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THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
J. W. HAKK'N. 1 _
W. A. 19lUM'UiLK l i Kdltwrs and Proprietor.,
NEWS OF THE WEEK,
EAST.
At Mystic park, Boston, last week, a
special purse of $2,500 was offered to Gold
smith Maid to beat her own record of 2:14%,
she to have three trials. The Maid appeared
between the heats of the second race and
made the first heat in 2:19%, going easily all
the way round accompanied by a runner at
tached to a buggy and driven by James
Golden. The second trial was made under
the most favorable auspices. The track had
been scraped close to the pole, and there
was absolutely no wind. Budd Doble nodded
for the word the first time he came down.
The Maid trotted the first quarter in 33% sec
onds, and the half mile in 1:06%, lifting her
head once just before she reached there. The
last half mile was trotted without the least
show of a break, and she made her best re
corded time—2:l4—amid the cheers of assem
bled thousands.
The leading western railways con
vened in Chicago and abolished all commis
sions to ticket agents. This is very well, if
they reduce fares somewhat in proportion.
The luirber men of Minnesota re
solve in convention, that the business of de
stroying forests has been overdone. It does
not pay, even from their mercenary point of
view.
The citizens of Henryville, Indiana,
have offered a reward of SI,OOO for the ap
prehension of the murderers of Aug. Gard
n(sOViio was robbed of his money and then
tieflfo the railroad track. /
A party of six surveyors;from Law
rence, Kansas, was massacred by Indians last
week near Lone Tree, forty miles south of
Fort Dodge. Three of the number were
scalped.
Agent Williams of the Kickapoos has
applied for a military escort to bring his Kick
apoos, mainly women and children, un from
the Indian territory to the Kansas line and
protect them from the Little Osages, who have
visited the agencies with hostile intent and
expressed their determination /to kill every
white man in the territory. t J
Lieut. Gen. Sheridan lifts sent the fol
lowing order by telegraph to Brig. Gen. Al
fred H. Terry at St Paul, Minn.: Should the
companies now organizing at Sioux City and
Yankton trespass on the Sioux country Indian
reservation, you are hereby directed to use
the force at vour command to burn the wagon
train, destroy the outfit and arrest the lead
ers, confining them at the nearest military
post in tbs Indian country. Z Shonld they suc
ceed in reaching the interior you are directed
to send such a force of cavalry in pursuit as
will accomplish the purpose above named.
Should congress offer up the oountry for set
tlement by extinguishing the treaty rights of
the Indians, the undersigned will give a cor
dial support to the settlement of the Black
Hills. A duplicate of these instructions has
been Bent to Gen. Orl, commanding the de
partment of the Platte.
SOUTH.
The entire business portion of Green
ville, Miss., was destroyed by fire last week.
Gen. Jno. C. Breckinridge has re
turned to Kentucky in somewhat improved
health.
Admiral Semmes is a candidate for
congress in the Mobile (Ala.) district. His dis
abilities were removed by congress last winter.
A dry, hot wind passed over a por
tion of Marion county, Georgia, lately, parch
ing up most of the vegetation in less than an
hour.
At Cherokee, Ala., last week, young
Rodgers, a son of the town marshal, was shot
and instantly killed in a saloon by John Mc-
Closky, son of the circuit court clerk at Tus
cumbia.
The Arkansas convention has decided,
by a more decisive vote than heretofore, to
leave the question of the legality of the Hal
ford bonds to the legislature. The motion to
repudiato thorn outright received few sup
porters.
Since the murder of Ivey, a mail
route agent on tlie Alabama and Chattanooga
railroad, several route agents in the south
have shown considerable alarm, and are ask
ing leaves of absence from the post-office de
partment, and some decline to run any longer
on their routes.
The first experiment is
made to utilize Chinese labor on the rice plan
tations of Georgia. Some thirty of the celes
tials have been at work since March last on
Barnwell's plantation, on the Altamaha, oppo
site Darien. They appear well satisfied them
selves, and give their .employer entire satis
faction.
The governor of Louisiana has called
out an extra regiment ef state militia, to be
composed of picked white men. The orders
were issued some days ago in view of appre
hended white league disturbances and the en
tire absence of United States troops from the
state. Recruiting has been quietly going on,
and it is stated that a number of ex-soldiers
of both armies have volunteered. The regi
ment will be added to Longstreet’s brigade,
and will be used mainly to keep down disturb
ances in and around the city of-flew Orleans.
The fire at Greenville, Miss., last
week, which is supposed to be incendiary,
originated in the grocery store of Morgan &
Platt, then crossed Molberry, going east, and
Slain west, destroying the entire portion of
the town from Mulberry street to the river,
embracing nearly all the business houses of
the place—in all, severity-three houses, valued
at over a quarter of a million dollars, with
about a hundred and fifty thousand insurance,
on which the Planters’ of Mississippi and
Planters’ of Memphis had a large amount.
There will be considerable suffering, at nearly
all the provisions in town were destroyed.
The house in which the fire originated had
been previously set on fire four different times
A man named Maj. Thompson has been ar
rested on suspicion of being concerned in the
incendiary work.
The following is condensed from the
national cotton exchange crop report for Au
gust: In Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas
and Tenressee the crops are generally suffer
ing from drouth. The prospects are less favor
able than at this time last year, and, though a
month ago they were generally later, the pick
ing commenced quite is early, the drouth
causing a premature opening. In Alabama.
Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
the condition is as good as last year. In
Georgia and Florida the crop is injured by
drouth. The conditions are now less favor
able than last year. In Missouri the prospcets
are unfavorable, and picking will be com
menced ten or twelve days earlier than last
year. In Indian territory the plant is suffer
ing from drouth and picking is ten or fifteen
days earlier than last ye.ir.
SPAIN. .
Gen. Primo de Rivera is appointed
aptain-general of Madrid.
Seballa’s cabinet has resigned. Sa
gosta will form anew ministry.
Two thousand men will be sent to
Cuba in a few days to reinforce the Spanish
army.
The Carlists have abandoned the siege
of Puycerdo. The failure of the insurgents
to capture the place causes great rejoicing.
The Carlists are entrenching them
selves around Bilboa. The damage done by
the bombardment of Puycerda was insigui
cant.
The Carlists under Alvarez have de
feated and driven off the colnmn of Gen.
PLoma, who was attempting to throw provisions
linto'Vitoria.
I The Carlists have made three attacks
lon Castro Verdiales. Gibe garrison made a
■vigorous defense, and in each case the be-
Isiegers met with a repulse.
In Barcelona there has been riotons
opposition to the conscripton and the boxes
containing the names of persons liable to the
draft where in some intances stolen and
burned.
A dispatch from Madrid says the
cabinet crisis continues. Senor Contenor
president of the council, persists in his resig
nation. Gen. Blanco and other leaders of the
northern army, have accompanied Gen. Se
balla to Madrid.
Gen. Dominiquez has arrived at Puig
cerda, after defeating the Carlists under Se
ballo. The republicans suffered heavily, and
the town is crowded with wounded. The Car
lists were attacked while retreating from Puig
cerda, and lost several hundred killed and
wounded.
Russia has sent special agents to the
Republican and Carlist general headquarters,
to report on the military positions of the con
tending parties. The Carlist Generals Tris
tany and Mara were defeated by the Republi
cans near Seo Be IJrgel on Sunday last, losing
400 killed and wounded.
FOREICN.
The expedition from the United States
to observe the transit of Venus arrived at
Capetown on the sth of August.
A dispatch from Shanghai reports
that the difficulty between China and Japan in
regard to Formosa has been settled.
Minister Bingham, in Japan, has re
ceived instructions from Washington to de
mand the full payment of the old indemnity
claims, and the amount has been deposited to
his credit under earnest protest.
The French barque Corromandel, of
Bordeaux, Capt. France, went ashore at Bag
dad, Mexico, last week, in a gale, and became
a total wreck, breaking up in less than two
hours, the cargo drifting ashore. The captain,
first mate and three seamen were rescued.
Eleven of the crew are supposed to have
perished.
Victor Hugo has written a letter de
clining an invitation to the peace congress at
Geneva. He says peace cannot be established
until another war has been fought between
France and Germany. He points to the exis
tence of deep and undying hatred between
the two countries, and declares that the war
will be a duel between the principles of the
monarchy and the republic.
Mail advices from Yokohama are as
follows: Japan is rather disposed to avoid
war with China, on the Formosan question, if
possible. Gen. Legendre, an American officer
who has been interfering in the matter, was re
cently arrested in Amoy, by a United States
official. Recent presents from President
Grant to the Mikado have arrived, among them
Gatlin guns, which will be used against China
if war breaks out.
The members of the Austrian polar
expedition, for whose safety fears were felt,
have been heard from. They were ship
wrecked and took to sleighs, in which they
have succeeded, after a long journey, in reach
ing the Norwegian island of Wardoe. After
abandoning their ship the partv traveled for
Beven months in sleds, and two winters were
passed on the ice. The highest point reached
was in latitude eighty degrees. A large tract
of land was discovered to the northward of
Nova Zambia. The expedition arrived at
Wardel on a Russian boat. Only one death
occurred during the entire voyage.
A Havana letter says great indigna
tion lias been expressed in political circles at
the idea of the cession of Puerto Rica to
Germany. A telegram has been received from
Madrid denying the correctness of the rumor.
Spain is not willing to y.eld one rod of her ter
ritory in the West Indies and Spaniards here
declare they will die first. Another telegram
has been received from Madrid announcing
that the recruiting of troops for the army in
Cuba is rapidly going on, and that the govern
ment understands the pressing needs of rein
forcements to carry on the winter campaign.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Marshal Jewell has entered upon his
dutios aB postmaster-general.
McGrath says Tom Bowling is in
training and will soon be all right.
The rival tr.ins- Atlantic lines have
come together, aud concluded to stop cutting
down each other’s rates. The charge fixed on
for passage this way is $25 gold.
The attorney-general has decided that
the military forces of the United States may
be employed to remove outlaws, thieves and
other unauthorized persons from the Chey
enne and Arapahoe Indian reservation.
A horse disease similar to that of two
years since has broken out at St. Johns, N. 8,,
with great violence. A large portion of the
working horses of the city have died. The
disease was introduced by horses attached to
a traveling circus.
The secretary of the treasury calls in
$15,000,000 of the 5-20 bonds of 1862. Twelve
millions are coupon bonds and three millions
registered bonds. The ten previous calls
commencing September 1, 1871, aggregate
$261,000,000, and with the present, or eleventh
call, $276,000,000.
The post-effice department is about to
substitute for the old mail locks now used up
on the street boxes of the free-aelivery sys
tem, new combinations, so that the key of one
city cannot be used in another. J Each key
will bo numbered, and the carrier receiving it
held res onsible for its custody and proper
use. *
Postmaster-General Jewell has or
dered cancelled the contract for • penknives,
which have been usually issued to clerks about
New Year. The custom obtained when quills
were used for writing, and the knife was a
positive necessity, and has been kept up since
the introduction of steel and gold, pens to the
present time.
The sixty days’ notice of the Freed
men’s savings bank expiredlast week,but affairs
remain unchanged, and business is still sus
pended. The commissioners to wind np its
affairs are busily engaged collecting assets
and loans of the bank. They declare that
when twenty per cent, is collected a dividend
shall he paid to the depositors.
The attorney general has decided
that the proviso in the army appropriation
bill, to the effect that only actual traveling ex
penses shall be allowed to any person hold
ing employment or appointments under the
United States, supersedes and cuts off the
allowance of mileage to United States mar
shals as provided in the fee bill.
Arthur Clayden, intimately associated
with Josh. Arch in efforts to raise the condi
tion of the agricultural classes in England,
has arrived in this country, and will make a
personal inspection of the most promising
section of the country for immigrants. The
result of his examination of Canada last year
as a field of immigration was not favorable.
Secretary Bristow has approved the
recommendations of Solicitor Wilson, in re
gard to the secret service division of the treas
ury, and directs that steps be taken at once
for the reorganization of \hat branch ®f the
service, and that all papers and evidence in
relation to the secret service in the hands of
the solicitor be turned over to the attorney
general. Col. Whitely has tendered his resig
nation as chief of that bureau. It has
been accepted.
No formal order will be issued from
the wvr department as to the distribution of
troops in the department of the south ; but
the whole matter will be left with the depart
ment commander, who will dispose of forces
so as they can be used by United States mar
shals in case of necessity. The federal troops
in the south are now distributed as follows :
Three companies of the Second infan
try in Alabama; the entire Third infantrv
at Holly Springs, Mias.; three companies of
the Sixteenth infantry in Kentucky, two in
Arkansas, one in Mississippi, one in Louisiana,
and one in Tennessee; eight of the Eigh
teenth infantry in South Carolina and two in
Georgia ; eight companies of the First artil
lery in Florida, one in Georgia, two in South
Carolina, and one in Virginia ; six companies
of the Second artillery in North Carolina, one
in South Carolina, one in Virginia, and four
in Maryland. This makes the whole number
of troops in the several southern states be
tween 2,500 and 3.000. The Third infantry
was ordered to Louisiana several months ago,
but on account of the warm weather and lia
bility to fever, it was decided that the regi
ment shonld remain at Holly Springs until the
fall. It will now be huried to Louisiana.
FROM WASHINGTON.
Proclamation of Attorney-General Wil
liams—Letter from President Grant.
Department of Justice, Washington,
Sept. 3, 1874.— Sir: Outrages of various
descriptions, and, ir ome cases, atro
cious murders, have been committed in
your district, by bodies '■< armed men,
sometimes in disguise ana with a view,
it is believed, of overawing and intimi
dating peaceable and law ab’ding citi
zens, depriving them of the rignt guar
anteed to them by the constitution and
laws of the United States. Your atten
tion is directed to an act of congress,
passed April 9, 1866, entitled an act to
protect all persons in the United States
in their civil rights and furnish the
means for their vindication, and to an
other passed April 20, 1871, entitled an
act to enforce the provisions of the 14th
amendment to the constitution of the
United States and for other purposes ;
also to one passed May 6,1870, entitled
an act to enforce the right of citizens of
the United States to vote in the several
states of the union and for other purpo
ses, which with the amendments make
these deeds of violence and blood with
in the j urisdiction of the general gov
ernment.
I consider it my duty, in view of these
circumstances, to instruct you to pro
ceed with all possible economy and dis
patch to detect, expose, arrest and puu
ish the perpetrators of those crimes,
and to that end you are to spare no ef
fort or necessary expense. Troops of
the United States will be stationed at
different convenient points in your dis
trict, for the purpose of giving you all
needed aid in the discharge of your of
ficial duties. You understand, of course,
that no interference with any politics l
or party action, not in violation of the
law, is designed, but protection to all
classes of citizens, white and black, in
the free exercise of the elective fran
chise and the enjoyment of the other
rights and privileges to which they are
entitled under the constitution and
laws as citizens of the United States.
These instructions are issued by au
thority of the president and with the
concurrence of the secretary of war.
Very respectfully,
Geo. H. Williams, Att’y-Gen.
The above is addressed to United
States marshals and attorneys, and is
prepared with the approval and endorse
ment of the president, to whom the sub
stantial points were submitted during
the visit of the attorney-general to
Long Branch.
The following letter has been received
from President Grant:
Long Branch, Sept. 3. W. W.
Belknap, Secretary of War: The re
cent troubles in the south, particularly
in Louisiana, Alabama and South Caro
lina, show disregard for law, civil rights
and personal protection that ought not
to be tolerated in any civilized govern
ment. It looks as if, unless speedily
checked, matters must become worse,
until life and property there will receive
no protection from local authorities un
til such authority 1 ecomes powerless.
Under such circumstances it is the duty
of the government to give all the aid for
the protection of life and civil rights le
gally authorized.
To this end I wish you would consult
with the attorney-general, who is well
informed as to the outrages already
committed and the localities where the
greatest danger lies, and so order the
troops as to be available in case of ne
cessity. All proceedings for the pro
tection of the south will be under the
law department of the government, and
will be directed by the attorney-general,
in accordance with the provision of the
enforcement act. No instructions need,
therefore, be given to the troops ordered
into the southern states', except as they
may be transmitted from time to time
on advice fiom the attorney-general,
or as circumstances may determine
hereafter. U. S. Grant.
Railroads and Panics.
Mr. Thomas Tooks, in his “ History
of Prices,” attributes the recent pani: l
in this country to the fact that too much
of our floating capital had been convert
ed into fixed capital in railroad enter
prises, and asserts that this was the
cause of the financial ciisis in England
in 1847. England recovered rapidly
from the shock, and the United States,
he predicts, will soon do the same thing.
The Railway Monitor divides the rail
road development in this country into
three stages, and shows that Mr. Tooks
theory holds. The first period, between
1829 and 1849, but 7,365 miles of rail
road were built; even this slow progress
was too much for the financial strength
of the country, and the railroad pro
jectors were ruined. Then the simulta
neous flow of gold from California and
Australia infused fresh strength into the
civilized world, and at the end of the
next period, in 1859, the railroad mile
age was 28,789 miles. The third period,
which closed in 1873, found a total o;
71,565 miles of railroad, and tin
strength of the country is again ex
hausted. The present conditions diflei
from those of the first period. Tho.i
we had the life-giving flow from the
gold-mines; now we are struggliue
against the perilous excitement of pa
per-money inflation. The Monitor con
eludes that for many years to come tin
ext: nsion of our railroad system must
stop. In the hurry of speculation tin
work has been poorly done, and the re
sources of the country must be expended
in bettering what, we have instead oi
adding to it. This advice is sound,
and probably indicates the railroad pel
icy of the country for some time tc
come, for the reason that it is about tin
only policy left.
Paciflc Cable.
The United States’ steamer Tusca
rora, sent out to make soundings for a
cable from San Francisco to Japan, has
returned and reports as follows :
The first attempt from Cape Flattery
(Australia) was abandoned on account
of the lateness of the season, and she
made soundings on and off the coast
from Cape Flattery to San Diego. From
that she struck for Honolulu, making
soundings. As she went from Honolulu
she proceeded to Yokahoma via Borim
Islands, and the deepest water found on
this line was 3,287 fathoms. Two lines
were started from the coast of Japan,
but abandoned on account of the great
depth of water. The third line was
found feasible, and a line was run to
Kuril Island, one of the Aleutian group,
thence run to Annataski and from there
to Cape Flattery. The greatest depth
found on this line was miles.
The Duke of Sutherland.
The Duke of Sutherland would make
a first-class Granger. In Sutherland
shire alone the duke owns 1,200,000
acres, of which, until recently, only
20,000 were under cultivation. For the
last few years ho has reclaimed a great
deal of waste land, and he proposes re
claiming a thousand acres annually.
This will necessitate an outlay of £25,-
000 a year, or a total of £1,275,000, in
order to bring into an arable condition
the 50,000 acres which can be converted
into fruitful corn-fields.
CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16. 1874,
JOAQUIN MILLER’S LAST.
Alone and sad I sat me down
To rest on Roftsseau’g narrow isle,
Below Geneva. Mile on mile,
And set with many a sliming town,
Tow’rd Dent (in Midi danced the ware
Beneath the moon. Winds went and came,
And fanned the stars into a flame.
I heard the far lake, dark and deep,
Rise up and talk as in its sleep.
I heard the laughing waters lave
And lap against the farther shore,
An idle oar. and nothing more
Save that the Isle had voice, and save
That round about its baHe of stone
There plashed and flashed the foamy Rhone,
A stately man, as black as tan,
Kept up a stern and broken round
Among the strangers on the ground.
I named that awful African
A second Hannibal. I gat
My elbows on the table, sat
With chin in upturned palm to scan
His face, and contemplate the scene.
The moon rode by a crowned queen.
Iw as alone. L->! not a man
To speak my mother tongue. Ah me 1,
How more than all alone can be
A man in crowds ! Across the Isle
My Haßnibal strode on. The while
Diminished Rousseau sat his throne}
Of books, unnoticed and unknown.
This strange strong man, with face austere,
At last drew near. He bowed; he spake
In unknown tongues. I could but shake
My head. Then half a-chill with fear,}
I rose and sought another place.
Again I mused. The kings of thought
Came by, and on the storied spot
I lifted up a tearful face.
The star-set Alps they sang a tune
Unheard by any soul but mine.
Mont Blanc, as lone and as divine
And white seemed mated to the moon.,
The past was mine, strong-voiced and vast:
Stern Calvin, strange Voltaire, aud Tell,
And two whose names are known too well
To name, in grand procession passed.
And yet again came Hannibal,
King-like he came, and drawisg near,
I saw his brow was now severe
And resolute. In tongues unknown
Again he spake. I was alone,
Was all unarmed, was worn and sad;
But now, at last, my spirit had
Its old assertion 1 I arose,
As startled from a dull repose.
With gathered strength, I raised a hand,
And cried, “ I do not understand.”
His black face brightened as I spake;
He bowed ; he wagged his woolly head;
He showed his shining teeth aud said,
Sar, if you please, dose tables herej
Are consecrate to lager beer;
And, sar, what will you have to take ? ”
I
Not that I loved that colored cuss—
Nay ! he had awed me all too much—
But I sprang forth, and with a clutch
I grasped his hand, and holding thus,
Cried, “ Bring my country’s drink for two ! ”
For oh ! that speech of Saxon sqund
To me was as a fountain found
In wastes, aud thrilled me through and through
On Rousseau’s Isle, in Rousseau’s shade,
Two pink and spicy drinks were made;
In classic shade, on classic ground,
We stirred two cocktails round and round.
CHINESE JUGGLERY FEAT.
BY BRET HARTE.
As I opened Hop Sing’s letter there
fluttered to the ground a square strip of
yellow paper covered with hierogly
phics, which at first glance I innocently
took to be the label from a pack of Chi
nese fire crackers. But the same envel
ope also containe t a smaller strip of rich
paper, with two Chinese characters traced
in India ink, that I at < noe knew to be
Hop Sing’s visiting card. The whole,
as afterward literally translated, ran as
follows:
To the stranger the gates of my house are not
closed: the rice jar is on the left, aud
the sweetmeats on the right as you enter.
Two sayings of the master :
Hospitality is the virtue of the aon and the
wisdom of the ancestor.
The superio’r man is light-hearted after the
crop-gathering: he makes a festival.
When the stranger is in your melon patch ob
serve him not too closely; inattention is of
ten the highest form of civility.
Happiness Peace and Prosperity.
HOP SING.
Admirable, certainly, as was this mor
ality and proverbial wisdom, and, al
though this last axiom was very charac
teristic of my friend Hop Sing, who was
that most sober of all humorists, a Chi
nese philosopher, I must confess that,
even after a free translation, I was at a
loss to make any immediate application
of the message. Luckily I discovered
a third inclosure in the shape of a lit
tle note in English and Hop Sing’s own
commercial hand. It ran thus :
The pleasure of your company is requested
at No.—Sacremsnto street, on Friday even
ing at 8 o’clock. A cup of tea at 9 —sharp.
HOP SING.
This explained all. It meant a visit
to Hop Sing’s warehouse, the opening
and exhibition of some rare Chinese
novelties and curios, a chat in the back
office, a cup of tea of a perfection un
known beyond those sacred precincts,
cigars and a visit to the Chinese theater
or temple. This was in fact the favor
ite programme of Hop Sing when he
exercised his functions of hospitality as
the chief factor or superintendent of
the Ning Foo company.
At 8 o’clock on Friday evening I en
tered the warehouse of Hop Sing.
There was thgJ delicously-commingled
mysterious foreign odor that I had so
often noticed ; there was the old array
of uncouth looking objects, the long
procession of jars and crockery, the
same singular blending of the grotesque
and the mathema'ically neat and exact,
the same endless suggestions of frivoli
ty and fragility, the same want of har
mony in colors that were each, in them
selves, beautiful and rare. Kites in the
shape of enormous dragons and gigantic
butterflies; kites so ingeniously ar
ranged as to utter at intervals, when
facing the wend, the cry of a hawk;
bites so large as to be beyond any boy’s
power of restraint—so large that you
understood why kite-flying in China
was an amusement for adults; gods of
China and bronze so gratuitously ugly
as to be beyond any human interest or
sympathy from their very impossibility;
jars of sweetmeats covered all over with
moral sentiments from Confucius ; hats
that looked like baskets, and baskets
that looked like hats ; silks so light that
I hesitate to record the incredible num
ber of square yards that you might pass
through the ring on your little fiDger—
these and a great many other indescrib
able objects were all familiar to me. I
pushed my way through the dimly
lighted werehonse until I reached the
back office or parlor, where I fouDd Hop
Sing waiting to receive me.
Before I describe him I want the av
erage reader to discharge from his
mind any idea of a Chinaman that he
may have gathered from the pantomime.
He did not wear beautifully scalloped
drawers fringed with little bells—l nev
er met a Chinaman who did; he did not
habitually carry his forefinger extended
before him at right angles with his body,
nor did I ever hear him utter the mys
terious sentence, “Ching a ring a ring
chaw,” nor dance under any provoca
tion. He was on the whole a rather
gTave, decorous, handsome gentleman.
His complexion, which extended all
over his head except where his long pig
tail grew, was like a very nice piece of
glazed brown paper muslin. His eyes
were black and bright, and his eyelids
set at an angle of fifteen degrees ; his
nose straight and delicately formed, his
mouth small and his teeth white and
clean. He wore a dark blue silk blouse;
and on the streets, on cold days, a short
jacket of astrakhan fur. He wore also
a pair of drawers of blue brocade, gath
ered tightly over his calves and ankles,
offering a general sort of suggestion
that he had forgotten his trousers that
morning, but that, so gentlemanly were
his manners, his friends had forborne
to mention the fact to him. His man
ner was urbane, although quite serious.
He spoke French and English fluently.
In brief, I doubt if you could have
found the equal of this Pagan shop
keeper among the Christian traders of
San Francisco.
There were a few others present: a
judge of the federal court, an editor,
a high govei nment official, and a prom
inent merchant. After we had drunk
our tea and tasted a few sweetmeats
from a mysterious jar, that looked as if
it might Contain a preserved mouse
among its other nondescript treasures,
Hop Sing arose, and gravely beckoning
us to follow him, begau to descend to
the basement. When we got there, we
were amazed at finding it brilliantly
lighted, and that a number of chairs
were arranged in a half-circle on the
asphalt pavement. When he had cour
teously seated ns, he said :
“ I have invited you to witness a per
formance which I can at least promise
you no other foreigners but yourselves
have ever seen. Wang, the court jug
gler, arrived here yesterday morning.
He has never given a performance out
side of the palace before. I have asked
him to entertain my frien Is this even
ing. He requires no theater, stage ac
cessories or any confederate—nothing
more than you see here. Will you be
pleased to examine the ground your
selves, gentlemen ? ”
Of course we examined the premises.
It was the ordinary basement or cellar
of the San Francisco store-house, ce
mented to keep out the damp. We
poked our stick into the pavement, and
rapped on the wall to satisfy our polite
host, but tor no other puipose. We
were quite content to be the victims of
any clever deception. For myself I
knew I was ready to be deluded to any
exrent, and if I had been offered an ex
planation of what followed I should
probably have declined it.
Although I am satisfied that Wang’s
general performance was the fir.<4 of the
kind ever given on American soil, it has
probably since become so familiar to
many of my readers that I shall not
bore them with it here. He began by
setting to flight, with the aid of his fan,
the usual number of butterflies made be
fore our eyes of little bits of tissue pa
per, and kept them in the air during
the remainder of the performance. I
have a vivid recollection of the judge
trying to catch one that lit on his knee,
and its evading him with the pertinac
ity of a living insect. And even at this
time Wang, still plying his fan, was
taking chickens out of hats, making
oranges disappear, pulling endless
yards of silk from his sleeve, apparently
filling the whole area of the basement
with goods that appeared mysteriously
from the ground, from his own sleeves,
from nowhere ! He swallewed knives
to the ruin of his digestion for years
to come, he dislocated every limb of his
body, he reclined in the air, apparently
upon nothing. But his crowning per
formance, which I have never yet seen
repeated, was the most weird, mysteri
ous and astounding.
He cleaned the ground of its incum
bering articles for a space of about fif
teen feet square, and then invited us to
walk forward and again examine it.
We did so, gravely; there was nothing
but the cemented pavement below to be
seen or felt. He then asked for the
loan of a hankerchief, and as I chanced
to be nearest him, I offered mine. He
took it, and spread it upon the floor.
Over this he spread a large square of
silk, and over this again a large shawl
nearly covering the space he had clear
ed. He then took a position at one of
the points of this rectangle, and began
a monotonous chant, rocking his body
to and fro in time with the somewhat
lugubrious air.
We sat stilt and waited. Above the
chant we could hear the striking of the
city cl ck aud the occasional rattle of a
cart in the street overhead. The abso
lute watchfulness and expectation, the
dim mysterious half-light of the cellar
falling in a grewsome way upon the
misshapen buik of a Chinese deity in
the background, a faint smell of opium
smoke mingling with spice, and the
dreadful uncertainty of what we were
really waiting for sent an uncommon
thrill down our backs, and made us
look at each other with a forced an un
natural smile. This ieeling was height
ened when Hop Sing slowly arose, and,
without a word, pointed with his finger
to the center of the shawl.
There was something beneath the
shawl. Surely—and something that
was not there before. At first, a mere
suggestion in relief, a faint outline ; but
growing more and more distinct aud
visible every moment. The chant still
continued, the perspiration began to
roll from the singer’s face, gradually
the hidden object took upon itself a
shape and bulk that raised the shawl in
its center some five or six inches. It
was now unmistakably the outline of a
small but perfect human figure, with
extended arms and legs. One or two of
us turned pale, there was a feeling of
general uneasiness, until the editor
broke the silence by a gibe that, poor
as it was, was received with spontaneous
enthusiasm. Then the chant suddenly
ceased. Wang arose, and, with a quick,
dextrous movement, stripped both
shawl and silk away, and discovered,
sleeping peacefully upon my handker
chief, a tiny Chinese baby !
The applause and uproar which fol
lowed this revelation ought to have sat
isfied Wang, even if the audience was a
small one ; it was loud enough to awa
ken the baby, a pretty little boy about
a year old, looking like a enpid cut of
sandal wood. He was whisked away
almost as mysteriously as he appeared.
When Hop Sing returned my handker
chief with a bow, I asked if the jug
gler was the father of my baby. “No
sabe,” said the imperturable Hop Sing,
taking refuge in that Spanish form of
non-committalism so common in Cal
ifornia.
“ But does he have anew baby for
every performance ?” I asked. “ Per
haps ; who knows ?” “ But what will
become of this one?” “Whatever yon
choose, gentlemen,” replied Hop Sing,
with a courteous inclination, “it was
born here —you are its godfathers. ”
There are two characteristic peculiar
ities of any Californian assemblage in
1856 ; it was quick t® take a hint, and
generous to the point of prodigality in
its response to any charitable appeal.
No matter how sordid or avaricious the
individual, he could not resist the infec
tion of sympathy. I doubled the
points of my handkerchief into a bag,
dropped a coin into it, and, without a
word, passed it to the judge. He qui
etly added a S2O gold piece, and passed
it to the next; when it was returned to
me it^contained over SIOO. I knotted
the money in the handkerchief, and
gave it to Hop Sing.
“For the baby, from the godfathers.”
“ But what name?” said the judge.
There was a running fire of “ Ere
bus,” “ Nox,” “ Alutus,” “ Terra
Cotta,” “Antaeus,” etc., etc. Finally
the question was referred to qur host.
“Why not keep his own name ?” he
said quietly. “ Wan Lee.” And he did.
Power of Bearing Heat.
It is generally supposed that the hu
man frame cannot endure much heat,
and if exposed to it will soon sink in
exhaustion. This is true in hot climates,
to which people have been accustomed.
But in this case the effect may be due
to influences from vegetation, or to some
disturbance of nature.
It is certain that artificial heat, far
greater than the heat of the sun of the
torrid zone, may be borre without
special suffering or harm. The British
Journal of Science says that men in
iron establishments work without in
convenience with the thermometer con
stantly at 120 degrees, and in pits for
making the Bessemer steel at 140 de
grees. In Turkish baths the sham
pooners are often busily engaged for
four or five hours in succession, with
the temperature at 110 degrees. In the
Red sea steamers the stoke hole marks
145 degrees; and in ensmel works the
operators are compelled daily to endure
a heat of 200 degrees. The elastic pow
er of the human body in accommodating
itself to extremes is wonderful.
The wild waves rolling in upon Sara
toga beach whisper that John Morrissey
has made a clean profit of $40,000 this
year, with three congressmen to hear
from.
LORDS AND COMMONS.
Some Interesting Faets A bout'the British
Parliament.
It may be worth while, writes Dr.
MaeKenzie, to look into the constituent
persons of the British parliament to see
how “ the commons” of the isles are
represented in the lower house, by gen
tlemen who, I am very sure, would con
sider themselves insulted if any person
presumed to mention them as belonging
to the commonalty. No member of par
liament has the prefix of “Hon.” (so
familiarly frequent in the United States,
where titles of honor are constitution
ally tabooed), but each of them con
siders himself far higher than the or
dinary “Esquire.” This title-of-cour
te6y, as it is called—which does not
exist in England, as derived from hav
ing a seat in the house of commons—is
freely and largely used in the British
colonies. If there was a little island
only fifty miles in circumference, with
the British flag visible on it, a half-pay
officer for governor, and a legislative
body of a dozen members, every one of
them would be “ the honorable.” Heli
goland, a morsel of an island in the
German ocean, with an area of less than
two English square miles, has an “hon
orable” governor and an executive coun
cil of five, who are “ all honorable
men. ”
The house of commons, which came
to an end in the autumn of 1847, pre
sented the anomaly of having 266 scions
of the nobility as members; that is, in
a legislative body supposed to represent
the interests of the people, the interests
of Ijhe aristocracy being locked after in
its own house of lords, considerably
more than one-third belonged to the
nobility. Here is the list, as I com
piled it, with great care and accuracy
in August, 1847:
Peers’ eldest sons 54
“ lieirs-presumptive 7
“ younger sons 35
“ grandsons 19
“ brothers v 45
“ nephews 25
“ cousins 19
“ sons-in-law 44
“ brothers-in-law 12
“ fathers-in-law 2
Irish peers .. 4
Last year a correspondent of Notes
and Queries, considering that the then
recent passing of a bill whereby future
elections to the house of commons must
take place by vote by ballot, drew up a
synopsis of the composition of that
house when the ballot was thus en
grafted, after many failures, during the
last half century. His enumeration
may be properly placed side by side
with a second synopsis which he pub
lished in the Notes and Querries in the
month of June. The first column shows
the house of commons as it stood in
April, 1875, before the ballot came into
operation ; the second shows w hat was
the result under the ballot of the gen
eral election three months ago :
1874. 1873.
Lawyers 129 129
Sons of peers 109 92
Squtees 109 129
Army 106 95
Merchants 98 100
Baronets 68 64
Sons of M. P.’s 58 55
Sons of baronets 29 25
Bankers 18 24
Knights 13 11
Sons of knights 12 17
Navy 9 16
Brewers 8 12
Engineers 8 7
Diplomatists 7 8
Newspaper proprietors 7 9
Medical men 6 6
Peers 5 5
University professors 5 4
Farmers 2 3
Dissenting ministers 2 1
Architect 1
Accountant 1 2
Miners'. , 1
The difference in the results is not
great. The lawyers in the house of
commons in 1874 are 139 as against 129
in 1873, constituting nearly one-fourth
of the whole number of members. But
what i3 this in comparison to the aggre
gation of lawyers in the senate and
house of representatives of the United
States? I have not Mr. Poore’s congres
sional catalogue to refer to, but am
pretty sure that, if consulted, it would
show that nine-tenths of the national
legislature of the United States are gen
tlemen mors or less “learned in the
law.”
It appears that there were 100 sons of
peers in the British house of commons
in 1873 against 92 in the year 1874.
The enumerator stopped short too soon.
He should have counted up piers’ heirs
presumptive, younger sons, grandsons,
sons-in-law, brothers, nephews, broth
era-in law, fathers-in-law and cousins.
As far as I can estimate, the sum total
of this aristocratic crowd, naturally
disposed to set the interests of their
class and their own particular families
far above the interests of the unrepre
sented multitude, the working bees of
the hive, can not be less than 250. This
is a strong power in a body of 652 mem
bers.
Two members are set down in the
new house of commons as miners.
This might convey the idea that they
are workingmen. On the contrary,
though they have risen from the ranks,
tkey now are men of vast wealth. Mr.
George Anderson, M. P. for the city of
Glasgow, is believed to have a revenue
from mining of £30,000 a year, and he is
owner, also, of at least two very consid
erable landed estates. In point of fact,
as no pecuniary payment of any sort—
not even an allowance for a penknife as
“ stationery”—is paid out of the public
purse to members of either house, no
workingman can sit in the commons.
In time, perhaps, when the working
classes can unite upon eligible candi
dates out ot their own ranks, they will
subscribe a sufficient sum to maintain
him respectably so long as he is in their
service—voting and speaking honestly,
and exercising his own judgment in
either or both. There is scarcely a sin
gle M. P., I fancy, who considers him
self bound to vote precisely as his con
stituents may deßire ; on the contrary,
each man claims to exercise his own dis
position and power of action.
• A Celestial Picnic.
The different organizations in San
Francisco having for their object the
evangelization of the Chinamen held a
picnic recently in Woodward’s gardens,
and the spectacle was a novel one.
Nearly two thousand men, women and
children assembled, and were accom
panied by the Caucasian teachers. A
peculiar and very noisy feature of the
occasion was the music plaved by a
Chinese band of ten pieties, being of a
kind that made the monkeys that are
kept in the gardens run shrieking to the
tops of their cages and the great seals
plunge into the water aEd remain hid
den in the muddy depths for the rest of
the day. The opening exercises began
about noon, at which time there were
between eight hundred and nine
hundred Chinese in the pavilion, the
remainder being outside in the walks
and shady nooks, spinning tops and
gazing at the wonders and beauties of
the gardens. The exercises consisted
of singing, praying, reading the Scrip
tures and addresses both in Chinese
and English by the different clergymen
present, one of whom was a Chinaman,
n the afternoon the p rogramme was of
a more secular character, which the Chi
nese seemed to enjoy in a much greater
degree. It consisted of music by the
Chinese band, Chinese sword exercise
in costume, and Chinese singing, accom
panied by a Chinese band. The tronpe
cf Arabs also gave an exhibition for the
special edification of their Tartaric
brethren. The latter were overjoyed
at the wonders performed by the Arab
ian athletes, and acknowledged that
they had never seen anything like it
even in China. After this the Celes
tials wandered around the grounds.
The circular boat attracted much atten
tion, the Chinese filling it to overflow
ing and remaining in it for hours, sing
ing their hymns and choruses to the
music of the plashing oars.
The Star of Bouth Africa.
Twelve months after the Hopetown
of Woodhouse gem was found, a black
shepherd called Swartzboy came wan
dering toward Hopetown, with a glori
ous star of crystal in hand. He offered
it, as I am credibly informed, to sev
eral persons, at a price increasing with
refusal. The Hottentot, in fact,
was sharp enough to learn the value of
his prize by the hesitation of those to
whom he offered it. By the time he
reached Nrikirk’s farm—Neikirk, the
father of diamond digging—it had
come to the matter of £4OO. This man
had proved himself no fool already.
Aftei louring at the stone he harnessed
up and drove to Hopetown, bearing
Hottentot and diamond in his cart. It
was certainly the greatest day our little
capital will ever see, that on which
Neikirk came trotting in with Swartz
boy a id the “ Star of South Africa ” on
the box-seat beside him. Within a
vrv few moments of his arrival the
bargain was struck. No need for a man
who had once seen a diamond to hesitate
in judging of that glorious gem.
Swartzboy consented to take £2OO in
cash and £2OO in goods, which were
paid to him forthwith. Wild with joy,
he sallied out into the byways, nor ceased
to urge his mad career until not one
farthing or one yard of cloth r mained
in his possession. All being spent, he
lived awhile on the gobemouches of the
place, then vanished and went under.
Neikirk sold his purchase that same
day for £12,000 cash. Therewith he
bought a farm, on which he dwells unto
this day, heedless of diamonds, diggers
and panics.
I will here finish the tale of onr
South African Star. It was found to
weigh eighty-three and one-half karats,
and subsequently cut to a brilliant of
forty-four and one half. The water of
it is perfect, but the shape is irregular;
that is to say, it is heart-shaped, not a
square stone. Messrs. Lillenfield, of
Hopetown, who were the envied of all
the neighbors there, having obtained
such a prize for £12,000 speedily discov
ered that they had paid an outside price.
It lay eighteen months np<)n their hands,
subject to charges for insurance, etc.
After that time it was sold to Messrs.
Hunt A Roskell, of Bond street, for a
trifle over cost price—not sufficient
margin to recoup Messrs. Lillenfield
their capital invested, leaving interest
aside. Messrs Hunt & Roskell had it
cut, with the result above mentioned.
They asked £30,000 for the brilliant,
and long asked in vain. Finally, in the
summer of last year, 1873, Earl Dudley
and ward bought it with others, to be
set in anew tiara for his countess. I
can not tell you, therefore, the exact
sum at which it was valued to him.—
Cor. Temple Bar.
Portuguese Critiqnes and Obituaries.
A writer in the New Quarterly Review
says: “Perhaps the most singular of
the contents of the Portuguese newspa
pers are the obituary notices. Written
in a style so exquisitely pompous and
stilted as to make the foreign reader in
cline at first to think them ironical.
These long eulogies/on the dead are
paid for as advertisements,* and are gen
erally signed with tho name of one of
the relatives of the deceased person.
A few extracts will suffice to show how
false emotion and a false style can des
ecrate feelings which it is only common
ly decent to hold back from observa
tion : ‘lt is now seventy-two hours since
the pious Mr. A. B. ceased to exist!
It. is now seventy-two hours since the
most f evere affliction has stricken the
hearts of his bereaved relations in their
most tender fibres ! It is now seventy
two hours since he died, in the summer
of bis life, as also in the height and
summer of his virtues. It is now sev
enty-two hours since this great man,
great in his intelligence and in his prac
tice of all the Christian virtues;’ aud
so on through a long list of paragraphs,
inning with the same minute chr®-
nological calculations, and all full of
the same rhetorical foolishness. The
deceased gentleman, if I recollect right
ly, had kept a cigar shop in Lisbon.
Another similar and very curious de
velopment of Portuguese journalism is
the insertion of paid eulogies of literary
productions. I use the expression ‘ cu
rious ’ only because the payment is
avowed and open, being honestly signed
with the name of the friendly critic,
and placed in a column set apart for
advertisements. It is impossible alto
gether to disapprove of this practice.
It is odd that it has not yet occurred
to Portugueae critics to enhance the
value of their approval by occasional
dispraise. I never saw an unfriendly
critique in a Portuguese journal.”
The Comet and the German Vintage.
The news just received from Germa
ny seems to promise that the comet of
1874 will leave behind it in the wine
countries a pleasant memorial of its
visit. A correspondent writing from
Ehrenbreitstein states that the vintage
in the Rhine and Moselle districts, es
pecially where the highest class of wines
are produced, is likely to compensate
for the disastrous years of 1869, 1870,
1871, 1872, and 1873. In the favored
spot known as the Rheingan no such
quantity has been recorded since the
celebrated comet year of .1811. At one
time it was apprehended that the early
May frosts had, as in former years,
committed much damage among the
vines; but these fears have long been
dispelled, and there is now, we learn,
the fairest promise that the vintage of
1874 will be an exceptionally grand one
both in quantity and quality. Such
delicate little attentions to wine drink
ers on the part of these erratic heavenly
bodies are the more appreciated because
we are not always able -to count upon
them. Since 1811 not by any means all
of the numerous comets which have ap
peared in this country have been care
ful to perpetuate their memories by
their handsome presents of wine. The
comet of 1811, above referred to, and
Donati’s comet of 1868, with the mag
nificent claret vintage which fo'lowed
it, are perhaps the only two which can
be held in grateful remembrance for
fcheir effects upon wine. On the other
hand, two famous years, 1824 and 1834,
produced their wines without any com
etary assistance, unless the near ap
proach of a comet in one case and its re
cent departure in the other can be sup
posed to have exercised any influence
upon the vineyards. A comet was visi
ble in December, 1823, and the year
1835 was the date of the laßt appearance
of Halley's comet of 1682. —Pa1l Mall
Gazette.
Long Branch and Brighton.
A Long Branch correspondent of the
Jewish Messenger says : “I have henrd
Long Branch compared to Brighton, but
I really do not see the resemblance. In
the first place Brighton is a city all the
year round, while this is only a tempora
ry summer camping ground. Then—this
is the great difference between the two—
at Brighton one may any day see a noble
lord or a parliamentary leader lying at
full length on the beach, dressad in a
rough summer suit and with a straw hat
cocked ovi r his eyes, throwing pebbles
into the sea, or a lady of noble raok
dressed in plain calico and a wide
brimmed straw hat hunting for crabs
aDd star-fish ; while here people sport
more dignity than in town, even w ear
purple and fine linen and jewelry the
first thing in the morning, and low-
necked, short-sleeved dresses, broad
cloth and kids late at night. This is
certainly the most ridiculous feature of
Long Branch life. To see, as I have
seen, women coming out of a breaifast
room at eleven in the morning dressed
in silks and laces is a sight worth trav
eling for; it makes one feel sorry for
the husbands of such women, and sorry
for the women that they have not s pri
vate milliner privileged to tell them
what is and what is not rational, or even
excusable, in female fashions.”
A Retiring Veteran.
A rumor comes from England that
the duke of Cambridge is about to re
tire from the command of the Br tish
army. He has fallen a victim to gout,
and for three months has been un ible
to take any exercise. George Wiliiam
Frederick Charles, second duke of
Cambridge, is the grandson of George
IIL and a consin of Queen Victoria.
He was bora in Hanover in 1819. At
the age of eighteen he was appoint id a
colonel in the British army, and e ght
years after was promoted to the rank of
major general. In 1850 he succoeeded
his father as duke of Cambridge ; in
1854 he was made a lieutenant general
and in 1856 he was made a general. He
commanded the first division of the
army sent to the Crimea, and led his
troops at the battle of the Alma an 1 at
Inkermau. in which latter engagement
he had a horse shot under him. In
July, 1856, he was appointed com
mander-in-chief of the British ar uy,
and in 1862 he was created a f eld
marshal.
The duke has been a fast liver, w rile
he has been a good soldier, and not? at
the age of only fifty-five it seems he is
compelled to retire from active service.
For many years he has been living with
a Miss Fairbrother, who was an actr iss,
and, in her youth, quite celebrated for
her beauty. The relationship has been
known to the public for so long a t me
that Miss Fairbrother is generally re
garded as the duke’s wife, though no
marriage has ever taken place, and she
does not reside in his official residence.
They have a number of children, who
go by the father’s name of Fitz-Geoi ge,
and some of the sons are officers of the
army. Some of the queen’s sons have
been considered a little loose in their
morals, but with such an example set
before them by the oldest member of
the family, it is not surprising that the
moral teachings of their mother should
have been sometimes forgotten.
Where Artificial Flowers “Grow.’’
A writer in the London Review says :
“ Ladies who deck their hair with mim
ic bloom have in general little idea of
the way in which those false flowers
grow. They wear them light-heartedly
in the gayest scenes, and think not that
they are transplanted from the saddest.
They put forth their leaves and delicate
hues in stifling garrets, in fetid buck
kitchens, or in hot, over-crowded fac
tories, where the health of those who
made them was withering away, where
the gas burners are often without glass
or shade, and gas stoves are set on the
tables to heat the tools, while a hundred
women and girls, from nine years of age
and upwards, bend over their hot-house
plants. Some hold the hand stamp
which cuts through sixteen folds at a
time of the mnslin or silk that is to make
the leaves or flowers. Others vein the
leaves by pressing them between dies,
or paint the petals separately with a
brush when the centre is to be left
white. Most of them are busy with the
finer work of constructing the flowers.
They gum and wax, dust for bloom with
potato flour, or with blown glass posv
der for frost; they twist paper or silk
thread to the stalk, and make the foun
dation on which the petals may stick.
Slender wires are run through the blos
soms, and a small goftering iron gives
them their curl. All this is straining
and fidgety work, especially by gas
light, with blistered fingers, thumb
nails worn to the quick, and the dust of
paints and other materials inflaming the
eyes and preparing patients for the
Ophthalmic hospital. The bright bln
and carmines try the sight sadly, aid
the latter causes heaviness in the head.
Arsenic green and verdigris bine are
now seldom used ; bnt enough is left to
poison the poor ‘flower girl’s’ existence.
She works in London fourteen or fiftet n
hours a day, and sometimes longer.
After thirteen hours’ work girls of tin
take home sufficient for two more
hours.”
Kingly Free Speech.
A writer onMme. Campan, nee Genet,
relates the following : She was a very
lively, merry person, and one day Lou s
XV. surprised her dancing by herse f
in front of a large mirror. His majesty
stopped and waited until the young
lady had finished her solitary wait*;,
aud* then said to her, as she court esier ,
red with confusion, before him: “ Mad
emoiselle, they tell me you are a very
learned person. How many languages
do yon speak?'' “Six, your majesty,”
answered mademoiselle. “Do you
sing?” “Yes, your majesty,” quoth
mademoiselle, still bobbing courtesies.
“You draw?” “Yes, your majesty.’
“ God help your husband, whenever you
get one,” "said the monarch, as ho
turned on his heel. _
Woman's Walk.
A writer in a Boston paper says:
“ The changes in woman’s gait are more
mysterious than the transformations in
her garments. One year she walks a
queen, stately and graceful; the next,
she frisks along painfully like a spring
lamb or a playful kitten. Now she
bends forward, lets her limp Hhnds drop
from the wrists, and wriggles as if she
wished to advertise the fact that her
boots are tight, a thing which is totally
unnecessary ; again, as at present, she
throws her shoulders back and goes
bravely forward with long steps. The
next change must almost inevitably tend
to show languishing movements. No
other style of locomotion will be possi
ble with the narrow skirts which are to
be worn.”
Sujar Crop Prospects.
The agricultural department makes
the following favorable report of the
growing sugar crop : Six states report
the cultivation of sugar-cane, in all of
which the acreage has been increased,
viz : Alabama, 131; Mississippi, 120 ;
Texas, 110; Georgia. 108; Louisiana,
104 ; Florida, 103. The condition in all
these states is above average, viz : Lou
isiana, 108 ; Mississippi and Texas, 105;
Florida, 104 ; Alabama, 102 ; and Geor
gia, 101. It is the prevalent opinion
that the Louisiana sugar product will
be equal to that of 1873, notwithstand
ing the overflow.
Cotton Types.
The delegates to the National Cotton
Exchange convention have adopted a
standard of classifications which is said
to be unsatisfactory to the New York
dealers, being too low as compared with
the long usage of that market. Accord
ing to the New York types New York
low middling is little better than old
fashioned strict good ordinary.
Dcbing the long French war, two old
ladies in Stranraer were going to the
kirk ; the one said to the other : “Was
it no a wonderfu’ thing that the Bree
tish were aye victorious ower the French
in battle ?’ y “ Not a bit,” said the other
old lady : “ dinna ye ken the Breetish
aye say their pravers befoare gann into
battle'?” The other replied : “Bnt ean
na the French say their prayers as
weel ?” The reply was most character
istic : “Hoot! jabbering bodies, wha
conld understan’ them T' ’
VOL. 15--NO. 38.
MT. ETNA.
The' Mount aln Threatens an Eruption
Soon.
The latest intelligence from the ex
tensive workshops under Mount Etna,
show how little the gods care for the
vicissitudes of the mortals. Prof. Syl
vestri, who has been watching since
May, recently passed two days and
nights on the summit of the oone of
Etna, and concluded from what he saw
that at no very distant date there must
be another explosion.
Certain it is that the indications just
now are very strong that what our old
friend Pindar fancifully called the pil
lar of heaven will, before the summer
is well over, have another notch cut in
to it and added to the long line that
was begun way back before the Irojen
war. Seven or eight times that we
know of before the chnstian era, old
Etna, after growling for awhile over its
internal agonies, belched forth its over
load and spread its lava over the sur
rounding country. Since then at inter
vals other eruptions have oocurred, but
the violence of nature is not too much
for the recuperative powerß of time, and
in many places gardens bloom over the
solidified fields of lava. It is true that
some-six thousand feet- above the sea
there is still a cold and desolate zone
of the mountain, which spreads out in
broad tracts, which are rough and
black with the naked lava and scoriae,
or white with drifts of snow, over three
thousand feet of which the traveler
must pick his way to reach the cone,
and for a thousand feet below which on
ly the hardy mountain goats can find a
means of livelihood. But below this
comes the woody district, which on the
north side skirts down to within half a
mile of the foot of the mountain, and
almost into that delightful region at
the base of Etna known to the people
of the neighborhood as the regtone
culta. In this region of cultivation, in
the rich soil of the decomposed lava,
are flourishing plantations of olives,
vines, grain, fruits, and aromatic herbs,
and all through it towns and villages
are clustered. These villages are liable
to be swept away or buried in a sea of
burning lava—the fate of many of their
predecessors —but the people are famil
iar with danger, they know no other
home, and the attractions of the climate
and soil make them forget their con
stant peril. Here Catania, an ancient
and beautiful city almost at the base of
the mountain, was overwhelmed a cen
tury before Christ. A thousand years
later the city was again buried, and fif
teen thousand lives were destroyed.
Two hundred years ago the same city
was again destroyed, and the flood of
lava poured over it far out into the sea,
forming a promontory which serves as
a natural break-water. But Catania
again emerged from its Ded of ashes and
lava, and from this ill-fated city now
comes the news of the suspicious com
motions in the breast of Etna, that may,
perhaps, again bring destruction up
on . ~ ,
Since the Christian era there have
been over fifty violent eruptions. Dur
ing the Roman empire there were but
two eruptions, nearly two hundred
years apart. About the middle of the
last century an eruption poured forth
torrents of hot water. During the
present century there have been about
a dozen eruptions. One beginning
January 31, 1865, continued for several
months, and caused much alarm, but
brought people from all parts of the
world to witness the spectacle. Five
vears ago, in September, 1869, an erup
tion from the principal crater sent a
torrent of lava over the T ale de Hove,
but since that time Etna has been quiet
beyond the ordinary and continual dis
turbance, until the* present. Since May
the forces have been gathering, and if
the observations of Prof. Sylvestri are
accurate, and his conclusions are cor
rect, this year may witness one of the
mightiest efforts of this uproarious old
mountain to burst the shell that smoth
ers its hidden fires. The spectacle
would no doubt be very fine, but con
sidering the annoyances .of the people
of that region during the past two or
three thousand years we would rather
have it indefinitely postponed. If we
had any voice in the matter we would
sav, in the words of the brother of
Titus Anilronicus:
“Now let hot Etna cool in Sicily.”
— Lou. Cou.-Joumal.
Conversation and Reading.
It is the duty of every individual to
talk. Perhaps America does not require
to be admonished of this fact. Gloomy
and silent dinner parties and social
gatherings may be rare. Bnt the prover-.
bial loquacity of the Ami rican people
does not necessarily imply superiority
in conversation. We would not say that
one should speak in society for the sake
of speaking, but he should have some
thing to say and say it. He should be
familiar with current topics, be familiar
with English literature, and make the
acquaintance of the weighty thoughts
of such writers as Bacon and Mill, and
Montesquieu. He should carry a supply
of wit and wisdom with him as he does
of money when he goes to market, to in
terest. others and stimulate and improve
himself. He owes it to others to con
tribute his part to the social entertain
ment. He mnst pay his soot. If he
does not talk he will be pronounced
either stupid, or stamped as a selfish
egotist. Reading gives tone and body
to conversation. It adds to the sub
stance and improves the style. Readi
ness in conversation there cannot be
without the fullness that comes from
reading. There may be ideas, but read
ing adds to and coirects and refines
them. It gives words that are elegant
and illustrations that please. It enables
him to pick up the threa l as others drop
it, and carry it on into new paths, and
more, to profitable and pleasant results.
It is important also to have a store of
the best thoughts in order to do one’s
fair share in conversation. One whose
reading is confined to dime novels will
not be able to say much about art, or
science, or politics; they f ive them im
ages bnt not knowledge of ideas. So if
the discourse flows into channels where
a knowledge of English literature is
available, he who has been the faithful
student of Chaucer and Spenser, of
Pope and Dryden, Dickens and Thack
eray, will be likely to lead the conver
sation ; and if he has good taste, and
fanoy, and humor, his words will be lis
tened to with respect and admiration.
If he has sense enough to talk at all, he
will not be a mere parrot repeating the
thoughts of others in order to engage
attention and make people admire his
wisdom and skill as a talker. Original
ity is to be desired above all things, bnt
this is impossible without a knowledge
of many matters and things in the ma
terial world upon which to base thought
or judgment; and as conversation is but
an expression of thought or the utter
ance of judgment upon an infinite vari
ety of subjects, and as this knowledge
can only be derived from books, it will
at once be seen that true oritonality is
fostered by careful and systematic read
ing Ideas beget ideas; thoughts stim
ulate thoughts, until their expression
becomes absolutely necessary in some
form.
Ten years ago, one hundred miles
west of Omaha was fixed as the furth
est limit for agricultural production in
Nebraska; now farms are found three
hundred miles beyond that city, with
hardy settlers taking up homesteads
still further west in all the valleys
where sufficient water can be found for
irrigation.
Sunday-school teacher : “ Anna,
what mnst one do in order to be for
given T’ Anna : “ He mnst sin !”