Newspaper Page Text
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The Bainbridge Weekly Democrat.
BEN. E. KUSSEEL, Editor and Proprietor.
"Here Shall the Press the People's Rights Maintain, Unawed by Influence and Unbribed by Gain.”
TERMS: $2.00 Per Annum.
VOLUME 4.
BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1875.
1% l.’r-a.t- —
NUMBER 40.
X0K internal revenue receipts for last
fivsl year were $100,786,398, an excess
of nearly $8,000,000 over tb<? estimates.
7j. e niptcniH receipts --ere $157,590,408
or lows l>y 84,409,592 than the estimates,
aril $5,466,715 le*B tliau last year.
qjje of ilie many good points of the
DP w constitution of Arkansas, adopted
le# than a year ago, is tho provision for
(j)P payment of the state debt. TbiB
provision is row heiDg carried out nnder
the mean 0 provided by the leBt legisla
ted 14- Buell, of Indianapolis, and
1 D. Gilbert, of Athol, Mass., have
"nanicd” themselves by a written con-
[vivt which is to “be in force daring
■^physical I v-*, provided our mutual
ffcrp natures ever ble^d as now—but to
(terminate without prejudico by the wish
I(/either party, if love shall ever c«ase
[ '■) lie mutual.
Is 1870, New York city had a popula
lion of 942,292, and a municipal debt of
?122,860,780. In 1871, Lor don had a
! population of 3,206,987, and a city d'.bt
■A §25,918,000. These figures are im
posing. The city and county debts of
tins whole union are estimated to be to
day 835,000,000; but as this estimate is
only for those having one million and
over of liabilities, the total may be set
down at a thousand million. Add the
etnta and national debts and there re
sults a heavy load for posterity.
It is quite discouraging to know that
tin? importation of fire crackers for
nrth of July purposes this year will
amount to 300,000 boxes—a large exoess
over the receipts of last year, owing
doubtless to the centennial typhoid.
The Chinese and Japanese make a good
thing out of the squibs, as they alone
manufacture such explosives, the
attempts to reproduoe them in this
country having failed. The invention,
is deemed by many people,
iml highly creditable to John China
man’s civilization,
The inundations in Southern France
have called forth the ready sympathy of
Frenou people, for the sufferers,
[ua relief funds, so familiar to Ameri
flours of Into, are being raised every
Wre. Tho city of Toulouse, which
i suffered so terribly, is very anoient,
h'vmg ocil city of the Gauls
then the Romans conquered their conn-
Massive walls of Roman work
aanship have been broken down by the
scent floods from the river Garonne,
i whose banks the city is built. The
iss of property is now placed at $60,-
K),000. '
Later advices from France confirm
rovious reports of the frightful oharac-
sr of the inundation a’ong the river
oronne. Many towns have been snb-
icrged and whole sections of country
verflowed. More than a thousand lives
ere lost, over two hundred dead bodies
ring found in one village. Twenty
lionsand people are homeless and snf-
?ring. President MacMahon has de-
arted for the scene of desolation to
etider such assistance as may be neo-
ssary. The Garonne rises in the
\ renees, on the confines of Spain, and
subject to overflow, on account of the
Mitral flatness of its banks.
vvuw.Mvaanuu ■ rj HilCII UUPtXt, »UU CTCU
the sting of defeat has not caused any
suspension of the friendly intercourse.
A private soldier ef Prof. Jenney’s
escort, in his geological survey of the
Black Hills, writes that he found gold
by means of a pick and a shovel, while
the geologists were vying >to find it by
scientific principle^ H « advioe is that
those desirous of •’gold hunting
sbonld hold themself
and the instant the
nulled to hasten on.jj
encountered three
French creek. ' ^;l or { n Jfs‘i
readiness,
treaty is an-
party had
camps on
panning ont
People see things differently. For
istauce, the terrible earthquake that
ofntly destroyed San Jose de Cnonta,
Columbia. When the catastrophe
egan, most of the inhabitants went
own upon their knees and prayed for
■‘lief and mercy. Yet, in the midst of
ie scene, when the earth was heaving,
uildiugn falling, and the dying groans
»d shrieks of men, women and ohildren
fling the air, a wild horde of demoni
cal thieves and robbers swarmed into
io towns, sacking houses, pillaging
auk vaults, and plundering the dead,
id even murdering. If an earthquake
11 not quioken a man’s conscience,
lore is no telling what will.
about $10 a day; eit“-~, a-v’ were of- tl»e
opinion that, when they got their work
ing apparatus in good order, they will
be able to rr ^ke $50 a day. The soldier
had washed four pans of dirt and gat
about five cents to the pan of scale gold,
som.'. of the pieces being a little larger
than a pin’s head. He did not have to
dig a foot down for the dirt, and declares
that all that Onstar told oonoeming the
treasures of the country was strictly
true.
The statistical reports jnst published
by the agricultural bureau indicate
wide-spread disaster to tho fruit-grow
ing interest, as will be seen from the
following notes : Insect depredations
are recorded only in Maine, in some
counties of which caterpillars were
troublesome. Ia New England gene
rally the crops were late, and in some
parts a tendency to simultaneous
blooming exoited remark. In the
middle, southern and western states
generally, the climatic conditions were
very unfavorable. The severity of the
winter has not only destroyed the frnit
germs, bnt also the trees. The cold
snap in the spring enlarged the scope
of this injury, and heavy late frosts in
maDy places destroyed what had sur
vived the winter. In some oases it is
noted that the plums stood the severity
of the season better than other sorts of
fruit. GrapeB in many cases escaped
on aooount of late bloaming, bnt the
vineyards of several sections were
greatly depleted by the extreme cold.
Small fruits were less severely affected
and are reported as producing very
luxuriantly.
Col. Boudinot, who has just returned
from the Indian Territory, says twenty-
seven murder oases have just been dis
posed of by the United States district
court at Fort Smith, Ark., before whioh
all criminal business from the Indian
nation oomes. Ont of this number
there were eight convictions for murder
the first degree. Seven of those
convicted, including two boys, one
seventeen, the other nineteen years,
both are to be hanged together on the
3d of September next. The eighth one,
negro, was killed after conviction
while attempting to escape. Mnoh out
lawry prevails in the* Indian Territory,
and ten men have been killed in the
vioinity of Fort Smith within a few
months. A very bitter contest is now
going on in the Cherokee nation for the
position of chief of the nation between
the Ross and Downing parties, and it is
alleged conspiracy and secret assassina
tion are rife. Cel. W. P. Rose, present
ohief, is a candidate for re-eleotion, and
a man named Thompson is the candi
date of the Downing party.
Capt. Jas. B. Eades has written
YISURDAT.
BT IDA WHIPPLE BEHRAML
W« learn by loaaea; and U -lay.
Since earth has grown so »t< angely gray.
I And the worth of yesterday.
While shadows gather, I can see
How white a noon was given me—
How fair a son went down wtth thee!
I know at last. Thy mortal guise
Conoea’ed an angel from my eyes,
Swift journeying toward Paradise,
Tby golden harp, thy crown of gold,
The saintly vesture's spot e-s fold—
My heavy eyes could not behold.
Ta the white angelhood in Ibee
The light of noon-tide blindel me;
But now teis midnight, and I see!
- And since my life has grown so gray
~k to ths »— «ny ma-i—r -- f
*lLd a heaven in yesterday.
When from its dross my soul is shriven,
Ob, may U then to me be given
To find sweet yesterday in heaven!
GODIVA’S POCKET-HANDKER
CHIEF.
Godiva was going to town, hair and
all, and that implies a good deal (as it
did when one rode through Coventry).
From her feet to her hands her appoint
ments were perfect. Her chestnut
brown hair threw its curling tassels
down over a suit of lighter shade, her
brown hat served as foil for the pheas
ant’s plnme erected thereon, her gloves
were No. 6, her boots No. 2. She felt
that she did herself credit, and was dis
posed to beam on the world generally in
consequence. “Town” that morning
meant some shopping, some visits, a
girl from the intelligence offioe for
“Ma”—a little saunter generally, for
Godiva was unspoiled enough to enjoy
the window side of pictures and pretty
things, and was not wholly averse to the
prolific view of herself the glass was
complaisant enough to hold np for her
amusement Did I say she was very
pretty ? Yes, she was, exoept when she
cried or had a cold in her head, under
which circumstances nobody that ever I
heard of looked well. So this dainty
little lady reached the station without
ruffling a feather and seating herself in
the oars she glanced abont her for sub
jects for mental discussion as young
damsels will. There was the usual
young woman with the saffron hued
baby in a bine cap with narrow white
taste ribbons falling into its eyes—and
the two masculines in attendance, one
apparently the father and the other the
nnde, each taking turns at holding the
baby in ihe most unnatural position
possible, while the mother tied her bon
net strings and clucked, with a pin in
her month, to her winking progeny.
Gndiva recalled the wicked publican as
she murmured to herself, “I never did
see so many ugly people in my whole
life I that woman really makes me ache
—she is so Binfully plain, poor thing !
bnt I dare say her husband dotes on her.
Achee! achee ! her sentence ended ab
ruptly. Oh! thou base conductor,”
thought she, “howconld’st thou leave
open that door,” feeling immediately
her fate was sealed, as a fatal shiver
ran over her. She pnt her hand in her
;x>cket for her handkerchief, bnt her
! Etassia leather pooket-book and a small
key alone showed themselves in answer.
“ It isn’t possible that I have been off
and forgotten my handkerchief! ejacu
lated she, the oolor coming to her
oheeks as a hitherto unnoticed pair of
bine eyes belonging to a young man
glanced at her from a seat near. “Dear,
dear me 1 what shall I do ? I shall have
to sniff in spite of good manners. Here
she gave a gentle drawing of her breath
and held her face olose to the window,
absorbed apparently in the uninviting
prospect, bnt the tickling in her throat,
the coming drops in her eyes, ah, no!
betokened a cold already upon her.
Godiva groaned in spirit. “If only I
was that ugly woman ever there, whom
1 laughed at—I wish now I hadn’t—and
wore cotton gloves, I oonld give a sly
pinch to my nose, as she does, but—O !
what can I do till I reach town ? I feel
▼ary anything j>is (Ojnt. want to be,
work is the best specifio,-and so as shop
ping is the severest toil a woman is ever
known to ac.iimplikh and live, Godiva
endeavored to busy her thoughts and
shopped energetically; bnt there was
more freanevt resunection of them
than was aeeable, since every time
’he used the big cambrio she thought
* of the young man and blushed. After
sue had bought every bargain she oonld
find, and engaged front the intelligence
office a graceful Hibernian with a face
tied up in a dingy towel, and who sub
mitted, perhaps, on that account to liv
ing with an Hiuglish cook, as “them
Hingli«h has or'nl tempers mem.”
Godiva lunched very satisfactorilv to
heivA',;, vid felt her' cold diminishing
j rY*T:i; LetteeVher eet-
M ng straw bfcrr-s.oe and loiwn* our hero
awhile. He was qnita an elegant fel
low. blessed with a blonde mustache and
an admirable temper, bnt his name was
Peter Brown. One cannot have every
thing in this world, so Peter oomforted
himself by mental sympathy with
Romeo and felt as sweet as if he were
called Caesar de Montmorenci. He was
fastidiously delicate in his tastes, and
a woman with a cold in her head was a
horror to him, so, when he found him
self regarding with interest the young
lad v iu the c»rs who had snoh an evident
influenza, he felt he had a new sensa
tion, and it was wholly novel to have
march off with his embroidered
auu jirvuucuig irom ner wora isoie a
small white packet whioh she unfolded
as she approached her wide-eyed hus
band, “and here’s the pooket handker
chief. ” “By Jove !” quoth Peter Brown.
The New York World makes the
stab) ishmeut of a zoological garden in
biladelphia the occasion for the pro-
station of some interesting facts oon-
?ruing the famous London zoological
srdens. The London collection in
73 included 590 quadrupeds, 1,227
irds and 225 reptiles, and was at that
me, as yet, the largest in existence,
he first rhinoceros cost £1,000; the
•nr giraffes £700, and their carriage an
iditicnal £700; the elephahtand a calf,
800. and the hippopotamus, though a
ft, wag not brought home and housed
>r less than £1,000. The oost of
maintaining the London gardens is very
teat, bnt the receipts axe ample to
eet it
The American rifle team has achieved
great victory in Ireland over the crack
lots of that country. A match was
lot last week between the two teams,
i the first bout, at eight hundred
wds, the Americans weie beaten by
ae point, but in the two succeeding
outs, at nine huudred and a thousand
ards respectively, the Americans came
nt ahead, thus winning the match,
'he victory of the AmerioanB was re
vived with tremendous enthusiasm, and
hey were the recipients of the most
hstingnished honors from the populace
nd their competitors. The oontest has
*een marked by the most fraternal feei
ng on all sides. The American rifle-
nen have been treated with the utmost
letter to President Grant and secretary
of war Belknap, advising them of the
progress of the jetties at the South Pass.
The main point in the letter is that pro
visional works, ene thousand feet long,
are already constructed on the line of
the east jetty, and being pushed seaward
at the rate of two hundred feet per day.
Two hundred mechanics and laborers
and fsnr piledriving machines are at
work and a large quantity of stone and
other material are ready at hand. Ad
ditional aooommodations are being pre
pared, and in short the working force
will be largely increased. Telegraphic
oommunioatdon has been established be
tween New Orleans and. fhe head of the
Pass, and the line is being extended to
the works at the mouth of the Pass.
Capt. Eads says the provisional work
mentioned is what is known as sheet
piling, and while it is only preliminary
in character, it will temporarily serve
the same purpose and produce the same
result as permanent jetties. The cap
tain is quite sure that there will be
twenty feet of water on the bar, at the
South Pass, by the 1st of February.
How Train-Boys Get Rich.
The train-boys think they haven’t
mU oh of an opportunity in this world,
and other people think they •
nuisance. One of them tells the New
Orleans Picayune the way in which
thev impose npon their employers :
“Yon sec,” he says, “each boy is
furnished with just so much fruit, so
many books and papers, and he is
either obliged to show them np at the
end of the route or else tarn over the
money for which they must have been
sold. The only way it can be done is
this: We saU a book to a passenger
for a dollar and a half. He reads it
and then we give him a new book worth
fifty oents for the one he has read.
He is generally willing to make the
exchange, end reads the new one.
This, when read, he is ready to swap
for a ten oent paper, which he leaves in
the car when he gets out. This papvr
we pick up and put back m our pile,
having all our hooka and papers and
$1 50. That is abont the only show we
have ’; without it we oonld not make a
decent living.”
worse every moment, and I must have a
handkerchief now, I can’t wipe my eyes
on mv dress or my petticoat because I
can’t* get at them nor my starched
sleeves—sniff, sniff, who ever heard of
a lady without a pocket handkerchief
before! Achee! aohee-e!” This very
andible reverberation startled the gen
tleman opposite into giving his fair
neighbor a quick glanoe through his
eye-glasses. Then he pulled his mus
tache with a perplexed expression.
What does that girl look at me for I
wonder? the glanoe seemed to say, and
he took off the eye-glasses whioh, O,
aggravation, he proceeded to polish
nicely on the whitest of handkerchiefs.
This was too mnoh for Godiva’s water
ing eyes. “If,” murmured she, “I
thought he was married I would ask
him to lend me his handkerchief, I de
clare I would! He oouldn’t think I had
any design oh bis heart if he only knew
how I felt—O, dear me! dear me! I
am a wretched being, and I shall oer-
tainly go wild before long, I have to
keep my month wide open now, and I
never can get through a day in town,
never.” Poor Godiva, what avails yoor
fine feathers?
Necessity, they say, knows no law,
and Godiva was desperate. She rose
from her seat and touched the gentle
man gently on his arm, hurrying him to
his feet with a bow and a look of “ at
yoor servioe, ma’am,” which deepened
into a mingled expression of doubt and
amazement as his fair neighbor held out
her hand and said, “ Mav I trouble yon
to lend me your handkerchief, sir ? ^
He blushed very red indeed, and so did
she, bnt he gave her the handkerchief
and sat meekly down again wondering
like Chicken Little if the sky warn t
falling Godiva had possession, winch
is nine points in the liw to be sore, but
after the first satisfaction ahe could not
bnt be aware that she had unlawfully
herself of what wasn’t hers,
me click of the car wheels would fall
into the j indie of “ what will that young
gentleman do—do—if he should need
his handkerchief too—too—but pern-
taps he has another. Some people do
carry two—two ! ” and rattle it onoeas-
inriv as the train flew on; but the final
qifery, “ What will he think of me ?
remained unmoved by my philosophy.
She felt the bine eyes stealthily regard
ing her with a oonnoal look.
At last the train stopped and Godiva
get out and walked away with the
pooket- hankerchief—and the young man
gotout and walked away also without
any. When one is very wretched or
her —
cambric; bnt Peter was a yoHthful
sage, aDd believed profoundly in all
women being “temples of pore marble,
lighted by lamps fed by holy oil,” and
thought no ill of any. So he went his
way; on it he met a special friend of
his, a Mrs. Darry, who was overjoyed at
this meeting, sinoe she wanted him of
all things for some private theatricals
she was abont to get np, in which Peter
would be “altogether lovely,” as she
graphically said. Who oonld resist
snoh a speech from such lovely lips.
Not Peter Brown; and so it came about
that in a month after the handkerchief
episode the drawing rooms of Mrs.
Darry were brilliantly lighted, and half
the world stood on tip-toe to see the
other half move on fantastic ones npon
the mimic stage set off from tl e end of
the long room. The curtain rose to the
entrance of our friend Miss Godiva, got
op after the fashion of Lorris XIV,, and
beautiful to look npon. When in the
course of the play mv lady haB to say,
“Ah! I have seen Monsieur before,”
Godiva gave a very natural start, for
in the lover entering she sees neither
the stage, Marquis, nor the real Peter
Brown, but the young man whose hand
kerchief lies in her upper drawer, and
whose wrought initials, P. B. are a
frequent reproach to her. Godiva saw
quickly that her Marquis did not in thf
least connect the patched an j rouged
lady before Hhn with the catatfhal eia,
and the play went on and off with grand
success; everybody outdid himself.
Peter congratulated himself that he
had not fallen prostrate ov.r his long
sword, or harpooned anyone with his
spurs, and Gidiva herself that she had
escaped with her life from her three-
inch heeled slippers (this was before
their introduction into society). After
the inoense pouring was over, and Peter
had emptied his censer at the fair Mar-
qnise’ sfeet, Mrs. Darry presented Mr.
Peter Brown in due form to Miss
Godvia—why should I tell _ her other
name sinoe the reader sees it must be
speedily merged in Brown—dear neutral
tint! Godiva and Peter were neigh
bors. and what says moral and immor
tal Miss Maria Edgeworth ? “ Propin
quity is the origin of love.” When this
fact was asoeitained, bouquets with the
yonng gentleman began to arrive fre
quently at Miss Godiva’s door, and
suddenly Peter desired to learn
German, Godivia being proficient
therein. Why is it people in love
avoid‘their mother tongue so? Even
Bottom was translated when he fell in
love ! And so the^golden winter passed,
on into the rose-colored summer and the
yonng people walked in the garden as
] overs should. Godiva, half in jest,
asked Peter if he oonld furnish German
enough to translate for her two lines of
Heine's verse of greeting; “ Wenn <tu
eine Bote sohaust sag Ich lass Sie
gruessen" (“if von see a rose say I send
my love to her”), Peter’s heart swelled
within him. He thought nothing was
ever prettier than the rose blushing be
fore him, and said so. “If only she
would bloom for him! Would she?
So they entered Paradise and spoke a
new language from that day, and they
found not the slightest difficulty in ex
pressing themselves in it, as had been
sometimes the ease in German. A year
after all this behold Peter and Mrs.
Brown, nee. Godiva, at home ; there is
a charming little library opening from
their drawing-room, a wood fire enjoys
itself on the hearth and glows over
hyacinths which are opening in heavy
spikes of white and cream-colored
flowers ; below the fire Mr. Peter smokes
his cigar and lazily tries- te puff the
smoke through the fur of an unoffending
cat near him while he remarks to Mrs.
Brown that it’s singular oats shouldnt
like cigar smoke; then relapses into
silence. “Well?” said Godivia. “Yes,
dear, I was thinking jn*t then by a
queer chain of thought first of this
cat’s sneezing then of colds in one’s
head, then of a funny little thing that
happened to me onee in the ears when I
was coming in town. Did I ever tell
yon abont the young woman w |> 0
ried off my pocket—hullo ! eh. a-
Godiva blushed suddenly and nestled
in her chair. Go on, dear,” aaid she
«-Imply. So Peter related the tale
twice told, concluding with, She
really a very pretty young woman, too,
Puss. Perhaps I should have called on
her if Fd known where she lived, or if I
had not gone to the Dairy theatricals,
met yon, and tumbled into matrimony
consequence. Who knows what
THE LOST FLORINDA.
New Orleans Picayune, June J8.
Recent revelations have exoited an
intense and growing interest in the fate
of the fifteen or twenty men who, more
than a quarter of a century ago, char
tered the schooner Florinda and set sail
for the golden shores of California.
For twenty-six years the familiej of the
adventurers have mourned them as lost.
The last news of the Florinda was re
ceived late in the year 1849 from Rio
Janeiro. She Bad pnt in at that port
some time previous and then proceeded
on her way, leaking badly, it was said.
A vessel touching at Bio Janeiro short
ly afterward, reported having spoken
the Florinda in the Pacific, just beyond
Cape Horn. From that time forward
nothing more was ever heard of the
Florinda, and it became an accepted
theory that she had beeD cast away
and her crew lost somewhere on the
South Pacific coast. No tidings reached
the families of the ill-fated argonauts,
and twenty-six yean slipped by without
a waif or whisper to disturb the mel
ancholy conviction whioh had sealed the
record* of their lives. Their ohildren
have grown to manhood and woman
hood without the knowledge, with
scarcely the memory of a father’s love.
The hopes that clustered around them
have long ago been transferred to that
other world in whioh they were be
lieved to be.
Such is the story as it has passed cur
rent all this time, with the general pub
lic and with the greater number of the
relatives of the Florinda company. At
first, of course, there were doubts and
fears and expectations, more or lees re
luctantly resigned for certainty, bnt to
this oonolnsion all eventually came and
the loss of the schooner with all on
board has, for fully a quarter of a cen
tury, been regarded as a fact about
whioh there could be no sort of ques
tion. The unfortunate men have been
as utterly given np as thongh their
burials had taken place in presence of
the whole oommnnity, and to have told
any of their families that they were
still alive would have been to ask them
to believe that the dead had risen after
twenty-five years of sepulture and
walked forth onee more among the
living.
\Tiihinthe past few days, however,
oreeisely this proposition has in effect
jeen made. The strange and startling
statement has transpired that Harmon
Jones and his fellow voyagers were not
lost as we have thought, bnt are now — —
r ~— 1— . Among the remarkable esculents or
uuAiiuxu frmorna ” It is micv and flesnv.
might have been ?”
The cigar rings
ascended regularly,
and the smoker appeared to reflect on
past visions, bnt Mrs. Brown kept de
mure silenoe. “What in the world are
yon thinking of now, my heart’s de
light ?” said Peter, half hoping hia lady
wife was faintly stirred by jealousy.
“Thinking of, Peter? Why, the moral
of your story.” “Moral I What is it V
“Me, Peter. Commend me to the dis
cernment of men! Did you never really
discover till this morning that your
amfffling friend and your wife were one
and the —m* ? Yes. dear, I’m the
moral.” Se saying, Mrs. Brown rose,
Edible Fnngi.
Very few specimens of are popu
larly recognized as being edible, while
prejudice in some eases, and fear of
poison in others, will always prevent
additions to the small number now used
as food. Great cantion is undoubtedly
proper in the essay of the untried
species; bnt prejudice and ignoranoe
should not stand in the way and prevent
the use of the many esculent species
whioh are allowed to rot in untold
thousands. Science will no doubt dissi
pate these fears and prejudices, and
make te our food crop a large and cheap
addition.
In Great Britian thousands of people,
particularly of the lower classes, will
eat no mushroom except that known as
field mushroom, while m Italy end
Hungary a strong prejudice exists
against this same species. This preju
dice arises from the fact that other fnngi
are confounded with it through ignor
ance, and fatal accidents sometimes
occnr which would be prevented by ob
serving that the true field mushroom
always has purple spores, gills at first
of pink oolor and afterward of pnrple. a
permanent ring or collar around the
stem, and that it is never found in
woods, its home always being on the
open plains or commons.
The meadow mushroom grows in low
land pastures, and has a stronger flavor
than that of the fields. In England it
is sold in great quantities and is there
known as the “horse mushroom” be
cause of the enormous size it attains, a
single specimen sometimes weighing
fourteen pound’. In addition to these
two there are forty-nine other varieties
of mushroom that are known to bot
anists as esculent and excellent, some of
them attaining a diameter of fourteen
inches, others five or six inches, and
another, “the nail fungus” scarcely ex
ceeding one inch in diameter.
Hills, plains, valleys, fields and pas
tures all over the world are as alive with
these nutritious fungi as the soil of
Nebraska is with grasshoppers. Mil
lions of tons of them are allowed to rot
where they spring np, simply because
igt orance or fear prevents their utiliza
tion as food. It is true that the dis
tinctions between the edible mushroon
and some of its unpleasant cousins oan
not he easily understood by any bnt
botanists, and yet this difficulty might
be materially obviated if botanic writers
would d i-sen be the distinctions in words
that oonld be popnlarly understood, or
that, at least, may be fonnd in diction
aries. The botanical nomenclature may
be as good as it is ingenious, but to
non-botanists it is as incomprehensible
as the inscription on the Elgin marbles.
Let it be preserved for bookworms, if
need must, bnt let it be also translated
for common use.
About a month ago a friend of Mrs.
Harmon Jones read in an English paper
an account of some British vessel having
been driven ont of her course-in a storm
and sighted an unknown island. Mach
to the surprise of the crew the island
tamed out to be inhabited, and stall
more astonishing, by men who spoke
he English language. The rest of the
story, as given in the paper referred to,
is that the castaways told the ships
company that they were the Florinda
parly who had sailed from New Orleans
in 1849 bound for California, that they
had been wrecked on the island and had
dwelt there ever sinoe, it being then
more than twenty-five years that they
had not seen a human face or a sign of
the world from whioh they were so
utterly eliminated. The paper gave the
names of several, all of whom ate
known to have been of Florinda’s crew,
and in many other ways, according to the
version of Mrs. Jones’ friend, the iden
tity of the party was established as none
but themBelves oonld have established
it. It was further stated that the British
vessel offered to take the men on board,
bnt they declined, saying they had been
lost for a quarter of a oentary ; that
they knew not in what situation they
would find the families they had left,
and that they preferred staying and
ending their days there rather than
venture back to such a doubtful and
uncertain future. This paper was four
months old when Mrs. J ones’ friend saw
it, one month ago, and the events nar
rated were described as having occurred
four months previous to the issue of
the paper. It is just nine months then
sinoe the island was discovered by the
British vessel, and at that time all, or
nearly all, of tbe Florinda party appear
to have been alive. .
It need not be said that this news has
aroused the deepest interest To the
oommnnity at large it recalls the famil
iar occurrence of the Florinda's sailing
from New Orleans with its adventurous
company. To the families of the ill-
fated men it oomee like a message from
another world, and is as thongh it were
the announcement of a resurrection.
Within the past few days the relatives
have been living in a state of constant
excitement, an<f many of them, espe
cially the sons of Harmon Jones, Jno.
A. Sidney, and Capt. Kenmore, the
skipper of the Florinda, have devoted
themselves to the task of following the
due given by the friend who saw the
English paper. Extensive inquiries are
now on foot, and the British consul has
kindly interested himself in the affair
so far as to agree to forward to the war
offioe in London • full statement of the
circumstances so that the name of tte
vessel which toadied at the castaway's
home can be ascertained and the bear
ings of the island taken from her lo#
It would greatly facilitat this end,
however, if a copy of the paper girag
the original aooount were found, and rt
is still hoped that some one who sees
this publication may have noticed the
paper and be able to tell hb where a
number can be had. On that oontrn-
gency depends much that will simplify
and expedite the quest, but it is certain
that in any ease the friends of Florinda s
crew will never rest again until the
mystery is fathomed to its uttermost
depth.
steak fnngni” It is juicy and fhahy,
and its sections resemble beef in ap
pearance. Dr. Badham, a Student of
fungi, fonnd one of them five feet in
circumference and weighing eight
ponnds, and another was found by a
Dr. Graves, nearly twenty feet in cir
cumference and weighing thirty pounds.
It grows in parts of Germany where it
is sliced and eaten with salad, and it is
highly esteemed as nutritious food. A
species of puff ball, botanically known
as lycoperdon giganteum, when yonng
is of a cream like consistence and an
excellent addition to the breakfast
menu. A single one is large enough to
fe- d ten or twelve persons, and some
members of the species are a good sub
stitute for truffles. A specimen men
tioned in the Gardener’s Chroniole
weighed ten pounds and was three feet
four inches in circumference.—Balti
more Sun.
—Only two hnndred years ago the old
moss-back who was governor of Virginia
got np and said: “I thank God that
we have no free schools nor printing
presses, tod I hope we shsll oot hiv©
any for a hnndred years; for learning
baa brought disobedience and heresy
and sects into the world, ami printing
baa divulged them end libeled govern
ments. God keep us from both!"
How He Caught Them.
Some years ago, an eccentric genius,
the Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, used to give
temperance lectures. One night he an
nounced that he would lecture in Easton.
Now, temperance was not in favor
among the male portion of the burg.
The women, however, were all in for the
pledge, and consequently, on Hupt’s
first night not a man showed himself in
the ball The benches were pretty well
filled with women, thongh, and Hunt
commenced; but, instead of temperance,
he put them through on the vanities of
dress, etc. They wore great puffed
faultier sleeves then. They—the sleeves
—caught it, then their tight lacing, and
so on through the whole catalogna of
female follies; not a word abont temper
ance. And the ladies went home hop
ping mad, told their husbands about it,
and voted old Hunt down to the lowest
notch. . , _,
He had announced that he would lec
ture at tbe same place the next night.
Long before the time appointed they
commenced to come, and when Hunt
hobbled down the aisle the building
comfortably well filled with men. The
old fellow looked about, efauckled, and
muttered : “ Hogs, I’ve got yon now I”
The andiencs stared. “ Aha, hogs, I’ve
got yon now!”
After the crowd had got aniet a little,
the lecturer said: “Friend*, you
wanted to know what I meant by say
ing, hogs, I’ve got you now, and Fll ted
yon. Ont west the hogs ran wild; and
when folks get ont of meat they catch a
yonng pig, pnt a strap under his body,
and hitch him to a yonng sapling that
will just swing him from the ground
nicely. Of course he squeals and raises
a rumpus, when all the old hogs gather
round to see what is the matter, and
then they shoot them at their leisure.
T^at night I hung a pig np ; I hurt it a
little, and it squealed. The old hogs
have turned out to night to see tbe fun,
and I'll roast yon.” And so he did,
pitching into their favorite vice with
relish and gusto.
Flint and Potash in Plants.—They
have many experimental farms, gardens
and orchards in Germany, to which we
are in the habit of looking for new facta
in agriculture and horticulture. An ex
pert says: “ Divest the soil of all silica
(flint) and alkali were useful plants and
beautiful flowers are to be grown, and
not one would attain to perfect develop
ment, simply because silica and potash
me eminently essential to impart stiff
ness to the stems and elasticity and
tenacity to the leaves. When grape
vines, for example, whioh are growing
in a sandy soil, have access to potash i r
abundance, the leaves will appear as
tough as leather, and no mildew or rust
will ever affect the foliage.”
FACTS AND FANCIES.
—Recent advices from the Ssndwioh
Islands state that “ rum is digging the
grave of the Hawaiian race.”
—The oonstrnotion of a gun weighing
100 tons has been begun by Sir William
Armstrong in England. This gun is to
be a muzzle-loader, 17-inch bore, and,
if successful, will be the most powerfal
weapon ever oonstruoted.
—Mrs. Chibbles has great ideas of
her husband’s military powers. “ For
two years,” says she, “ he was a lieuten
ant in the horse-marines, after which he
was promoted to the oaptainoy of a reg
ular squad of sap-heads and miners.”
—“ Sir,” said a little blustering man
to a religions opponent, “ to what sect
do you suppose I belong?” “ Well, I
don’t exactly know,” replied his oppo
nent, “ but to judge from your size,
appearance, and oonstant buzzing, I
should think yon beloaged to the class
generally called insect.”
—A Swiss boatman recently palled a
would-be-suicide out of Lake Geneva.
An hour or two after the boatman dis
covered the same man hanging by the
neck to a tree, but did not interfere tnat
time. The magistrate summoned hhn
to answer whj he did not prevent-the
snieide, bnt he replied that he supposed
that the gentleman had only hang him
self ap to dry.
—It is well that a parent should know
the peculiarity of the pulse of each
child. The pnlse of a healthy adnlt
beats seventy times in a minute, though
good health may be enjoyed with f9wer
pulsations. Bnt if the pnlse always
exceeds seventy, it indicates disease, the
human machine is working itself ont-
there is fever or inflammation some,
where, and the body is feeding on itself.
—The college orator is now abroad in
tbe land. His voice is heard from the
four quarters of the earth, telling, of
the efforts he has made for distinction
in tbe past, and his hopes and aspira
tions for the future. He is sanguine—
far more sanguine, than he will be a
few years hence, when he shall have
encountered and been con inered by
some of the stern realities of life. Thus
far his education has been only theoret
ical ; in the future it will be practical.
Whether the former shall fit the sub
jects for the latter, the future alone can
determine.
—If a man wants to go anywhere in a
brief space of time ho must'"#£lk fast,
bnt he loses his popularity in propor
tion to his rapidity. Balzac, who
seems to have thonght it worth while to
notice this contemptible fact, says:
“ Violent gesture or quick movement
inspires involuntary disrespect. One
looks for a moment at a cascade, bnt
one sits for hours lost in thonght and
r~aiv—*1 ^.-“’’.T-ters of a lake.
ijraoions {Sneoi voice—ail of whlcffh&y
reacquired—give a m.Jfcrere man an
immense advantage over tnose vastly
superior to him.”
—A Brussels paper gives a painful
account of the ex Etnnress Charlotte of
Mexico. Her physical condition is good,
but her mental condition is hopeless.
She lives in constant communication
with imaginary beings, end dislikes the
preserce of any living person. She
speaks only when obliged to do so, and
gives orders to her attendants in writ
ing. She dresses herself without per
mitting assistance, taxes a fixed walk m
the park every morning when fine, fre
quently plajs on the piano-forte, and
sometimes ’draws and paints with de
cided taste. Sue recognizes no visitors,
not even her brother, King Leopold or
the queen. The latter always accom
panied the physician on his monthly
visit, when, in reply to his inquiries as
to her health, the empress coldly says
she is well, and immediately retires.
She has become stouter, and shows a
tendency to corpulency, bnt at present
it is stated that this has only increased
her beauty, whioh is now truly striking.
It has been justly said that.tbe
greatest discovery of our lives is that
the world is not so bad as, in the first
di appointment of youth’s extravagant
expectations, we are disposed to regard
it The passage from boyhood to man
hood is “ over the bridge of sighs;” and
our first experiences of life as it is,
resemble the flavor of the forbidden
apple—we are enlightened and misera
ble. Gladly would we command the
secret of feeling as we once did; but,
i0fm every dsy takes from ns some
happy error—some charming illusion
never to return. We are reasoned or
ridiculed out of all our jocund mistaken,
till we are jostwise enough to be miser
able, and we exclaim with Lady Mary
Wortley Montague, “To my extreme
mortification I find myself growing
wiser and wiser every day. Bnt a
time comes, at length, when our views
are more just. We leave our imaginary
Eden with “solemn step and slow, and
begin to appreciate the good qualities
of those whose friendship we thonght
hollow, and the necessity of that labor
which we deemed a curse. We ex
change ecstasy for oontent, and, for
getting the lour rivers of our id®*!
heaven, open our eyes to the mamfola
beauties of earth—its skies islanded
stars, and its oceans starred by islands,
its sunshines and calms, and the good
ness of its great heart, which sends
forth trees and flowers and fruits for
our benefit and exaltation.”—Professor
Mathews.
Natural Beauty. —All our moral
feelings are so interwoven with our
intellectual powers that we cannot af
fect the one without in some degree
addressing the other ; and, in all high
ideas of beantv, it is more than prob
able that urnch of the pleasure depends
on delicate and untraoeable peroep:iona
of fitness, propriety, and relation,
which are purely intellectual, and
through which we arrive at our noblest
ideas of what is commonly and rightly
called intellectual beauty. Ideas of
beauty are among the noblest which
oan be presented to the mind, invariably
exalting and purifying it according to
their degree. And it would appear that
we are intended by the Deity to be con
stantly tinder their influence, because
there is not one single object in nature
which is not capable of oonveying them,
and which, to the rightly-perceiving
mind, does not pro rent an incalculably
greater number of beautiful than of de
formed parta