Newspaper Page Text
THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
W.T. "IrsCHALK,} Ed,tors Rnd Proprietor,.
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
WEST.
The temperance movement is said to
be spreading in Indiana.
A dispatch from Evansville, Ind.,
states that the steamer Camelia was perforated
by a floating log, which caught between her
and the bank at Raleigh, on the 21st, and im
mediately went to pieces and sunk in 40 feet
of water. The boat and cargo is a total loss.
No lives were lost. The cargo was valued
at $60,000.
EAST.
The New York butter and cheese ex
change protests again-t the composite “but
ter ” called oleomargarine.
The fund for the relief of the Louisi
ana sufferers subscribed by Boston, amounts
to $50,000, with continued subscriptions.
The Mayors of Brooklyn, Jersey City
and Newark announce that they will promptly
forward contributions for the relief of suffer
ers by the floods in Louisiana.
A committee of anxious bankers from
Frankfort, Germany, are in New York trying
to learn something about the status of rail
roads which defaulted last September.
Twenty prominent merchants of Bos
ton have been appointed a committee of citi
zens to raise contributions for the Louisiana
sufferers. New England citizens are requested
to co-operate. A dispatch authorizing a draft
for SIO,OOO has been sent to New Orleans.
SOUTH.
The strike on the Louisville and Cin
cinnati short line is over.
Vessels are daily loading with cotton
at Norfolk now for Europe.
The discovery of india rubber trees
on the upper St. Johns, Fla., is announced.
A fire in Gadsden, Ala., on the 22d
inst., destroyed about $20,000 worth of prop
erty.
The survivors of Hood’s Texas bri
gade will meet in Galveston in reunion on
the 7th proximo.
The federal troops at Humboldt,
Tenn., have been ordered to Little Rock to
keep Baxter and Brooks from fighting.
The total rain fall at Nashville, com
mencing January 1, 1874, and ending April 27,
1874, is thirty-one inches and thirty-four hun
dredths.
Wheat in the southern states is fine,
though it has sustained some injury by the
constant rains which have fallen recently.
Oats are drunaged with rust.
Almost the entire parish of West
Baton Rouge, and the whole of the parish
of Iberville, lying on the right bank of the
Mississippi river, appear to be under water.
A flatboatman named Eastwood was
murdered on his boat, twelve miles above New
Orleans, on bayou Lafourche, Saturday morn
ing by three negroes, who made their, escape.
Reports from New Orleans state that
liberal contributions are being received for
the overflowed sections. The police juries of
the var;ous parishes will distribute the sup
plies.
Of a hundred and thirty-six estimates
of the cotton crop of 1873, opened at the cot
ton exchange, Memphis, the highest was 4,-
287,613, the lowest 3,910,036, and the average
4,132,192.
Hopewell cotton factory, the property
of John Thompson, situated in Elbert county,
Ga., was destroyed by fire at midnight of the
20th inst. Loss, $100,000; insurance, $58,000,
in the Liverpool, London and Globe compa
nies.
Fire broke out at S. Watson & Co’s
tan yard, on Vine street, Louisville, Ky., on
the 23d, destroying three large buildings, one
thousand tanned hides and four hundred cords
of wood, besides all the machinery, appurte
nances, etc.
Three men were drowned Monday, at
the Pearl crossing of the Mobile and New Or
leans railroad. Superintendent Scranton says
it will take thirty days to repair the damage
by the recent flood and got the road in thor
ough order.
At Boughton, on the Cairo and Ful
ton railroad, one hundred miles below Little
Rock, fifteen citizens followed a gang of horse
thieves, and on Sunday got into a fight with
them, and killed three and lost one of their
own men by being killed, and had another
wounded.
Among contributions for overflow suf
ferers are: From Washington city, $1,000;
Manchester, N. H., $1,000; Bath, Maine, sl,-
000. The distributing committee aro working
energetically in getting off supplies to all ac
cessible points in the overflowed districts,
where assistance is required.
Reports from the lower Arkansas and
White rivers give sad reports of the inun
dation. Jmmeuse numbers of Btock have
been drowned, and actual destitution prevails
in many places. The Howard Association has
sent 2,500 to the Howard Association of New
Orleans for the sufferers from the o v erflow.
A negro named Ed. Shields was con
victed in Spencer county, Ky., a few days
since, of rape of a white woman, and sen
tenced to twenty years in the state prison.
While the sheriff and a posse was bringing the
prisoner to the Louisville jail, a band of about
forty men took Shields out of their hands and
hanged him to a cross-beam of a bridge near
by, where the body was discovered next morn
ing.
J. Keen was killed in Kentucky, above
Cairo, on the 27th, by J. Hawes. Both are
young men or about eighteen, and have lived
neighbors for -some years. The origin of the
difficulty was that Keen, on last Thursday, was
drifting down the river in a skiff, he lying
down, and Hawes, thinking the skiff without
an occupant, attempted its capture, when Keen
rose up and laughed at him. Hawes vowed
vengeance, and their meeting since resulted
in the tragedy. Hawes is under arrest.
A Georgia exohanga expatiates as fol
lows on the gold outlook injtliat state : “The
mines are being developed in a more systemat
ic and energetic manner than heretofore. The
principal operations are o* the Chestatee riv
er, which rises in the Appalachian mountaius,
in Lumpkin county, and flows southward to
Hall county, where it empties into the Chat
tahoochee. Both those rivers traverse the
gold belt, mostly at right angles to the strata
of the gold veins, and rich deposits are found
in their bods. The Chestatee from its mouth
to its junction with the-Tesnatee has not been
worked excepting at the shoals, which yield
largely. Two companies are now engaged in
preparations to work the bed of the river—one
from Ohio, which is cutting a canal and tun
neling through a ridge so as to make available
three miles of gold deposits ; the other con
tioiled by J. R. Bartlett, of Boston, who has
engrossed nearly ten miles of the river. Oth
er companies are preparing to operate in the
same region.”
FOREIGN.
The Suez canal difficulty has been
settled by M. De Lessens’ acceptance of the
tonnage rates prescribed by the international
commission.
Alexaudrowna, dutekess of Edin
burgh, is greatly bored at the indifferent at
tention she is receiving from John Bull. Now
that the novelty of the thing is over no notice
is taken of her.
A suit to recover five hundred thons
nd dollars has been entered against tho
steamship L’Amerique by the parties who
picked her upand brought her into Plymouth.
The vessel has been taken in charge by the
la" officers to await the result of the action.
The volunteers in one of the numer
ous stockades in the environs of Puerto Prin
cipe being short of water, twenty-five of them
oil Bred or were ordered to bring in a supply
from a lagoon in the vicinity, but they bad
hardly gone beyond rifle range when they
were attacked Dy the Cubans, and twenty-five
out of the twenty-eight were killed. The sur
viving three only succeeded in escaping
through their swiftness of foot.
GENERAL.
Cincinnati has'shipped $2,000 worth
of provisions to Louisiana.
Over $3,000 have been subscribed at
the cotton exchange, New York, for the suffer
ers at New Orleans.
The trotter J. C. Brown, known as
Henry Todd when he beat American Girl, has
been sold to a Californian for $20,000.
Oil dealers of Petrolia have decided
to discontinue their wells for ninety days,
owing to the large production of crude oils
last year.
The federal council of the Interna
tionals has resolved to dissolve, the organiza
tion having proved a complete failure in the
United States.
The Executive committee of the Na
tional Grange have sent SI,OOO to the master
of the Louisiana State Grange for distribution
among the distressed.
Frederick Douglass, president of the
Freedman’s saving bank, says depositors need
give themselves no Uneasiness and should not
dispose of their claims at a sacrifice. Those
employed at the bank assure him that if the
depositors will be patient for a very short time
the bank and its branches will be able to pay
dollar for dollar.
AKKANSAS.
Baxter Exhumes a Confederate Ol-
Pounder Ready for Action—Both Par
ties Expecting Reinforcements.
Washington, April 27.—General Bax
ter. of Arkansas, has telegraphed President
Grant as follows : “It is not tr :e I have de
clared martial law outside of Pulaski county.
Nothing has been done on my part to -prevent
a peaceable settlement by the legislature. I
only want to protect myself until that is
done.”
Little Rock, April 27.—There is no
material change between the two belligerent
governors, or the United States forces. The
Baxter men to-day removed an old siege piece
from the lower end of town, where it was used
by the confederate forces during the war, and
stationed it at the corner of Mai bam and Scott
streets. It is a 64-pounder and has been clean
ed out ready for action. Baxter’s forces were
increased by the arrival of one company from
Hemstead county to-day. A portion of Brooks’
forces now occupy the Benjamin block, oppo
site the state bouse, and were drilling to-day.
Both sides are expecting reinforcements to
night. The people generally seem to be satis
fied that the legislature should settle the pend
ing difficulty though the Brooks side say the
legislature will hot meet in obedience to*Bax
ter’s call. Col. O’Sullivan, of Brooks’ side,
who was wounded in the skirmish Tuesday
last, is getting on finely, and hopes are enter
tained of his recovery. Each side sent dele
gations to Washington, to present their side of
the question.
St. Louis, April 27. —The Democrat’s
Little Rock special says the latest advices
from Pine Bluff are that Colonel White still
holds the court-house and has seized the tele
graph office, and under the martial law, which
lie has declared iu that county, will conscript
the people. Major-General Barton, Baxter’s
commander of the eastern district, arrived
there and commenced arresting prominent cit
izens. The dispatch also says it is expected
martial law will be declared in Pope, Johnson,
Hempstead and other counties under Baxter’s
sanction, and that it is believed to be a deep
laid scheme to obtain money, as the sheriffs
of these counties have just completed the col
lection of taxes, and the money is still in their
hands, preparatory to making up their ac
counts with the state treasurer.
President Grant has received a dis
patch fro in Gov. Baxter, of Arkansas, stating
that an armed insurrection exists in the State,
and asking for aid to protect the State against
domestic violence. Gov. Baxter says he tele
graphed for aid the 19th of April, but under
stands the President never received the requi
sition. Gov. Brooks has already made a simi
lar request, and now has two lawyers in Wash
ington looking after his interests. The ques
tion, who is the actual Governor, will be pre
sented to the President for decision unless
some other means of settlement shall inter
vene.
A special to the Gazette from Helena
says that there was a very large meeting at
that place Monday night for the purpose of
raising volunteers for Brooks. The meeting
was composed principally of colored people.
After the warriors made speeches, Hon. J. T.
White, (colored,) Commissioner of Public
Works and late Senator, advised the colored
men to stay at home and let the Legislature
settle the matter. This speech had the effect
to prevent the enrollment of a single man. A
company of Baxter men took possession of
the Ft. Smith train to-day near Lewisbur.', to
prevent some reinforcements for Brooks from
reaching the city. Capt. Wm. F. Graves, of
the Brooks force, left the State-house this
evening and came into the Baxter lines, stat
ing hejquit that party. A telegram from Pine
Bluffs states that the Brooks party have ad
vices from Washington that, the General Gov
ernment will no longer interfere. Tho Baxter
men are jubilant. They claim that the Gov
ernment lias decided in their favor.
CONGRESSIONAL,
In the senate, on the 21st, the com
mi!toe on military affairs reported, without
amendment, house bill for the relief of per
sons suffering by the overflow of the Missis
sippi river. An amendment, providing that the
provisions of tho act shall expire on the Ist of
September, 1874, was agreed to, and the bill
passed... .House bill providing for the pay
ment of bonds of the Louisville and Portland
canal, was amended and adopted—4o to 4.
The bill now goes back to the house for the
concurrence of that body Si ill further con
sideration of the Louisiana bill, and the sen
ate adjourned.
In the house, on the 21st, a bill was
passed extending for one year, from the pas
sage of this act, the time for completing en
tries in the Osage Indian lands in Kansas
The committee on Mississippi levees reported
a bill to provide for the appointment i
commission of engineers to report a perma
nent plan for the reclamation of the alluvial
basin of the Mississippi river subject to inun
dation. Laid over until to-morrow The
senate amendment to the bill for the relief of
sufferers by the inundation by the lower Mis
sissippi was coucurred in More discussion
of the appropriation bill, without marked pro
gress, and the house adjourned.
In the senate, on the 22d, the chair
presented a message from tbepresident, trans
mitting a report of the civil service commis
sion, which was ordered printed The pri
vate secretary of the president appeared at
tho bar of the senate and announced a mes
sage from the president vetoeing the financial
bill. Action on the veto was postponed until
next week The bill for the relief of the
Kentucky agricultural and mechanical associ
ation was passed The bill to enable the
Mennonites, from Russia, to effect a permanent
settlement on the public lands of the United
States, was amended, but no final action was
bad thereon.
In the house, on the 221, nothing of
importance was done except the disposal of
fourteen pages of the appropriation bill.
In tho senate, on the 23J, a bill was
introduced to reduce the tax on the circulation
of state banks to an amount equal to that
paid by national banks. Also, bill supplemen
tary to the act to incorporate the Texas Pacific
railroad company, and to aid in the construc
tion of. the road More discussion of the
Louisiana bill, and the senate adjourned.
In the house, on the 23d, a bill was
introduced that the tax on state banks shall
not bo other or greater than the tax on na
tional banks The committee on appropria
tions reported the post office anpropriation
bill. It appropriates $35,653,391, of which
$5,634,842 is to come out of the treasurv, the
rest being derived from postal revenues for
steamship service to China and Japan. It
appropriates $500,000 to Brazil, and to the
Sandwicn Islands $75,000.
In the senate, on the 24th, a bill was
passed, amendatory fo na act to provide in
ternal revenue to support the government, to
pay the interest on the public debt and for
other purposes, approved June 80. 1864. It
provides that no legal document or paper, re
quired by law to be stamped, which was made,
signed or issued in the northern states prior
to the Ist of July, 1865, shall be deemed or
held as invalid or of no effect by reason of a
failure to impose thereon the required stamps.
The judiciary committee reported, with
out amendment, the bill passed by the senate
last session, for the creation of a court of ad
judication and disposition of certain moneys
received into the treasury, under an award
made by the tribunal of arbitration constitu
ted under an article of the treaty concluded
at Washington. May 8, 1871, between the Uni
ted States and the Queen of Great Britain,
and it was placed on the calendar... .House
bill to render available certain balances of un
expired appropriations as bounty to colored
soldiers and sailors, was passed The sen
ate went into executive session, and soon af
ter adjourned until Monday.
In the house, on the 24th, the speak
er preseute 1 a message from the president,
transmitting copies of all orders and corres
pondence in relation to troubles in Arkansas,
in answer to a resolution of the house. Re
ferred The appropriation bill was further
considered in committee of the whole, and
all but six pages disposed of.
Iu the senate, on tho 27th, eulogies
were delivered on the late Senator Spinner,
and resolutions of respect passed.
In the house, on the 27th, bills were
introduced to facilitate the resumption of
specie payments, and to prevent fluctuations
in the value of United States notes ; repeal
ing a'l laws imposing a tax on state- banks;
to impose a tax of five per cent, on all incomes
of individuals and corporations exceeding $5,-
000 ; declaring it oppressive to impose addi
tional taxation, and inexpedient to retrench on
necessary appropriations already made in the
interest of commerce, and providing as a meas
ure of temporary relief, for the issue of the
additional $50,000,000 of legal tender notes ;
to provide a free system of national banking
and for the resumption of spe.ie payment
Eulogies on the late Senator Sumner consumed
the rest of the sessien.
THE BUFFALO.
How tine Great, monarch of Plains is
Hunted.
A late issue of the Greeley (Col.)
Tribune contains a letter from Mr. R.
R. Smith in relation to the haunts of
the great herds of buffalo throughout
the past few months, with other particu
lars as to the wav in which they have
been hunted, different styles of hunt
ing, the mode of life of the hunter, etc.
Mr. Smith says the main herds of the
buffalo have been on the north side of
the Platte river during most of the past
winter. They crossed from the south
about the last of November, owing to
the fact that their customary pasture
grounds were burned over. In October
there was a fire over one hundred miles
along the north side of the Kansas Pa
cific railroad, and millions of acres were
as black as they could be. This com
pelled the herds to seek new fields.
Concerning the habits of the animal,
Mr. Smith writes:
“The buffalo live near some stream
or spring, grazing from one to ten miles
from it. They do not go more than two
days without drink. There are three
ways of hunting them—still-hunting,
on the plains on foot, and on horseback.
The hunter who still-hunts finds where
they come for water, and keeps under
the bank, watching his opportunity.
About eleven o’clock a. sj. the buffaloes
are seen making their way to the water.
They are both the slowest and fleetest
of all animals for their size. They al
ways go in file and follow a path. None
break ranks except when feeding or
frightened. When within from one to
teu rods the hunter selects his victim,
aiming at a point just back of the fore
leg and about six inches above the low
est part of the body, fires. If one is
brought down, he waits until others go
to him and get a smell of the blood ;
then the ‘shootist’ can generally kill
four or five before the rest really know
what to do. I have fired fifteen rounds
in one position, and stopped only be
cause I did not wish to kill more. I
would then let them see me, and they
went oft' sans crcmonie. The ‘ foot
hunter ’ is compelled to follow a herd,
keeping out of sight by hugging ra
vines, and running at best speed when
an opportunity offers, so as to get
within range if possible. He may get
a shot after manceuvering for hours, or
he may not. It is healthy sport, but by
no means profitable, or even pleasing. ”
Hunting on horse-back is thus por
trayed: “On horse-back there is the
most excitement. On one occasion four
of u came upon a herd of from 30,000
to 50,000. I should think the plain was
literally covered eight by five miles.
We mounted our horses, and by riding
first one -way and then another we got
the herd broken, and after an hour we
brought down all, and more, than we
could desire.” Of the camp of the
buffalo-hunter we have the following
sketch: “It is constructed for com
fort, and not for convenience. It mnst
be near water. The hunter has blankets,
and in these he sleeps. The sky s his
tent, and the cactus his feather-bed.
He has the choicest of meat, and can
cook it his own way. I have lived on
Graham mush and buffalo meat for a
week at a time, and gained rapidly in
flesh, although I ran and walked many
miles every day. The hunter enjoys
health, happiness, and fun, especially if
it be pleasant weather ; but if a storm
comes on he had better start for shel
ter.” R lative to the use put to the
buffalo when killed, Mr. Smith writes :
“ There has been a great trade in buf
falo beef this winter. In most cases
only the hind-quarters are used—not
that the rest is not good—but that the
other is best; when they are so plenty
nothing but the best are taken. The
hunter is liable to a fine if he kills and
does not bring all that is good to eat
into market. A local market is gener
ally found at some house along the
main road, where the meat is brought
to sell. This is sold for one to one and
a fourth cent per pound, and the
tongues for fifteen cents apiece at the
hunters’ headquarters.”
A Compromise Currency Bill.
There has been much labor performed
during the past week, in which Speaker
Blame has been very active, looking to
a compromise currency bill. It is un
derstood that a measure including the
following points has been agreed upon
by a number of the most prominent
leaders on each side :
1. Free banking on the present basis,
with some of the present restrictions on
the reserves removed.
• 2. Retiring 50 per cent, in greenbacks
of the new banking currency issued un
til greenbacks are reduced to $300,000,-
000, the limit at which retirement shall
begin, whether at the present volume
or when it has reached $400,000,000.
3. Redemption of greenbacks in 4|
per cent, bonds. Upon this point one
extreme desires 3-65 and the other 5 per
cent.
4. Purchasing 5-20s with greenbacks
obtained by the process of ledemption.
Washington special Cincinnati Gaz.
The Signal Service and the Mississippi
Floods.
The Signal Service has been doing a
good work recently in connection with
the present overflow of the lower Mis
sissippi, by announcing several days in
advance the approach of each of the
great floods that have successively
moved from Cairo to New Orleans since
April 1, sweeping away, in their resist
less course, vital portions of the pro
moting levees. Special warnings were
telegraphed to the threatened points
and ample time given for snch action by
the inhabitants as judgment and knowl
edge of the danger seemed to justify.—
Washington letter.
The question of ten hours or eight for
a day’s work promises to become inter
esting in New York about the first of
next month. The master mechanics,
and especially the boss carpenters, have,
lor some time, been preparing for a re
turn to the ten hour system, and at a
largely attended meeting resolved that,
on and after May 1, they would not em
ploy any men who would not be willing
to work ten hours a day. This move
ment will certainly be resisted on tLe
part of the journeymen.
CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1874.
RELENTING.
The earth is in a melting mood,
This morning of the year ;
And clasped around by mists that brood,
And smiles to find herself so wooed,
With, now and then, a tear.
The topmost fastness of the hill
Has let the winter go;
The happy-hearted little rill
No longer shivers past the mill
To meadows hushed with snow.
The birds let fall their new-born dreams
Upon me from above;
And many a shadow wed with beams,
And many a wind-kissed blossom seems
To say a word for love.
What is there in this tender air
To thrill me like a dart ?
It quickens places poor and bare,
And every covert sweet and fair,
Except one maiden’s heart.
O, are such changeful gleams of light
Made only to beguile ?
Then, I am but a foolish wight.
To be so glad because, last night, *
She blessed me with a smile.
But O, when ice and snow relent,
And every coldest thing;
Might not, perchance, one more repent,
And melting into warm consent,
Flood all my heart with spring ?
A SURPRISE PARTY.
I always detested him, even before I
ever set eyes on him. In the first place,
what right has a man to be named
Broadspoon'? It can’t even be called
outlandish, but it is outrageous. Still
this might have been a blind, unreason
ing prejudice on my part, as my wife
said it was, but when I saw his face I
knew in a moment just what he was.
There is a saying to the effect that the
world is made up of fools and knaves,
or flats and sharps, as someone ex
pressed it, but I know orie man, at
least, that is a good deal of both. When
Broadspoon came to me with that amia
ble grin of bis, a long sight too amiable
to be pleasant, I knew he was up to some
mischief, though, of course, it was be
yond human sagacity to fathom it at
the time.
“ Going to surprise Jenks to-night ?”
said he, slapping me familiarly on the
back.
I moved away from him about three
feet.
“Surprise Jenks!” said I, surprised
myself, and very much puzzled.* “How?”
“Oh, our crowd expect to go there to
night.”
Now, if there is one thing that I
despise more than another it is a sur
prise party. Vulgar things at the best
—and to be spoken of as one of our
crowd—Broadspoon’s crowd—was be
yond my patience ; so I blurted out,
not so amiably as Broadspoon had spo
ken :
“No. I hate such affairs. Besides,
Mrs. Jones has a cold, and I wouldn’t
think of taking her out at night, and
I’m not quite well myself.” I added
that much for the sake of being civil.
“Good morning,” said he, and I saw a
curious expression pass over his face.
I did not understand it at the time, but
it meant something, as I afterward
found. You see, he had plainly told
me that he was going to Jenks’ that
evening. That is my first point against
him.
I sent word to Jenks that Broadspoon
and his crowd were going to make a
raid upon him and that he had better
be prepared for them, and the whole
thing passed out of my mind.
That night Sarah Jane and I were
about retiring. We had taken a bowl
of onion syrup between us and a foot
bath apiece and were wrappad in flan
nel up to our noses, when we heard a
very singular noise—a sound like the
rasping of a file—apparently at the
back basement door. There is an alley
way from our yard that leads back to
the next street, the gate of which is al
ways locked, but is only ten feet high
and nothing would be easier than for a
man to climb it.
I hunted up an iron bed-key we have.
It looks exactly like a pistol in its out
line, and opening the window I pointed
down into the yard and called out:
“ Who is there ? Answer, or I fire !”
The noise ceased, and as it was snow
ing very hard and blowing harder I re
treated in haste.
“„“Oh, John, John, come in!” called
my wife, tugging at my—garments.
“ We’ll be murdered in our beds.
We’ll be robbed of everything. They’ll
set the house on fire. Tney’ll steal the
baby !”
What was I to do? I locked the
doors of the bed-rooms, but all our
valuables were on the floor below. We
were alone in the house, our domestic
having gone out for the night. Pretty
soon we heard the chink of silver and
something fell and shattered. The
heuse was so still we could even hear
them whisper “ Hush !”
I looked out of the front window,
hoping a policeman would pass, but no
such luck. There did not seem to be a
soul stirring.
“ I must go for the police,” i said.
“Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.
John. They’ll kill me and the baby !”
cried my wife.
She couldn’t go a’ong. What was I
to do ? I put on the first thing that
happened to come handy. They were,
3 I afterward discovered, a pair of In
dia-rubber boots and my wife’s water
proof cloak. As for a hat, my hats
were on the rack in the hall.
“ I must leave you for a few moments,
Sarah Jane,” I said, “only a few mo
ments. ' I will hasten baok. Be brave !
The doors are locked.”
We embraced, and I went out on the
balcony. There is another balcony be
low, conrected with it by iron-work up
rights, and from that to the front steps
is but a trifle.
“You’ll fall!” shrieked Sarah Jane;
but I did not. I reached the ground in
safety, and the police station in an in
credibly short space of time.
. I had on my red flannel night-cap,
which has, I regret to say, a drooping
tassel, and I suppose I was a rather pe
culiar object, for someone at the station
laughed at me—some one who did not
know my cause for agitation and alarm.
“ I want a police officer—two or three
of them,” said I.
“Sit down and wait five minutes,”
said the man I spoke to.
Sit down! wait! the idea was prepos
terous.
“ Send them immediately they come,”
said I, giving my address and hurrying
away.
Sarah Jane is usually very sensible
for a woman ; but I must confess I was
provoked with her, for the first thing
she said to me when I got home was :
“ John, the house has been so very
quiet. Don’t you think it might have
been cats ?”
Of course I didn’t harbor the idea for
a minute, but the house was very quiet,
and I concluded that, on the whole, I
had better find out what was reaily hap
pening. I confess it required some
courage. I took the bed-key I have al
ready mentioned and the bed-room poker
iu one hand, and with a candle in the
other went and peeped over the stairs.
The parlor floor was quiet. The bur
glars, whoever they were, were still in
the basement.
I descended cantiously to the kitchen
stairs. I heard them whispering when
1 got that far. I hid my candle and
put my head forward, holding the door
at the foot of the stairs on a crack.
Through the glass door of the kitchen
I saw them.
Cats, indeed ! Sarah Jane’s cats were
six feet high at least. One of them
wore a negro’s mask, and one a black-fur
muffler. Both were partly pushed back,
and under the black fur I saw, without
the shadow of a doubt, Broadspoon’s
leering face—Broadspoon, who had
given me his word that he should be at
Jenks’. They held between them the
silver tea urn presented to me by the
X. Y. Q. Society, and I know nob what
else. I shut the door softly and flew
up stairs on tip-toes.
“ What is it ? ” said Sarah Jane.
“Burglars,” said I, with the quiet of
desperation.
“ And Broadspoon is one of them. I
think you’ll trnst me next time. I’m
never mistaken in a man’s face. ”
“ Somebody must let the police in
when they com*.”
“ I’ll go down and wait for them,”
said I, “ ami, Sarah Jane, hunt up the
latch-key.”
After having been probably heard on
the stairs, I did not dare to go down
there again. The descent from the bal
cony had been easy. I repeated it.
No sooner had I reached the ground
than a dark, shadowy figure emerged
from the basement.
“ Broadspoon ?” said L
“ No spoon at all,” said a rough voice,
and a strong hand grasped my arm.
“ Let me go,” said I. “ Ob, it’s the
police; I’m so glad yon came. The
burglars are inside.” I tried to re
lease myself from the man’s grasp.
“ You can’t come that game over me,”
said he.
“But I’m the master of the house.”
“Go in, then,” said he, giving me a
push.
“Sarah Jane’s got the latchkey,”
said I; “ let me go up and get it.”
“ Come, now,” said he, “ enough of
that. I’ve got you. Come along,” and
he blew a beastly whistle.
In spite of all my struggles I was
overpowered and borne to the station in
my india-rubber boots, with my wife’s
water-proof cloak, and no end of flan
nel wrapper, not to mention thetasseled
night-cap.
They had hustled me into a room and
were waiting for someone to take me
away, when I heard voices outside,
Jenks, of all persons, and Sarah Jane.
“It’s John,” said Sarah Jane, sob
bing. “ Please let him out.”
“Can’t you let him go?” said Jenks.
“I’m a responsible citizen, and I’ll
make it all right in the morning.”
“ Must be loekt and up to-night,” said
he guardian of the law.
“But it’s all a mistake,” pleaded Sa
rah' Jane. “It was a masquarade sur
prise party, and two of them came first,
and John thought they were burglars.
Oh, let him out, out! I shall die !”
She didn’t die, and they did let me
out when they got good and ready in
the morning, and there was a masquerade
surprise-party at my house while I
slept in the dungeon. They broke my
dishes and ground dirt into my carpet
and dented my silver. Worse than all,
I was reported as having got into some
trouble with the police.
As for that rubbish story of Broad
spoon coming first with the wine and to
get the table ready, my wife may be
lieve it if sho likes. I know he says so.
Mountains of the United States.
The following is the height of the
principal mountains in the United
States, as compiled from Professor
Hayden’s report in the United States
Register :
ROCKY MOUNTAINS, SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADE
BANGS.
Mount St. Elias, Alaska, (Est.) 15,860
Mount Fairweather, Alaska, (Est.) 14,783
Mount Whitney, California 15,000
Mount Shasta, California 14,442
Mount Rainer, Washington Territory 14,434
Mount Tyndall, California 4,386
Mount Harvard, Colorado Territory 14,270
Pike’s Peak, Colorado Territory 14,216
Irwin’s Peak, Colorado Territory 14,192
Gray’s Peak, Colorado Territory 14,145
Mount Lincoln, Colorado Territory 14,124
Mount Yale, Colorado Territory 14,081
Long’s Peak, Colorado Territory 14,050
Mount Brewer, California 13,886
Mount Hayden, Washington Territory 13,858
Horse Shoe Mountain, Colorado Territory —13,806
Silver Heel’s Mountain, Colorada Territory... .13,650
Fremont’s Peak, Wyoming Territory 13,570
Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado Territoiy.l3 500
Mount Hodges, Uintah Mountains 13,500
Mount Tohkwano, Uiutah Mountains 13,500
Velie’s Peak, Colorado Territory— 13,456
Mount Audubon, Colorado Territory— .13,402
Gilbert’s Peak, Uintah Mountaius 13.250
Mount Dana, California 13,227
Mount Lyell, California 13,217
Mount Guyot, Colorado Territory 13,223
Parry’s Peak, Colorado Territory 13,133
Three Tetons, Idaho Territory.. 13,000
Bald Mountain, Idaho 13,000
Mount Flora, Colorado Territory 12 878
San Francisco Mountains, Arizona Territory._l2.os2
Wahsatch Mountains, Utah 12,000
Spanish Peaks, Colorado Territory 12,000
Mount Englemann, Colorado Territory 12,000
Snow Line, 41 deg. North Latitude.
Mount Wright, Colorado Territory 11,803
Mount Silliman, California 11,620
Mount San Bernardino, California 11,600
Mount Hood, Oregon 11,225
Mount Pitt, Oregon 11,000
Lone Peak, Utah Territory 11,000
Black Hills, Wyoming Territory 11,000
Wind River Mountains, Wyoming Territory.. 11,000
Electric Peak, Yellowstone Park 10,992
Mount Baker, Oregon 10,719
Emigrant Peak, Montana Territory 10,629
Lassen’s Butte, California 10,577
Mount gheridan, Wyoming Territory. 10,420
Mount Washburn, Yellowstone Park 10,388
Ward’s Peak, Montana Territory 10,371
Mount Delano, Montana Territory 10,200
Mount Blackmore, Montana Territory 10,134
Mount Doane, Yellowstone Park 10.118
Mount San Antonio, California 9,931
Mount St. Helen’s (Volcano), Washington
Territory 9,760
Old Baldy, Montana Territory 9,711
Mount Garfield, Idaho Territory 9,704
Mount Adams, Washington Territory 9,570
Bridger’s Peak, Montana Territory 9,000
Carter Lake, Cascade Range, Oregon 9,000
Mount Olympus (Coast Range), Washington
Territory : 8,136
Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming Territory 7,788
Mount Mitchel, Allegheny Mountains, North
Carolina 6,732
Mount Washington, White Mountains, New
Hampshire 6,285
PASSES OVER THE ROOKY MOUNTAINS.
32d Parallel, near El Paso 5714
35th Parallel, near Albuquergue 7,472
38th Parallel (Coochecopa Pass) 10,000
41st Parallel (Union Pacific Railroad) 8.241
42d Parallel (South Pas-) 7,0*5
47th and 48th Parallels (Cadott’s Pass) 6,044
47th and 4-t li Parallels (Deer Lodge Pass) 6,200
47th and 48th Parallels (Lewis it Clark’s) 6,323
Flathead Pass (Northern Montana) 5,459
Kutanie Pass (British America) 6,000
PASSES OVER THJS SIERRA NEVADAS.
Tejon Pass, 34 deg. 43 min. North Latitude.... 5.250
Walker’s Pass, 35 deg. 30 min. North Latitude. 6,300
New Pass, to Owen’s river 3,164
Mono Pass, to Mono Lake 10,700
Silver Mountain Pass, to Carson City
Donner Pass (Central Pacific Railroad) 7,042
Beckwith’s Pass, to Pyramid Lake 4,500
Truckee Pas3 7,200
Lassen’s Pass (43 deg. 36 min. North Lati
tude)
Madelin Pass 5,667
Lookout Mountain.
Most persons in this country or in
Europe who hav ■ heard of Lookout
mountain since “ the war” have also
been told of the “battle above the
clouds.” It was my fortune to scale
the remarkable palisade at a time when
the broad plateau which runs along its
summit was literally enshrouded in for
midable mists. The rain was falling in
torrents as, with two companions, I gal
loped through the little town at the
foot of the mountain ; but, ere we had
scaled the winding road, the shower was
over, and a brisk wind began to stir the
mists. We could see little but the
ledges along whose sides the route ran,
but as we arrived nearly at the summit,
the mist curtain was lifted for an in
stant, and revealed to us a delicious ex
panse of valley, with sunlight smiles
here and there chasing away the ra n’s
tears. Then we were shrouded in again,
and our horses, apparently inspired by
the gloomy grandeur ol the occasion,
rattled furiously along the hard roads,
ever which the boughs hung uncom
fortably near our heads. The red sandy
clay nourishes enormous pines, whose
roots have here and there been dis
turbed by the sandstone bowlders, and
stretched out their fibers in a desperate
grasp ; along the pathways great blocks
of stone, carved by the storms and pol
shed by the winds, are scattered. We
galloped nearly to the massive perpen
dicular wall which arises directly out
of the valley, and disdainfully frowns
down upon the Tennessee, spurned from
its base fourteen hundred feet below;
and tethering our horses, approached .to
the very edge. There we seemed shut
off from all the world. Now and then
a hum from the valley—the faint growl
of a locomotive or the rolling of wheels
—came faintly up ; we heard the cow
bells and the bleating of the sheep on
the hillsides behind us; and jnst as we
were trying to imagine how “ the bat
tle” must have been, the wind came
sweeping away the mist curtate, and—
we beheld the whole !— Scribner.
NATIONAL FINANCES.
Presidential Vet* of tbe Senate Finance
Bill.
The cabinet was in session from half
past eleven until nearly two, on the 22d,
and finances were the single subject of
discussion. The following presidential
message shows the result:
lo the Senate of the United States:
Herewith I return the senate bill
number 617, entitled “An act to fix the
amount of United States notes and cir
culation of national banks, and for oth
er purposes,” without my approval.
In doing so, I must express my regret
at not being able to give my assent to a
measure which has received the sanc
tion of a majority of the legislatorc
chosen by the people to make the laws
for their guidance, and I have studious
ly sought to find sufficient arguments
to justify such assent, but unsuccess
fully. Practically it is a question
whether the measure under discussion
would give an additional dollar to the
irredeemable paper currency of the
country or not; and whether by requir
ing three-fourths of the reserves to be
retained by the banks, and prohibiting
interest to be received on the balance,
it might. Lot prove to be a contraction.
But the fact cannot be concealed that
theoretically the bill increases the pa
per circulation one hundred million of
dollars, less only the amount of reserves
restrained from circlation by the pro
visions of the second section.
The measure has been supported on
the theory that it would give increased
circulation. It is a fair inference, there
fore, that if in practice the measure
should fail to create the abundance of
circulation expected of it, the friends
of tho measure, particularly those out
of congress, would clamor for such in
flation as would give the expected re
lief. The theory, in my belief, is a de
parture from the true principles of fi
nance, national interest, national obli
gations to creditors,congressional prom
ises, party pledges on the part of both
political parties, and of the personal
views and promises made by me in eve
ry annual message sent to congress and
in each inaugural address. In my annu
al message to congress in December,
1869, tbe following passage appears :
“ Among the evils growing out of the
rebellion and not yet referred to, is that
of an irredeemable currency. It is an
evil which I hope will receive your
most earnest attention. It is your dutv,
and one of the highest duties of the
government, to secure the citizen a me
dium of exchange of fixed, unvarying
value. This implies a return to a specie
basis and no substitute for it can be de
vised. It should 1 e commenced now
and reached at the earliest practicable
moment consistent with a fair regard to
the interest of the debtor class. Imme
diate resumption if practicable 'would
not be desirable. It would compel the
debtor class to pay beyond their con
tracts the premium of gold at the date
of their purchase, and would bring
bankruptcy and ruin to thousands.
Fluctuations, however, in the paper
value of the measure of all values,
gold, is detrimental to the interests of
trade. It makes the man of business
an involuntary gambler, for in all sales
where future payment is to be made
both parties speculate as to what will be
the value of the currency to be paid. I
earnestly recommend to you then, such
legislation as will insure, a gradual re
turn to specie payments and put an im
mediate stop to fluctuations in the value
of currency.”
I still adhere to the views then ex
pressed As early as Deo. 4, 1865, the
house of representatives passed a reso
lution by a vote of 144 yeas to 6 nays,
concurring in the views of the secre
tary of the treasury in relation to the
necessity of a contraction of tho cur
rency with a view to as early a resump
tion of specie payments as the business
interests of the country will permit,
and pledging co operative action to this
end as speedily as possible. The first
act passed by the forty-first congress on
the 18th day of March, 1869, was as fol
lows :
“An act to strengthen the public
credit of the United States. Be it en
acted, etc., that in order to remove any
doubt as to the purpose of the govern
ment to discharge all its obligations to
the public creditors and to settle con
flicting questions and interpretations of
the law by virtue of which such obliga
tions have been contracted, it is hereby
provided and declared that the faith of
the United States is solemnly pledged
to the payment in coin or its equivalent
of all the interest bearing obligations,
except in case where the law authorizing
.the issue of any such obligation has ex
pressly provided that the same may be
paid in lawful money or other currency
than gold and silver, bnt none of said
interest bearing obligations not already
due shall be redeemed or paid before
maturity, unless at such time as the
United States notes shall be convertible
into coin at the option of the holder, or
unless at such time the bonds of the
United States bearing a lower rate of
interest than the bonds to be redeemed
can be be sold at par in coin; and the
United States also solemnly pledges its
faith to make provision at the earliest
practicable period for the redemption of
United States notes in coin."
This act still remains as a continuing
pledge of the faith of the United States
to make provision, at the earliest prac
ticable moment, for the redemption of
the United States notes in coin. A dec
laratu n, contained in the act of June
20, 1854, created an allegation that the
total amount of United states notes is
sued, or to be issued, should never ex
ceed four hundred millions of dollars.
Tbe amount in actual circulation was
actually reduced to three hundred and
fifty-six millions of dollars, at which
point congress passed the act of Feb.
7, 1868, suspending the future reduc
tion of the currency. The foriv-four
millions have ever been regarded as a
reserve, to be used only in case of
emergency, such as has occurred on sev
eral occasions, and must occur when,
from any cause, revenues suddenly fall
below the expenditures ; and such a re
serve is necessary, because the fraction
al currency, amounting to fifty millions,
is redeemable in legal tender-on call.
It may be said that such a return of
fractional currency for redemption is
impossible; but let steps be taken for a
return to specie basis, and it may be
found that silver will take the place of
the fractional currency as rapidly as it
can be supplied.
When the premium on gold reaches a
sufficiently low point with the amount
of United States notes to be issued per
manently within proper limits, and the
treasury be so strengthened ns to be
able to redeem in coin on demand, it
will then be safe to inaugurate a system
of free banking with such provisions as
to make compulsory the redemption of
the circulating notes of the banks in
coin or United States notes, themselves
redeemable and made equivalent to coin.
Asa measure preparatory to free
banking, or for placing the government
in a condition to redeem its notes in coin
at the earliest practicable moment, the
revenues of the country should be in
creased so as to pay the current ex
penses, provide for tbe sinking fund
required by law, and also a surplus to
be retained in the treasury in gold. I
am not a believer in any artificial method
of making paper money equal to coin
when coin is not owned or held ready to
redeem tbe promises to pay, for paper
money is nothing more than promises
to pay, and is valuable exactly in pro
portion to the amount of coin that it
can be converted into. While coin is
not used as a circulating medium, or
the currency of the country is not con
vertible into it at par, it becomes an ar
ticle of commerce as much as any other
product. The surplus will seek a for
eign market as well as any other sur
plus. The balance of trade has noth
ing to do with the question. The duties
on imports being required, in coin, cre
ate a limited demand for gold, and
about enough to satisfy that demand
remains in the country. To increase
this supply I see no ' way open but by
government hoarding, through the
means above given, and possibly by re
quiring the national banks to aid.
It is claimed by the advocates of the
measure herewith returned, that there
is an unequal distribution of the bank
ing capital of the country. I was dis
posed to give great weight to this view
of the question at first, but upon re
flection it will be remembered that there
still remains four million dollars of au
thorized bank note circulation unas
signed, and states having less than their
quoto of bank circulation have the op
lion of twjnty-five millions more than
their proportion. When this is all ta
ken up, or when specie payments are
fully restored, or in a rapid process of
restoration, will be the time to consider
the question of more currency.
U. S. Grant.
Executive Mansion, April 22,1874.
The Fur Seal Islands of Alaska.
Up in the heart, as it were, of Beh
ring sea lies a Bmall group of islands, to
the rocky shores of which annually re
pair millions of highly organized ani
mals to breed and shed their hsir and
fur. Insignificant landmarks are these,
the Pribylov islands, but the sixty
square miles of their area support more
available wealth to day than all the rest
of the five hundred thousand belonging
to Alaska—a strange stockyard of am
phibious beasts, which are universally
deemed wild and wary, but among mil
lions of which the agents of the govern
ment walk on their tours of inspection
without giving or experiencing serious
alarm.
It is remarkable that while thousands
of men and millions of dollars have
been employed in capturing, dressing,
and selling fur seal skins during the
last hundred years, yet since the time
of Steller, in 1751, up to the beginning
of the last decade, even the scientific
world knew nothing definitely in regard
to the habits of this valuable animal,
although the truth connected with the
life of this seal of the Pribylov islands
is far stronger than fiction.
With the exception of our seal is
lands, there are none others of much
importance elsewhere in the world, the
vast breeding grounds in the antarctic
having been, by the united efforts of all
nationalities, misguided, short-sighted,
and greedy of gain, entirely depopu
lated. Only a few thousand unhappy
stragglers are now to be seen on the
Falkland islands and contiguous islets,
where millions once were found, and
small rockeries are protected and fos
tered by the government of Buenos
Ayres north and south of the mouth of
the Rio de la Plata; but the seal life
on the Pribylov islands, thanks to the
foresight of the Russians, has been pre
served to the present day in all of its
original integrity and wonder.
The seal islands of Alaska are four in
number, two of which, however, are
mere rocks, and of little or no import
ance compared with the others, St. Paul
and St. George, the former of which is
the great seal ground of the northern
hemisphere, and without a parallel at
the present time on the face of the
globe. This little island lies in latitude
57 degrees 8 minutes north, longitude
170 degrees 12 minutes west, and is
visited annually by over five millions of
fur seals; while St. George, lying to the
southeast, only twenty-seven miles from
St. Paul, is resorted to by less than two
hundred and fifty thousand, the nature
of the coast, high, bald, and bluffy, not
permitting the breeding seals to lie upon
the beaches in safety. The other two
unimportant islets Otter, five miles
south of St. Paul, and Walrus island,
six miles east of the same—are not un
worthy of mention, especially the lat
ter, upon which herds of hundreds of
immense bull walruses can be viewed to
the greatest advantage at all seasons of
the year, in company with clouds of
breeding water-fowl. — Harper's Maga
zine.
Cremation Among the Karens.
The following curious account of the
funeral rites among the Karens of Bur
mah is given by a magazine writer :
“ While burning, the body was separa
ted by a sort of kiln from the fuel that
surrounded it, so as to prevent the ming
ling of the ashes of the corpse and
those produced by the incineration of
the wood. This precaution is always
taken where the ashes are to be pre
served ; otherwise all is consumed to
gether, and the work of demolition in
either case occupies scarcely an hour.
But before the bones have been reduced
to ashes, the Karens select a single one,
usually that of an arm or finger, and
carefully preserve it till a convenient
time for bringing the relatives and
friends together again. In the case ot
the deceased copyist this m eeting was
to take place four days after the burn
ing of the bodv. At the appointed
time a great feast was prepared, cere
monies similar to those performed over
the body were repeated over the bone,
its solitary representative, and a solemn
dirge was sung to frighten off Muk-lia,
an evil spirit of whom the Karens stand
in special dread. Then one of the sil
ver bangles worn by the deceased on his
wrists and ankles was hung just over a
vessel of cooked rice, of which the de
parted spirit was invited to partake.
On inquiring the reason of this cere
mony we were told that if the bangle
and the string by which it was suspen
ded should remain perfectly motion
less, this would be race ved as an indi
cation that the soul of the deceased was
a prisoner in hell, and the party would
break up in dismay. But if the string
should evince a tremulous motion, the
bangle turn round or the cord snap sud
denly in twain, the survivors would see
in these tokens indisputable vidence
that the deceased had answered their
call. Fortunately for their credulity
the bangle (moved no doubt by the
passing breeze) did turn suddenly
around, and the poor wife with a cry of
joy pressed it eagerly to her lips. The
spirit was then invited to the grave pre
pared for the bone, which was buried
with the food and clothing the dead
man was supposed to require in the
spirit-land, and money with which to
ransom himself if he should chance to
be taken prisoner on the way by an evil
minded demon. The whole company
then clapped their hands three times,
saying, ‘Go in peace ! This grave is thy
small house, but thy grand and spacious
mansion is on the cool bank of the river
Mandowka, where beautious maidens re
cline on beds of fragrant flowr rs, and
all is cool, calm, and quiet.’ With this
loving valedictory tfie funeral rites en
ded, and tho company dispersed. The
urn containing the precious ashes was
carefully laid away by the bereaved
wife, but the grave in which the solitary
bone had been deposited could never be
revisited. It was thenceforth not mere
ly a spot devoid of interest, but one
sure to endanger the well-being of any
rash enough to approach it even by ac
cident.- ’
In Marysville, Cal., the other day, a
Newfoundland dog walked into a market,
dropped a ten-cent piece out of his
mouth and walked off with a whole sal
mon. The butcher says some folks may
call that dog intelligent, but he thinks
that a dog that can’t distinguish between
a ten-eent slice and a five dollar fish
hasn’t got even common sense.
“Boiled Egos” is the name adopted
bj r anew Danbury base-ball club to sig
nify how impossible it is to beat them.
THE MISSISSIPPI FLOODS.
The Tide Three Feet Higher than Ever
Known.
avkrill’s parish.
The Louisiana state authorities re
ceive letters daily from persons from
the overflowed sections asking for pro
visions, etc. The following extracts
from them are fair specimens. A letter
dated Simmport, AveriU’s parish, ad
dressed to the governor, says : “ Please
send me some supplies, as I have a fam
ily of nine children to keep np and
feed. The water is three feet deep in
my yard and all over my place. It is
utterly impossible for me 10 get any
thing for my family to eat without call
ing on you for assistance. Please for
pity’s sake do not fail to send me some
supplies by return s teamer.”
The following is an extract taken from
a letter to the governor dated Big
Bend, Averill’s parish : “ The whole of
the Bayon des Glaizfs and Red river
front is entirely overflowed. Ail of us
are bankrupt. No money, no credit.
Commission merchants all shutdown on
ns. We have no provisions. Many
are in a manner starving. The water is
all over the country, and still risteg.
The cows not drowned are dying for
want of food. Sheep and hogs are
drowned by hundreds. Take this mat
ter into consideration and see if some
thing cann t be done for ns.”
BAYOU TEC HE. ETC.
The governor has received a letter
from Clarenton, St. Mary’s parish,
which says : “ Among the many suf
ferers by the recent overflow are those
who have lived on the east side of
Bayon Chenez, Bayon Pigeon, on the
shore of Grand Lake and Lake Chicot,
all of which districts are now submer
ged, leaving some three hundred fam
ilies in a state of utter destitution.”
SEVERAL CHILDREN
are reported drowned in the streets of
Port Vincent which was overflowed.
The flat country of St. Helena, Tauxe
pation, Washington, St. Tammany and
East Feliciana parishes is flooded for
miles.
The Times says a gentleman from the
upper coast gives the most appalling
description of the condition of the peo
ple who happened to live in the dis
trict overflowed by the Hickey crevasse.
He says that not less than twenty sugar
plantations have been submerged from
that source already. That, however,
was nothing compared with the suffer
ings of the people. On Sunday last,
the gentleman witnessed a large num
ber of persons wading their way out of
the torrents of water which passed
through that break. Among them wore
women in the water
UP TO THEIR ARM-PITS,
holdteg their infants above their heads,
and it was reported that some had been
flooded away on the rushing tide with
their little ones in their arms.
THE DISTRESS IN DETAIL.
Capt. Blanks, in a letter to a member
of the relief committee, says : “ I have
just returned with the Ouachita Belle,
from Camden, Trenton, and Mourtoe,
through the overflowed district of north
Louisiana, and see that efforts are being
made to relieve the suffering occasioned
by the overflow. I have also seen the
tabu'ar statement which was presented
by you to a meeting of citizens from the
overflowed districts, held in the senate
chamber last week. From personal
knowledge and direct information de
rived from others within the last few
days, I am satisfied that said estimate
is by far too low. As you have been
requested by three different public meet
ings held in the overflowed district of
Louisiana to represent their wants and
condition, I now present you with a
statement of the localities and numbers
needing help at once, so that you may
present the same to the governor and
the committee fordistribution appointed
by his honor the mayor. Lower Black
river, 300 destitute ; Mardis, including
that part of Concord parish on Black
river, 500; Wilson’s, on Black river,
400; Trinity, including Tensas Bayon,
Little river, 1,200; Harrisonburg, in
cluding Bayou Lavis, 1,000; Harb’s
Landing, including Braine Landing,
300; Carter’s Landing, 400 ; Bunker
Hill, including both sides of the river
and swamp, Balavan, Ouachita and Boef,
1,500; Columbia, including Franklin
and Oneal’s, between Ouachita and Boef
river, 1,000 ; including bottom on both
sides, 1,500 ; Hopewell and Waco, in
cluding back swamp up to the Ouachita
tee, 1,500; Monroe, 1,500. Total, 11,-
600 now, at lowest estimate.
“ This number may be said in actual
want, and many have been so for Jays,
as they have now been under water for
two or three weeks. They have lost all
their hogs, and nearly all their cattle
are either lost or drowned. The people
themselves have neither money nor
credit, no place to go to and nothing to
do. But this estimate by no means
discloses the distresses of those resid
ing on the small bayous and creeks who
have been overflowed by the backwater
and floods of rain. They generally
have been on land, but have lost much
of their stock and improvements and
are out of provisions and money, and
the provisions for making crops are so
discouraging that none are willing or
able to advance the supplies. If these
must be added the number in need of
help is not short of 20,000 people in the
district referred to.”
THE COITON FIELDS.
The Times says the extent of the
damage which has resulted from the
great overflow is just beginning to be
fully understood. That it was vast, was
readily conceived, but that it should in
volve five million of acres and a popula
tion of 178,000 was apparently beyond
reasonable satisfaction. Yet snch was
the case. It is now ascertained that
nine of the largest and richest parishes,
producing cotton, have been inundated.
The parishes of Carroll, Morehouse,
.Richland, Madison, Franklin, Tensas,
Caldwell, Concordia and Catahaln are
all overflowed and embracing folly 2,-
500,000 acres. The amount of cotton
land in those parishes in actual cultiva
tion ascertained to be 250,000, besides
10,000 acres in corn. These estimates
include only large places, leaving out
hundreds of" small farmers and all esti
mates for cattle, hogs and gardens. The
popnlation of these nine parishes is 20,-
394 whites and 54,033 blacks, according
to the census of 1870.
THE SUGAR REGIONS.
In the sugar producing parishes, the
ascertained facts discover an equal if
not a greater amount of ruin and suffer
ing. These parishes are Point Conpie,
East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge,
Iberville, Ascension, Assumption, La
fource, St. James, St. John the Baptist,
St. Charles, Terrebone and Plaqnimice.
The overflow in those parishes covers
nearly 2,500,000 acres tilled and un
tilled, including a production of 30,000
hogsheads of sugar, a large product of
rice and some small farmers of whom
there are many hundreds who lost their
stock and pretty much all else they pos
sessed. The population of these par
ishes, according to the census of 1870,
was 50,368 whites and 72,241 blacks,
making a total of 122,609.
In all these parishes named, it is be
lieved that more than 25,000 people are
now in actual suffering for the necessa
ry supplies of life, and that in less than
sixty days, the number of those whoso
circumstances will requite all rations
will increase to more than 50,000 per
sons.
One may live a? a conqnerer, or a
king, or a magistrate, but he mast die
a man. The bed of death brings every
human being to his pure individuality,
to the intense contemplation of that
deepest and most solemn of all relations
the relation between the creative and
his Creator.— Webster.
VOL. 15—NO. 19.
SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
Two heads are better than one— espec
ially in a barrel.
Billiard balls exercise Christian
principles when they return a “kiss”
for a blow.
Writers trouble themselves to am
plify what their readers trouble them
selves to abridge.
A Danbury man has brought out anew
vermifuge with the significant name of
“The Early Bird."
Advocates n f flogging in school assert
that youth cannot be properly eduoated
whithout stern discipline.
A Georgia paper promises to publish
a “thrilling cereal.” Its readers will
probably make an oat of it.
Use what talent you possess. The
woods would be very silent if no birds
sang there but those who sang best.
A man writing poetically of the
weather says : “ The backbone of win
ter is broken, but its tail wags yet occa
sionally.”
If a stick of wood is too long for the
stove, says Danbnrv, kick it a few times
with your heel. Then take it out and
saw it off.
A company has been formed at Rome
to establish a railway from the base of
Vesuvius to the en ter, to be worked by
steam and ropes.
The official report of the Langley
cotton mills, of Augusta, Ga., for 1873,
shows a profit of $112,920 on an invested
capital of $400,000.
An lowa paper wants all its exchanges
to warn women to jnmp into a cr ek
when they discover that their clothing
is on fire. Jump, ladies, jump !
Certainly work is not always re
quired of a man. There ia such a thing
as a sacred idleness—the cultivation of
which is now fearfully neglected.—
Macdonald.
An Ulinoisian wrote to Horaoe Greeley
several times asking him what was good
tor catarrh, and finally Horaoe got out
of patience and replied: “Chop your
d—d head off”
Milwaukee thought she had a case
wherein a young girl died of a broken
heart, but it turned out that her eorset
strings were too tight, and one stroke of
a jack-knife revived her.
“ Och !” said a love-sick Hibernian,
“ what a recreation it is to be dying of
love ! It sets the heart aching so deli
cately there’s no taking a wink of sleep
for the pleasure of the pain.”
The French Assembly is considering
a law providing that every new-born
child shall have its name and the date of
its birth tattooed on its arm. The object
is to faciltate identification.
A Parisian musical dictionary defines
a shout to be “an unpleasant noise, pro
duced by overstraining tbe throat, for
which great singers are well paid, and
small children well punished.”
An Ajpology.—
Too late I stayed—forgive the crime ;
Unheeded flew the hours.
For noiseless falls the foot, of time
That only treads on flowers.
Ah ! who with clear account remarks
The ebbing of his glass,
When all the sands are diamond sparks
That dazzle as they pass ?
i Or who to tober measurement
Time’s happy swiftness brings,
When birds of paradise have lent
The plumage of their wings ?
Webb we to take as much pains to be
what we ought to be as we do to dis
guise what we really are, we might ap
pear like ourselves, without being at
the trouble of any disguise at all.—
Rochefoucauld.
Poverty is very terrible to you, and
j kills the soul in you sometimes ; but it
I is the north wind that lashes men into
vikings; it is not the soft, luscious,
south wind that lulls them to lotus
dreams. — Ouida.
No man finds in a woman’s soul the
revelation of a rarer self, receiving it
into his heart as the incentive towards a
better life, who ever loses it wholly, or
who ever forgets the gentle face that
was its visible type.
Peace is preserved in a household in
Elkader, la., by a long withy raw-hide
hung up in the bedroom of the juvenile
portion of the family, bearing upon its
handle the legend, “Boys, please be
kind to yonr mother.”
A man at Bridgeport, Conn., has
named his two canaries “ Wheeler” and
“Wilson,” because neither of them is a
“ Singer.” The only historical parallel
for this case is offered by tbe old farmer
who called his rooster Robinson, because
Robinson Crusoe.
One of the most melancholy things
in the world is the enormous power for
evil of the dead over the living. There
is hardly a great painter, or writer, or
man who had achieved greatness in any
direction, whose name has not been
used to repress rising genius.—Ham
mer ton.
That Bald Mountain shake-up is an
old fib after all. Thomas Jefferson, in
his “Notes on Virginia,” remarks : “It
is claimed that there was a prior declar
ation of independence in North Carolina,
a statement having about as muoh foun
dation as the report that a volcano exists
in the mountains of the same state. ”
“Nothing,” said an impatient hus
band “reminds me so much of Balaam
and his ass as two women stopping in
church and obstructing the way to in
dulge in their everlasting talk.” “But
yon forget, my dear,” returned the wife,
meekly, “that it was the angel who
stopped the way, and Balaam and his
ass who complained of it,”
As one result of the recent explora
tions of Mr, Gosse and his party in
western Australia, we learn that they
have discovered a huge monolith 1,100
feet high, and six or seven miles in
girth at its base, aßd tbe interest in tbe
discovery is heightened by the fact that
a stream of water, fed by a spring in
the centre of the conglomerate, flows
from the rock.
Our true humorist is yet to come.
Laughter is apt to make us doubly se
rious afterward. We do not care to
have onr humorist always turning up,
like a prize-fighter after each round,
still smiling; but the coming man will
not find his welcome less warm for us.
He will know that the nation which
laughs so easily has still a capacity for
deep feeling.— Bret llarte.
We do not lower onr individuality
because we submit for a time and learn
to see life from different points of view.
I have often heard my father say that
every beginner who has anything in
him imitates somebody else at first, and
a true and original worker does not lose
bnt gains by merging himself fora time
into the spirit of others.— Miss Thack
eray.
These things are comely and pleasant
atad worthy of honor trow the beholder:
A young saint, an old martyr, a reli
gions soldier, a conscientious statesman,
a great mau oourteous, a learned man
humble, a child that understands the
eye of its parents, a cheerful companion
vithout vanity, a friend not change !
with honors, a sick man happy, a soul
departing with comfort and assurance.
— Bishop Hall.
According to the “ Journal of the
j'jinnmen Society,” 1,190 species of
inngi are found in the island ot Ceylon.
But little difference is observable in the
lungons vegetation from the sea level to
* height of 5,000 feet; above this it is
less abundant, and beyond an elevation
tf 7,000 feet specimens are rarely found.
Of the whole number, 820 species are
peculiar to Ceylon ; 191 are European
species; 49 are found in the West In
i'ies or southern United States; while
the remaining 130 species are widely
dispersed.