Newspaper Page Text
THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
W.*A. Stßp'liilKj ***tr and Proprietors.
NEWS OP THE WEEK,
EAST.
The People’s Fire Insurance company
©f Pittsburg has suspended.
The centennial commission issues an
address to the people of the United States
calling for additional funds.
A Philadelphia dispatch says the ex
amination of members of the bankrupt firm
of Jay Cooke it Cos„ has not resulted in any
important disclosmes.
The main reservoir which supplies
Trenton, N. J. with water, gave way last week
and sent about thirty million gallons of water
over the city and down Pennington avenue
with a mighty rush, filling the cellars of most
of the houses for a quarter of a mile.
John J. Graham’s infant died in New
York, last week from “mal nutrilition.” The
physician called to attend the child when dy
ing writes to the board of health as follows :
“ I consider him a vict'm to a system of baby
fanning, which prevails so extensively in many
cities. I frequently find illegitimate children
placed with careless and ignorant- women, for
the apparent purpose of causing their death.”
Subscriptions to the relief fund for
the sufferers by the iate "Pittsburg Hood are
pouring in rapidly, and now reaches $30,000.
The total loss of life as far as known is one
hundred and thirty-three persons. The Penn
sylvania railroad company have tendered the
service of one hundred laborers for duty to
help in clearing away tho ruins. The work of
clearing away the debris in Velitoyville, Mead
or and Butcher’s ran district has commenced,
and there is every reason to suppose that ad
ditional bodies may be recovered. The dam
age to streets and sewers will reach $50,000.
WEST.
A great many grasshoppers have ap
peared in western and southwestern Kansas,
and are destroying all before them in the way
of crops. Much damage and distress are ap
prehended.
A dispatch from Fort Garey says the
Lord Gordon Gordon shot and killed himsolf
Saturday night to escape arrest on a warrant
from Toronto, on the charge of embezzling
jewelry at Glasgow, Scotland.
A vigilance committee of about one
hundred men have been formed at Wellington
and other points in Kansas for hanging horse
thieves. Three men, named Hasbrook, Bill
Brook and Charlie Smith were hung near
Wellington last week, and made confessions
involving twenty other parties.
A Minnesota dispatch says the grass
hoppers are rapidly moving eastward in myri
ads, and will doubtless reach Wisconsin, and
perhaps, Illinois, before the flying season is
past. They are reported very abundant at a
number of points far east of the former
scenes of their activity. All damage the late
comers can do is to deposit eggs, which will
hatch out millions of devastating insects an
other year. Is is now absolutely certain that
other states will complain of the scourge next
year, and if the clouds of insects continue
their present movement, even central and
eastern states will not escape.
SOUTH.
The debt of Mississippi is about $3 -
400,000.
The cotton worm has appeared in
Limestone county, Texas.
Gov. Kellogg, of Louisiana, has
signed death warrants, ordering execution on
the 21st of August in the parish of Assump
tion, five men who in April last murdered and
A special from Fort Union, New Mex
ico, says a band of fifty Kiowas and Comanche
Indians killed five men near the mouth of Ute
creek, twenty miles south of Fort Basom on
the 21st.
The cotton caterpillar has made its
appearanco on the Kirkpatrick plantation in
tie vicinity of Augusta, Ga., and the rust is
found among the cotton on another plantation
near that city.
The big end of Lho horn of plenty
seems to rest in the state of Alabama this
year. The most pleasing reports relative
to the corn crop outlook come from many
parts of the state. It is believed that a two
> ears’ supply will be gathered the coming
autumn.
The White river (Ark.) Journal has
the following : “ We are informed by Cant. J.
M. Barker, who lives in Arkansas county, near
Mt. Adams, cf an indiscriminate slaughter
or seven persons near St Charles, thirty miles
below here, on Tuesday last, and the finding
of their bodies in what is known as Sticking
bay, and White liver, on the following day.
There is no clue to the perpetrators of this
foul deed, or the causes which led to it. The
names of only two of the victims are known
at present, aud they are Esquire Alford and
his son.
The board of engineers recently ap
pointed by the president to devise some plan
for reclaiming the overflowed lands along the
Mississippi river, during the recent session at
Newport, R. 1., distributed its duties among
its members as gollows : The district of Lou
siana was assigned to Edgar Herbert; the
district of Mississippi to Capt. Bengaurd ; the
istrict of Arkansas and Missouri to Col. J.
L. Seckler. Gen. H. L. Abbott was assigned
to the duty of investigating the cause and ef
fect of the flood of 1874 as compared with
previous floods. Gen. G. K. Warren was as
signed the duty of collecting all information
now in the departments bearing on the ques
tion. The board adjourned subject to the call
of the president, which will be made as soon
as the reports come in from the various states.
The following is a telegram of Gov.
Ames, of Miss., to the president in relation to
the Vicksburg trouble:
Jackson, Miss., July 29.—President U. S.
Grant, Washington : I regret to inform you
that I find upon returning here that an alarm
ing condition of affairs exist at Vicksburg.
Infantry and cavalry organizations exist, and
it is reported that a number of pieces of ar
tillery have been sent to that city, and these
bodies are armed and organized in violation
of law by those supposed to be the guardians
of peace. This is a political controversy. On
the one side the democrats, represented by
the whites, claim that they fear frauds on the
part of their opponents. The republicans,
consisting mainly of blacks, claim they fear
frauds and also violence on the part of the
democrats. At one time collision and blood
shed were feared by all. Now, not by repub
licans, but by democrats, it is disbelieved, on
ly because they have become masters of the
situation. It is th4v, also, who oppose the
presence of troops at this time. Of the cause
of this lamentable state of affairs, it is now
useless to speak. I only .seek peace and pro
tection for all. Can there be any serious ob
jections why troops should not be there ? No
harm can result, for troops are in many of our
cities, at this moment in two cities of this
state. Then: presence may do much good.
It may save many lives. Even one would more
than compensate for the barm which if any
I do not see, to result from such presence’
WiU it not be the least of evils to have the
troops there for aqy emergency? Albert A vies.
Governor of Mississippi,
The following reply has been sent to Gov.
Ames:
Washington D. C., July 31—Hon. A. Ames
Jackson, Miss.: The contents of your dis
patch have been submitted to the president.
He declines to move troops except under a
call strictly in accordance with the terms of
the constitution.
W. W. Belknap, Sec'y of War.
FOREIGN.
The king of Ashantee has paid a
further installment of £6,000 to Great Britain
as war indemnity.
It is reportei the Carlisle have shot
235 prisoners who were captured from Gen.
Novella's colume in Catallena.
Ten columns of the republican troops
which were marching to the relief of Olat,
have met with a repulse from the carlist, suf
fering heavy losses.
The Spanish government is about to
dispatch 12,000 additional troops to Cuba. It
is asserted that cariists have shot the cannon
of Diocese of Vitaria.
It is understood that a majority of the
delegates to the international congress favor
the exclusion of all points relating to naval
warfare, and a strict adherence to matters
strictly connected with the amelioration of
human suffering in time of war.
The report that England, Germany
and Italy have agreed to watch the Spanish
coast is denied. Germany has not proposed
intervention to Austria, but to join the other
powers in the acknowledgment of the Spanish
republic.
It is reported from Berlin that the
Boman Catholic bishops have forwarded to
the go' ernment a protest declaring that they
cannot submit to a one-sided government,
aud claiming that the legislative power con
cerning the religion of the people belongs
solely to the pope.
Cubans in New York have received
news by way of Havana to the effect that
Cabo, the negro captain, at the head of eman
cipated negroes, is in the neighborhood of
Cienfngos, wrecking plantations and enlisting
slaves and coolies in the patriotic ranks. A
general uprising of the negroes under Cabo
is daily expected.
The London Post reports that the
German government is actively engaged in ne
gotiations aiming at the suppression of the
carlist insurrection. It has exchanged opii
ions with the Russian government, but the
Czar is opposed to interference. Germany is
now trying to bring about a concurrence of
the groat powers in recognition of the Spanish
republic.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Carlotta F. Shatwell or Mrs. Gen.
Roddy, as she claims to be, has been discharg
ed from the Tombs on her parole.
Capt. David White, closely connected
with steamboat interests on the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, died at Keokuk, lowa, re
cently.
Baron Schwarz Senbom, new envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, of
Austria, to the United States, has arrived.
The baron was director-general of the late
Vienna internal exposition.
The secretary of the treasury has di
rected the assistant treasurer at New York to
sell gold the present month as follows : One
million five hundred thousand dollars on the
first and third Thursdays, and one million dol
lars on the second and fourth Thursdays each,
making in all five million dollars.
The public debt statement shows a
reduction during June of $1,282,866, coin in
treasury $71,113,210; currency $16,913,232;
coin certificates $33,469,000, special deposits
of legal tender for redemption of certificates
of deposits $55,955,000. Total expenditures
of government for fiscal year, ending June
30, 1874, were $287,133,873.
The payments made from the treasu
ry department during July were as follows :
Civil and miscellaneous, $7,665,672 ; war, $3,-
173,936; navy, $2,728,270; interior, pensions
and Indians, $2,948 490. Total, $16,516,375.
The above is exclusive of payments on ac
count of principal and interest of the public
debt.
Negotiations for the 5 per cent, fund
ed loan were concluded by the secretary of the
treasury last week, with August Belmont &
Cos., on behalf of N. M. Rothschild A Sons, of
London, and J. and W. Saligman & Cos., on
behalf of themselves and associates. These
parties made an absolute subscription of $45,-
000,000, coupled with the option of taking the
remainder of the loan at any tine within six
months. The loan is tuken at por, to be paid
for in coin or 5-20 bonds, the parties to re
ceive one-quarter of one per cent, commission,
and to defray all the expenses of the transac
tion, including delivery of the bonds. No
doubt exists at the treasury department of
the ability of these bankers to place the en
tire loan.
The treasury department has issued
the following : By virtue of authority given
by act of congress, approved July 14, 1870,
entitled an act to authorize the refunding of
the national debt, I hereby give notice that
the principal and accrued interest of the bonds
hereinbelow designated, as follows: Bonds
known as 5-20 bonds will be paid at the treas
ury of the United States in the city of Wash
ington, on and after the Ist of November,
1874, and that interost on said bonds will cease
on that date; that is to say, coupon bonds
known as the third series, act of Feb. 25, 1862,
dated May 1, 1862; coupon bonds, SSO, Nos.
12.201 to 14,500, both inclusive; SIOO, Nos.
38.201 to 45,100, both inclusive; SSOO, Nos.
19,401 to 28,700, both inclusive ; SI,OOO, Nos.
47.301 to 70,200, both inclusive; total, $2,000,-
000. Registered bonds, SSO, Nos. 1.461 to 1,-
750, both inclusive : SI,OO Nos. 12,701 to 13,-
300, both inclusive ; SSOO, Nos; 6,401 to 7,700,
both inclusive; SI,OOO, Nos 26,167 to 31,609,
both inclusive; $5,000, Nos. 8,304 to 9,800,
both inclusive ; 10,000, Nos. 10,518 to 11,750,
both inclusive ; total, $5,000,000 ; grand total,
$25,000,000. The interest due on Nev. lon
the registered bonds embraced in the call will
be paid with the principal of the bonds.
Tlie Royal Family.
The London Saturday Review says :
“ For nearly three centuries ‘ royal’ per
sonages were so scarce in England that
it was no wonder that, when they began
to be more common, people began to
look upon them as a distinct class from
other people. All through the six
teenth and seventeenth centuries the
royal family consisted of very few mem
bers; sometimes, as in the reign of
Elizabeth, there could not be said to be
ary royal family at all. Between Henry
the Fourth and George the First six
sovereigns only were the fathers of a
Prince of Wales ; two of them, it may
noted, were the father’s of two Prince's
of Wales. And in all that time Charles
the First, as Prince of Wales, and
James the Second, as Duke of York,
were the only son or brother of a king
who had ever the opportunity of play
ing any part in affairs. The rest either
died young or succeeded young.
Through the whole sixteenth century
there were crowds of people who had
contingent claims to the crown, but
they were not people whom any body
would have called royal. The ‘ royal
family,’ as a working institution, really
takes a leap from the son of Henry the
Fourth to the son and grandson of
George the First—is it too bitter a sar
casm to say from John Duke of Bed
ford to Frederick Prince of Wales?
Between these there was only a prince
or princess now and then. It was no
wonder, then, that when the ‘ royal
family’ began again they started on
quite new terms. And, after all, no
one has ever told us what is the royal
lamily. No one has yet been furtl- er
off the reigning sovereign than first
cousin.”
The return to antique styles in jew
elry has been very marked. The trade
in cameos copied from ancient patterns
has become a regular branch of Euro
pean industry. Modern styles have
been utterly discarded. Egyptian,
Etruscan and Greek models are most in
vogue. The bracelet bears the hiero
glyphics of the Pharaohs. Tne high
comb has engraved on its arch the tri
umphal processions of Caesar. Ear
rings are patterned after old lines of
beauty in which Cloepatra and Zenobia
delighted. The connoisseur is charmed
with a ring that bears the the similitude
of the scarabees. In a word, the one
requisite for fashionable jewelry is that
it shall, bear the stamp of antiquity,
although it is well know that it has just
oome from the workman’s hands.
THE HAUNTING FACE.
BT CONSTANCE F. WOOI.SON.
1 said : “ I will not know thee whence thou art,
And though thou livest, thou art dead to me;
I seal thee in thy coffin, far apart
From all my life, from all my memory;
I weigh thee down with firm resolve and scorn,
Within thy outcast’s grave to lie forlorn.”
And yet, thou hauntest me!
I said : “ O face, I bring thee all my gold,
With jewels, sandal-wood, and spices rare ;
I bring the dearest years my life doth hold,
With hoarded memories, aud dreamings fair,
To build a royal tomb where thou in state
Shalt lie, with guard of honor at the gate.”
And yet, thou hauntest me 1
I said: “ Thou art not beautiful, O, face !
Thy cheers are wan, thy far-off eyes are dim.
But here is one with budding, yonthful
Who proffers me a cup filled to the brim
With life’s (lexir. See! I quaff its wine,
While love’s enchantment, to the full, is min?.”
Amt j et, thou hauntest me !
I said : “ The wonders of the world are vast;
Mine eyes shall see them.” F-rth I go, in quest
Of the red-belted lightning coming fast
From out the east, aud shining toward the west
I hunt the northern lights o’er ieeburgs high ;
I seek the star-cros in the southern sky.
And yet, thou hauntest me!
I said: “My heart is failing me for fear;
My schemes are shadows, ard my hopes a dream;
I grasp them, and behold 1 they disappear—
Nor loves, nor friends, nor joys, are what they
seem.
I will begin anew: I will subj >ct
Myself, and live the straightest of my sect.”
Aijd yet, thou hauutest me !
I said: “ Art here again, O haunting face 7
Sptak, then, and take my curse! ” Thy pale lips
part:
Thy life’s on 9 love thou canst not thus efface—
I but reflect tbe image in thine heart;
Thine own heart knows me, though thy lips may
lie;
O false to thine own self! it cannot die,
This love that hauntetli tnee !”
AN OLD LAW VERS STORY.
A great many years ago, while I was
comparatively a young man, and still
unmarried, I resided in a certain city of
Pennsylvania, and enjoye 1 the reputa
tion of being the cleverest lawyer ever
known there. It is not for me to say
the praise was merited, but I certainly
found myself able to discover loop
holes of escape for those whom I de
fended, which surprised even my
fellow lawyers. I possessed by nature
those qualities which would have made
an excellent detective, and I was a
thorough student of the law. There
was no mystery about it, but among
the more ignorant classes I had gained
a reputation for more than human
knowledge. Perhaps it was not polite
for them to say that the devil helped,
but they did.
However, I began to tell you about
Mme. Matteau.
She was an old lady, who owned a
little house in the suburbs of the city.
She herself was of American birth, but
her husband had been a Frenchman,
and so tbe title madame had been be
stowed upon her. She was now a
widow, and her daughter Gabrielle and
her son Henri were her only living rel
atives. Her income was but slender,
and she eked it out by taking a few
boarders, generally steady old people
who had known her for many years.
These respected and liked her ; but the
city generally had a prejudice against
her. There had been two sudden deaths
in her house. Each time the victim
was a stranger who came at night and
was found dead in his bed in the morn
ing. Each time the jury was divided
—some believing that strangulation
had been the causes of death, some
that the man had died in a fit.
It was a terrible thing that two snch
deaths should have occurred beneath
her roof. Madame’s friends pittied her.
The rest of the little world hinted that
these were strangers, and their trunks,
with no one knew how ranch money and
other valuable property, remained in
madame’s possession. No one said she
was a murderess, bat every one said it
was “very strange,” in an odd tone,
and no one since that second death had
visited Mme. Matteau.
I myself—perhaps because I had ad
mired her a great deal, and her daugh
ter much more—had always insisted
that it was merely a coincidence, and
that in a world in which apoplexy and
heart disease were so common, it was
no such marvel that two men should
have met such sudden deaths in the
same house. But my faith in this theo
ry was shaken when one morning it was
published over the city that another
transient boarder had been found dead
in Mme. Matteau’s house, and that she
was arrested on suspicion of having
murdered him, his watch and chain
having been found in her possession.
Before I had recovered from the
shock of this terrible piece of news, a
message came to me from Mme. Mat
teau. She desired to see me. Of course
I went to her at once.
She had been taken to prison and I
found her in a little room with a barred
window, and an insufficient fire upon
the hearth. The logs had burnt in two
upon the andirons, and the white ashes
were scattered over the hearth. Almost
in them sat Mme. Matteau, in her
widow’s dress of sombre black.
She was chilly with grief and excite
ment, and had drawn her chair close to
the fire.
She shook violently from head to
foot, and her face was deadly pale as
she turned it toward me and held out
where hand.
“ Oh, thank hesven, you have come!”
she said; “I know you can save me.
Is it not horrible ? How could I kill
a man ? Why should I ? Why do peo
ple come to my house to die ? To die
horribly, with black faces and starting
eyes, as if somebody had choked them?
Ugh !—and he was a pretty young man
the night before. Oh, good heaven,
how horrible 1”
I sat down behind her. I took her
hand.
“ Mme. Matteau,” I said, “ be calm ;
collect yourself. As your lawyer I
must know all. Tell me, from first to
last, what happened—what was said,
what was done. If you—”
I paused ; her black eyes had flashed
upon me. I could not ask her whether
she had any confession to make. I saw
that she had not. Unless she was the
beet actress who ever lived, Mme. Mat
thau was innocent of any crime.
“If you have any suspicions,” I ad
ded, “ tell them all to me.”
“There is no one to suspect,” sobbed
the poor woman.
“In the 'house were Gabrielle, my
daughter, whom yon have seen ; eld
Hannah, the cook ; Mr. and Mrs. Beau
champ, friends of my poor dear hus
band in his boyhood—the best, kindest
people ; Mr. Gray, a very old man, too
feeble to leave the house; poor, de
formed Miss Gorman, atd the librarian,
Mr. Bassford. None of these would
murder a mouse. See how kind they
are; they remain in my house; they send
me word that they have no doubt of me.
Oh, how can anybody ?”
“ And this man who—” I began.
“ Yes,” said Mme. Matteau. “I will
tell you; he was fair, young, hand
somely dressed ; he asked Mr. Bassford
at the depot if he knew of any one who
could accommodate him. Mr. Bass
ford brought him home. My only
empty room was the one in which those
other two strangers died. I could not
bear to put him there, but Mr. Bass
ford laughed at me. We had supper
afterward. He talked a long while to
Gabrielle. It was late when he retired
—late for a quiet household. Hannah
had made his fire. She car e and told
us that she had done so. He said good
night.
“ After he had gone we found that he
had left his watch on the table. He
wore it only with a bunch of seals,
and he had been setting it by the clock,
and showing it to us as something
very handsome. I knocked at his and oor
to restore it to him. He had not left
us but fifteen minutes before; but he
must have been asleep already, for he
made no answer. So I kept it for the
night, and wore it down to breakfast
next morning. As I came down I met a
CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12. 1874,
gentleman in the hall. He inquired
for Mr. Glen. That was the new
comet’s name. I sent Hannah to wake
him. She had a key that would open
the door, and used it. The next thing
I knew we were all in the room and the
windows were wide open, and the doc
tor had been sent for; and the young
man who had called was screaming that
his brother had been choked to death ;
and there was the inquest, and they ar
rested me. The brother said the first
thing to be noticed was that I wore Mr.
Glen’s watch and seals. I had forgot
ten it in my terror.”
“So Hannah had a key to the room?”
I said.
“Yes; at least it was a key that
would open it. It was the key to Mr.
Bassford’s door. She knocked the
other out with a stick aud put that in.”
“ The people who were there on that
night were your boarders when the oth
er men were found dead,” I asked.
“Oh, yes!”
“ And Hannah was there also ?”
“All my married life Hannah has
lived with me.”
“ Your daughter oversees your house
hold in your absence?”
“Yes, poor child, with Hannah’s
helD.”
I thought a little while.
“Madame,” I said, “ there is some
strange mystery in the affair. Ido not
despair of proving yonr entire inno
cence. Meanwhile, be as calm as pos
sible, and endeavor to rememter every
thing connected with the sudden deaths
that have occurred in your house. The
incident that seems the least important
may really b 9 of the most immense
value.”
So I left and went home. Strange
enough, on the way I met the doctor
who had been called in. He was a dull,
heavy sort of a person, considerably
given to beer drinking, and my opinion
of his ability >ras not very great. How
ever, I questioned him on the subject,
and he repli and :
“ Well, yon see, I don’t say the old
woman murdered him. If she did, I
should say it was by sitting on him, or
smothering him with the bolsters. I
suppose the cause of his death was as
phyxia. Well, then, what is asphyxia?
Why, too little breath to keep one liv
ing. He died because he was short of
breath. I wash my hands on that mat
ter. Only there’s • the watch that looks
dark.”
I had learned nothing from the doc
tor. The coroner lived near me. His
jury had been twelve of the most ignor
ant men in town.
This is all he told me.
“He was smothered, that man was,
so were the other two. Men don’t
smother themselves. We made it in
scrutable Providence t’other time. We
make it murder this time. That there
watch, you know.”
Thus, without any new light, I went
home and formed my plans. There
was but one way in which to penetrate
the mystery. I must enter the house;
I must see the people there; I must
penetrate to the room in which these
men had died so suddenly, and I must
not be know in my real character. That
Mme. Matteau was innocent I fully be
lieved, but that someone was guilty I
made no doubt. It might be the libra
rian, Mr. Bassford, whose key fitted
the dead man’s door. It was pessible;
but no, I would not harbor a mad su
perstition. There eould be no super
natural power beneath which human
being dropped and died. Death as it
came to us all was mysterious enough.
What had been said to me by a woman,
who would have been a spiritualist bad
she lived to-day, was a mere absudity.
“ I believe that there is some horrible
unseen thing in the room,” she said,
“some awful shapeless spirit, that when
it is locked in with the victim murders
him. Let others believe what they will,
I believe that.
The wordß haunted me, but I laughed
at them, of course. Whatever it was I
would try to know. I had a plan.
At dusk I went into my bedroom my
self. I came out a strange man. I
wore a white wig, a pair of green gog
gles and an overcoat, the tails of which
reached to my heels. I had a muffler
about my throat, and a little hunch on
one of my shoulders. I carried a thick
cane, and stooped a great deal as I
walked. In my hands I carried a car
pet bag, and in my bosom a pair cf pis
tols, well loaded.
As I passed out into the street the
early moon was just rising ; she lit me
on my way to the door of Mme. Mat
tean’s house.
It was opened for me when I knocked,
by old Hannah. Her eyes were red and
swollen. Then I t@ld her that I was a
stranger, and had received Mme. Mat
teau’s address from a gentleman in New
York, and desired to stay all night under
her roof. She shook her head.
“I don’t think you can,” she said.
“The lady is away from home. Besides
we are in trouble here. I don’t think
Miss Gabrieli a would—”
But here Miss Gabriella herself ap
peared.
“lam an old man, miss,” I said,
“and as you see, quite infirm. I dread
another step. I should take it as a
kindness if you would accommodate
me, and I will pay you any price you
ask.”
Miss Gabrielle looked at Hannah.
“We have only one room,” she said,
“ and that—”
I ended the question of my stay .by
begging to be taken to it.
“You will have supper, sir?” asked
the girl.
But I declared that I had eaten, and
only wanted rest.
Her r> ply was :
“ Hannah, show the gentleman to the
blue room and make a fire.
I was in the blue room, the scene of
the three sudden deaths or murders. It
was a small apartment, painted blue,
It had also blue window curtains, and a
blue silk coverlet on the bed ; a neat
striped carpet, a set of old mahogany
furniture, and a very handsome ewer
and a basin of costly china. It was at
that time almost a universal custom to
burn wood. In this room, however,
was a small coal fire. I alluded to this
as Hannah came in with the scuttle.
“ Yes, sir,” she said. “Misses does
burn coals. Her son is a clerk or the
like at the new mines at Mauch Chunk,
and he sends it cheap to her ; but it’s a
nasty, dirty-smelling thiDg, and I hate
it. Now it’s built and lit, ’twill warm
up in fifteen minutes. It takes longer
than wood.”
She went out of the door and came
back in a minute with a little tray on
which stood a pot and a cup and saucer,
also a bowl and a tiny pitcher, and some
thing in a napkin.
“ Miss sent a bit and a sip, said she,
“ Tea rests us old folks mightily. Good
night.”
“Good night,” I said, “I expect I
shall sleep Boon ; I must be up very
early, though, for l have bills to pay.
I have some hundreds of dollars with
me to payout to-morrow, and its in this
bag.”
She looked at me in a queer sort of a
way and lingered beside me. At last
she ppoke :
“ Look ye, sir ; I think that old folks
of your age do wrong to lock doors on
themselves. You might be ill at night,
an! who’d get into yen? Leave your
door unlocked.”
Was it this woman’s practice to beg
travelers who stopped with her mistress
not to look the doors ? Was there some
baneful portion in the cup she had
given me?
It was an innocent-looking cup
enough—an old-fashioned affair cov
ered with little gilt springs. The tea
was fragrant Hyson ; but the suspicion
that had crept into m j mind had tainted
it. I fancied a strange color, a curious
smell. I put it from me and would not
have tasted it for a kingdom.
I had not intended to sleep, and I did
not undress myself. I merely removed
my disguise, and sat down beside the
table with my pistols beside me. That
some attempt might be shortly made to
murder me I felt to be possible. I
thought of all the old tales I had heard
of trap doors, and sliding panels, and
secret entrances to travelers rooms. I
was not a ooward, but I felt strangely
nervous, and singularly enough for a
man in my perfect health my hands
were cold, and my feet were
lumps of ice, while my head was burn
ing hot.
Fifteen minutes had passed and the
fire was kindled, but the room was not
warm. The blue flames struggled
among the black coals, and flung forked
tongues tipped with yellowish tints,
into the room. There was nothing
cheerful about the stove, though it was
of that open styie now called Franklin.
Yet I drew a chair toward it from
habit, and sat with my feet upon the
hearth. Ido not know how long I sat
there. Suddenly I became aware that
I was not mys. If. I was losing my
senses. If unseen hands had been
clasped about my neck, and an un
seen knee been pressed against my
chest, my sensations could not have
been different.
A thought of the evil spirit which my
friend had suggested faintly struggled
into my mind. As I staggered to my
feet a noise like the roaring of a sea
was in my ear. The flames of a candle
turned to a great yellow blue. I barely
retained strength enough to stagger to
the window and fling it open. The fresh,
cold winter air rushed in at it. It gave
me intense p in, but it relieved me. Iu
a moment more I was able to clamber
out of it upon the shed below.
There I remained until the day dawn.
With my returning senses the truth
came to me. That which had murdered
the three men who slept before me in
the blue chamber was nothing more or
less than the coal stove.
It was provided with what is called a
damper, and this beiDg caught in a man
ner which closed it sent the poisonous
air into the room. It had been kindled
as a wood-fire won'd hav.i been at the
hour of retiring, by one quite ignorant
of the danger possible from coal gas,
and they had slept never to awaken.
Had I thrown myself upon the bed, I
also should have been found dead at
daylight, in all probability.
As for the fact that neither doctor nor
coroner discovered the truth, I have but
to say that they were not deeply scien
tific men.
Of course I rejoiced the household
by my discovery next morning, and
equally, of course, Mme. Matteau, who
was not only freed from suspicion, but
became the object of universal sympa
thy. She was always grateful to me,
and she proved her gratitude by giving
what I soon asked for, the hand of her
daughter Gabrielle in marriage.
Bulls Not Irish.
It was a Scotch woman who said that
the butcher of her town only killed
half a beast at a time ; it was a Dutch
man who said that a pig had no marks
on its ears except a short tail; and it
was a British magistrate, who, being
told by a vagabond that he was not mar
ried, responded, “That’s a good thing
for your wife.” It was an English re
porter who stated, at a meeting of the
Ethnological Society' there was exhib
ited “ casts of the skull of an individ
ual at different periods of adult life, to
show the changes produced in ten
years,” though Dean Swift certainly
mentions two skulls preserved in Ire
land, one of a peison when he was a
boy, and the other of the same person
when he grew to be a man. It was a
Portuguese mayor who enumerated
among the marks by which the body of
a drowned man might be identified when
found, “ a marked impediment in his
speech.” It was a Frenchman, the
famous Carlino, who, contentedly lay
ing his head on a large stone jar for
a pillow, replied to one who enquired
if it was not rather hard, “ Not at all,
for I’ve stuffed it with hay.” It was an
American lecturer who solemnly said
“ Parents, you have children, or if not,
your daughters may have.” And it was a
German orator, who, warming with his
subject, exclaimed, “There is no man,
woman or child in this house, who has
arrived at the age of fifty years, but
what has felt the truth thundering
through their minds for centuries.”
The Plagues of the Southern Planters.
And now, with his accustomed regu
larity, comes the boll worm in some
parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Lou
isiana. The boll worm is no stranger.
He is an annual visitor, but this season
he is later than usual. Fortunately its
ravages are confined to comparatively
limited areas, and seldom extend be
yond the immediate neighborhood of its
birth, the worm not being migratory in
its habits. Its destructiveness is as great,
however, as that of the caterpillar, a3 it
attacks the exterior of the boll and bores
entirely through, completely destroying
the fibre, cselyx, etc. Last year the in
sect ravaged Upson, Marion, Twiggs,
Stewart, Coweta, Calhoun, McDuffie,
Butts, Baldwin and Heard counties,
Georgia, destroying the cotton crops
and inflicting much pecuniary loss upon
the planters there ; but on this occasion
this year Georgia is spared. The cater
pillar, however, is said to have put in an
appearance in some of the counties of
that State, but we do not learn that
they have done a great deal of damage
as yet. It is sad to reflect that nothing
has yet been discovered that will prevent
the ravages of the boll worm and cater
pillar. Millions of dollars have been
lost, and hundreds of men bankrupted
by these. pests; bnt, excepting empiri
cal “ destroyers,” nothing has been dis
covered that will enable the planter to
get rid of them. — New York Bulletin.
More Certain than Philosophical.
—One of the students at Davidson
College, who was too lazy to do any
thing right, was in the habit of cleaning
out his lamp-cLimnev by running his
finger down it as far he oould and twist
ing it around. After he had cleaned it
out in this partial manner, one day not
long ago, a fellow student took it up
and carried it to the residence of one of
the Professors, with the inquiry, “ Why
is it that this chimney is smoked up to
this point and no farther ?” The learn
ed gentleman entered into an elaborate
scientific explanation of why it was,
arguing with great luckiness, and citing
various authorities to show the correct
ness of his reasoning. When he had
finished, the student said to him, “No,
sir, yon are wrong.” “ Why is it, then ?”
inquired the Professor. “Because the
fellow’s finger wasn’t long enough to
reach any farther,” replied the student,
Somebody told us the other day that
if you will put a little syrnp and water
in a bowl and set the bo vl on your ta
ble, with a small piece of wood extend
ing from the table to the rim of the
bowl, to serve as a sort of bridge, you
can catch all the roaches in the neigh
borhood in a single night. We tried it.
The roaches went to the syrup and vx
ter by companies, battalions and brig
ades, but when you gave them a small
scare they shot up the sides of that
bowl faster than a lightning express
train can travel an up-grade of three
feet to the mile. A more diabolical
fraud upon a confiding and unprotected
orphan was never perpetrated.— Cornier
Journal,
LOBBYING AS A FINE ART.
The Dark Side of Congressional mid
Slate legislation.
Among all the flourishing trades of
modern times there is none equal to
lobbying. The persons who follow it
claim for it considerable antiquity, and
they are always endeavoring to impress
upon the publio mind that the business
of politics never was carried on without
the aid of lobbyists, and never can be.
There are lobbyists who are never
guilty of double dealing or cheating.
But we have never heard of these men
making fortunes. One does not see
them with town or country residences,
or hear of their driving fast trotters.
The “ square” sort of lobbyist has little
political influence, and certainly is not
able to “plant” all bis relations and
dependents comfortably in public of
fices. The truly flourishing lobbyist
plays his cards in a different way. His
plan of operations is generally some
thing like this : He mauages to obtain
control—by fair means or foul—usually
by foul—of a newspaper. This is his
step. Country members of the legisla
ture are apt to attach much importance
to seeing tliei ■ names in a newspaper—
it does not much matter what sort of a
newspaper it is. Upon this weakness
the rising lobbyist takes care to play,
with what judgment and skill he may
possess. He praises his patrons, and
abuses all who refuse to intrust to him
their “business.” He forges letters, in
vents slanders, and is particularly ex
pert in accusing his enemy of being in
volved in some disreputable intrigue
with a woman. The lobbyist who owns
a newspaper knows that this is a sort
of charge which scares nine men out of
ten out of their wits ; for there is gen
erally no way of disproving it, and the
world is always ready to believe the
worst of a man. That is a character
istic of human nature which the lobby
ist turns to excellent account, so far as
his own interests are concerned.
It is clear, then, that a newspaper be
comes an important aid to the lobbyist
at, the outset of his career, and the
longer he can retain control of it the
more advantageous it will be to him.
The majority of men do no v like to have
lies published about them, or to see
their families made the snbjeot of vile
and cowardly slanders. The lobbyist
knows this, and seldom fails to drive
his antagonist out of the field. We
have no libel law worth mentioning, and
the lobbyist makes tbe most of this
convenient circumstance. He accuses
one man of starving his children, and
then of carrying on intrigues with
somebody else’s wife—in short, there is
no crime which he is not ready to charge
against anybody who presumes to in
terfere with his operations. Two per
sons who are slandered might enter
suits for libel, but they cannot bring
their cases to final hearing in less.than
five or six years at the earliest. In the
meanwhile, the lobbyist can go on re
peating filthy calumnies as fast as he
can invent them. The result, in the
majority of instancas, is that the vic
tims “knuckle down.” It begins to be
said by the persons who are attacked,
“So-and-so is a dangeraus man; he
does not care what he says about you.
It is best to let him alone.” And so he
is let alone, and goes on rolling up a
fortune which honest and hard-working
professional men seldom have a chance
of acquiring. One of the Albany lob
byists is said to be worth $400,000 ; an
other has made at least $300,000 in the
course of a few years, and there is noth
ing to prevent him doubling it—unless
we undertake to expose him throughout
each session of the legislature. And
this we certainly intend to do. He will
“take it out of us” in liis “newspaper,”
but we are used to that.
The lobbyist’s regular source of in
come is, of course, derived from his
supposed knowledge of the art of put
ting out money “where it will do the
most good.” He knows who will take
a bribe, and how much the amount
must be. If a company wishes to get a
bill passed, or to prevent some objec
tionable bill from passing, it summons
the lobyist to its assistance. But, out
side of this kind of work, there are nu
merous devices for reaping a large in
come. When trade is slack, the lobby
ists get together and concoct a bill aim
ing at the rights or privileges enjoyed
by some company already in existence.
They pay a member of the legislature
to introduce this bill, and then go to
the threatened company and tell it the
measure is sure to pass if money is not
sent to Albany to defeat it. They name
their own sum ; it is generally paid ;
and the dreaded bill is no more heard
of. Then the lobbyist has another plan
of making hay while the sun Bhines.
A company, let ns say, applies to him to
get a bill passed. He tells the agents
he shall want at least $20,000. The
money is paid, and he goes to Albany
with it and pays out say $5,000 among
the bribable members. The remaining
$15,000 he quietly put into his own
pocket. If the bill passes, the com
pany are satisfied and never ask a ques
tion about the affair. If it does not
pass, they may ask questions, but they
will get no information out of the lob
byist. “Where did you pay out the
money ?” he may be asked. His reply,
exuressed in warm terms of indigna
tion, is usually in this vein : “ Dou
you think I will tell you the names of
the members whom I have bribed ? No;
lam bound to protect them. What do
you take me for ? I would have you
know that I am an honorable man, and
I trust yon Will never insult me in this
way again.” The head of the company
begins to feel that he really has acted
very shabbily, and the lobbyist goes
forth with his 75 per cent, plunder
comfortably stowed away in his pock
ets. It is a game in which there is
scaroely the least probability of his
being found out—certainly not one
chance in a thousand.
By these means almost any man who
follows up the trade {for a few years
may amass from $300,000 to $400,000.
It may involve a certain loss of charac
ter, but not very much. People may
look askance at the lobbyist, but gen
erally they will be too much afraid of
him and his newspaper to say what they
think of him. And then he has money,
and will buy almost anything. The
lobbyist gets‘all the society he wants
and even boast—as one did the other
day—of being asked to dinner by the
president and by “ Mr. George W.
Childs, of Philadelphia.” Surely that
is enough to satiety any man’s social
ambition. And even if these privileges
were denied to the lobbyist, he would
probably not take the loss much to
heart. From a barefooted and ragged -
breeched boy he has been transformed
into a wealthy American citizen, owning
houses and lands, with all his poor
relations provided for by a generous
public; and with the prospect before
him of ending his d> ys as a millionaire
in a “palatial mansion” instead of dy
ing a pauper in an Irish ditch. Such a
reward as this is quite sufficient to make
the trade of lobbying one of the moat
popular of the day, and its brilliant
success is one of the signs by which we
may judge of the improvements which
we are making in the political and moral
ideas and principles bequeathed to us
by the “ Fathers. ” — New York Times.
“No animal,” says a writer in Fraser,
contending against Darwinism, “has
ever been so honored, so carefully
tended, and so prized by man as the
horse. He has been for many years the
companion and darling of man. Yet,
is the horse of to day more exalted than
the horse of Job, and Homer, and Vir
gil ? Do we notioe him to be in a
course of transition to a higher state of
being accompanied with some change
of form, and with a manifest enlarge
ment of capacity ? We notice nothing
of the kind, and, moreover, expect
nothing of the kind. We confidently
expect him to remain a horse, he and
his descendants, to the last chapter of
this world’s history. Neither the ant
nor the bee is a whit more sagacious
than they were in the days of Solomon
or Virgil. They are not in course of
transition to a higher platform—they
are absolutely stationary—their organs
no way eith r improvedor multiplied.”
The Pyramid of Cheops.
A correspondent of Appleton’s Jour
nal writes ns follows regarding this
great pyramid :
“Aside from ti e theory advanced by
many learned men throughout Europe
that the real architect of the great Pyr
amid, under King Cheops, was none
other than Melchizedek, and that the
mysterious mass was constructed by di
vine inspiration, it is nevertheless true
that it contains au infinite number of
curious facts, embracing the mathemat
ical, physical, astronomical, geograph
ical, and meterological sciences, seem
ingly unknown at the date of its con
struction—,l7o years before the advent
of Christ—and which have only been
revealed to us four thou and years later.
Among those facts which have recent
ly excited so much attention and specu
lation among the learned, we may quote
the following : 1. The relation of the
circumference of the circle to its diam
eter, the solution es near as possible of
the great problem of the quadrature of
the circle. 2. The length of the rota
tory axis of the earth. 3. The exact
distance of the earth from the sun, in
computing which, modern astronomy,
only a few years ago, made an error of
nearly two hundred and fifty million
miles. 4. The mean density, and con
sequently the weight of the earth. 5.
The fixation of its own date, and of the
singular astronomical circumstances
which accompanied it at the time when
the first of the Pleiades was at the
equinox of spring, and when one of the
most remarkable stars in the Egyptian
firmament removed ninety degrees
from the Dragon—was the most bril
liant or the most visible star in the
neighborhood @f the pole. 6. A meas
ure of latitude, it being exactly thirty
degrees latitude north. 7. The geo
graphical centre of the earth’s surface.
8. The geometrical centre of the great
Delta of the Nile, perhaps the greatest
and most fertiling water-course in the
known world. 9. An exact and logical
system of weights and measures, con
structed in accordance with invariable
principles, differing little from the
British system actually in force, but
opposed to the system of tho French
metre. 10. A clearly established proph
ecy foretelling the exodus from Egypt.
The precise year of our Savior’s advent
together with the chronological details
of his life; and last, bat not least, a
figure of the end of the order of things
as at present e tablished.
The great Pyramid, in affording the
solution to so many problems, may well
be regarded as tho most marvelous mon
ument of antiquity.”
THE PUBLIC DEBT.
Hegular Monthly Statement-Decrease
in June $1,28)4,860.
The public debt statement has just
been issued, of which the following is a
recapitulation:
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN COIN.
Bonds at 6 per cent $1,213,228,050
Bonds at 5 per cent 511,025,200
Total $1,724,253,250
DEBT BEARING INTEREST IN LAWFUL MONET.
Lawful money debt 14,078,000
Matured debt 2,740,830
DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST.
Legal tender notes $ 383,076,707
Certificates on deposit 55,955,000
Fractional currency 45,719,792
Coin certificates 33,469,000
Total without interest $ 517,220,500
Total debt $ 2,258.892,580
Total interest 25,894,238
CASH IN THE TREASURY.
Coin 71,113,210
Currency 16,913,232
Special deposit held for redemp
tion of certificates of deposit,
as provided by law 55,955,000
Total in treasuty $ 143,981,443
DEBT I.ESS CASH IN THE TREASURY.
Debt loss cash ill treasury $ 2,141,805,375
Decrease of the debt dur.ng the
past month 1,282,866
BONDS ISSUED TO PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANIES.
INTEREST PAYABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY.
Bonds issued to Pacific railroad
companies, interest payable in
lawful money, principal out
standing ® 64,623,512
Interest accrued and not yet
paid 323,117
Interest paid by United States. 24,325,396
Interest repaid by transporta
tion of mails, etc 5,331,2i9
Balance of interest paid by the
United States 18,994,107
The total ordinary expenditures dur
ing the fiscal year ending Jene 30, were
as follows :
Civil and miscellaneous $ 69,641,503
vy ar 42,313,927
Naval'.".'.*.".'.'.'.".'. • 30.932,587
Interior—lndians
Interest on public debt
Premium on public debt 1,380,1)70
ToUI $287,133, 871
Being $3,211,372 less than for the previous fis
cal year.
The Savior aud His Carpenter Shop.
Much has been said in America about
Mr. Holmau Hunt’s “ miraculous” pic
ture of the “ Shadow of Death,” and it
has been praised as a revelation of new
capacities in art. I saw a sole mn per
son on the street with an advertisement
on his back telling where the picture
was to be seen, and a shilling passed me
into tha solemn show. A more absurd
picture was never painted. _ The partic
ular pretension of this picture is its
literalness, but the litter of shavings on
the floor of the Savior’s carpenter shop
seems to account fully and exclusively
for that. The “Shadow of Death’
could not fall across the light of the
window as represented. Such a jewel
box as Mary, the mother, is looking into
was never seen in a carpenter shop.
Such silken drapery as is trailed among
the shavings was always impossible in
an association like that, and the Young
Carpenter, the Curist of the piece, is
the funniest fellow I have ever seen in
a picture. His ouly garment is what
the Indians call a breech-clout. It has
the advantage of being a fine article of
figured silk, and though the Savior has
been toiling with plane and saw, and is
in the act of throwing up his hands with
a sense of relief, having accomplished
his day’s work and earned his bread in
the sweat of his face, there is no trace
of possible perspiration. Mr. Hunt’s
Savior has a finely developed Jewish
nose, which is all well, no doubt; but
his hair seems a shade too yellow, and
his eyes a degree too blue for one of the
young men of the place and period ;
and we have to account for those hues
by considering his complexion, which
is* a fine, bright oopper color, producing
a most grotesque effect. If it is the ob
ject of art to make Christ ridiculous,
Mr. Hunt should step to the front. —
London letter of M. Halstead.
Pekhaps love is never so potent s
when it seizes upon those who have
passed the prime of life. The choice
made is then likely to be thoroughly
suited to the nature of the man; and
any intellectual gifts on the part of the
woman are likely to be more attractive
to a man of this age than to a younger
person. Besides, there is a feeling that
as life is not likely to be very long, this
late love is the last thing to be clung
to; and that after it, should it be lost,
all will be desolation.— Art/iur Helps.
Pasta’s Last Appearance.;
In Chorley’s “Recent*Art and So
ciety” is found the following : “ There
remains a strange scene to be spoken of
—the last appearance of this magnifi
cent musical artist [Pasta] when she
allowed herself, many years lat ir, to be
seduced into giving one performance at
Her Majesty’s Theatre, and to uing in a
concert for the Italian cause at the
Rojal Italian Opera. Nothing more
ill-advised conld have been drained of.
Mmo. Pasta, had long ago thrown off
the stage and all its belongings. * *
* Her voice, which, at its best, had
required ceaseless watching and prac
tice, had been long ago given up by her.
Its state of utter ruin on the light in
question passes description. She had
been neglected by those who .it least
should have presented her person to
the best advantage admitted ty time.
Her queenly robes (she was to sing some
scenes from ‘Anne Boleyn’) in nowise
suited or disguised her figure. Her
hair-dresser had done some tremendous
things or other with her head—or rather
had left everything undone. A more
painful disastrous spectacle oould hard
ly be looked on. There were artists
present who had then, for the first time,
to derive some impression of a re aowned
artist —perhaps with the natural feeling
that her reputation had been exagger-
ated. Among these was Rachel whose
bitter ridicule of the entire sad show
made itself heard throughout th j whole
theatre, and drew attention to tbe place
where she sat, one might even cay sar
castically enjoying the scene. Among
the audience, however, was another
gifted woman, who might fax more
legitimately have been shocked at
the utter wreck of every musical
means of expression in the singer,
who might have been more natur
ally forgiven if some horn or of
self-glorification had made her severely
just—not worse—to an old prima donna;
I mean Mme. Viardot. Then, aid not
till then, she was hearing Mme. Pasta.
Bat truth will always answer to the ap
peal of trnth. Dismal as was the spec
tacle—broken, hoarse, and destroyed as
was the voice—the great style of the
singer spoke to the singer. The first
scene was Anne Boleyn’s duet with
Fane .Seymour. The old spirit was
heard and seen in Mme. Pasta’s ‘Sorgi,’
and ihe gesture with which she signed
to her penitent rival to rise. Later, she
attempted the fiual mad scene of the
opera—that most complicated and bril
liant among the mad scenes on the mod
ern musical stage—with its two canta
bile movements, its snatches of recita
tive, and its bravura of despair, which
may be appealed to as an example of
vocal display, till then unparagoned,
when turned to the account of frenzy,
not frivolity—perhaps, as such, com
missioned by the superb creative utist.
By that time, tired, unprepared, ruin as
as she was, she had rallied a little. When
—on Anne Boleyn’s hearing the corona
tion music for her rival, the heroine
searches for her own crown on her brow
—Mme. Pasta widely tnrned it, the
direction of the festive sounds, tho old,
irresistible charm broke out; nay, even
in the fiual song, with its roulade and
its scales of shakes, ascending by a
semitone, the consummate vocalist and
tragedian, able to combine form with
meaning—the moment of the situation,
with such personal and musical display
as forms an integral part of operatic art
—was indicated, at least, to the appre
hension of a young artist. ‘ You are
right!’.was Mme. Yiardot’s quick and
heartfelt response (her eyes fill of
tears) to a friend beside her. * Yen are
right! it is like the “ Cenacola ”of Da
Ninci at Milau —a wreck of a picture,
but the picture is the greatest picture in
the world. ’ ”
“ Stars ” by the Seaside.
A correspondent of the Louisville
Courier-Journal, writing of the actors
who sojourn at Long Branch, says:
“Edward Adams breakfasts in bis Ham
let dress, cuts up bis steak with a dag
ger, aud drinks out of a correct imita
tion of Yorrick’B skull. He plays bill
iards in the same dress, never forget
ting his cue. He is said to be able to
dig more potatoes in a day than an3 man
at the Branch. In this pursuit he al ways
dresses as Enoch Arden. When he
drives it is as Coriolanns in a Roman
chariot, but when he is on horseback
look out for him. He is then in full
plate armor, and with lance in rest
charges furiously upon all horsemen
and carriages. His house is flanked by
a tall tower, in the cellar of winch is
the gloomiest of dungeons. Into this
black and horrid abyss he plunges his
male captives, after stripping them of
their money and United States bonds.
His lady captives he treats with tie ut
most politeness and dances dusty min
uets with them in the highways. He
has grown rich by “ these his practices.”
Chanfrau and his brother are always
dressed in red shirts and firemen’s hel
mets. They beat each other over the
head with spanners, and enjoy life in a
rational way. Booth, when he lived
here, dressed in plum-colored tights,
and destroyed quite a number of fine
trees by carving on them, in fat letters,
the unheard-of name of Rosalind. Per
haps it was the name of his 000 k. Man
ager Henderson has his wife commence
an overture on the piano at half-past
seven, and the big barn doors are
thrown open at eight precisely. The
performance is short, the gas being
turned out at nine o’clock, and in five
minutes after that time the manager is
tucked away in his little bed.”
Halstead Hoes to Hear Patti
I have heard Patti in opera, a privi
lege we are denied in the United States.
It is not far from twenty years sinot she
was a slender little girl, with great
black sparkling eyes, singing in concerts
under the direction of Strakosch. Her
youth has been wonderfully preserved.
Her eyes Bet-m larger and blacker, and
glow with a deep fire. There is liot a
line in her face to speak of the unkind
iiness of time. There is a tenderness
almost weak m the expression of her
mouth. Her throat and arms are
plump, and have the whiteness of snow.
Her figure is charrr ing, and in grace
and vivacity she is bird-like. Ir the
third act of “II Trovatore” the splen
dor of her diamonds was astounding.
There were coronet and necklace and
girdle-bands and bracelets and rings of
diamonds, a diamond bird and bn'.tor
fly in her hair, a diamond bouquet on
her bosom, and as she moved she glit
tered from head to foot in a degree that
was dazzling. The part of Leonora is
an exacting one, and as she submitted
repeatedly to be recalled and enot red,
she was in the last soene nearly exhaust
ed, and her pallor, which was very
marked, was not all artistic. The cues
tion as to her appearance in opera in
America has not been settled. She
agrees to go. All that she asks as a
condition is granted. She signs the
contract to go; and then she does not
go. With Europe treating her as the
very qneen of song, and showering the
richest evidence of admiration and hom
age upon her, it is not surprising that
she hesitates to cross the Atlantic to
encounter the immense fatigueß of a
season in America. Ido not think it
important that I should discuss the
question of her capacity as an artist, or
compare her with Nilsson and Lnosa.
The poison of the viper is said to be
an antidote to the poison of a mad dog.
All that is necessary, therefore, to in
sure safaty in hydrophobia days is to
carry a viper in your pocket, and apply
its fangs to your leg every time you are
bitten by a mad dog. The remedy is
simple and probably certain.
VOL. 15-NO. 33.
SAYISGS AYD DOI3GS.
A writer in the Chicago Tribune im
agines “ a greenback quivering under
the meteoric signature of Gen. Spinner.”
You mnst not flirt with the girls if
you expect to use your oar successfully,
is a standing order to the university
crews at Saratoga.
Am lowa editor recently announced
that a certain patron of hia was “ thiev
ing as usual.” He claims that he wrote
“ thriving.”
Mrs. Cloggebs wet her feet the other
morning by going out into the dewy
grass. She now appreciates the maxim
“give the devil his dew.”
The pacsenger train between Colum
bus and Macon, Ga., took in sl.lO dur
ing a reoent trip, and yet these bloaied
railroads talk of hard times.
The >'rotestants appear to be making
headway in Mexioo. Five years ago
they had less than six churches there,
and they now have ninety-eight.
Oct os a Foul. —
The ball ettme whizzing red-hot through the air
The fielders all looked for a fly;
It lust t.pped the bat. but Barney was there
And took it in under bis eye.
The Turkish government has formal
ly stated ta the UniteJ Statea Minister
that it intends adhering to its recent
prohibition of the Bales of Biblea in
Turkey.
Next to music, nothing so powerfully
tends to soothe the savage breast as to
see the young man who parts his hair
in the middle shoving a baby-wagon on
Sunday.
A Philadelphia girl called a young
man a thief, and when requested by the
mother of the accused to prove the
charge, said he had stolen several kisses
from her.
Pathetic appeal from a Chicago ex
press driver during the fire: “Do you
want to see your family beggared before
jour face ? Wake up and be a man !
I’ll save you for fifty dollars !”
The German military authorities have
determined to revoke their absurd or
der which prohibited soldiers from
drinking water while on the march.
This privation caused many deaths dur
ing the Franco-Persian war.
“Kate, I understand yon have ac
cepted a situation as governess. Rath
er than that, I would marry a widower
with six children.” “Yes, dear Sophie,
and so would I, bnt where is the wid
ower ?”
Only half as much land as usual is
planted in tobioco this year in Massa
chusetts and Connecticut, but as less
manure has been used owing to the
hard times, while labor is cheaper, the
crop w ill be relatively more profitable.
Mosquitos are described in a oertain
part of Minnesota as “thicker than the
surrounding foliage, with wings like
Appollyon’s, a beak like an artesian au
ger, and a voice like the sound of many
waters.”
As to that paragraph about Esther
Shaw, of Davenport,* lowa, who worked
fifteen years in a family without asking
a cent, it becomes necessary to say that
it was a very large family Esther worked
in, and they boarded in the state prison.
"A man in a New York rural settlement,
who has been an inveterate smoker for
twenty years, has suddenly and per
manently given np the practice. He
knocked the ashes of his pipe into a keg
of blasting-powder.
The great western railway company
of England has abandoned the broad
for the narrow guage. The change of
gnage of the whole line was effected in
three days, and with it ends the broad
guage system in Great Britain.
A Pennsylvania man has in his pos
session a cigar seventy-: wo years old,
bnt if he thinks the papers are going
to nominate him for Governor on that
aeoount he will be disappointed. The
time has gone by when a cigar seventy
two years old will get np a tidal wave.
Dr. , entering a military hospital
surgery, met Doyle, the orderly, and
asked which he considered the most
dangerous of the many cases then in
hospital. “That, sir,” said Doyle, as
with an indicative jerk of his thumb he
pointed to where, on the table, lay a
case of surgical instruments.
The sugar-beet planters, near Brigh
ton, Sacramento, have 2,400 turkeys in
their fields battling against the army
worms. Each turkey eats on an average
600 worms per day, making a total loss
to the latter of 1,440,000 daily. Not
withstanding this heavy loss their num
bers Beem un diminished. The querry
now is, where do they come from ?
Describing the culinary arrange
ments of the Grand Union hotel at Sar
atoga, a correspondent of the New York
Commercial Advertiser says that all the
grinding of coffee, turning of ici -cream
freezers, roasting spits and a dozen oth
er things, are done by little steam-en
gines that you could carry eff in one
hand. Duri g the regatta week the ho
tel fed five thousand people a day, and
on one day thirty head of oattle were
consumed.
Ir we view the human body in re
gard to its maladies and the season of
the year, says an English observer, we
shall find that summer is divided from
winter by a line drawn from somewhere
by the third button of the waistcoat.
As the murcury in the thermometer
goes up, our ailments go down. In cold
weather the respiratory organs, in hot
weather the digeetive organs, are sever
ally the places in which we go wrong.
They are trying to build the largest
hotel in the world in San Francisco.
It is Übe known as the Palace hotel,
and will contain 700 rooms. There will
be 320 bath rooms and 374 bay windows.
Accommodations will be furnished for
1,200 guests. The hotel is to be com
pleted in August, 1875, and will cost al
together $2,750,000. Of this amount
$1,000,000 will be the oost of the lot,
$1,550,000 of the building, and $500,000
of the furniture.
Gbeat thoughts and books sometime*
disappear for generations, and turn up
again unexpectedly, like messages drop
ped in the sea, and carried to far efl
shores. —The ocean of time has hidden
currents as well as that of space, and a
curious history of them might be writ
ten from the re-appearances. They
help us to believe that no true word or
deed is finally lost, and that a time it
coming when, in this sense, also, the
sea shall give np the dead which are
in it.
The old heir of the Biurbon monar
chy of France and the young heir of the
Napolenio empire, tried to rival each
other in flattering McMahon as long as
they thought he would surrender his
place whenever the proper moment
came for the establishment of the mon
archy or the empire. But both of them
have ceased to address their compli
ments to him sinoe he announced that
it was his fixed and Irrevocable purpose
to hold on to the presidency, and to
fight for it, if necessary, till the expi
ration of the seven years for which he
was elected by the ass •mbly.
How is it that girls can always tell a
married man from a single one ? The
fact is indisputable. Blackwood says
that “ the fact of matrimony or batch
elorship is written so legiWj in a man’s
appearance that no ingenuity can con
ceal it. Everywhere there is some inex
plicable instinct that tells us whether
an individual (whose name, fortune,
and circumstances are totally unknown)
be, or be not, a married man. Whether
it is a certain subdued look, inch as
that which characterizes the lions in a
menagerie, and distinguishes them from
the lords of the desert, we cannot tell;
bat the truth is so, we positively affirm.