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Wha< a Blind Man Did. fc*ccott, the historian, and Prof. Fnvr cett, of England, illustrate the will, power of those who, stricken blind by n calamity, have yet achieved success in life. Instead of mourning over the precious treasure ot eyesight lost, they have gone to work. Adapting them selves to their situation, they have shown what training and persistent ef fort could do. llut James Goodsell, who died in Burlington, Vt., was blind from his birth to his death—a lwriod of ninety years. Yet what he did shows that even this terrible misfortune is not an insuperable obstacle in the way of a man determined to make the most of himself. Tn spite of his misfortune, he would swing an ax with dexterity, and felled jrees; he was an accomplished grain thresher, and would frequently go alone a distauee of two miles to thresh for the farmers, climbing the mows to down the grain ; ho could hoe com or garden stuffs as well as anybody, having no trouble to distinguish the weeds; he would set a hundred bean poles with more accuracy than most people who con sec, would load hay, and was so good a mechanic that he manu factured yokes and other farm articles with success. He bad an excellent memory, and was an authority on facts and dates. He could generally toll the tine of day or night within a few minutes. One instance is given when he slept over one day and awoke at evening, thinking it was morning. For once lib ate supper for breakfast, but when in formed of his mistake slept another twelve hours in order to get straight again. He was familiar with forest trees and knew just where to go for any timber desired. He could direct men where to find a chestnut, a maple or an oak, and the children where to go for berries. He was a good mathematician, and could compute accurately and rapidly. Tn olden days he was quite musically inclined, and, like most blind people, lie had a genius in that direction. He was at one time a leader of the Presbyterian choir. To crown oil, he possessed one of the Imp]nest of disjiosi tions, and was ever genial and cheerful. To this end his generally excellent health largely contributed. The Slider. The spider has never been to school a day in his life. He has never learned a trade or read a book, yet he can make the straightest lines, most perfect circles, beautiful little bridges, and many of his family can spin and weave, some of them can huntand swim and dive and do mason work almost as well as if they had a trowel and mortar. There is a spider in my garden that makes so many lines and cir cles you'll think it had been all through geometry. It makes circles, every one a little larger than the other, about twelve of them, and then from the smallest circle begins and makes about twenty-eight straight lines going to the outside circle, like the whalebones in an umbrella. It makes this web so perfect and regular that it is called the geometric spider. You'll see late l in summer clusters of Its eggs on bushes and hedges. When hatched the spiders all keep together in a little ball. You touch this ball and the little spiders will scatter in all directions, but as soon as they can they’ll get to gether again as before. I left my silk dress last night hanging over a chair near the wall and this morning T found tliat Mrs. Spider had been there in the night and made a beautiful little bridge of spider silk between my dress and the w all. The spider that made this bridge for me had eight eyes. It can’t move any of these eyes; each eve has but one lens, and can only see what is just in front of it. It had a pair of sharp claws in the forepart of its head; with the little pinchers it catches other smaller spiders. When the spider is at rest it folds its little claws one over the other like the parts of scissors. This spider has eight feet; most insects, you know, have six. At the end of each foot is a movable book. It has five little spin ners or spinnerets, with w hich it makes its web. Each of these' spinners has an open ing which it can make large or small as it likes. There is a tube like a little hall communicating into each of the openings. In this tube are four little reservoirs, which hold the “gluey sub stance of which the thread is spun.” As soon as this liquid comes to the air it be comes a tough a id strong thread. I sup pose the air acts upon it in some way. Dr. Holmes’ Advice to a Young Writer. In “A Literary Confession,” Mr. Eu gene L. Didier says : “ Men rush into print without training, study or prepa ration. They use too many words to express top few ideas. ” Discouraged by bis failure ten years ago to dispose of his first magazine article, which was en titled “The Grandeur <>t Human Des tiny,” he wrote to Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, asking for a situation as an amanuensis. Dr. Holmes made this characteristic reply : “lam not (as I am often supposed to he) an editor, and have no writing to do which I am not competent to do myself, with a little oc casional aid from members of my own family. * * * Most of our writers are as pool as rats themselves, and no more able to keep an amanuensis than they are to set up a coach and six. 1 do not know how to advise you beyond this simple counsel, which I have occa sionally given to young aspirants. If yon think you have literary talent, write something for the best paper or maga zine you can get into ; keep to one sig nature, and you will be found out by a public which is ready to pay the high est. price for almost any kind of literary ability. If you do not think you can make a reputation, why not l>ecome a reporter to a newspaper ? Ido not turn from your petition with cold indiffer ence, but it is utterly out of my power to do more than to give- you these few words of friendly advice.” Habits. Habit constantly strengthens all our active exertions. Whatever we do often, we become more and more apt to do. A snuff-taker begins with a pinch of snuff per day, and ends with a pound or two every month. Swearing begins in anger ; it ends by mingling itself with ordinary conversation. Such like instances are of too common notoriety to need that they be adduced; but, as I before ob served, at the very time that the ten dency to do the thing is every day in creasing, the pleasure resulting from it is, by the blunted sensibility of the bodi ly organ, diminished, and the desire is irresistible, though the gratification is nothing. There is rather an entertain ing example of this in Fielding s “ Life of Jonathan Wild,” in that scene where he is represented as playing at cards with the Count, a professional gambler. “Such,’says Mr. Fielding, “was the power of habit over the minds of these illustrious persons, that Air. Wild could not keep his hands out of the Count s rockets, though he knew they were empty ; nor could the Count abstain from palming a card, although he was well aware that Mr. Wild had no money to pay him. " 11 a milton Journal. LAMAR A DENNIS, Publishers. VOL. VIII.-NO. 15. nil. m.D. m.D stohv. BY TI DtOEBIE 1. Why daycu write of the olden story, One bo youur and one no fair; Ha* thy young heart st*en aught <*f glory That love haw brought?— nd the end despair ! Didst thou not know that notion were true, That all wore t ilthVss, vu u the gray. Anti brown, and Hark, the hnzle atul blue Were never constant, and will wander away ? u. Let me tell you atory of a flower fair That grew in the woodland quite alone, A lily tali ami fragrant niid-rnre, A tr pical beauty in u frigid zone. ’Neath Ha stalk and under the !ea>es A vine grew up in Blonder tendrils fine, And between tin* vine and lily broa'bes The story so olden ami yet divine. HI. At first they were, and looked asknme. And the lily was pale in her haughty pride. While the vino was linn as Knight with lance, Who eared for women only to deride. w .. . They atruggled with fat*- urn itibiiM do, Only b' enhance with brighter smile, And ut last with twining arms they kisn'd. these two, And saw not, wondered not, all the while. IT. The lily, bo proud and reguly tall. Gave up her lieftrt, gave up her life, And in the end this was not all, A vow was given to be a wilt*. Time went on; the vice ranid'y outgrew The stately lily who had begun to fade; Forgotten was she, ami only the dew Was distilled from the eyes that God liad made. v. Braie, generous tine had began to stray, And a pretty cobea was rcaehed at last. While in a fortnight he was far away ; His love was done, 'twas dead and past. The lily was queenly in her power, Dismayed at the course of the errant vine. Threw smiles to Timothy in an hour. And they were wed. Is tnis love divine ? MORAL. If two hearts stray and one is true, Look for browm eyes and not for blue. If brown eyes falter and betray, Seek consolation in those of gray. The Arch-Duelist, Old Jack Smith, of Missouri. It was a beautiful morning in May, nearly fifty years ago, when unmistaka ble doings in the “chief diggings” of Missouri proclaimed one of those stormy holidays then so common among the miners, and coming always on the Cliris tian Sabbath. Wild-looking bands of men were seen hurrying from all directions toward ij central point, shouting as they went, whether on foot or horseback, whether brandishing naked knives, or dueling pistols, or deadly rifles. “ Huzza for Lobaum’s old diggings! Let’s have a greasy day of it—a real soul-smelter 1” Before 10 o’clock the multitude at the appointed rendezvous amounted to more, than 1,000, when a huge Ajax from “Old Kaintuck,” ascending a huge block of ore, cried out, in a voice of hoarse thun der, “ I, Big Pete Whetstone, what folks calls ‘ Bloody Pete ’ for short, move that this ere meetin’ comes to order straight, to fix up a rule for the day’s sport; and I moves furdermore that we expense with our arms, and do all the fightin’ with fists, feet and teeth. What d’ye say to it, boys ?” “Good as galena! It will be glori bunctious sport—Oh, won’t it, though ?” yelled the crowd, drunk with the new idea, as Emerson would word it. “ Then ground all of your steel and fire-weepons,” exclaimed the giant; “ and for sure, so you can’t any of ye sly them out on a tight pinch, lot Devil Bill Davis guard ’em with his double barrels. ” “Right!” screamed the throng, re joiced immeasurably at the prospect of a spree with the unusual guarantee of safety to their brains and bowels, and stacking away their murderous imple ments in one colossal pile under a tree, where Devil Bill Davis took his station, swearing that bo would blow to an un mentionable place “ the first feller that even looked hungry arter the guns ! ” None lmt the pencil of an artist from pandemonium could sketch a picture of the scene which followed. Although the present writer saw it all, and it xvas my opening vision in Missouri, I would as soon attempt to limn the likeness of chaos. Let the reader imagine to him self 1,000 drunken rowdies, vagabonds and refugees from every corner of the world, in the maddest state of intoxica tion, suddenly cut loose from all re straint and turned out on a plain to en gage in mutual combat, and lie will have a dim conception of the spectacle. But what seemed to me the strangest fact of the case, the belligerents for the most part appeared to be doing battle in fun, though blood flowed in earnest, and so abundantly as to sicken my very soul. They howled, wrestled, struggled in the dust, tore each other’s clothes till hundreds were stark naked, struck, kicked and gouged ; and yet, strange to say, not one manifested the slightest sign of anger. It was a sort of grand jubilee of physical force the saturnalia of soulless animal instinct) While the perilous sport was going on, and waxing every moment wilder, a par ty arrived on the ground that instantly arrested my attention. This was a small man, with a small, bony face the color of half-tanned leather, eyes small, black and glittering, like red stars, with hands and feet actually as little as those of a 10-year-old bov, and countenance cold and expressionless as that of a corpse. He held on his shoulder an enormous rifle ; two long dueliug-pistols depended from each side of his beaded belt, and a silver-hilted knife was tied to the butt ton-hole of his left suspender. He was followed by six huge negroes, armed very much after the same fashion. The sea of tumultuous gladiators swept round the stranger, and many scowled on him ferociously, but I ob served that noue ventured to offer him the least personal violence, or even in sult ; nor did the presence of the Af ricans call forth a single murmur. “Who is that?” I inquired of the friend I had accompanied to the mines. “ That is old Jack Smith TANARUS.,” was the careless answer. At the sound of that dreadful name I must have turned excessively pale, for I felt my very knees shake beneath re. “What!” I asked in a whisper, “is that the renowned duelist who has slain ten men in separate affairs of honor ? ” “ Only nine,” replied my companion, and immediately added, as if just then noticing my emotion, “you have heard of him before?” * * Who. of any State west of the Alle- gimmes, has not heard of old Jack Smith X. ?” I answered, shuddering at the bare memory of many a bloody story connect ed with the notorious name, many of winch had been told to lnghten me‘into good behavior when a child. “That iB true,” said my friend; “ but you will see some of his feats ere sunset, or 1 am no veracious prophet.” “God forbid!” was my involuntary yet devout murmur. At length Big Pete Whetstone sep arated from the throng of insane rioters, and, approaching old Jack, exclaimed, “Gen. Smith. I don’t want to insult you, but it’s the ’pinion of the crowd that you and your niggers ort to stack your weep ons like the rest of us.” “ If you want my arms, you come and take them !” replied Smith in a voice 111 11 1rT "TT'TT —*1 smile that seemed to scorch the lip on winch it writhed. “Areyou mad at roe for telling you?” interrogated Big Pete, apologetically. “ I never get mail at dogs ; but I kick them when they come in niv way,” re torted old Jack, brutally. “Stand up to him, Bloody Pete 1 You’re ns dead a shot as he is !” roared the crowd, thirsty for the sight of a duel betwixt two of the most redoubtable champions in all Missouri. “Let us fight this minute!” shouted Bloody Pete, fairly beside liimself with rage from the cool, Satanic taunt of his enemy. “ very well.” “What are your weapons?” “ Rifle pistols.” In a very short time the two foes were nut in position by their seconds, twelve steps apart, and stood waiting for the word which should summon one or both to judgment. 1 could hear the mmers all around laying wagers on the result of the awful issue. “ I’ll bet yon ten tons of lead on old Jack—he shoots in the eye !” said one. “ I’ll go it on Bloody Pete 1” cried another. “He pops them through the heart!” At last the order was given. “Are you ready? Fire—one—two— three !” .With the first ringing tone of the word “fire,” old Jack’s pistol exploded, and his adversary fell dead without pulling a trigger! Smith walked up to him and exclaimed, in accents of astonishment, “ Well, I made a blamed bad shot! I aimed at his right eye !” He had hit just one-quarter above tlie eye-ball ! In all his other nine duels the fiend had driven out the center of the right eyes, and he always fired so incred ibly quick that he could scarcely be said to risk any danger, since his foes gener ally dropped down corpses without the chance of a shot. It is easy to conceive what fear and hatred such a man would necessarily in spire by liis numerous affrays, always fatal toothers, and his astonishing prow ess, that had the appearance of some di abolical witchcraft. Accordingly, he was waylaid and fired on, by his hearth, in his bed, at church—always in peril, and yet he ever escaped without a scar 1 Do not dream, reader, that X am ro mancing. Ask any resident of Missouri and you will find my facts not colored a ray beyond the strictest biographical truth. It was rumored that he wore impene trable mail beneath his shirt. Some whispered that ho hud bartered liis soul to the devil for a life insurance for a cer tain number of years. But in truth he owed his safety to a spell more powerful than any chain-mail ever forged of steel, or than any charm ever brewed in the fires of Tophet—the magical sjiell of fear ! Brave men trembled to behold him, and tremulous hands commonly miss the plainest mark. “But why did not the community arise m masse and annihilate such a wretch from the realms of space ? ” Listen, and hear another phase in that extraordinary character. Smith possessed} immense wealth, liut, although rich himself, he hated aris tocracy with an intensity to he accounted for alone on the supposition of partial derangement. All his burning sympa thies were with the masses. He was the benefactor of the poor, the friend of the feeble, the protector of the oppressed, and the sworn enemy of tyrants tho world over. Hence he was idolized by the lower classes, who would go to any lengths, even to the sacrifice of life, in hLs favor. An anecdote, at once terrible and ludicrous, may be set down here as an illustration of his bias for the poor. One day Hmith saw Gen. M., an opu lent and overbearing merchant of St. Louis, insult a poor mechanic in the streets of Herculaneum. The desperado forthwith assumed the mechanic’s quar rel by challenging the great merchant. Gen. M. replied ; “I am as brave a man as ever breathed God’s air; but the combat you propose is unequal, for I am almost entirely ignorant of the use of weapons, while you are a perfect master of them all. Ft is not courage, hut your matchless skill, that makes you rush into so many dangers. In your heart you fear death like the veriest coward.” Smith retorted, with a scorching smile; “ You say that I rely on my skill, and that in reality I am not braver than others. You say also that you are brave. Now I offer a certain method of settling both questions. I challenge you to go to the top of the cliff by the grand snot- tower, to have our right, hands tied fast together, and tee which of us two can leap the farthest down hill to ward hell! What do you say to that, coward ?” Gen. M. turned pale, and for a mo ment seemed undecided, but a hundred eyes were upon him, and he saw Smith’s horsewhip raised to strike if he refused. “ I accept,” was the gasping answer. The seconds were chosen on the sjiot, and the parties proceeded to the grand sliot-tower, follow ed by the whole popu lation of the village. The precipice was a jierpendicular wall, many honored feet in height. Old Jack stood on the horri ble verge, coo), apparently happy, and whistling a merry tune. But Gen. M. was nervous and agitated, and cast be seeching looks toward the crowd of spec tators, as if hoping to see some mutual friend step forward to negotiate a com promise. Nobody, however, moved or uttered a word, for all held their breath “DUM SPIRO, SPERO.” HAMILTON, <i A., NOVEMBER 4, 1880. in horror, and every head swam with sudden dizziness at the dreadful pros pect. Having consulted and arriuigrd pre liminaries, ono of the seconds pulled from his pocket a stroug silk handker chief to tie the wrists of the two foes to gether, and, advancing toward the fright ful brink, exclaimed aloud: “Now, gentlemen, are you ready ?” “ 1 am,"shouted old Jack,in tones that rung among the hills till they all echoed again, and immediately commenced sing ing a favorite ditty: Away down In the I’lierokce nation, With a pretty little wife and a big plantation. Gen. M. shuddered convulsively, and, looking as if lie was about to swoon, stammered out,.“ Why, gentlemen, this —this— tlu m no "honorable duel, but downright suicide. We are both certain to be killed 1 ” “To be sure w e w ill, and that’s the tun of the thing,” replied Smith. And lie made h movement as it lie would seize his adversary and drag him over the precipice, lint the General could en dure the agony no longer. With the first step of old Jack toward him he took to his heels, and ran away with the speed ot a scared wolf, while a roar ot laugh ter followed on the wind behind him. Toeuumerate all I ho desperate achieve ments of Jack Smith would fill volumes. He fought two laud speculators at once —rich men, who were buying up the homos of the ]>oof —ami slew them both. He was ever foremost in campaigns against the It: dians. He was a father to the orphan and a husband to the be reaved widow. His own wife loved him with a deep, devoted passion, llis two beautiful (laughters worshiped him as a being more than mortal, and every one of lus fifty slaves was always ready to laydown his life for his protection. Marvelous phenomenon, truly I What i the man of vengeance, so tierce and fearful to his foes—whoso dwelling was surrounded by the bones of the dead, and the very lintels of whose doors were stained with blood-spots—who was ugly as a satyr, and hardly less hairy than a black bear—to possess a heart within his bosom notwithstanding, a heart to love, and to be adored by those blessed angels of the altar whose heaven is the hearthstone of the beloved I Ho has now been dead more than twenty years, but his memory still blooms green and fresh in the souls of the poor, who, forgetting all the cruel ties to others, feel only that their tender est, truest friend has gone away from the earth. Yes, he is gone—that most terrible duelist that the old monster T’me ever saw and conquered! He was buried, by his own previous order, like some wild, savage war-chief, with his rifle in his hand, and his long knife naked on his bosom I Let no one gaze into the deep, dark night, where the dead man vanished, or gaze only with that eye of hoping, trust ful love, which, self-luminous as a living star, can irradiate with eternal brilliance the mournfulest gloom—the blackness of sin—and even the sunless sable of the grave. Vanilla. There was long a mystery hanging over this useful aromatic. The Spaniards under Cortez found it in use in Mexico to flavor delicate condiments, and they soon learned to employ it, and the dainty in Europe sanctioned itw use, and from that time vanilla has reigned supreme. But what plant really produced it was the question. The jealousy of the Spaniards prevented much investigation, but it is now known that the few species of vanilla are all climbing orchids, so that, as they never touch earth, their substance mid fragrance is all won from the air and the trees. The slender stems ns they run along the branches throw out roots to support themselves in both senses, obtaining firmness and nourish ment. The leaves are fleshy and heart shaped, and, what will surprise our readers, the flowers are thick, fleshy, dull in color, and utterly destitute of fragrance, possessing none of the aroma which wc know so well. The fruit, or pod, which is generally called the vanilla bean, is three-cornea, fleshy, plump, anil contains a number of mirmto seeds embedded in an aromatic pulp. The drying of these pods is a long process. They are exposed to beat, sometimes wrapped carefully in woolen cloths, and at other times uncovered, and from time to time they are oiled. The vanilla used in this country comes from Vera Cruz and Tampico, and near those cities the plant is raised for the purpose. The vanilla is propagated by tying shoots of the vine to the trunk of a tree, into the hark of which it soon sends its roots and begins to draw suste nance. The growth is then rapid. As the use of vanilla is very general in flavoring chocolate, ice cream, candies, and cake, substitutes are sought for the real and expensive vanilla. Melilot, vernal grass, and the tonqua bean, have an odor approaching it. Chemists have obtained vanilline from the sap of the pine, and even from stalks of oats. How Texas Cattle Are Utilized. There are beef-racking establishments at Rockport and Fulton, Texas, both of which places are in the center of cattle ranges, in which at least 100,000 lieeves ire slaughtered every year. Every part of the beef is utilized, even to the tufts of the tails, which are preserved and sold for the making of ladies’ frizzettes. l’he blood flows into tnnksand is pressed, and is sold at 2 cents a pound for the making of fertilizers. The tongues and lean beef are boiled and canned. Tho hides are salted and sold again. The fatty matter is extracted and goes to tal low. The hones are boiled to a pulp to extract this fatty matter, and the dry bones, mainly phosphate of lime, are sold at 1 cent a pound for fertilizing. The feet are cut off, and from the hoofs aeats-foot oil is extracted. The horny part of the foot, the shin-bone and Knuckle-bones, are sold for the manu facture of domestic ivory. The horns are piiled up until the pith becomes loose, and this is added to the fertilizers, and the horns are sold for manufacture. Every atom of the animal is probably used. During the past fifteen months about 10,000,000 acres of Government land were sold under the homestead laws—a more than usual heavy amount. Long Fasts. Ur. W. W. L. Phillips, ol Trenton, N. J., who wan the physician in the State prison in that city m 1874, is au thority for the averment that m that year John Farviancs, a native of Finland and then a convict, 83 years of age, fast ad for forty days. 1 lending the script ural accounts "of our Savior’s fast of forty days, and of the fasting of Moses and Elijah, invited Purviaucs to his fast. Dr. Phillips watched the prisoner throughout the period, and at the expi ration of thirty-nine days was Satisfied that no nutriment, except what there is in ice and water, was taken. The at tendants offered the prisoner final every day, hut he jiersistehtly refused to take it.’ After the fast ho wua dosaugtal, and now he is an inmate of the New Jersey asylum for the insane. During his fast ho hail perfect quiet ami all the fresh air a man may have in a prison. At the end of forty days he called for boiled salmon, a boiled egg anil a drink of whisky, which lie ate and drank with a relish. While he was fasting Dr. Phillips tempted him with the choicest delicacies that could bo found, but he would take nothing. The prisoner said that ho hud previously fasted for twenty eight. days at a time. He talked ration ally uutfl toward the end of his fast, when ho was reduced almost to a skele ton. When the Rev. Jabez 8. Swan, well known in Connecticut as " Elder Swan,” a revivalist of great jaiwcr, was conduct ing a revival in Mystic, Mr. Calvin Mor gan, of Poquonuoo Bridge, was convert ed. Moved to manifest his unsjinakable faith, he determined to fust forty days and forty nights, and ho says that lie did so, taking nothing into liis mouth save a little salt ana water. He is now hale and hearty at 78 years of ago. To a correspondent of the Jlcrald. he said : “ I entered upon tho task determined, with the help of Goil, to perform it. I was then a robust and ruddy-faced young man, anil after completing my fast was so weak, haggard and emaciated that I had to be moved on sheets for several weeks. I don’t want to go through it again. I think Dr. Tanner*eoulil hold out if he had truo faith in God to sup port him.” Mr. Morgan’s neighbors speak of him as a rigiiUy-truthiiil man. “ The Boston Girl.” A lady, who is now visiting the city, anil whose eyes and ears are always open to new anil strange sights and sounds, thus records the impression made upon her by the typical young woman of Bos ton The Boston girl leads ft complicated life. She is devoted to “art.” She is a woman of “ designs,” but she puts Ilium all on canvas. She talks to you about “studies” and shapes, and the new de signs she is putting on the “biscuit.” She walks Commonwealth avenue wrap ped in visions. She is as inaccessible as a mermaid. When you fondly imagine her meditations are solely on the bril liancy of tlie last remark with which her 11 resellce has inspired you, she is really occupied with her secret cogitations upon that lovely, iridescent pitcher, and won dered if any jMitter would throw her that particular shape in native clay. The Boston girl carves stately mantels and alluring cabinets; she models of mornings, and shows marvelous skill in portrait busts; she haunts the artists’ studios; she frequents the Museum of Fine Arts, and spends much time in the Athenaeum, anil is a devotee of the loan exhibitions. She is a born t ran seen deu tulist. Incongruous as it may seem .she is also an energetic diffuser of useful know ledge; a humble follower of Eastlako; a fervent disciple of Herbert Spencer, and an eloquent advocate for woman’s suf frage. With an air of resignation she informs you that it is not that she partic ularly cares to vote, but that she has a solemn conviction that it is her duty. This fair Melusina never misses a lecture ii]ion art. She revels in ancient auto types ami etchings; she talks learnedly to you of Michael Angela’s “Fates,” and the different interpretations of the Transfiguration. And the latest innova tion of this fair saint is that she turns her boudoir into an oratory, and before an elegantly carved priedieu she kneels gracefully and presents her petitions in the most faultless of modern classics, For a being of refined taste ami elegant culture, is she the fair Boston girl I” IloHton Tranucrlpt. The Old Red Cent. How much is sublimated in the famil iar refusal “ Nous Gent I Not a Red !” The old red cent is rapidly passing away out of the United Htates currency, and it will not be long before it will be known only in memory and in numismatic col lections. Its history is ft matter of suf ficient interest, for preservation. The cent was first proposed by Robert Mor ris, the great financier of the Revolution, and was named by Jefferson two years after. It began to make its appearance from the mint in 1792. It Ixjre the head of Washington on one side and thirteen links on the other. The French Revo lution soon created a rage for French ideas in America, which put on the cent, instead of the head of Washington, the bead of the Goddess of Liberty- a French Liberty— with flowing l<x:ks. The chain on the reverse was replaced by the olive wreath of peace. But the French Lib erty was short-lived, and so was her jxir trait on the cent. The next head or fig ure succeeding this- the staid, classic dame, with a fillet round her hair—came into fashion about thirty or forty years ago, and her finely chiseled Grecian features have been bill slightly altered by the lapse of time. Getting a Character. Be wondrous wary of .your first com portments ; get a g<xxl name, and bo \ cry tender of it afterward; for ’tin like the Venice glass, quickly cracked, never to be mended, though patched it may be. To this purpose, take along with voii this fable. It happened that Fire, Water and Fame went to travel together (as you are doing now); they consulted that if they lost one another, how they might he retrieved, and meet again. Fire said, “ Where you see smoke, there you will find me.” Water said,-“ Where you sec marsh and moorish low ground there you shall find me.” But Fame said, “ Take heed how you lose me, for if you do you will run a great hazard never to meet me again ; there’s no re trieving of me.” J. L. DENNIS, Editor. SI.OO a Year. BUG EXTERMINATORS. Water Bios anpßoacheh. —l. Vigor ously force into every crack anil cranuy that they haunt, and all neighboring ones, too, along (he edges of oil-cloth, the scams of wood-work, etc., hellebore. 2. A teacupful of well-braised plaster of Paris, mixed with double the quantity of oatmeal, to which mid a* little sugar. Strew it on the floor ot in the chinks which they frequent. To Exterminate Beetles. —l. Place a few lumps of uuslaked lime where they frequent. 1. Set a kish or trap, con taining a little beer or sirup in flic bot tom, and place a few sticks slanting against its sides, so as to form a sort of iwmgwsy few the beetles to climb up by, when they will go headlong into tho biiit set for them. i). Mix equal weights of red lead, sugar and flour, ami place it nightly upon their haunts. This mixt ure, mode into sheets, forms the beetle wafers sold at the oil shops. To Destroy Ants. —Drop some quick lime oil their nest, and wash it iu with boiling water; or dissolve some camphor in spirits of wine, then mix with water and pour into their haunts; or tobacco water (strongly), which has been found to be effectual. They are averse to strong scents. Campnor will prevent their infesting a cupboord, or a s]>onge saturated with creosote. To prevent their climbing up trees, place a ring of tar about the trunk, or a circle of rag moistened occasionally with creosote. To Remove Vkkmin from Canary Birds.—Put a piece of cotton oroumlthc end of each perch at night, remove tho cotton in the morning (with the vermin). Put in now, clean perches; clean the cage every day. Give the bird a bath every morning in a good large dish ; re move it as Siam as the bird has finished ; scald the ends of tho perches every day before putting them in the cage again ; renew the cotton around the perches every night, and remove in tho morning until tho lard is free from the vermin. To Get Rid of Cockroaches.—A cor respondent writes as follows : “ I bog to forward you an easy, clean, and cer tain method of eradicating these loath some insects from dwelling houses. A few years ago my house was infested with cockroaches (or ‘docks,’as they are called here), and I was recommend ed to try cucumber peelings ns a rem edy. 1 accordingly, immediately bo fore bed-time, strewed the floor of those parts of tho house most infested with the vermin with the green peel, cut not very thin from the cucumber, and sot up half on hour later than usual to watch the effect. Before the expiration of that time, the floor where tho peel lay was covered with cockroaches, so muon so that the vegetables could not be seen, so voraciously were they engaged in sucking the poisonous moisture from it. I adopted the same plan the following night, hut. my visitors were not near so numerous—l should think not more than a fourth of the previous night. On the third night I did not discover one. but, anxious to ascertain whether the house was quite clear of them, 1 examined the peel after I had laid it down about half an hour, and perceived that it was cov ered with uiyriiulsof minute cockroaches, about the size of a flea. I therefore al lowed the peel to lie till morning, and from that moment I have not seen a cockroach in the house. It is a very old building, and 1 can assure you the above remedy only requires to he persevered in for three or four nights to completely eradicate tho pest. Of course it should be fresh cucumber peel every night.” For Preserving Meat. Secretary Gold gave tho following ro i ceipts at the Williamautiemooting of the | State Board of Agriculture: Reef should j not be allowed to freeze. Salting should jhe deferred until the meat is ripe. The i fat of pork only should he salted, the j lean should he used for sausage meat. 1 Pack pork in clean barrels on the edge, I lirst scattering on the bottom a few hand fuls of salt, tin n again upon every layer, packing very close, and when all is packed in, pour on a brime made by dissolving salt in hot water. Be sure to cover the |sirk and place a hoard upon it, and a weight upon the hoard, to keep all in place. When a piece is removed he sure that the remainder is tightly prised down. For curing hams housed six gol lons of water, nine jxiunds of salt, two pounds of sugar, one quart of molases, four ounces of saltpetre, two ounces ol saleratus for one hundred pounds ol meat. He first covered the hams with salt and then let, them lie a couple ol days, flesh side up; then he packed their close in barrels, and jxHired ujxiti them the brine above described. For small hams three weeks would be long enough to stay in the brine, hut if large ones, then he would let them remain six weeks. He then takes them out, dries them, but d<xjn not allow them to freeze. When properly drained lie then smokes them. Our Bodies After Death. Within a very near approach to truth, the human family inhabiting the earth has been estimated at 1,000,000,000; the annual loss by death is Now, the weight of the animal matter of this immense laxly east into the grave is no less than (134,000 tons, and its decom position produces 08,000,()00 cubic feet of matter. The vegetable produc tions of the earth clear away from the earth the gases thus generated, and de composing and assimilating them for their own increase. This circle of changes has been going on ever since man lxi eiune an txictipier of the earth. He feeds on the lower animals and on the seeds of plants, which in due time become a part of himself. The lower animals feed upon the herbs and grasses, which in their turn become the animal; then, by its death again pass into the atmosphere, and are realty once more to be assimil ated by plants, the earth or bone sub stance’ alone remaining where it is de posited. A recent issue ol a Russian news paper contained nothing but advertise ments and the following : “ Through a (■mine not our own, the original articles prepared for this issue cannot be pub lished, therefore we publish only adver tisements.” Paper making pays when well man aged. Mr. Bloomfield Moore, engaged in that business, recently died in Phila delphia, and left $8,000,000 to his family. riTH AND POINT. Somethyno to lio about—A bed. Head clerks—Barbers’ assistants. A rAJtTiAt.LY deaf man has the " Hej" fever. A oooij whisky sling— Sling the bot tle out the window*—after it is empty. What did Mary any to her litt’e lamb when she scut it out to grass in thr evening? She said, “Ewe go to sup ]s>r." A musician wants to know how to strike a bee fiat and at tho sume time avoid being stung by its demisemi quaver. Yor.vo man, don’t try to forget your identity and lv*eniu< soiuclssly elso ; for the other chap is almost sure to be an inferior person. “Is that a deer park over there?" asked a gentleman of a laUiror. “’Yus," he replied, “a very dear park. It al most ruined the owner to fix it up ! ’ \ lady living asked how old she was replied: “l was married at 18; my husband was then 30. Now he is twice as old- that makes mo twice 18. I’m 36." This young physician returns from his vacation to find his patients lively as crickets. He inwardly vows that he will stay at home and attend to business hereafter. An old angler says that a fish does not suffer much from being hooked. Of course not. It is the thought of liow his weight will he lied about that causes anguish. Lord Brougham once, when he was in a face ions mood, being asked to define a lawyer, said : “ A lawyer is a learned gentleman, who rescues your estate from your enemies anil keeps it him self.” He went, into a drug store and said to the dentist: “You pulls out niitout pain?” “Certainly.” “What does dat cost?" “One dollar." “Py slummy 1 You dinks dat don’t hurt none, py gra cious I” A North Carolina man will work four hours to chop down a tree that a coon is in, but nothing would induce him to split up enough wood to cook tho su])]M*r with. The latter proceeding isn’t sport. The Prince of Wales’ two sons are somewhat lively. While on a sea voy age recently, the younger was heard to exclaim: “Como, bub, tune up your fiddle anil give us, 1 God save your old grandmother.’ ” “But, you know, pa,” said the farm er's daughter, when lie spoke to her about the address of hia neighbor’s &on, “you know, pa, that ina wants me to marry a muu of culture.” “8# do I, my dear—-so do I; and there's no'better culture in tho country than agriculture,” “Dimples, you know, soon turn to wrinkles," said Hwilton to a dimpled darling. “ That can’t possibly concern you, sir,” she replied. “Howto turn wrinkles into dimples would Ire more in teresting to you, I should think. And, by tho way, what a crop some persons could raise, couldn’t they ?” “ Is your programme full, Miss Beetle crusher V” asked a young man of a West ern damsel who had just struggled out of u refreshment room with disappoint ment in her eye and an “order of dunces” in her hand.' “Programme full ?” said tho daughter of the setting sun. “ WaaL, I guess not I I hain’t hud nothin’ but a piece of cake and an ice-cream, an’ they don’t go far toward tilling my pro gramme, I can tell you.” —Boston Com mercial. A Romantic Story. Loring, tho Boston bookseller, told a very romantic story, as follows: “At one time I had prepared boxes of fancy paper with a fancy initial or |x-t name embossed in it, and f put this up at $1 a box mid advertised it widely. Ouo day I bad an order from California from a Miss Music —. The box was done up, addressed to her and lay about here, when a young Englishman came in and wanted to write a letter. I gave him the material and a place, when his eyes caught the address on this box. “‘Have you the order that came for that box of paper?’ he asked. “‘Yes,’ 1 replied, ‘ ’tin about some where,’ “ ‘ Would you mind sending it up to my hotel ? If it is what I think, I shall leave for California to-night.’ “I found it and sent it around and heard no more about it for ]x>rh:ips three months, when one day the young man, with a. lady on his arm, walked in. ‘Mr. Loring, I want to present you to my wife,’ he said. ‘We could not leuve this country till we had thanked you for your part in bringing us together. ’ The denouement was quite a romance. The young man was the son of an aris tocratic family anil the girl the daughter of the gardener. But love levels all dis tinctions, and the young man felt this girl to he the chosen companion of his life. To hreuk off the attachment his father had sent him to the Continent and dispatched tho gardener and his pretty daughter to America, where the young man had followed them, ignorant of their address, and at lust finding it through the chance of tho box of paper.” A Clergyman’* Suit. A clergyman in Horuellsville, N. Y., has excited much hostile criticism by suing an estate for SSO for officiating at a funeral, and securing the amount. It turns out, however, tlmt ho had pretty gixxl grounds for his course. A rich man died, and the family wanted the funeral to take place on Bunday, and also wanted this particular minister to officiate. Ho gave up his appointments for the day to oblige tho family, hired a carriage, and went. He waited sometime for remuner ation, and at last sent a hill for 825, which was refused, and so for the bill and damages lie sued for 850 and got it. The dead man never hired apowin the church nor paid for preaching, and the question naturally arises, Why are not ministers entitled to pay for extra labor as well as other men? If a tiling is worth doing at all, it is worth while to do it well. Yet the world is full of work badly done and half-done. It is always a bad policy to do work in a jxxir, half-hearted and slovenly fashion. Gixsl and honest work will always be of the greatest service, both to the serving and the served. The worker will ever find it to his best interest to work con scientiously and carefully, and to do his very best. Wiiat a monotonous life it must have lieeli in Eden without those cheering aphorisms that now everywhere brighten up the landscape, making every rook, tree, and fence to ixmrgeon out into such gratuitous advice as “Purify our blood!” “Chew Mehoricle Finecnt!” ‘‘Consump tion can tic cured!” etc. The aged Lueretia Mott is reported in failing health. She is 87 years old, and until recently has been active and well. She is now confined to her room in her son-in-law’s hame near Phila delphia, but is still bright and cheerful.