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VOLUME V.
A Metrical Medley.
* romance of the road,
a bipnner rode out on a bi-cycle,
Met a lady who stared like an icicle;
The wheels went around,
He dropped to the ground,
This sensitive youth on the bi-cycle.
Providence Journal.
A UNIVERSAL BIOGRAPHY.
At ten, ft child; at twenty, wild;
At thirty, strong, if ever;
At forty wise; at fl/ty, rich;
At sixty, good, or never.
Buffalo Courier.
TO I.ATE ! TOO LATE !
He told her that he loved her,
In tones so soft and mellow;
But she said she couldn't marry him,
For she’d asked another fellow.
A t.ITTLE LIGHT ON TIIF. SUBJECT.
They stood all alone and 'twas late,
And deep shadow'd were cast, by the gate,
When her very bad brother, the scamp,
Ulimlied the post and lighted the lamp,
And the meeting adjourned without date.
SOME WONDERS OF NATURE.
I’ve seen the cats kill mountains
And beheld a garden walk;
Isnt I’ll admit I was surprised
When told of the bean stalk.”
ENTIRELY SEASONABLE.
I’ll winter night fair Isabel;
I’ll spring upon my knees and tell
Koj.nl is hand summer than she,
And that she autumn marry me.
Oil City Derrick.
A YOUNG OFFICIAL.
A hinaoas judge came late to court
One day in busy season;
Whereat his clerk, in great surprise,
Inquired of him the reason.
“ A child was born,” his honor said,
“ And I’m the happy sire.”
“An infant judge 7” Oh, no,” said he,
“ As yet he’s but a crier.”
A LEAP YEAR PROPOSAL
“ It’s a very pleasant parish,” said the
Rev. Mr. Racquet, “ and very pleasant
people. The elder ladies are steady,
consistent workers; the younger, active
and enthusiastic. I don’t think, if I had
possessed the privilege of selecting for
ray.'df, I could have found a more de
lightful position.”
Mr. R tderic Racquet was twenty-six,
with astraight nose, pleasant blue eyes,
oid p general talent for being satisfied
with everything and everybody. He
w is located in his first parish, a pietur
tM|ue little knot of houses, overhanging
a brisk cataract, which made work for
mills and factories, and filled all the ad
jacent woods with its noisy melody;
and so far lie was one of those excep
tions in life, a perfectly satisfied man.
“Ah!” said his friend, Mr. Alton,who
was a misanthrope. “ The ladies, eh ?”
‘‘Yes,” said Mr. Racquet, quietly;
“for, of course, you know that much
of the prosperity of a country parish de
pfndsupon its female members.”
“Yes,” observed Mr. Alton, dryly.
“Hu are an unmarried man, I be
lieve?”
“lam an unmarried man —yes, cer
tainly.”
And this is—leap-year.”
Nonsense!” cried the parson, briskly.
I hope you may find it nonsense,”
Mr. Alton, pursing up his lips;
' tit I am told that there are a good
many single ladies this year who are
' riven desperate by the prospect of
? pinsterhood—”
Nonsense!’ again exclaimed Mr.
mcquet. “My dear Alton, this is a
' too much of a burlesque. You
'“ 1 seriously believe in this—this ab
surdity?”
•'d'. Alton only shook his head, as he
ro ' e iltu l reached lor his hat.
I h get my book, Racquet,” said he,
• s ■*" t ooked lugubriously around the
r ,° o , m .’ an d go out for a stroll in these
" 1 U| us pine scented woods. My doc
“!l that pine-sap is very healing
"! ungs that are consumptively in
clined.”
" y ery well,” said the Rev. Mr. Rae
• with a glance at the scattered
|! le,ts ot die half-completed sermon
1.1 ai y on his desk. “ And I will join
hu after a little period of time.”
’ took up his pen, dipped it deler
-11.1 r y i n the inkstand, and went re
utely to writing; but, in spiteol all
' ln( iustry, the words of his icono
. ir i e nd rang persistently in his
If there should be any foundation
Ai ton’s absurd idea!” he pondered,
Pen suspended above the par-
M’-written sheet. “But, of course,
jjj, 10 ‘; m t he; but if such a possibility
Y ,‘' Xlst —ana a married man is really a
CI member ol society than a single.’
-mi au the while ttle Rosa Apple
-7 * eherry checßa nd tangled yellow
rt ere dancing, a human will-o’-the-
i pfore the horizon of his mind’s
eye.
. nos young,” he said, to himself,
p " PS a trifle inclined to be j
"Ut she’s certainly very charm- I
f' , since the Appletons have
l l f ' an d the mother has opened a
. and Lucilla has gone to
iin ?’ 1 don't think I could do better
llia n to marry ”
Appleton, sir, if you please.’
. - was a timid little voice that broke
• upon the thread of his reflections,
' u “ 03a herself stood before him,
J > . 1( | rin S all over, like a pink carnation,
* a basket of late peaches in her hand.
u^e > fluttering ribbons in her hat,
p ve called on business, sir,” said
uo.sa.
lf hey. Roderic moved forward a
'■ air.
1 a y he seated, Miss Appleton,” said
THE FOREST NEWS.
l.e, not without some confusion on his
own part.
If they had been living in the Palace
ot l ruth now, and Rosa could have seen
into the deeps of his heart!
And Miss Appleton sat down, pulling
nervousiy at the fingers of her brown
thread gloves.
“ R’ B '‘bout our Lucilla,” said she.
“ Indeed?” said Mr. Racquet.
We want to get her well settled in
life,” said Rosa, appealingly.
“But I thought she was teaching!”
cried Mr. Racquet.
She doesn’t like teaching,” confessed
Rosa; or rather, to be candid with
you, the trustees don’t like her. She
isn’t very young, you know, and has
some odd, formal little ways, and only
one eye; and the children make fun of
her. and the trustees say she has no diff
nity.”
“Very unfortunate,” said Mr. Rac
quet, bending a transparent pearl paper
cutter back and forth, with the sublime
indifference which we are apt to display
toward the tribulations of others. “If
there was anything I could do—”
“ On, but there is !” said Rosa.
‘‘Eh ?” ejaculated Reverend Roderic.
“She thinks, and mamma thinks—”
“Well ?”
“That she might come here,” said
Rcsa, with her blue eyes fixed full on
the young clergyman’s face.
Click ! click ! and the two pieces of
the severed paper-cutter flew into oppo
site corners of the room.
“ Here ?” cried Mr. Ra cquet—“ to the
parsonage ?”
“ Yes,” innocently assented Rosa.
“She isn’t pretty to look at, to be sure,
but as you yourself said, in your ad
dress to the Sunday-school children,
last week, beauty is a mere nothing;
and you’d find her very useful and ac
complished.”
“Indeed!” said Mr. Racquet, frigidly.
“She has been highly educated,”
went on Rosa,gaining confidence as she
talked; “but at the same time she
would not despise descending to menial
duties for the sake of one she loves and
knows as she does you. And so, Mr.
Racquet, she wants to know if you’ll
have her.”
A cold perspiration broke out around
the Reverend Roderic’s mouth. He
drew back his chair with an instinctive
movement of self-defense. Leap-year
was upon him, in very truth and fact.
Alton was right, and he should be
coerced into matrimony before he knew
it.
“ I—l’d rather not ?” said Mr. Rac
quet, very decidedly.
Rosa looked at him, half-amazed,
half-offended.
•‘Rather—not?” she repeated. “I
don’t think Lucilla expected that de
cision. Perhaps she’d better come and
see you herself about it —”
“No, no! she needn’t do that,”
gasped Mr. Racquet. “My decision is
irrevocable.”
And hurriedly gathering his papers,
he caught his pen and feigned great
assiduity once more.
“I see you are busy,” said Rosa,
softly, after an instant or two of hesita
tion.
“Yes,” said Mr. Racquet, “I am—
rather busy.”
“Then perhaps I had better bid you
good morning,” said Rosa.
“ Good morning, Miss Appleton,” said
the clergyman, with his eyes glued to the
paper.
But when Rosa had gone out, carrying
her basket of red-cheeked fruit, the
young man sprang up, and stood in the
middle of the room, smiting his fore
head .
“What!” lie cried, after the fashion
of the soliloquizing heroes of the stage,
“ marry that wrinkled, elderly, one
eyed—hag! Against my will, just be
cause she wants someone to provide for
her, and it is leap-year! Not if J know
it! And worst and cruellest of all, to
think that Rosa herself should come to
propose it!”
Just then, Rosa’s voice, soft and plain
tive, talking to the old housekeeper, in
the kitchen below, chimed upon his ear.
Involuntarily he listened.
“ I know it’s very foolish of me to cry,
Mrs. Megson,” faltered Rosa, “ but in
deed, indeed I can’t help it! You see,
we heard you were going away next
week, and Lucilla was so anxious to ob
tain the situation of housekeeper. She’s
so middled-aged and steady-going, you
know, that it would be the very place
for her!”
“Certainly, certainly, Miss Rosa!”
chimed in good-natured Mrs. Megson.
“And what objection did the master
possibly have to it - ”
“ I don’t know,” said Rosa. “ But he
was so cold, and stern, and short with
me. He didn’t seem a bit like himself.
And, oh, Mrs. Megson, please do give
me a glass of water, for I feel all in a
flutter! I didn’t even have a chance to
tell him that Lucilla was willing to come
without wages for the first month, for
the sake of learning the household wa’ - s,
and-”
But Roderic Racquet heard no more.
Scattering the sermon-sheets right and
left, he seized his hat and rushed down
the back garden, to a certain shadowed
walk, which led out to an angle in the
wall, which commanded the highroad
by which Rosa Appleton must return
toher own home; and when the light
tisrure came, moving softly along like
a shadow, he stepped out and stood
directly in front of her. She started
like a frightened fawn.
“ Rosa,” he said, “do not be afraid.
I —l do not think we quite understood
one another just now. Your sister
i wanted to take the position which old
j Megson is about to vacate, of house
! keeper at the parsonage?”
“Yes, sir.” said Rosa, with downcast
eyes.
JEFFERSON, GA., FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1880.
“ But I should prefer another house
keeper, Rosa,” boldly spoke out the
parson. “ I should prefer you as my
Wife, darling—my own heloved life
treasure !”
“I never thought'of such a thing,”
said Rosa, beginning to color up and
tremble.
“Think of it now, then,” persuaded
Mr. Racquet. “ Lucilla and your
mother can live with us, if you like;
but you must be the little housekeeper!
my Rosa.”
And, after a singularly short period
of deliberation, Rosa Appleton decided
to accept the situation.
When Mr. Alton came in from his
sanitary meditations among the pine
groves, Roderic met him with a radiant
countenance.
“Oldfellow,” said he, “I’m safe! No
more ol your leap-year intimidations
forme. I’m engaged!”
“So she has asked j t ou, eh?” groaned
Mr. Alton.
“No,” said the parson; “I asked
her.”
Terrapin.
In a letter from Baltimore to the Re
public, of Washington, a correspondent
tells what he knows about terrapin.
The following facts are of general in
terest :
It is in Lent that terrapin commands
its highest prices. They are worth
from $25 to $36 a dozen during the sea
son. A dozen terrapins consist of
twelve diamond-backs, no one of which
must be less than a “ count terrapin,”
that is, measure seven inches in length
on the under shell. The largest kuown
do not exceed ten inches in length and
eight pounds in weight, and such prizes
are extremely rare. The seven-inch
terrapin averages four pounds in weight.
“Sliders,” the common river turtles of
almost all the rivers of the South, grow
to a much larger size. They bring from
$6 to $9 a dozen. t
The two or three men who control
the trade in Baltimore say that they sell
almost exclusively for private tables.
Terrapin are caught all the way from
Savannah and Charleston to the Palap
sco and Gunpowder rivers—scarce here
—but the genuine diamond-back belongs
almost exclusively to the upper Chesa
peake and its tributaries. The majority
of the sliders come to Baltimore from
the James river and streams adjoining.
An active terrapin catcher sometimes
makes SSO a week, but the find varies,
and often runs down as low as $5. The
reptile is discovered by probing the
mud in the shallows with a stick. He
is dormant and easily captured.
The females are more highly prized,
and are known as “cow” terrapin.
They generally contain about thirty
eggs, some of which you have a right
to expect to garnish the dish at $1.25 a
plate. 1 am not betraying confidence
In stating that many restaurateurs, reck
iess of their fair fame, have resort to the
eggs of the pigeon made into a paste and
rolled into a substitute for the genuine
article. Thirty years ago the largest
dealer in Baltimore found it difficult to
dispose of the terrapin he received at $6
a dozen. The product, he says, is about
the same year in and year out. He sells
as many now as he did then. The
negroes who bring them to market say
that they are growing yearly scarcer,
and nothing but the high price stimu
lates them to keep up the supply by a
more extended and persistent search.
The commissioners of fisheries of this
State, in thir report of 1876, deplore
“the much diminished and rapidly dim
inishing supply of this most excellent
luxury of the Chesapeake bay,” and
suggest its increase by cultivation.
They add: “There are hundreds of
localities admirably situated in our ter
rapin producing regions which could
be made more productive, acre for acre,
than the best surrounding land, by the
establishment of terrapin ponds.”
“Virtue Is its Own Reward.”
Some days ago a tender-hearted
stranger of well-to-do exterior, pass
ing by the broad stone steps of Warsaw
cathedral, perceived a poorly dressed
woman crouched at tlieir foot, weeping
loudly and wringing her hands in deep
tribulation. Touched by her evident
distress, he stopped and asked what was
the matter. “Kind, gracious sir,” re
plied the sobbing woman, “ I am the
most unfortunate creature in the world’
I want to get my baby christened, but
hey demand two roubles, and I have
not a single copeck.” “Is that all?’
observed the pitiful stranger; “take
this five-rouble note, go straight to the
pope, pay him his christening fee and
bring me out the three roubles change,’
With joyful promptitude the recipient
of his bounty entered the church, whence
she presently emerged with three silver
roubles, which she handed over to her
benefactor, expressing her heartfelt
gratitude for his timely succor, and her
surprise at his apparently disinterested
kindness. “My good woman,” answered
the philanthropist, with a beaming
smile, “your astonishment is uncalled
for. You see lam one of those people
who cannot bear to contemplate the un
happiness of their fellow-creatures. I
must always see joyous faces around
rue. Besides, everybody concerned in
this transaction has profited by it. They
have got their fee; your child will be
christened; your mind n at ease; and I
have derived three good silver roubles
from a benevolent action and—a bad
five-rouble note!” —Geneva ( Switzerland )
Continent. _______
“ There is a multitude of people lying
round about us,” exclaims an orator.
All right, let them lie; that won’t hurt
us. It’s those that go around and tell
the truth about us that do the damage,
unless we are better than most man
kind. —Marathon Independent.
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD
Ho*es for the Farm.
Rack-feeding of horses is wasteful.
The better plan is to feed with chopped
hay from a manger, because the food is
not then thrown about, and is more
eaeily chewed and digested.
Oats supply more nourishment and
flesh-making material to horses than
any other food, but oats alone are not
conducive to the best results. Mixed
food is best.
To cure galls on the shoulders of
horses: At morning, noon and night
wash the shoulders well with water, and
apply thoroughly with a feather six
drachms of iodine dissolved in a half
pint of alcohol.
It is essential that leather should have
light. In the care of harness do not in
close in a dark closet or room. Of
ccurse harness should be oiled three or
four times a year, first washing with
soap and water.
The most satisfactory results with
bees may be expected if abundant stores
of honey can be found within two
miles. They will work more freely
upon blossoms at some little distance
from the apiary than upon those
close by.
A cow that has accidentally eaten her
fill of meal should be kept in the stable,
and not allowed to drink. As soon as
discovered she should be given a pound
or two of Epsom salts, repeating the
dose till a movement of the bowels is
obtained.
A market gardener living about eight
miles from Boston on a piece of land less
than two acres realized, in 1879, from
the products of his farm $958.91. This
is more than is secured from many
farms in this country of many acres in
extent.
To give delicacy of flesh to chickens
make their principal food for a week 01-
ten days before killing barley meal moist
ened with milk. Alternate with In
dian meal, scalded with either water or
milk. During this process keep the
chicks confined in a darkened room.
Fasten a short piece of a log-chain,
say five or six links, by means of a light
strap, to his leg just above the knee (in
the stable, of course), and see how
quickly that pawing horse will leave
off the habit. In most cases a few
days will be sufficient to effect a cure.
Good things to have handy where
there are horses u White lead, for bruises
and breaks in the skin, saddle galls, etc.;
bathing whisky, with about two ounces
of turpentine, two ounces of hartshorn
and a little camphor, for sprains, stiff
ness, etc. Leaf lard for cuts. Cos il oi 1
applied to a slight sprain is also good.
Dr. Ilellriegel experimented with t!i
different elements required in plant
growth by putting clear sand into boxes,
and then appljing fertilizing matter,
and found that the quantity of water
applied had much to do with the growth
of plants. In the sandy soil which lie
experimented with the largest yield of
rye, wheat, oats and bai-ley was ob
tained when the soil held steadily ten
or fifteen per cent, of its weight in water.
On increasing this proportion the straw
in some eases was hea vier, but the grain
was reduced in quantity.
Youhk Fruit Trees.
The subject in reference to young apple
trees is specially applicable, and we
venture an opinion that, were the early
years of these trees better attended to,
the troublesome blight would in all
probability be not so bad. Thus, in pre
ference to so much knife work, young
trees of these should be disbudded im
mediately they show signs of pushing,
and instead,of merely rubbing them off,
they should be close pared with a sharp
knife, thus preventing the possibility of
latex*al buds pushing forth. Providing
the stem is tall enough, a limited num
ber of buds alone should be allowed to
push forth. These, of course, will form
the main branches of the tree, and in all
cases the terminal bud should be cutoff,
so that there may be no central main
branch. The laterals, in course of time,
will sufficiently fill up the center space.
Then, as the lateral main branches ex
pand and again put forth other laterals,
these should be again disbudded, and
care taken that buds having a tendency
to produce low branches should be care
fully erased, as of a surety if left they
will only have to be cut away at a future
period.
In the way of stakes to young trees,
the question is whether the conceived
rule is the right one—that is, having
stakes seme six feet in height, thus pro
truding one or two feet beyond the lead
ing lateral branches, and often, as has
been observed, causing a very serious
chafing.
Our opinion is that if the main
branches are to start at four feet from
the level of the ground the top of the sup
porting stake should just be under the
branches, thus giving all necessary sup
port to the trunk, and at the same time
allowing free play to the branches, which
scarcely, under no chance or possibility,
can receive any support from the stake.
The main lateral branches should head
out in equal distances —a process that
may be easily managed by proper dis
budding.
Then, if the trees are to be kept
dwarfed, the laterals may again be
stopped, so that the tree may form wha
is termed a fine head. The question
whether fruit trees, of whatsoever kind
they may be, should be tall standards or
dwarfs may be decided in respect as to
whether the situation is exposed ot
sheltered. We can see no harm,but muc
good, in letting trees attain a fair alti
tude in sheltered situations. The pro
duce will certainly be far more abund-
ant when the trees attain to moderate
age, while the quality will certainly be
equal to that upon such as are too close
pruned.—& M., in the Farmer (Eng.)
Redoes.
Potatoes Roasted Under Meat.—
Half boil large potatoes; di*ain the
water, put them into an earthem dish
or small tin pan, under meat roasting;
baste them often with the drippings;
turn them, to brown nicely on ail sides;
take them up in a separate dish.
Old-Fashioned Tapioca Pudding.—
Two eggs, one quart milk, one cup tapi
oca ; spices ot nutmeg and cinnamon to
taste; also sugar and bit of salt, and
small teaspoonful of butter, melted.
Wash and soak the tapioca m very little
water till rather tender; then put it in
the milk, and place on back of the stove
and soak one hour; then melt butter in
dish and pour in the beaten eggs, milk
well sweetened, and spice; bake one
hour quite slowly.
Simple and Delicious Muffins.—
One quart flour, one feaspoonful salt,
half gill yeast, one pint warmed milk,
less two tablespoonfuls; mix at night,
and beat until light; in the morning
drop the well-risen dough in buttered
cups.
Chicken Cream Soup.— Boil an old
fowl with an onion in four quarts of cold
water until there remain but two quarts.
Take it out and let it get cold. Cut off
the whole of the breast and chop very
fine. Mix with the pounded yolks of
two hard- boiled eggs, and rub through
a colander. Cool, skim and strain the
soup into a soup-pot. Season; add the
chicken and egg mixture; simmer ten
minutes and pour into the tureen. Then
add a small cup of boiling milk.
DIAPHOTE AND TELOPTICON.
Tle Latest Wonders in the World of
Invention—Sending Pictures by Tele-
Rraph and Forwarding a Whole News
paper by the Same Agency.
Wonders will never cease. Inventions
transmitting thoughts long distances
and writing them out by electricity,
painting pictures by sunlight, copying
and reproducing the human voice, talk
ing to people miles away in the tone of a
tete-a-tete conversation, are followed by
an invention which brings the figures
of the persons holding converse at a
distance directly into each other’s pres
ence. In other terms the telegraph,
photograph, phonograph and telephone
are followed by the diaphote, by Dr.
Licks, of Bethlehem, Pa., and the tole
phote-telican, or telopticon (whichever
name may be adopted), by Connolly
and McTighe, of Pittsburg. The later
inventions claim to send the picture of
the speaker along with the voice by
telephone. It is stated that the Licks
diaphote requires a large number of
wires, and rather complicated ma
chinery to make it work, which may
render it impracticable for general use,
while the Connolly and McTighe telop
ticon requires but one wire, and is in
other respects recommended by its sym
plicity. It is further reported that these
inventions have been tested by experi
ments before scientific committees, and
are found to work. Dr. H. E. Licks
claims that his instrument will send
forms and colors by wire as words are
sent. The apparatus consists of a receiv
ing mirror, the transmitting wires, a
common galvanic battery and the re
producing speculum. After witnessing
some late experiments with the dia
phote, one of the investigating profes
sors made a few remarks upon the
probable scientific and industrial appli
cations of the invention. Tie said, in
substance, that with the telephone and
diaphote it might be possible for friends
separated by the Atlantic ocean to hear
and see each other at the game time, and
to talk as it were face to face. It might
be used to enable railroad men to see
hundreds o f miles of railroad track at
once, and in connection with photo
lithography it might be so employed as
to print the great English dailies in
New York a few hours after their ap
pearance in London. Dr. Licks has ap
plied for seven patents to secure his in
vention, and he seems to have no doubt
about its practicability and ultimate
perfectibility.
The telopticon claims to be able to
transmit the physical wave force of
light electrically, similar to transmis
sion by telephone. It having been de
monstrated that electricity is a con
dition of solar light, this invention con
verts electricity back again into the con
dition of light. The inventors believe
they will be able to transmit simul
taneously, from one point to another,
any written or printed document—even
the entire side of a newspaper. The re
production of the image is explained to
be the result of chemical changes which
are perfectly well known to all photo
graphers. The image of any object is
sent in diminished size, and is magnified
at the receiving point to the required
size. The inventors admit that the
telopticon is yet in its infa icy, but they
have no doubt whatever of its ultimate
perfection. In “ A Strange Story ” Bul
wer thought he was writing a fiction
when he invested Margrave with the
power of casting his image wherever he
willed it to go, by a sort of occult
magnetic projection. These inventors
of the diaphote and telopticon, if their
claims are fully substantiated, proclaim
the novelist’s visions fulfilled prophe
cies and marvelous facts.— St. Louis Re
publican.
Habits of velvet or satin overdresses
of tulle or >f silk covered with lace will
be worn. These habits are cut almost
precisely like the masculine frock-coat,
but have no sleeves whatever, only a
row ot narrow white lace gathered
around the armhole.
TIMELY TOPICS*
The salaries of a few of our American
railway officials show what a mine rail
road management may sometimes prove.
H. J- Jewett, president of the Erie rail
way, has a salary of $40,000 a year;
Tom Scott, president of seven railroads,
draws SIOO,OOO salary, $24,000 from the
Pennsylvania road alone; J. W. Gar
rett, president of the Baltimore and
Ohio, has a nominal salary of $4,000 a
a year. There are to-day fifteen general
managers of railways in the United
States'whose salaries range from SIO,OOO
to $15,000; nine general superinten
dents, with a salary from $7,000 to $lO,-
000 yearly, and a number ot officials in
the same rank who receive over SB,OOO.
Of one mathematical work written
by the venerable and accomplished Pro
fessor Peirce, of Harvard, he hinifelf
says that there is only one man living,
besides himself, who could read it and
understand it; and of another work he
says that onlv one man besides himself
has read it and understood it. A math
ematician, the professor says, is not
really known while he is alive; he must
wait for history to do him justice, and
establish his real worth and scientific
position. Professor Peirce is said to
consider Professor Sylvester, of Johns
Hopkins, as a remarkable genius, and
perhaps the greatest of contemporary
mathematicians.
A Boston swindler advertised for “ a
lady or gentleman to address circulars
evenings at home,” and to the thousands
of persons who responded by mail he
sent letters saying he would pay seven
dollars a thousand for addressing en
velopes. He added: “Thereare many
who answer advertisements for mere
curiosity; to protect ourselves against
such a bore, we are obliged to insist
upon a deposit of one dollar, which you
can claim after the delivery of the first
1,000 circulars.” The pay offered was so
liberal that the dollars poured into his
postoffice box at the rate of two hun
dred a day, but he got none of them, for
the postmaster refused to deliver them.
The investigation into the terrible
Tay bridge disaster disclosed that as to
the metal used for the columns, mold
ei-8 employed in the work for twenty
seven years “never saw worse;” the
coke used for melting it was inferior;
holes and cracks were patched up with
cement; none of the defective columns,
“which were numerous,” were broken
up, but went into the work, and so on.
Not a lew witnesses, such as ex-Provost
Robertson, of Dundee, an engineer, tes
tified as to the habitual recklessness of
the drivers on the bridge. The regu
lation speed in crossing it was twenty
live miles an hour; Mr. Robertson found
that the actual rate averaged from
thirty to thirty-five miles, while some
times, when trains were behind time,
they dashed over the two-mile-long
bridge at the rate of forty-two, forty
three and even forty-seven miles. So
great was the vibration that it pro
duced in this old engineer’s mind a
sense of fear and discomfort, and some
time before the accident he stopped
traveling over the bridge from south to
north, though he used it in his daily
journeys from north to south, the south
bound trains running much more
slowly. He complained to the station
master, who says that “lie did not re
port these complaints to any of his
superior officials.” Other habitual
travelers gave up the bridge on account
of the oscillations and took to the feri y.
The Black Bean of Dealh.
All old Texans, and the student of the
history of Texas, are familiar with the
ill-starred Mier expedition, which left
Texas, in the fall of 1841 for the purpose
of invading Mexico. The expedition
started out under command of General
Somervill, and on the nineteenth of
December, when in the vicinity of the
Rio Grande, was ordered back. After
the return of General Somervill and a
portion of the command, some 300 men
who were left determined on hostile
demonstrations, and elected William S.
Fisher as commander. The expedition
then advanced on the town of Mier, in
Mexico.
A detachment arriving there on the
21st and demanding provisions, took
the alcade ot the town with thenP’as a
hostage, and returned to where the
main body was camped to wait the ar
rival of the articles demanded. While
the Texans- remained in camp, Mier
was occupied by General Ampudia. of
the Mexican army, with 2,000 men. On
the afternoon of the twenty-fifth of De
cember, the Texan forces started for the
town, and encountered the forces of
Ampudia in its vicinity, and a fight
ensued, in which the Mexicans were
driven through the town, but still fight
ing. After several parleys, the repre
sentation of the overwhelming num
bers opposed to them, and promises of
generous terms,tlie Texans were induced
to surrender.
The prisoners were then started for
the city of Mexico,a number being killed
en route, and on arriving at Salado, on
the twenty-fifth of March, an order was
received from Santa Anna, directing
that every tenth man be she! Accord
ingly, 159 white and seventeen black
beans, the number of Texans left, were
placed in a box, and each man drew,
tlie one3 drawing the black beans taken
ou. and shot. In “Trail’s History of
Texas ” occurs the follow ing paragraph:
“ First Ampudia and then Santa
Anna took a fancy to a mere lad by tlie
name of Hill, and young Hill’s father
and brother were released, and tlie
young man sent to the best college in
Mexico. He adopted the profession of
a mining engineer, and i= still a citizen
of Mexico.”
NUMBER 47.
The Beantv of Age.
There’s beauty in a happy child,
Within whose merry, laughing eyes
A world ot joy and wonder lies,
And wayward lancies free and wild.
There’s beauty in the bloom ot youth,
When hopes o’erflow the heart elate,
That courts fair fortune, fears not fate,
Rejoicing in its honest truth. •
There’s beauty in strong manhood’s might,
That marches on through all alarms,
That bodily meets a world in arms,
And bravely battles for the right.
But nobler beauty rests with ape,
In the calm face and thoughtful eye
Of him whose purpose, broad and high,
Proclaims the wisdom of a sage.
William Leighton.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
Edison gets $25,000 a year and tries to
make light of it.
Cannibals are not straight-forward
people. They are back-biters. —Boston
Courier.
The mo9t difficult thing to raise on the
farm is the hired man who sleeps in the
kitchen loft.
A London publisher offers an edition
of ihe New Testament for two cents,
and says he can make money selling it
for that price.
Dr. George M. Beard, in a lecture be
fore a New York medical society, argued
that insanity never had been and never
would be defined.
A poet sends us a spring ode begin
ning: “I love to smell the cowslip.”
Well, if the cow will stand it, go ahead
and smell of her lip. We don’t care.—
Boston Post.
Ambition is a great thing. It n akes
some men millionaires, and it makes
some men wrestlers in the hosiery de
partment of a country dry goods store.
—New York Express.
A dressmaker got mad because her
lover serenaded her with a ilute. She
said she got all the fluting she wanted
in her regular business —Cincinnati Sat
urday Night.
It is claimed that a man never loses
anything by politeness, but this lias
proved to be a mistake. As an old
Philadelphian lifted his hat to a young
lady the wind carried away his wig.—
Philadelphia Chronicle.
“ There are seventeen and a half men
to every female in the Territory of Da
kota.” “Well,” said Miss Jones, spin
ster, when she read the above item, “if
girls knew what I know, they’d take
that half man rather than none at all.—
Derrick.
Nebraska has risen from the yield and
area of 9,000,000 bushels of wheat and
corn and 351,000 acres in 1871. to nearly
82,000,000 bushels and 2,077,090 acres in
1879; and still less than one-tenth of the
State is under cultivation.
The Rev. Geo. B. Vosburgh, who was
tried and acquitted in Jersey City on a
charge of attempting to poison his wife,
now has charge of a church in the
suburbs of Chicago. He writes to a
friend that his church is “thoroughly
united and prosperous.”
PIRATICAL.
When the enterprising poet isn’t writing,
Isn’t writing,
Some melancholy verses about love,
About love,
It is sate to bet that he will be inditing,
lie inditing,
A sonnet on the whiteness of the dove,
Ol the dove.
When the young and tender schoolgiil isn't
thinking.
Isn’t thinking,
Ol the time when she will be allowed to vote,
’Lowed to vote.
The chances are that she is coyly blinking,
Coyly blinking,
At some young man in a zebra overcoat,
Overcoat.
—Chicago Tribune.
Think First.
Tlie affixing of the stamp is in the
majority of cases the last stage of the
letter-writing. It is a kind of sealing,
signing and delivering. It would not
be a bad moral habit for a man to pause
before affixing his postage stamp, and
to consider whether judiciously and
conscientiously he had not better savp
bis money. When once he has dropped
his letter into the letter-box, he has
committed one of the irrevocable acts
of this life. As you prepare to affix
your stamp, give one final thought to
conscience, whether you might not
alter, improve or altogether obliterate
that letter. There may be all sorts of
wrong and evil connected with letter
writing; but to specialize an iastance,
you may have been writing an angry
letter. It may be a clever, caustic
letter, and you feel rather inclined to
regard it approvingly, considered as a
literary production. But it may be a
passionate and unjust letter. It may
be unreasonable and untrue. You may
be giving unmerited pain by sending
it. You may bitteily regret the mo
ments when your hand obeyed the im
moral behest of your mind. You hav<
heard of the physician’s prescription
about the cucumber—to peel it care
fully, slice it tenderly, gingerly
with your vinegar and plenteous with
the oil, sprinkle the pepper, brown
red, over it —and ohen fling the mesi.
out of the window. So when you sit
down to your letter, my dear and
slightly excited friend, pile up your in
vectives, accumulate your adjectives, be
caustic and cutting in your phrases;
but just befoie you post it give a
thought to the ethics of a postage
stamp, light your fire with it, and
gave your money.