Newspaper Page Text
EDITED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
lIAKKISOX A nT£RS.
CITY MUTTERS.
[fl)R THE SOOTHER* MCSEI'M.]
[Messrs. Editors: The following lines, if
deemed worthy the attention of your renders,
you arc at liberty to publish. The three stan
zas following the first, were sent ine by my
little daughter, accompanying others which 1
have emitted. 1 have never met with them be
fore, and suppose that they are original. The
others J have added. M]
The chilli *11(1 It* Dead Bird.
BY MATILDA.
OTy bird is dead I Come, mother, see ;
With snow its tiny wings are filled.
It will no longer sing for me—
The cruel cofti its voice has stilled.
Its tinv head was sofiiy laid
I'pon its smooth and fealhry breast ;
I did not dream poor bird was dead,
s But sweetly alumb’riug in its nest.
Sweet little bird 1 how sore I wept
To think, all night so snug and warm
I nestled.in my bed and slept,
While thou wert living in the.storm !
Had I known this, my little bird.
How glad to thee I’d ope and my door,
And warmed and nursed tlico, till I heard
The lifu-notes from thy bosom pour.
Alas! my child, this pinching snow
Has fill’d more hearts than thine with grief;
And some this morn, who groan with wo,
Have no kind friends to give relief.
The poor, lost trav’lor, faint and worn,
No covert found, wherein to hide;
. To friends and home, he’ll no’er return —
The snow o’erwheltned him, und he died.
The aged man, with frost-white hair,
Sought the mean comfort of his bod, —
This morning's sunlight enters there,
But shines upon the pale, cold dead.
The mother clasped her little one
’ To her fond breast, to keep it warm ;
.But no warmth answers to her own—
Its soul has (led beyond the storm.
So drear and chill the storm beats down,
So wan and cold that mother lies ;
Slow moves her blood—the pulse is gone—
Alone, forsaken, now she dies.
And scores of helpless poor have died,
My child, in this great, heartless earth,
For house or clothing unsupplied,
Or fire to warm the chilly hearth.
Then o’er tho fate, so sad and drear,
Os my sweet bird, I'll hush my grief;
But, mother, we will drop a tear
For the cold poor, w ho need relief.
Copper as a Poison.—Tests.
Tlie chemical tests for salts of copper in
a state of solution, are ammonia which pro
duces a pale blue precipitate. Sulphuret
ted hydrogen makes a dark brown preci
pitate. Ferrocyanide potassium produces
a claret precipitate. A slip of bright pol
ished iron soon becomes coaled with it,
like a penknife dipped into ink made with
blue vitriol and log-wood, or if a drop of
the suspected liquor is placed on a strip of
silver and touched with a zinc wire, the
copper is at once deposited on the silver
if there be any in tit© solution.
The salts of copper have two poisonous
properties, commonly known as blue vitriol
and verdigris. The former is a sulphate—
the latter a subacetate. If in any suspect
ed liquid a clean needle be suspended for
two hours, aud no red coating be noticed on
the needle, it is a sign that no detectable
quantity of copper is present. Mr. Taylor
says that be dissolved one third of a grain
of the sulphate of copper in water and mix
ed the solution with four ounces of thick
gruel, and by a trial with ammonia, no effect
was produced,—no blue precipitate fortned
but by adding a few drops of weak sulph
uric acid and suspending a bright needle
into it for 21 hours by a thread, he found
that it was covered wi h a distinct film of
copper and thus the quantity of copper
present was less than the six thousandth
part of the solution. But in cases of pois
oning, tho copper may he present in union
with the mucous membrane of the stomach
and in that case insoluble, or it may be in
intimate union with some organic princi
ple and in that case exhibits no appearance
in the liquid. To examine the solid parts
of the body in which copper is suspected
to have acted poisonously, there are pres
cribed processes in all works on chemical
analysis, but the whole of the processes
have been subject to objections, as Dever
gi, Henry and Orfila assert that they have
detected traces of copper by the piocessof
incineration in the bodies ofanimls which
were not poisoned by copper. On the
other hand Flandiu posivively denies that
copper is ever found natural in the human
body. An extensive enquiry into this sub
ject was made not long ago by M. Bout
igny, whose name is associated with some
late experiments iu the steam engine. He
states that he had traced the presence of
copper in animals that had been accustom
ed to receive food prepared in copper ves
sels, but this is disputed by others who
assert that the copper might bo traced to
tho filtering paper. On this point then,
there is stiff doubt. The most common
cause of poisoning by salts of copper, is by
food prepared in copper vessels. Pure
water may be kept for any length of time
in a clean copper vessel without becoming
impregnated with the metal, if the air he
excluded, but if the air has access a hyd
rated carbonate mixed with the oxide is
gradually formed. Water containing salt
or saline matters soon becomes impregnat
ed with copper if kept in such a vessel.
Falconer says that neither miik, tea, coffee
beer, nor potatoes exert any action upon
being boiled in a clear copper vessel, but
if the vessel is not throughly clear, acid
substances will dissolve the carbonate that
encrusts the vessel. All gieasy matters
left in contact with copper, soon liecome
impregnated with it. Lemons and other
fruit which are used to make preserves,
may be boiled in a copper vessel without
being impregnated with the metal, but
they should never he let to cool in the cop
per vessel, as in that slow process the met
al is sure to he acted upon. No acid sub
stance for use should be boiled in copper
vessels, neither pickles, nor fruit; brass
pans are the best for this purpose. Cop
per tea kettles are all tinned, and when
ever the tinning is destroyed by any means,
it should be renewed as soon as possible.
The sulphate of copper has been used in
the fermentation and adulteration of liqu
ors—this is crime which should be severe
ly punished. German silver contains a
considerable portion of copper, and spoons
made of this metal, should always he per
fectly clean before using. The afflicting
case of poisoning stated to have taken place
recently at Baton Rouge, La., by an old
copper kettle in the well,shows how care
ful we should be of the water we drink
and with which our food is cooked. If the
water of that well had been treated with
ammonia it would have turned blue, or if
a little weak vitriol had been put into a
cup of such water and a bright needle sus
pended in it for some hours, the needle
would have been coated with the copper.
These simple tests, we believe, will not
only be interesting but valuable to many.
Howto be Happy. —Some time since,
says Dr. Payson, in a letter to a young
clergyman, ‘I took up a little work pur
porting to be the lives of sundry chai
acters as rela’ed by themselves. Two of
those characters agreed in remarking that
they were never happy until they ceased
striving to be great men. This remark
struck me, as you know the most sim
ple remarks will strike us, when Heaven
pleases. It occurred to me at once that
most of ray sufferings and sorrows were oc
casioned by an unwillingness to be the
nothing which l am, and by consequent
struggles to be something. I saw, if I
would but cease struggling, and consent to
be any thing or nothing, just as God pleas
es, I might be happy. You will think it
strange that I mention this as anew dis
covery. In one sense it was not new; 1
had known it for years. But 1 now saw it
in anew light. My heart saw it and con
sented to it; and 1 am comparatively hap
py. My dear brother, if you can give up
all desire to he great, and feel heartily
willing to be nothing, you will feel happy
too.”
John v., 44.—How can ye believe, which
receive honor one of another, and seek not
the honor that cometh from God only ?
Occupation for Children. —The hab
its of children prove that occupation is a
necessity with most of them. They love
to be busy even about nothing, still more
to be usefully employed. With some chil
dren it is a strongly developed physical
necessity, and if not turned to good ac
count, will be productive of positive evil ;
thus verifyng the old adage, that ‘idle
ness is the mother of mischief.’ Children
should be encouraged, or, if indolently
disinclined to do it, should be disciplined
info performing for themselves every little
office relative to the toilent, which they
are capable of performing. They should
also keep their own clothes and other pos
sessions in neat order, and fetch for them
selves whatever they want; in short, they
should learn to be as independent of the
services of others as possible, fitting them
alike to make a good use of prosperity,
and to meet with fortitude any reversal of
fortune that many befal them. We know
of no rank, however exalted, in which
such a system would not prove beneficial
tCT” Religion, says Seville, is a cheer
ful thing—so far from being always at
cuffs with good humor,it is inseparably u
riited to it. Nothing unpleasant belongs
to it, though the spiritual cooks have done
their skillful part to give an ill relish to
it. A wise epicure would be religious for
the sake of pleasure ; good sense is the
foundation of both ; and be is a bungler
who aimeth at true luxury, but where
they are joined.
Chide a man for being angry when he is
angry, what will you get by it, save some
of the foam of his overflowing rage cast
upon you ? As God is said to have come
down in the cool of the day to reprove
Adam, so likewise we should come in the
cool season of a man's passions, when all
is quiet and temperate within, for then
there is the greatest probability of rightly
influencing him.
Precept vs Practice. —Dr. Charming
bad a brother, a physician, and at one time
they both lived in Boston. A countryman,
in search of the divine, knocked at the doc
tor’s door. The following dialogue ensu
ed :
“Does Dr. Channing live here I”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can I see him ?”
“I am he.”
“Who ? you 1”
“Yes, sir.”
“You must have altered considerably
since I heard you preach ?”
“ Heard me preach ]”
“ Certainly. You are the Dr. Channing
that preaches, ain’t you 1”
“Oh ! 1 see you are mistaken now. It’s
my brother who preaches —l'm the doctor
who practices!"
Large Immigration.— Since .Tanttary,
1848,500,000 emigrants have left Great
Britain.
MACO N , G A
SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 10, 184!).
POSTSCRIPT.—The steamship Ameri.
ca has arrived, bringing Liverpool dates to the
24th of February. Fair Uplands and Mobile
are quoted at 4Jd , being an advance of ]d. per lb.
with large sales and a brisk demand. We are
unable to state what effect this news may have
upon our market. The irnpossihilty of prociir"
ing speedy shipments, will probably neutralize
it in a great degree—although it will doubtless
tend to revive the drooping market and make
prices more firm, and perhaps advance them a
fraction.
The New Cabinet. —The following gentle
men have been nominated by Gen. Taylor us
Cabinet Officers, and we learn from llit> Charles
ton Mercury, they were confirmed by the Sen
ate on the 7th inst:
John SI. Clayton, Secretary of State.
Wm. M. Meurwith,Secretary ofthe Treasury.
Thomas Ewing, Secretary Home Department.
Georoe VV. Crawford, Secretary of Whir.
VVm. Ballard Prlston, Secretary ofthe Navy
Jacob Collamer, Postmaster General.
Ueverdy Johnson, Attorney General.
Mr. Poi.k.—We learn from the Charleston
Courier of the Bth instant, that Mr. Polk was
expected thereon Friday morning in the Wil
mington boat, and leave in the boat at 9 o’clock
A. !\1.,0n Saturday for Savannah.
President Taylor’s Inaugural. —We lay
this Address—interesting to every citizen of the
Union, because indicating the course our Chief
Executive Majestrate will pursue during ids
term of office—before our readers. The position
we have voluntarily assumed, whether above or
bcneatli partizan politics we will not presume
to say—but our editorially neutral position estops
us from commenting upon the Inaugural. Our
readers, we presume, will not he left without
perspicuous commentaries upon it from other
quarters, dissimilar in style and temper and
equally varied in degrees of truthfulness, couch
ed in language laudatory or otherwise and pleas
ing or distasteful to their cars.
Godey’s Lady’s Book. — We have received
the March Number of this charming magazine.
It contains a great variety ofchoice original arti
cles, both in prose and poetry, whilst the ex
tremely fine ornaments of “ The Lost Di ve,”
“Dusting Cupid,” and others in this number, are
among the very best specimens of the art. We
thought the February number quite good enough
(that of January not coming to hand,) hut the
March Number excels any we have ever seen.
It is decidedly in our opinion tho very best pub
lication for tilc Ladies, to be found anywhere.
We are pleased to learn that a Lady of this
city has taken the “ Book” since its commence
ment. The editor says he “ shall send her some
thing pretty one of these days.” For terms, Arc.
of this always interesting publication, see the
Prospectus on the Fourth Page.
O’The Laurensville Herald has appeared in
an enlarged and improved form, and we sincere
ly wish it every success. We have read witli
interest several original Tales which have ap
peared in its columns recently, and we doubt not
that it will receive the support it so richly de
serves from an enlightened public. It is pub
fished weekly at Laurens C. II , (S. C.,) by S. A
God.man, Esq.,at $2 per annum, in advance.
A Chapter from and about Pete.
11 Pete told us, the other day, that not long
since he was reading to Mrs. Partington of a
woman having been taken up in New Orleans
by the police, and carried before the Recorder,
when she exclaimed: “Well, I never could
abide them things. It is orful. Jest to think
of a woman being taken right up by her pelisse
before tho recorderof all her sayings and doings,
to answer all at once, —and she never buried !
The wind must have been mighty high ! Well,
I never will go out on a windy day again, for
why might it t a frock take one up, us well as a
pelisse ?”
IT Pete assured us that he was nothing of a
lady’s-man, which assurance we were inclined
to doubt until we heard the following story- told
of hint. It happened one lovely evening that
our friend dropped in at the house of an old ac
quaintance. When ushered into tho parlor, lie
found himself in the presence of several young
ladies and beaux. After a short, general con
versation, a walk was proposed by the gallants,
and cheerfully seconded by the misses. Pete,
of course, had no particular choice, but it chanced
that a fair one would fall to his lot unless one
of the gentlemen could conveniently employ
both arms. The lady shared out to our friend
was distressingly agitated and actually took to
her heels, when ho very ungallantly cast a quo
tation after her—“ The wicked flee, when no
man pursueth !”
IT Since a careful perusal ofthe articles lately
published in tho Museum, about the “ /Erial
Steamer,” Pete has set It is inventive wits at
work to construct something better suited to
private aeronautic excursions. The most prom
inent idea at present about his brains, is the fea
sibility of building a balloon hat, differing in
several particulars from the present style of the
article. Ho lias favored us with a description
of bis design. The balloon hat is to he made of
the usual material, but a few feet higher than
the latest patterns, the base will fit the circum
ference of his head, and then he gradually en
larged until it assumes a perfect balloon shape
the hat to bo secured under his arms. There
will be three apartments in it. The first will
be the socket for his head ; the second, will con
tain whatever extra wearing apparel he may re
quire, provisions, kitchen furniture, &c.; and
the third, will contain the hydrogen gas.
He proposes, in place of a chronometer spring, or
stcatn, the use of a more natural propelling power.
With a pair of large wings secured well to his
arms, and a turkey-tail fan properly adjusted, he
calculates to fly through the air in any direction
with greater or less velocity.
O’ By the way, we purpose to delight our
readers nuxt week with an Original Irish Talc,
by Birr..
THE POETRY OF DEATH.
We are indebted to the Hon. Robert M. j
Charlton, for a copy of the beautiful Lecture
on this subject, delivered by him before the
Young Men's Library Association at Augusta,
Ga., on the 21st of December, last. This Ad
dress was highly spoken of at the time by all
the Augusta papers, and we regret that our lim
its preclude its insertion entire. The following
extracts will convey an idea how aldy the sub
ject has been discussed by the author :
***•*“ The view we now
take, embraces one of the loveliest that the ntind
can conceive The spot is incur own beautiful
Southern clime ; the sun is shining brightly
upon a plain, where a thousand tlowcrs of the
Spring are rearing their heads above the green
grass, and as they wave with the wind, they look
like the diamonds and precious stones floating
upon a sea of emerald. The yellow Jessamine
i9 creeping up the trunks and limbs of the neigh
boring trees, and sending forth its sweet fragrance
to the gentle breeze, which draws it in, and like
a liberal hand flings it around again. The Part
ridge is calling upon its mate, and the little rain
bow-bird is making the air resound with its clear
sweet notes; there is no trace in that plain of
man’s fall or man’s doom, and the question would
at once rise to the lips of a dweiler in another
hemisphere, “ Can this be the doomed world ?
can this be the earthly abode of sinful man ?”
Turn your eyes to the right, and you will see the
question answered. You may behold there a
beautiful cottage, and in one of its rooms, are
gathered a tearful, silent band ; you can see in
the mute agony depicted upon the youthful face
of the lady, who is looking so tenderly and im
ploringly on the sick infant upon the conch be
fore her, that she is the mother of the little suf
ferer. Ah, who can mistake a mother’s love?
Alt, what can equal it. It needs no physician’s
skill to predict, that the earthly moments of the
little victim, scarcely a month old, will soon be
numbered. It lias turned with a faint cry—it
has breathed with a short gasp—and the spirit—
the soul of that brief tenement, has deserted it
forever, it has gone for aye to its Creator. Look
upon its face again ! it is still, and calm, and
beautiful, as if its angel which was in Heaven,
had flung hack upon its late abiding place, some
of the radiance of its new life; And ii.is is
Death! But which wasDeatli ? Wasthepain
ful, unconscious, fleeting, brief interval of time
that infant experienced here, was that its life ?
And that glorious, resplendent, heavenly exis
tence it entered upon as its breath departed, ivas
that its Death ? Oh ran it he so? Rather was
not the helpless earthly state, with the body
powerless, with the mind unknowing, were not
these more like death, than that heavenly form
with its bright perceptions, with that knowledge
far exceeding all the wisdom that man can give?
Still the question 1 commenced with, remains to
task our intellect, to defy our power, What is
Death ? What is Death ? * * * *
“Now look once more. We are standing be
neath an Eastern sky. By the gate ofan ancient
and walled city, you may see a youthful stran
ger, gazing pensively upon a crowd of mourners
who are approaching him. llis countenance
wears the marks of inexpressible benevolence,
mingled with a grave and solemn look. The
mourners come on with their loud lamentations
for the dead body they are bearing, for “ lie was
the only son of his mother, and she was a wid
ow.” ( Alas, for the widow's fate, ala:, for the
childless heart?) Sen her as she totters along,
the recollections of the past, the realities of the
present, crushing her frame beneath their iron
pressure. She has reacliudthe p ace upon which
the stranger leans ; quickly, he raises himself,
and addresses the mourning mother with the
words of consolation, “ Weep not !” and in
stantly, joy unspeakable, and hope unutterable,
vet undefined, shoot thro’ her veins. She looks
on with expectation nnd with wonder, as the be
nevolent stranger approaches and touches the
bier; “ and they that bear him, stood still; and
he said, young man, I say unto thee, arise ! And
he that was dead, sat up and began to speak,
and he delivered him to his mother.” Oh, can
there be a heart that docs not thrill with rapture
at the touching description of this scene, which
tlie Son of God performed, and the Spirit of
God recorded. * * * * *
“ There is another scene which I would fain
linger on, but which I feel it is not my province
to describe. I speak still of Death—not on the
stake; I speak of that death which steals upon
the frame worn down with sickness and decay';
no spirit stiring scenes are around it to cheer it
on; no crowd of spectators to applaud its hero
ism; debility and pain are its internal and sur
rounding circun.stances; but still, you can see,
in the dimmed eye, the flashes of an eternal
light; you may hear, in the faint voice,the ac
cents of an eternal love! You may view the
glorious hope of immortality raising up upon
angels’ wings; and the last word, the last look,
the last breath, tell not of doubt—not of fear,
but of unshaken courage, of deathless trust. It
is the death bed of the Christian ; the tearing
asunder of the soul, washed in the blood of its
Saviour, from the body of sin and suffering that
encompasses it. Oil, well might the inspired
penman break forth in view of such a scene and
such an end, with the dauntless exclamation
“Oh death, where is thy sting! Oil grave where
is thy victory !”
“ And now my hearers, am I wrong in asser
ting, that there is Poetry in Death ? Surely you
will not 6ay so, in view of the pictures that I
have presented to you, albeit they are sketched
by a feeble hand. Why, what is Poetry ? Ask
the mere superficial reader and observer, and he
will tell you that it is thoughts in rhyme; ask
the learned, the acute, keen watcher of human
affairs nnd of nature, and he will tell you that it
consists in the beautiful, wherever that may be
found; whatever touches the heart, whatever
purifies the mind, whatever ennobles the intel
lect. The sweet look of a blooming maiden, is
Poetry; the chivalrous deed, is Poetry; the
open hand ; the self-sacrificing action ; the con
sistent life ; all these are Poetry ; lines written
by the sweet pencils of nature or of grace ; and
if I am right here, is not a holy, a beautiful, a
thrilling death, Poetry? All yes, it is the most
sublime ; no human pun can write such noble
epic—no human tongue can read such glorious
verse. We are too apt to couple it with pain
and suffering ; we are too much induced to think
of it as associated with the grave and with cor
ruption. We must take our eyes off this dark
picture, and look forward and upward ; we must
never forget that life, with all its afflictions, all
its darkness, is nevertheless a great blessing ;
but we must, at the same time, not cease to re
member, that its greatest blessing consists in its
being a preparation for another and an immortal
state, in comparison with which, it is but dark
ness; and he who has duly improved the advan
tages ol existence, and feels, that he has en
deavored with humility and love to perform its
duties to his Maker and his neighbor, may
break forth, as he sees its end approaching,in the
jovful exclamation of the apostle “the night is
far spent, —the day is at hand,” the bright and
beautiful morning of eternity ! * * *
*i * * * * “I have drawn
for you many pictures of death ; let me sketch
for you now a brief, but bright, scene of beau
tiful life. It is the marriage altar ; a lovely fe
male, clothed in all the freshness of youth and
surpassing beauty, leans upon the arm of him,
to whom she has just plighted her faith, to
whom she has just given up herself forever.
Look in her eyes, ye gloomy philosophers, and
tell me, if you dare, that there is no happiness
inearth. See the trusting, the heroic devotion,
which impels her to leave country, parents, all,
for a comparative stranger. She has launched
her frail hark upon a wide and stormy sea : she
has handed over her happiness and doom for
this world, to another's keeping; but she has
done it fearlessly, for love whispers to her that
her chosen guardian and protector, bears a man
ly and noble heart. Oh, woe to him that de
ceives her. Oh, woe to him that forgets his oath
and his manhood !
“Her wing shall the Engle flap,
O'er the false hearted,
Ilis life blood the wolf shall lap,
Ere life be parted :
Shame and dishonor sit
On his grave ever :
Blessings shall hallow it,
Never ! Oh, nev£r !”
“ We have all read the story of the husband,
who, in a moment of hasty wrath, said to her,
who, hut a few months before had united her
fate to his, “ if you are not satisfied with my
conduct, go, return to your friends and to your
happiness.” “ And will you give me back that
which I brought to yot| ?’ asked the despairing
wife. “ Yes,” he replied, “ all your wealth
shall go with you : 1 covet it not,’’ “Alas!”
she answered, “ I thought not of my wealth—l
spoke of my maiden affections—of my hotly ant
hope—of my devoted love : can you give these
back to me?” “No!” said the man, as lie flung
himself at her feet—“No! I cannot restore
these; but I will do more—l will keep them un
sullied and untainted; I will cherish then)
through my life, and iu tny death ; and never
again will I forget, that I have sworn to protect,
and to cheer her, w ho gave up to me all she lie Id
most dear.” Did I not tell you that there was
poetry in a woman's look—a woman’s word ?
See it lieie ! the mild, gentle reproof of love,
winning back from its harshness and rudeness,
the stern and unyielding temper of an angry
man. Ah, if creation’s fairer sex only knew
their strongest weapons, how many of wedlock’s
fierce battles would be unsought, how much of
unhappiness and coldness would he avoided !
“ And now, it is time that I should release you.
A great master mind of the present age said that
“ tlit life of the happy man was a picture with
a stiver ground, studded with stars of jet; and
that the life of the unfortunate man was a dark
ground, with a few stars of silver.” May your
fate be the silver! May the stars of jet be few
and far between ! May your lives shew forth
j tite true verse of generous autl noble acts, and
j your deaths be the prelude to that land, where
all it Poetry and Love ! May you lie contented
here,and happy hereafter ! And so, Farewell !”
Cotton. — The Savannah Georgian says : the
Chamber of Commerce of Savannah at their last
meeting awarded the first prize ( a silver cup,)
offeied by them to the planter who would pro
duce the best lot of fifty bales of upland cotton,
to Mi. C. Cunningham, of Jefferson county.
The second prize was awarded to Mr.jT. J.
Smith, of Hancock county.
The prize (a cup of the value of $25,) offer
ed by Messrs. A. Low &. Cos. for the best lot of
twenty-five bales, was awarded to Mr. S. Dink
ins, of Houston county.
Burning of the Steamboat Convoy. —Tho
New Orleans Crescent of the 3d instant, says :
“We grieve iu being compelled to announce the
destruction by fire of the fine steamboat Convoy.
The officers of the Tallahatchie, arrived on
Thursday morning, report that at 10 o’clock, p.
M., last Tuesday, the Convoy took firo about ten
miles above Natchez, and was burned to the wa
ter’s edge. She was from Memphis, bound to
this port, and had on hoard 3181 hales of cotton
and n quantity of corn. The officers succeeded
in running the boat ashore, by which means the
pusseng 0 !*, with the exception of two, and the
crew were enabled to escape from the burning
vessel. The two passengers jumped overboard
and wero drowned. The crew nnd passengers
remained on a flatboat until about 4 o’clock in
the evening, when they were taken up by the
Tallahatchie. We learn that the boat and cargo
was partially insured.”
Is the Bee the Pioneer of Civilization?
—The author of “ A Tour on the Prairies ” says
the Indians regard the bee as the harbinger of
the white man, as the buffalo of the red man .
and say that in proportion as the bee advances
the Indian and the bufl'.tio retire. The wild bee
is said to be seldom met with any great distance
from the frontier. When the honey bee crossed
the Mississippi, the Indians with surprise found
the hollow trees of their forests suddenly teem
ing with honey; and nothing can exceed the
greedy relish with which they banqueted for the
first time upon this unbought luxury of the wil
derness. At present the honey-bee swarms in
myriads in the noble groves and forests that
skirt and intersect the prairies, and extend along
the alluvial bottoms of the rivers.
FORWARD—MARCH !
This “ terraqueous ball,” and all its unnum
bered brother, and sister, and cousin-spheres
are moving—moving. Time and the seasons
are on the wing. The “Old World” is en route,
and in the “ New,"
“ Westward the Star of Empire takes its way."
Science, arts, morals and education are jogging
on. Great men are climbing over the rugged
paths of fame, honor, virtue. Then arouse vour
selves, ye laggards, or else ye will be run over
and trampled into the dust, by the close ranks of
myrriads on the forward march. Why, stand ve
there, ye lazy youths—stationary, idle ? In this
great, busy work-house, are there no tasks for
you—no high aims—no ends to be attained?
Forsooth, ye have not learned the object of your
being. Ye are “ cuqpberers of the ground,”
rank “ tares among the wheat,” barren rocks
briars, thorns, thistles, weeds, waste places
fruitless trees, sapless vines. Ye require dress
ing, pruning, weeding. Let it be so no longer.
Forward, to your task : be sure ye will not have
many leisure moments in the great work
’ Tis a whole life-task. But if ye work hard
and put your minds and hearts in proper culture
and have a little time to spare, then put your
scythe, and pruning knife, and plough, into your
neighbor’s sterile field, and help him redeem it
from its barrenness. Idle, and yet so much to
do? Shame! shame!!
Forward march—ye toiling, struggling, im-’
poverished millions. There’s bread, and houses,
and lands, and life, in the world for you, as little
as ye expect them. Did ye never think of the
pranks of dame Fortune? how that she im
poverishes the rich, and enriches the impover->
tshed ? But wait not to propitiate that fickle
dame Toil oti —push forward ; —dig your life
out of the earth, hammer it out of her metals,
chissel it out of her rocks, cut it out of tier trees
draw it from her waters. God has provided you
the elements, laid you the foundations, of life.
Then dig, saw, hammer, hew, work away, and
ye shall make your life. Forward march, ye
struggling ones. That’s a trifling obstacle—
don’t stop The rugged Alps were crossed—
push on, and conquer. Strain every nerve—for
if ye fuller now, ye will fall upon the rocks; ye
will sink into the pits of dark Despondency, and
in those gloomy abodes, wear out a dismal being.
Forward, march, ye young, athletic, willing
men. \Y hat has been done, may be performed
by y T ou ; and ye aro not witfiout ensatnples of
men like yourself, whose energy of will has
borne them far above astonished contemporaries.
Enrol your names on the great parchment sheet
of the world s histoiy, witli such honored names
as Washington, Franklin, Newton, and their
great brothers. Push, forward !
A New Thing in Mechanics. —Mr. JosErtr
Harris, of Boston, according to tho Chronotype,
lias invented und patented a box and axle,which
requires no oil, and yet almost completely es
capes Irietion, which is thus described :
“The working model has been put into a lathe
and turned 1,000 revolutions in a minute, a mo
tion which with a common-sized railroad truck
wheel, would carry it about two miles in a min
ute, or 120 miles an hour, without producing any
perceptible heat, and without the use of a particle
of oil. The mechanism by which a result so de
sirable and astonishing is effected, is somewhat
after the manner ol tiiat discovered by the pro
phet Ezekiel in his vision, “ a wheel in the
middle ol a wheel,” or rather six wheels in the
middle of one. The box is about five inches in
diameter, and the axle tlire® inches, and in the
space between them ate disposed, at equal dis
tances, six anti-friction rollers, which are kept
in their places by- teeth at both their ends, play
ing into corresponding circles of teeth in both
the box and axle. There is no bearing upon
these teeth,* which are cut to the anti-friction
portion of the rollers between the teeth. The
only service of the teeth is to prevent the possi
bility ofthe rollers getting out of place.”
A Dangerous Article. —A correspondent
of the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post cau
tious the public against the use of u fluid for
plating door knobs, German silver spoons and
other articles of the common metals with pure
silver, as the vendor alleges. The fluid consists
of mercury dissolved in nitric acid and diluted
in water, as will appear on applying the usual
tests. I lie best test is the following, given by
Professor Hare Place a drop ofthe fluid up
on a gold coin, and touch it with the point of a
steel pen, which will cause the mercury to pre
cipitate upon the coin. Much danger may arise
from the imprudent use of this fluid. Persons
unacquainted with its properties have no doubt
ere this attempted to plate German silver spoons
with it. As soon as the spoons are placed in
warm tea or coffee the mercury will leave them
and become absorbed by the fluid. Ofthe dan
gerous effects of mercury when taken into the
stomach there are few who are ignorant.
Crops. — Many of our planters, (says the St.
Martinsville Creole of the 24th ult ) had been in
duced to burn off" their stubble cane, previous to
the late cold weather, and some had gone so far
as to run round it, with the plough, to encourage
the vegetation. These will, most probably sufltr
the entire loss of this arm of their crop, and in
deed we fear that all, without exception, will
suffer serious loss, for all hava been compelled'
to confide in the stubble, from having sustained
such injury from the rotted condition of the
cane plant. Wo hope for the best, but fear a
short crop here.’
Take Care of Your Habits. —Character is
the substance—reputation the shadow only—
sometimes longer and sometimes shorter. How
important, then, is care in tho growth and for
mation of habits, since character is but n “ bun
dle of habits ” that years have been picking up
and combining, and when combined you may
annihilate the composition, hut you cannot alter
it. It is no easy matter to drop habits, even
those that hang most loosely on the outside.—
We have an attachment to them, or they have
an attachment to us, which is not readily separ
ated. They are like an old pair of shoes, which,
though there aro no advantages attending them,
still they are easy and we are loth to “ cast them
off’.” They are like an old hat, which, though
it has become “seedy " and unsightly, still sits
comfortably to our head, and we dread the
breaking of anew one.