrow. But the niext morning it was started up town again. The next day it took the other direction, and by this time the whole town understood It. Finally it remained In the public square over Sunday, and on Monday con. timuedi its way up Main street and was wheeled on Pettit's lot, ie soon movec his books into it and for many years occu. pied1 it as a law office. Judige WeJbber's Boar Fight. Judge Harry Webber, one of the bonanzm kings of the camp, liad an encounter with a large cinnamon bear last evening, anm came out victor after a hard and desperat< struggle. The judge had b'een visiting him San Joaquin property, some distance frojr the city, up Cooper gulch, and was return, lag when lhe met lisa bearship betweer John Roberts' tent and John Ross' cabin, The Judge fortuinately had his Winchester, and immediatel) opened fire upon Mr, Bruin. Three shots took effect ini hui head, but did not cause death before the wounded and infuriated brute reached him The Judge, finding escape Impossible, entered into a hand to hand fileht with him enraged foe. IIe struck him twice ove1 the head with his gun, without any appa rent effect, andi thinking that blows couk not wvard off the outstretched strong arms that would probably give him his las embrace, he dropped his gun, and, retreat ing backward as fast as possible, drew laige camp knife that lie always carriel with him, and, springing to one side plunged his knife into the throat of thi monster as lhe sprang at .hmlm. Alread: weakened by the shots and blows, Mr Bruin was forced to succumb. Tme Judge somewhat excited and very much elated went to Roberts' tent, where. 'ho obtaine< assistance and carried lia game to the tent where it was dressed. [Haying no scales the weight could not be ascertained, bu was estimated at 700 pounds. Tne Judg now considers himself a hero. -There are 154 different brands o fine cut for A mericans to choar on. Tornadoes, Eaistorms and Waterspout$. The conditions of tornadoes depend ra. ther upon vertical relations of temperature, t under which the unstable equilibrium of a the atmosphere is liable to be violently disturbed by slight local changes *of tem perature causing the under strata of air to burst up through the overlying strata. A 3 cycloi.e Is usually a broad, flat, gyrating disk of atmosphere, very many times greater in width than in altitude ; a tornado m may be regarded as a column of gyrating air in which the altitude is several times greater than its diameter. The enormous velocities of the ascending currents in a tornado appear to be caused by the differ ences between the gyratory velocities above and " Re very near the earth's surfade. Thc -largely prevent the air from pre fill up the partial vacuum near er, while the smaller gyratory velociti,. .war the earth allow it to rush in there to supply the draught. The tenden cy of friction is constantly to use up the energy of gyration so that the tornado can not continue very long. The ascending currents carry up an enormous amount of aqueous vapor into the upper regions of the air, where it Is condensed and produces the heavy rains observed in connection with tornadoes. An ascending current of 60 meters a second, which cannot be un usual in tornadoes, would furnish, under extreme conditions of air saturation, four inches of rain in a minute, if it 'were to fall directly back. With such an ascend ing velocity, however, no rain could so fall. It would be thrown outsidlo the vortex, giving an immense though lighter fall of rain over a larger area, especially it the tornado in its regular progressive motions should remain stationary or nearly so for several minutes. If the velocity of the ascending current is not so great that the water is all carried up to where the cur rents are outward from the voi tex, and yet great enough to prevent its falling 13ack, there may be in the lower part of the cloud a vast accumulation of rain, prevented from falling by the ascending currents and fiom being dispersed by the inflowing currents from all sides toward. the vortex. When the sustaining energy of the tornado is ex hausted by friction or by the weight of water accumulated in the cloud, the water is liable to fall in a mass, causipg what is called a cloud burst. This is especially liable to occur mi' mountainous regions, for contact with a mountain must greatly in terfere wldb the gyratory motion of the tornado and the inflowing currents below, and tend to break up the system at once and let the whole load of whter drop sud denly. When the ascending current cariles the vapor into the region of frost-which is at a lower altitude within the gyrating funnel than outside of it-the condensed vapor is converted into hall. The small hailstones may then be kept suspended near the base of the snow cloud and enlarged by the additions of freezing rain. In this way compact homogeneous hailetones of ordi nary size are formed. At the height of ' ,000 yards the air has lost more LUnau hUr its density, yet an ascending velocity of twenty yards a second, which must be no unusual one in tornadoes, would sustain even at that altitude hailstones of consider able size. It is not necessary that the hailstones should remain in the freezing regkei a long time, or remain stationary. They may be carried from this vortex out where the ascending current Is small, and, dropping down some alstance, may be carried into the vortex by infiowing cur rents and again thrown up to the region of frost. The nucleus of large hailstones is usually compacted snow, A small ball of snow saturated with water is carried higher and freezes; and being of less specific gravity than compact hail it is kept where it receives a thick coating of ice from the unfrozen water dashed against it, and after wards falls to the earth, either at a distance from the vortex where the ascending cur rents a're weak, or near it after the uprush has been sufficiently exhausted. 8ome times, as in the case of the cloud burst, an almost incredible amount of accumulated hail may fall in a short tame, when the energy of the system is suddenly spent. Tme formation of large hallstones by concentric layers of clear icc and white snow, laid on like the coats of an onion. will be readily understood f romi the fore going. As many as thirteen layers have been observed in large hailetones, showing that they must have been made of half a dozen circuits, being successively thrown out of the frosty vortex above and sucked in below by the inflowing currents, each time adding to their coatings of snow amid ice before their final fall to earth. When the tornado is very small in the area covered by the gyratory motion, a land spout or a water spout is formed, as it may happen to occur on land or at sea. in these the gyratory velocity diminishes with distance from the center. Their de structive habits arc sudden and of ten great, but time area of violence is small. In the center of a waterspout, as in that of a tornado in tull force, no rain falls or water descends in any formi, though a heavy shower often falls in the vicinity. On land dust 0and light substances a're carried up, and as they are being collected from all sides by inflowing currents toward the yortex below, they assume thme form of a cone, which meets the descending spout, falling apparently from the clouds, and thus give the whole phenomenon the ap pearance of an hour.glass. The observed diameters of waterspouts range between two and two hundred feet or more, and their heights from thi ty to fiteen hundred feet. sometimes very much more ; but none of these observations can be regarded as at all exact. With a high temperature and a very low dew point Mr. Ferrel calculates that a water spout might reach a mile in height, but such conditions must occur rarely. Waterspouts are often observed to drop down from a cloudl in ani incredibly short space of time, and to be drawn up again in the same manner;i but this is all an illusion. When the gyrtations are such as to not quite reduce tlie ten sion and temperature In the center, 'so as to condense the aqueous vapor and make it visible, a very slight Increase at once re duces the temperature sufficiently, and the spout appears from top to bottom almo9t Instantaneously. Just the reverse of this Itakes place, when the spout breaks, and It seems to be drawn up Instantly ; it is dis solved, not lifted. Torna'does and water t spouts originate only in an unstable state 3 of equilibrium of the air, which requires an unusually rapid decrease of temperature with increase of altitude. This can take f place only when the strata niearest the earth are unusually heated;- accordingly they never occur at night, or in the winter, and but rarely in cloudy weather. If any agita tion of the air, such as that arising from the discharge of cannon, tends to break up these meteors, then any considerable dis. turbance of the air from any cause must tend to prevent theoi formation. Hlence they occur at sea and on the lakes only when there is little or no wind. White squalls are invisible spouts. In such cases the dow point is so low, and the cloud when formed so high, that the gyra. tions are invisible. Still the gyrations and the rapidly ascending current in the cen tral part are there. and also the rising and boillug of the sea. Over the boiling sea, high up in the air, is a patch of white cloud, formed by the condensation of the vapor wben It reaches the required heig-.t. The bulls-eye squalls on the west coast of Africa are of precisely the same nature. In these cases the air is too dry to furnish the cloud necessary to make the spout, or center of the yiatory movement, visible. Planetary Conjunctions. A conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn recently took place and those astronomers who peered through their powerful tele scopes on that day say Jupiter and Saturn were on the opposite side of the sun from the earth and almost in a straight line drawn from the earth through the sun. Far beyond them and approximately in the same direction was the great planet Neptune. On the same side of the sup, but making a large angle with the directiun of the others, was Mercury, hastening to get into line with them. On this side of the sun Venus could be seen swinging into line. Uranus and Mars did not join in the planetary parade, Mars being nearly at right angles to the line, while Uranus was far off in another direction. Still the sun and six of the eight great planets were almost in a row, the earth being at the one end and Neptune at the other. Before Jupiter and Venus, however, had joined the dress parade, the great planets had already broken ranks to proceed in their journey around the sun, but their move ment is so slow that several days will have elapsed before the march may be said to be fairly under way. If astrologers are to be believed dire events are to follow the conjunction, owing to Its having taken place in Taurus. The last event of this kind occurred in 1140, and was immediately followed by a crusade against the Turks, which resulted in the loss of over 200,000 men. Ireland, too, was the scene of anarchy and civil war. Similar events are prophesied for the near future. England, it is said, will be devas tated by civil war, and there will be inter national strife at other points on the world's surface, especially la the East. Terrific plagues and earthquakes, according to the same wise men, will prevail during the ensuing ten years, together with terrible storms of thunder and lightning, meteors, trembling of the earth, eruptions of vol canoes, tidal waves, unusally -fatal colliery explosions, with a general feeling of dread and dismay among the inhabitants of the heads is predicted. For America, however, the signs favor a riving revenue and a generally prosperous and successful time. Still, as a sage asserts, there will be sonic trouble and anxiety on account of enemies, and American swords will not yet be turned into plough-shares. Many violent and sudden deaths will occur, and a high rate of mortality and disease among cattle will also prevail. The fact that the conjunction occurred in the "ninth house of the heavens" is also said to prognosticate great religious changes -this "housei" in the brains of astrologers, ruling religion and religious persons, more especially the clergy. An old writer says that "a great con junction happening in Taurus foreshadows ruin of houses and ancient buildings and divisions andi hatred among the clergy.'' Trhe second crusade was a religious one, inispired tnainly by the eloquence of St. Bernard. Hence within the twenty years over which the influence of the conjunction extends the world may expect to see the Church of England disestablished and the Christian religion undergo fundamental changes which will end in many ecclesias tical reforms. Bingular dogmas will be promulgated, while science'will prosper and scientific men be held in great esteem. Scientific infidelity, however, will not pros. per. Raphael, an old English astrologer,'does no0t agree with the favorable effect of the conjuncftion on America as forecasted by Zadkiel's almniac. Raphael says that at the time of the conjuntion at Washington "Cancer will be rising and Mars will be on the meridian and the conjunction will take place in the eleventh house. H erschel will be on the cast of the fourth and the Moon in the sixth house. The Moon rules the figure, and being so placed will give much sickness in the States, but the chief position is that of Mars culminating. Thiis will cause civil war and the imposition of new taxes, and the people shall be unruly, and the Government administer the laws harshly and with great cruelty. Thle credit of the States will be sorely shaken, and a disruption In the Government may be expected. Hedrschel, in the fourth, shows the confiscatioii of land and a lack of genial seasons for the crops. Terrific tornadoes and storms will be experienced, and shocks of earthquakes, doing an immense amount of damage.". Tlea In the ilouno of Ciommons. At whose instance is it, we wonder, that cups of tea are handed roundl to the occu pants of the ladies' gallery during a debate? Is it the survival of the hospitality of other days, a graceful attention emanating from the members' tea-rooms, or the uminstigated gallantry of the attendants? Be this as it may, there is the fact, and most highly is it appreciated by the occupants of the cage above the press gallery. It shows that the traditional homage paid to the fair sex is not yet extinct at St.* Stephen's, for there is no similar handing round of the "cup that cheers " or anything else, in the strangers' gallery devoted to the sterner sex. They are not allowed even to nibble the surreptitious biscuits of their own providing, but must subsist solely while in their seats on what is often but the dry husks of debate. It is curious, If tao ladies' tea is indee'J provided by the H~ouse's own order, that Its gallantry does not fortwith remove the grill th~md which fair visitors have to sit. We wonder some ladies' man does not propose its destruction in Committee of Supply, and carry his mo tion to a division. it would be curious to analyze the " ayes " and " noes"4 the next Old Noottish Sooety. Edinburgh society was a strange junble of license and formality, punctilious obser. vance of etiquette and a semi-barbarous in difference to the decencies. A man of blood and position might steal a horse, where a plebelan or parvenu dare not look at the halter. Everybody spoke a dialect of the Northern Doric, with a marked hyperborean accent; but there were ladies and gentlemen of the highest station who seem to have prided them selves on the breadth and vulgarity of their Scotch. fine ladies who inhabited flats on a fifth or sixth story were lighted down the odo iferous common stairs, delicately "kiltiug" their robes of brocade. They were barne to private parties- or to the Assembly Room in their sedan-chairs by a couple of "caddles" at a "swing trot," along filthy closes and through ill-paved alleys, fitfully illuminated by a flaring torch. In the Assembly Room the old courtly style was carried into the formal old-fashioned dances, withi an elaborate profusion of obeisances and courtesies. Scarcely even in the Court of tho'Grand Monarque, as described by St. Simon, were the rules of etiquette and precedence more rigorously pbserved. There were self-elected mistr es of the ceremonies, like the famous Miss Nickle Murray, who ruled over the management and company with an iron sceptre. We may picture the demure propriety with which young ladies of honorable families, fresh fron the country, received the attentions of tihe bril liant town sparks, pronoifnced eligible as partners either foi' a minute or for life. While, on the other hand, knowing that the gentlemen, generally epeaking, had been launching themselves handsomely into the ballroom with some half-gallon or so of full-bodied Bordeaux, we suspect that the ingeniwa must sometimes have opened their eyes at the compliments and conversation offered to their inexperience. But it was not in the manners of the time to be over-nice. Exemplary matrons, of unimpeachable morals, were broad of speech and indeherte in thought, without ever dreaming of actual evl. -8o the re spectable Mrs. E~cith, of Ravelstone, com missioned Scott in her old age to procure a copy of Mrs. Behn's novels for her edifl cation. 8he wias so shocked on her first attempt at a perusal of them that she told 1m11 to take "his bonny book" away. Yet, as she observed, when a young woman she had heard them read aloud in a company that saw no shadow of improprietyin them. And whatever the faults of old Scottish society, with its sins of excess and its shortcomings in refinement,, there Is no disputing that its ladies wese strictly vir u one, and such slips as that of the heroine of tie ballad of "Baloo, My Boy," were so rare as to be deemed worthy of record ing in rhymes. So the reformation of manners was as satisfactory as it was easy, since the foundations of the new super structure were sound. Habits of ti Ostrich. '1'h"ere haR loir e lted i belief that thn ostrich. contrary o tlme nuracter of ai other birds, is careless of her young, ne glects then, and is even cruel to tnem. It also prevailed at least a thousand years after the book of Job was written. See Lam. iv. 3 : "Even' the sea monsters draw out the breast; they give suck to their young ones; the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the obtrich in the wilderness." It is probable that this idea respecting the cruelty of the ostrich towards its young is derived from the fact that if a flock of ostriches be chased, and among them be some very young birds, the latter are left behind by their parents, and fall a prey to the hunters. But in reality the ostrich has no choice in the matter. The wide sandy desert affords no place of concealment in which it might hide its young. Nature has not furnished it with weapons by means of which it can fight for thiem ; aind conse qnently it is forced to use the only means of escape by which it can avoid sacri ficing its own lie, as well as the lives of the young. 1t0(10es not, however, leave the young until it has tried all ameans in its power to save them. F"or example, it. sometimes has resource to the manouvre wvith which we are so familiar In the case (of the lap wing, and pretends to be wounded or lamied, in order to draw the attention of its pursuers, while its young escape in another (dnection. An instance of this practice is given by Mr. Anderson in his LakcNgqami: "When we had proceeed a little more than half the distance, and in a part of the plain entirely deOstitulte of vegetation, *we dliscoveredl a male and female ostrich, with a brood of young ones, about thme size of ordinuary barn-yard fowls. We forthwith dis.ounted from our oxen, and gave chase which proved of no ordinary interest. "The moment the parent birds became aware of our intention, they set. off at full speed-the female leadhing the wiay, andi the cock, though at some lilule distance, bringing up the rear of the family party. It was very touching to observe the anxiety the birds evinced for the safety of their progeny. Finding~ that they were qluickl~y gaining upon them, the male at once slack ened his pace and diverted somewhat from his course ; but, seeing that we were not to be diverted from our purpose, he again increased his speed, and, with wings droop ing, so as to almost touch the ground he hovered round us, now in widle circles, and tben increasing the circumference until he abruptly threw himself on the ground, and struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appearedi, like a bird thiat has been badly wounded. .Having previously bred at him, I really though lie was disabled. and made quickly towardl him. Blut this was only a ruse on lis part, for oni my nearer approach, he slowly rose and began to run in a different dircetioni to that of the female, who, by this time, was consldierab~ly ahead of her charge." Nor is this a solitary instance of the care which the ostrich wvill take of her young. Trhunberg mentions that on one occasion, when ho happened to ride near a place where an ostrIch was sltting on the eggs, the bird jumped up and pursuedl him, evi dently with the object of distracting hIs attention froni the eggs. When ho faced her, she retreated; but as soon as lhe turned hIis horse, she pursued )gmj afresh. --A hatr pin factory at Georman town, Pa., turns, out 40,000 a week. -The LehIgh Valley Railroad Corn, p any is said to have determined to hereafter employ none but total ab stainers frpm strong drink and from visits to places where strong drjnk Is sold. BRIEFS. -The salary of the Emperor of Rus sia is $10,000,000. -The fineer rings of this country are worth $58,000,000, -Canada will son'] a regiment to the Yorktown celebration. In Paris a post-office is to be annexed to every telegraph bureau. -The Jews talk of erecting a nation al synagogue )n Washington. -Memphis was built by Mizraim 2,000 years and more before Christ. -A mink has killed nearly 800 trout in a pond in West Oumborland, Me. -Fifteen hundred miles of railways are in course of construction in Italy. -The Prince or Wales has sent two elephants to the Zoological Society of Berlin. -The library of the late Dr. Chapin was sold at auction, for $20,000; it cost $00,000. & -At Blldah, Algeria, may be seen Cietalypti, only live years old, sixty feet high. -Cincinnati is preparing to cele brate, in 1883, the 100th annivaersary of its settlement. -The first iron vessel built in tha United States was launched at Pitts burgh in 1839. 1 It is estimated that there are over 1300 trotting lorscs training in the United States. -Lord Derby Is chilidles, of Inex. lonsive iiabits, and has an income or $780,000 at year, -The Chester (England) Cmile. sbins find 2,000 out of 4,900 electors guilty of bribery. -Paris has 11,000 tobacco shops, tenl times that number of drinking booths, and a few churches. -Bessemer steel was first made In the United States at Wyandotte, Mich. in the autumn of 186. --Seth Green aflirms that an acre of water can be made to produoe as nuoh food as an acre of land. -On the third anniersar of his cororation, Pope Leo Xiii Ispensed nearly $3000 in charity. -n'lierd were 124 persons run over and killed III Loncion in1 1680, and 2.900 persons injured. -Mre than 20,000 persons were killed in India, in 1880, by wild boasta and venotnous snakes. -Tile butter, chese, egg, and milk business or tile country are estimated to be worth $840,000,000. a -There was in Germany in 1878 paper mills wich together prod 3.600,000 cwt. of papar. -Elephants have been kno n to live 400 years, and it is 0 posed whales may live 1,000 years.. -Silk culture, which wa ntroduced in Louisiana in 1718 has t en i fresh start within the past few ears. or tiLIeglieey nionta ns was made in Fayette county, I'a., in 1700. -In the last fifteen years the State of Louisiana has exi)end id for levees and repairs the sum of $11,65,500. -ron was first made in America in 1C20, at a point on Falling creek, a branch of the .James river, in Virginia. -There are 17,000 locomotives run ning over the railroads of the United States, and over 000,000 cars of all kinds. -Tihe London Religious Tract Soel ety has circulated nearly 80,000,000 books and tracks in 130 different lan guages. -The population of Chicago has In creased 70 per cent. in 10 years. and meabersip in the churches only 12 per cent. -It is estimated that the Immigrants pouring into this coutny will bring duriag the summer at least $9,000,000 hard money. -A dog stopped a pair or runaway horses in Clinton, Canada by taking the trailing lincs in his teetfi and cling ing to them. -Thme first Bessemer steel rails rolle d in this country were rolled at the North Chicago rolling-mill on the 24th of May, 1805. -According to the ofllial report of the United States local inspector ot steam vessels, not a life was lost on Lake Superior last year. -Sir Bartle Frere lately state I that in a single year more than ?3,500,000 wvorth of diamonds have passed through the Cape Tiown Post 0flicc. -Thlie new census est'mates the amount of standing pine in the thriee States of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota at 81,000,000,000 fe it, -Over 80,000 bufl'ilo have been kill ed 'in Montana within the past six months, all hut some 20,000 being slain for .their hides alone, which bring from $2,25 to $2,75 each.. -Th'le total immigration to this coun try in 1880 was '457,243. Tihis is the largest immigration except that of 1873 when 459,803 foreigners landed in the several ports of the United States. -On the great battle plains of Lom bardy there are upward of twenty houses preserved as having been the headquarters of the great Napoleoni during his campagins with the Aus tinans. -he farm hiousos near Lille occu pied by Louis XLY, during lisa siege of that city, in 1667, is about to be razed to the ground. The capitulation by which Lille became French terri tory was signed there. -The railroads in New York state, the report made by the state engineer shows, repre'sent an aggregate of stock and debts of $662,861,488, on which the earnings in 1880 were $78,044,754, of which $40,479,202 was profit. -The average reeilpts of the United States Treasury for the last nine months have been a little over $1,000, 000 a day. It is believed the total re ceipte during the present fiscal year will exceed those of last year by $30, 000,000, notwithstanding the reduction of seome taxes. -There are now suppose d to be in Paris 76,000 Protestants, among whom are 85,000 reform, 80,000 Lutheran, and 10,000 of other denominations. Tnis is an approximation. About seventy-five pastors attend to the spirnitual wants of the Prtotestant pop ulation.