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W ™ . ”in“t HALK,} E ‘ li,or - nud Proprietors.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
EAST.
Udderzook was hanged at West Ches
ter, Fa., on the 12tli inst. Ho made no
confession. Just before the black cap was
drawn over his face, he sai l to the attending
clergyman : “ All I have to say is, I am a sin
ner saved by grace and I am accepted of God.’
The managers of St. John’s Guild
say that at least ten thousand men and women
are out of employment in New York city, and
that whole familes are without the necessities
of life. Hundreds gather at the Guild doors
daily clamoring for food, and the treasury of
the Guild, even to its reserve fund, is ex
hausted.
WEST.
The Detroit board of inspectors find
that the propellor Brooklyn, which exploded a
few weeks since, killing pome twenty people,
was at the time carrying 100 pounds of steam,
when her certificate allowed onl^fcO.
A dispatch from Camp Sully, Indian
Territory, dated November 7, tells a story of
a fight on McClellan creek the previous day,
botween twenty-eight men of the Bth cavalry
under Captain H. F. Farnsworth, and one
hundred Cheyennes. The United States
troops lost one killed and four wounded. The
Indians’ loss was fifteen killed.
Over 30,000 people witnessed the
great running race at San Francisco on the
1 tth inst. The contest was mainlv between
Katie Pease and Thad Stevens, the former
winning in two straight heats. Time, 7:4.1X,
The friends of Thad Sthvous were
greatly disappointed. On the first heat the
horses got off well together. Thad Stevens
took tlio first three miles, closely pushed by
Katie Feaso. Tne last mile was won by the
latter. Time, Stevens was held by
his driver on the last mile, and came in about
four lengths behind. After the first heat Alpha
was withdrawn, lame. It was roported that
Stevens also was lame. At the close of the
second heat the race was the most exciting
over witnessed there. Joe Daniels was dis
tanced in the last heat. The field barely
saved themselves. Henry was 2d, Hardwood
3d, Thad 4th, Hocking sth. Just before the
race Katie Poaso sold at SI,OOO, Thad Stevens
for $320, and the field for $320. The hackers
of Thad Stevens were confident that, if he
was nor shut out on the first heat, he would
win the rare. Over SIOO,OOO changed hands
on the result. There were many eastern
turfmen on the ground, some of whom were
betting on Thad Stevens. Tesi and twenty
dollars were paid along the course for favor
able positions for occupants of the carriages.
The grounds presented a magnificent spec
tacle, eclipsing that cf the groat running
race of last year. Before the race, Katie
Pease sold at 210 to 500 on Thad Stevens, Joe
Daniels third choice.
SOUTH.
The health of Gen. John C. Breckin
rilge does not improve.
The yellow fever has disappeard from
Charleston since the late cold weather.
The New Orleans mint is being made
roady for coining monov, if congress makes
the necessary appropriation.
Anew line of steamers has been es
tablished in Baltimore, to trade between that
port and Port Royal, South Carolina.
An * ntire train of cars passed over
M. Ij. Duke, machinist, at Dallas, Texaß, the
other day. He was trying to climb the caboose.
Little Rock claims to be the cradle of
female education in Arkansas, because the
first female college in the state has been
opened there.
A man at Huntington,'West Virginia,
claims that, some strollers left with him the
veritable Charlie JRoss, of Philadelphia, and
demands $5,000 for him.
T. T. Bracks, late president of the
Merchants’ national bank of Petersburg, Va.,
is on trial on the charge of embezzling from
throe to four hundred thousand dollars.
The M obile and Montgomery railroad
was sold last week by order of the chancery
ciurt. It was bought by the first mortgage
bondholders, for $3,022,000. This saves the
state from all loss.
E. S. Ramsey, of Helena, Arkansas,
shot himself at the Worsham house, Memphis,
Tenn., last week, the ball entering just below
the heart, ir dieting a fatal wound. A tela
gr im to his father t&ys : “ I have been driven
fr in home, and, maddened, shall commit sui
cide. God help mo iu the name of Jesus.”
Lawrence Mathews, an old citizen of
Overton county, Tennessee, was struck by
lightning about noon on the 11th, and in
stantly killed. He hid just finished his din
ner and passed into an adjoining room. The
lightning set fire to the liouso hut the family
suoceoded in extinguishing it.
A colored man named Gordon, living
near Moarphis, was shot and killed by Dr.
White, near Commerce, Mississippi, recently.
Gordon had stolen a shot-gun from Dr. White,
for which he had boen picking cotton. The
doctor, attempting t,o regain the gun, was fired
upon by Gordon, and, returning the fire, killed
Gordon instantly. White was tried and ac
quitted.
At Salisbury, N, C., two negroes en
tered the house of an'old man, supposed to
have a large sum of money on hand, for the
purp se of robbing him on the morning of
the 12th inst., and when he refused to give up
his money, one negro fired, the shot taking ef
fect in the old man's mouth, hut glancing, made
only a flesh wound. The old gentleman’s
wife, aged 50, attacking the negro with a
spade, the first blow penetrated his brain and
killed him.
FOREIGN.
The government of Saxony has for
bidden the practice of cremation.
For eorne years past there has been
an annual emigration of 30,000 persons from
Italy.
Garibaldi has been elected deputy to
the Italian assembly from two separate dis
tricts.
The annual number of persons con
victed of serious crimes in EQglaud shows a
steady diminution.
The Russian Government’has sent
orders for the speedy completion of the for
tress on the Khivan frontiers.
Recent statistics show that the whole
number of farmers in France is 7,333,259, of
whom 5,875,945 are land proprietors.
Although owning and controlling the
land t< -jttanh, Sir Stafford Northcote says
tbe Bri'iJPjjfoverument has no notion of in
vesting in cables.
A telegram from Paris says, the im
pression there, in favorable to Don
Carlos, is that his < ause is ut terly ruined and
his situation hopeless.
An order has been promulgated in
Strasburg by the German authorities that
henceforth infants must receive no names
which do not appear in the German calendar.
Marshal Bazaiue, who sailed from
Southampton on the ninth instant, branded
,at Lisbon. It is understood]that his destina
tion is Madrid, where he intends to reside as
a private individual.
The Glaloss says that the government
has resolved to introduce a system of com
pulsory elementary education. A trial is to
be made at St. Petersburg of the Berlin sys
tem, and it is thought that now schools will be
opened by the 15th inst.j
The latest advices from Khiva say
there is compl-t anarchy there. The Turko
mans refuse to obey the Khan, who summoned
his council, which declared that the Kivan
autonomy was a Action, and that the aid of
Russia was indispensable.
The loss of the Carlists in the en
gagements near Iruu, were heavy. They suc
ceeded in carrying off their guns. It is be
lieved they will retreat to patella, The gov-
THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
eminent has received intelligence that Gen
eral Lazenna has entered Iran.
The results of the late international
conference at Brussels form the subject of
fresh negotiations between some of the gov
ernments represented thereat. Russia asks
that the conclusions of the conference be em
bodied in a regular treaty between the nations
whose representatives signed the agreement.
Disraeli has been re-elected rector of
the University of Glasgow, by 700 votes
against 500 for Emerson. The conservative
students protested against the election of
Emerson because he was a foreigner, and
the liberals against the choice of Disraeli
because of the undue influence in his favor
by the professors of the university.
The Prussian court of Ratisbon re
cently fined the archbishop of Olmutz, Austria,
for illegally appointing priests in the Prussian
part of his diocese. The Austrian govern
ment refused to surrender the archbishop on
the demand of the Prussian authorities for
his extradition. The court lias accordingly
issued a warrant against him, and confiscated
all of his revenues and estates in Prussia.
Liverpool is experimenting with a
new cure for drunkenness. The plan sug
gested by Mr. Gladstone, is to publish the
names of those who were seen in public
drank. Every Monday morning a list of the
public drunkards is published in all the daily
papers, giving the names and occupations of
the transgressors in fud.
Riots have recently occurred at sev
eral points in Poland, on account of Ihe forci
ble introduction, by lire ’government, of
church reform and the appointment of priests
by the imperial authority. The newly-ap
pointed priests have been maltreated by mobs.
The local governments, at the points of dis
turbance, have been reinforced by troops
from Warsaw and a number of rioters have
been arrested.
An unusually heavy earthquake was
felt in Chili on the 26th ult., about twelve
minutes after midnight. Its duration was
about thirty seconds, and the direction from
east to west. Much alarm’was caused in Val
paraiso and Santiago. All the public clocks
stopped, and the walls of some of the
churches and houses were split. The shock
was followed by an increase of the thermome
ter of two and two-tonth degrees. Voseels at
anchor felt it severely. During the week
slight tremors were felt.
The London Daily Telegram repeats
the report of a Socialist conspiracy in Russia,
and adds that three thousand persons, in
eluding many ladies, have been arrested. A
commission has been appointed to investigate
the conspiracy, the', exact object of which is
still unknown. Several persons of exalted
rank are said to be implicated. A vast amount
of money seems to have been at the disposal
of the conspirators. The arrests since the
discovery of the plot have been so numerous
that a perfect reign of terror exists in St.
Petersburg. It was proposed that the police
should search every house in a single night.
The Alsatians are grumbling more
and more because their German rulers insist
upon making thorn feel in every way that
they are conquerors. At Strasburg it was
lately ordered that newly born children must
henceforth receive no names which do not ap
pear in the German calendar. A citizen
wished to name his daughter Blanche, but had
to substitute Mathikle. Foruond, Carlos and
Suzette have had to give way to Ferdinand,
Karl and Susanna. The girls at school were
in the habit of ornamenting their desks ac
cording to their own fancies ; now they have
to draw i heir figures and arrange their colors
according to law. The Alsatians don’t like so
much Germau in theirs, and are driven to an
attitude of passive resistance.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Evening Post says, if the Pacific
mail steamship company do not give the tea
and silk business to the Pacific railroads, the
latter will arrange with a line of English
steamers to China and Japan.
The American express company’s
messenger, on the Toronto branch of the
Great Western railroad, was robbed last week
by five masked robbers. The amount of
money lost is supposed to he $12,000 or
$15,000.
.The solicitor of the treasury has
formally demanded of tlio treasurer of the
Union Pacific railroad company the five per
cent, of the net earnings of the road from
November, 1869, to October 31, 1874, making
$1,040,056 to be paid within the next sixty
days.
The third assistant postmaster-gen
eral. in liis annual report, estimates the pro
portion of washed stamps used again in pay
ment of postago at 5 per cent, of the value
of all stamps sold each year, causing an an
nual loss of a million dollars to the revenues
of the department.
Postmaster General Jewell emphati
cally disclaims intending to recommend any
ncroase in the present rates of postage. On
the contrary, he thinks postago should be re.
duced, whenever it should be found possible
to materially diminish the expenditures for
carrying the mails, without depriving the pub
lic of existing futilities. m
A Galveston News special from
Brownsville, gives an account of a raid on
Los Almos which causes some excitement.
This decides the question as to 1 the existence
of organized bands in Mexico to invade Texas.
Los Almos is about one liundrc and miles from the
Rio Grando. It has three or four stores and
a good many inhabitants. Mr. McGovern,
the custom-house master, is recently from
Edinburg, and says that a party of raiders
were in Hidalbo county about five days ago.
They had bales of calico, etc., on their horsrs.
They crossed the Rio Grande between Edin
burg and Ringgold barracks, nearly a hundred
miles below Guerro. They were from Mata
moras and other towns on the lower Rio
Grande, and not from Guerro. Ricardo Flora
is stealing cotton from this side. More than
two weeks since a herder of Celaya & Dona
laya was captured by a band of robbers. They
tied his hands behind him. his feet under his
horse’s belly, and turned the horse 1 rose.
After grazing around twelve hours, the horse
went to a ranche and the poor man was re
leased. The marauders collected the cattle
and drove them into Mexico. This occurred
about twelve miles south of Brownsville.
Subterrantau Fisliss.
In boring artesian wells in the desert
of Sahara very small fishes, resembling
the white-bait, not uufrequently occur,
which inhabit the waters of the subter
ranean bed of tbo desert. They are
identical with a species from the waters
of Biskra. The male differs from the
female in being transversely barred, so
that some authors have regarded it as a
distinct species. The eyes are well
formed, although these fishes live a part
of the time in obsennty. It seems that
as far back as 1849 the governor of the
oases of Thebes and Gaibe, in Egypt,
stated that an artesian well,-about- 105
feat deep, which ha had cleaned out,
furnished for his table fishes which
probably came from the Nile, as the
sand which be had brought up from this
artesian well was identical with that of
this river. In the Sahara, as in Egypt,
these fishes were carried away by the
waters, which filtered away into the
soil down to tha subterranean sheet into
which the artesian wells opeD. Gervais
claims to have established the fact that
these subterranean fishe6 are essentially
fl aviatile, and that some like them are
found in the rivers of Senegal and Mo
zambique, of Syria and Egypt, of the
Iberian peninsula, and even America.
Their fossil representatives are not found
in deposits of marine origin, and all
that we know occur iu lacustrine forma
tions. The existence of these fishes can
no', then, serve as an argument for the
former presence of the waters of the
Mediterranean on the soil of the north
of Africa. — Harper'e.
THE MOTHER’S CALL.
BY MRS. CORNIE LAWS ST. JOHN.
An afcPd mother, sitting in the twilight of an au
tnmn evening, weeps at the thought that her chil
dren, who have gone out from her home into the
busy world, can reltirn to her no more in the sweet
ness, purity, and beauty of youth.
Come hack to my arms little children!
Back through the fields brown and still,
Where your footsteps went out in life’s morning,
To the great world far over the hill.
Come back o’e r the fields lying sodden
And dim, in the chill autumn rain;
For my starving heart waiteth to fold you
To my bosom again and again.?
The mist from the lowlands npriseth
To the sad, starless fields of the sky;
Come! for the pathway is fading,
And the evening shades fast multiply.
But bring your pure hearts of the morning,
Lay down your dark burden of years,
And come to me, only as children.
With your child-hymns, and laughter, and tears.
Come back from the world, straying children !
Pack in your innocence sweet,
With the hand of vonr Maker yet on you,
And the May flowers under your feet.
My arms to the dim, faded meadows, a
For your forms stretch in hungering quosr;
Beturn, like the swallows of summer,
Again to your desolate nest.
Come back in your robes white and guiltless.
Your dimple?, and soft shining hair—
O, come in that marvelous beauty
Which only the innocent wear.
Dear circle of evanished faces!
Turn back th rough the twilight of years,
And gladden, with one blissful moment,
These heavy eyes laden with tears.
My empty arms fold but your shadows.
And the path which your sinless feet wore,
That cleft the sweet heart of the meadows,
Dies ont in the mist of the moor.
My motherhood’s crown drops its jewels,
My bosom i inching and bare,
Or your childhood I hold but one token,
One tress of j onr bright baby-hair.
THE KAISER FREDERICK.
Virginia Peal was a clerk inf the great
store of Pink & Plodding. She stood
im the lace department, and displayed
and measured till her little body ached
every night. Pink k Plodding flour
ished in a brick and plate-glass blccfe,
kept a score or two of salespeople and
runners, and draped all the fashionable
world. Their spring and fall “op°n
ings” disturbed square miles of feminine
hearts (and purses), and in any season
their counters were throfiged. Virginia
thought herself fortunate at first to be
taken into Pink A Plodding’s establish
ment. But we are ungrateful beings
who tire of our blessings. She came
to the city a lone creature, with noth
ing to advance her except a letter to the
rector of St. Paul’s. The rector of St.
Paul’s kindly recommended her to Mr.
Plodding, who wanted a young woman
behind his lace-counter just then, and
Mr. Plodding took her.
There she stood day a r ter day, spread
ing fabrics, hunting unheard-of pat
terns, and going through violent gym
nastics for hurried customers, who, per
haps, piled the counters with tangles
up to their chins, and went away leav
ing the shop girl nothing but trouble.
She was not quite a pretty child ; she
had a great deal of dark brown hair,
and swift, dark eyes, and baby hands ;
when she came to work in the morning
she was flushed and fresh, as sleep and
youth will make the heaviest laden of
us all; but, as her day-sands slipped,
so slipped her bloom till night drove
her, haggard and old-faced, to her home
less boarding-place. To be sure, she
saw the world. It flowed constantly
past her, loved to hurry and vex her,
and shook its leisure, its plenteous hap
piness and full purse, always in her
face.
Virginia had no companions among
her fellow clerks. They consisted of
fluffy young women and correctlv-got
ten-np men. Girls who hnng variegated
hair round their skulls, and who told
you a thing was “ vur poorty,” or
“ ehawming,” or “ delaightful.” Men
of that cut-and-dry appearance which a
life behind a counter gives a family mau.
To be sure, above all stood Miss Blum,
the cashier, v. hose mouth shut like an
oyster-shell, and snapped so when it
was forced to unclose that you wouldn’t
pry at it often. But she was not of the
lower earth, earthly. The girls dis
liked Virginia ; they considered her an
upstart; her reserved ways were “airs;”
and, altogether, she wasn’t “ their
style;” they snubbed her. The cut
and-dry men were so occupied between
the rushes of business and mental at
tempts to stretch their salaries around
the year that they forget this fatherless
daughter in their midst.
Mr. Plodding was a leathery old fel
low, who worked his human machines
hard, and looked well to their opera
tions. The flesh and blood, and soul
part of them, he had nothing to do with.
Different wa3 Mr. Pink—that elegant
being ! He wib a gentleman ; mercliant,
whose father had set him up in busi
ness, and who did the fast-horse driving
of the establishment, leaving it to old
Plodding to do the fast-bargain driving.
Mr. Pink seldom entered the store, but
he delighted in sending a flutter before
him when he did enter. He scattered
compliments, and silly, patronizing
speeches, right and left. When Mr.
Pink saw Virginia he fixed his eyes on
her and promised to amuse himself with
that little girl. But he never got on
with her at all. Respectful towards
him, yet she held herself so much above
him that his boasted shots fell below
her feet. The serene shop-girl declined
flirtation with that fasekating being.
She was so lonely. Her boarding
place was a chill resort, where “board
ers” were boxed in small rooms, fed
sparingly and solemnly, and told the
price of every article of food while it
was between their teeth, by that severe
winow, Mrs. Stump, who surveyed her
victims from the head of a loDg table.
Here, agaiD, people were negative to
Virginia.
Not many recreations were there for
her. She seldom saw a play or heard
music. A city in wealth of resources
rolled around her, and she stood, like
Tantalus, unable to command them,
There was nothing for her, she told her
self again and again, but to stand in
that store, pay her earnings to the
boarding-house keeper, and keep the
tread-mill going till she died.
Often this unhelped child grew des
perate, and, when she came home of
nights, she threw herself upon the floor,
and beat her tired, bursting head against
the wall. It was foolishness, to be sure,
but- the foolishness of a human being in
mental agony was what drew out the
tenderest compassion from One who
once sojourned on the earth.
“If I had someone !” cried Virginia,
“just somebody ! A friend !”
It did not strike her to say lover.
Lovers she might have found among
the youths who frequented Mrs.
Stamp’s, and looked upon Virginia
with some favor, But in none of these
could she find her friend. Many young
girls have passed through snchi experi
ence in a big, lonely city, and have
taken the husk’ which chance threw
them, or, worst of all, have been goaded
by maddening heartache down the dark
road of ruin. She was so young to be
all forsaken and lost in the big world !
She wondered, bitterly, why she had
been created at all! The gift of life
comes to so many of us wrong side out.
We pull it this way and that; but we
shall find the design, the beauty and
the glory of it, if we’re patient. Some
are to find the meaning of life in love ;
some in splendid work; and a happy
few in heroic deeds reserved to them
which will echo down the centuries.
Never mind, Dearie-down-in-the-mud!
Just pull away. You’re f ure to come
out dry and high, if you keep a good
heart and stiff lip.
One night, as Viiginia leaned against
the window, looking at the heavy sky,
she heard a violin. The sound was
famt; but, as she listened, it grew till it
filled all her sense of bearing. It talked
to her like an angel. Hex heart swelled.
She leaned towards the darkness from
which it spoke, strained after it. Its
CARTERS VILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25. 1874.
sweetness, its pathos, its compass can
not be described. She took no thought
of the hand upon it. She loved that
violin. Through hours she listened,
leaning over the window-sill, feeling
the city’s breath in her face, but the
breath of heaven in her heart. She
thought about it all next day, and
waited impatiently for the next evening.
Night by night it talked to her, becom
ing a part of her existence. If it ne
glected her, she was restless and fretted.
When it did its best, she paid it distant
tribute by clapping her hands and whis
pering in eestacy, “Oh, you darling
old fiddle! I do love you ! You’ve
got a soul! I wish it was a person! ’
She ofted added : “ I wish it could be a
friend to me.”
Suddenly the music stopped. She
listened night after night, but all the
hours were silent.
“Jast like everything I take to lov
ing !” cried Virginia, passionately.
“I think I shall die!” wailed Vir
ginia, in a woman’s intense undertone,
as she drrgged through the dusk one
evening. “I know I shall die if some
thing don’t eomfort me pretty soon!
Oh, I’d like to steal a baby ! Why isn’t
some foundling dropped into my lap ?
I shall forget all the pretty ways my
own brother Jamie had before he died,
and I shall just mummy, like Miss
Blum. Oh, I wish a baby’d bo los f ,
and I’d find it! ”
Midsummer-night, you know, is a
night on which every wish spoken is
granted. It being midsummer night,
therefore at the next corner Virginia did
find a lost baby.
It was a quaint, pretty child, dressed
in clothing of a foreign cut. One little
shoe was on one little foot, but the
other little shoe was clutched in fat
hands. Frightened, but brave, was
this baby; crying and quivering, but
looking straight ahead, and mopping its
face with its petticoats.
“ What is it, dear?” asked Virginia,
stooping to the little head.
“ Papa !” said the child, bursting into
a wail; “vo ist eh ?”
“ She’s so frightened ! Are you lost?”
“ Papa !”
“ Come with me,” begered the girl,
winning on the convulsed face, and get
ting power over her wail. “You’ll
come with me, won’t you !” She led it
along. “ What’s your name.”
“ Wooise !”
“ Louise, is it ? Ah, she’s so tired !
Come up on my shoulders, pet; I’ll
carry you.”
She got Louise into her arms and
flitted like a thief. She knew that to
report her find at once to the police
would be to have the child taken from
her and placed in the station house.
She would wait and send a message. So
she flew past Mrs. Stump, who admitted
her to a dark hall, and darted up stairs.
Virginia opened the shutters, threw
her hat from her, and sat down in a
rocking-chair, snuggling the child. The
child had large blue eyes, curly blonde
and an unmistakable German face.
She held Virginia’s neck with confi
dence, and watched all Virginia’s mo
tions with discerning eyes.
“Louise!” cried the girl, and here
she stopped to squeeze and kiss the
child’s breath Jaalf away. “ Oh, it’s so
long since Jamie went out of his sister’s
arms. Oh, you bonnie darling ! Do
you understand me when I talk ?’’
Louise shook her head and then nod
ded it. She was learning two lan
guages, and often Jgrew confused be
tween the two.
“Do you understand this?” Vir
ginia framed the plump face with her
hands and kissed it again. I Oa, love
you so, baby!”
“ Bist du mamma ?” inquired Louise,
lifting an interrogating finger and plac
ing it on Virginia’s chin.
The girl laughed ont merrily. Her
dismal little room echoed. That room
was astonished ; to the sound of sob
bing it was accustomed, but against
laughter it set its ghastly face and lifted
its ghostly voice.
“No, I’ra not mamma,” replied Vir
ginia, “but I’ll tell you who I am. Put
your so. Now say ‘darling
Jeanie!’ ”
Louise made an effort to do as re
quested, but these were two big words.
She clucked at them, broke down, and
stuck her tongue ont confusion.
Virginia laughed again, and cuddled
the little thing on her neck. “But
where is mamma?” she asked; “who
is mamma ? She’ll miss you, won’t
she ?”
“ Himmel!” uttered Louise with an
effort, “gone!”
“ Is she dead ?” low and tenderly.
“Yah,” replied Louise, greatly re
lieved at being comprehended, “gone
dead.”
“Laws sakes !” bawled Mrs. Stump,
who made towels au excuse for march
ing upon a citadal where she heard such
unwonted sounds of reveliy. “ Whose
young one is that? What on earth are
you doing with it ?”
“She was lost on the streets,” ex
plained Virginia ; “ I found her.”
“Lost a purpose, I expect. You’d
better send her round to the station and
have her owners looked up, if she’s got
any. 1 ain’t going to feed no vagrants.
“Don’i trouble yourself, madam!”
fired up this sweet-tempered young wo
man instantly. “ I know very well that
feeding people is not your forte ; and,
be assured, I shall take all proper steps
for finding he ‘owners.’”
Mrs. Stump opened her mouth like a
howitzer, and was going to plump a
telling ball, when the door-bell startled
her back into her “ respectable board
ing-house keeper” demeanor. She went
down and answered the bell. Virginia’s
thread of talk with Louise was broken ;
she listened apprehensively to the voices
below.
“Lost, madam!” exclaimed a man’s
voice, deep and full of foreign gu'ter
als ; “ a little child. W’ile I been gone.
Was gone tw i weeks. The nurse, she
careless—she lets mine kind out of her
eye—a man tells me she vas on this
sthreet!”
“ Papa !” fluttered Louise, pricking
up her ears. “ Oh, papa !”
Virginia carried her to the head of
the stairs. She saw below an alert
man, bronzed, but blue-eved and fair
haired like his child, dressed in travel
er’s gray, and holding a violin-case un
der his arm. This he dropped as Louise
reached her arms and screamed for him;
he dashed up stairs, met them midway,
and took the child out of Virginia’s
arms.
“I thought I had lost thae! Bless
thee ! Ah. this fraulein has been kind
to thee. Hast thanked her ?”
“Yah, ich-ich habe sii gekuszt!”
blundered baby, eagerly.
“ That was well !” As he grew calm
er his English came more smoothly.
“Fraulein, belief me, I am grateful !”
“It was nothing,” replied Virginia
with filling eyes ; “ I hate to have von
take her away ; there are no children
here. I was so glad to find her.”
“ Ach !” his face brightened like a
sun fully unclouded. “ She shall come
oft! Shall you not, Louise, and see
the young lady who saved you from
danger ou the street? We lodge just
three squares—round the corner.” He
felt eagerly in all his pockets, and final
ly produced a ca and case, from which he
took a card to present to Virginia. She
read thereon, in German characters,
“ Friederich Kaiser.” The rest she
could not translate, but scented from it
something about a professor and Mu
nich.
“ My name is Virginia Real,” sfye told
him, timidly, feeling a little afraid of
the professor and Munich.
Frederick Kaiser lifted his hat with
the arm not occupied with his little
girl, and bowed with respect. “You
have dons service to me, Miss Real.
Can I do no little pleasure to you ? ’
“ I wonder,” murmured Virginia, “is
it you whom I have beard playing on
the violin so much? Oh, it was so
beautiful! Iso much love to hear it!”
Frederick Kaiser now hastened to get
down stairs, to set his baby on her feet,
and to take up his violin-case.
“ Here he is ! Cremona ! I haf played
him all my life. You love it, hah?
Good ! You shall hear him oft. Shall I
have the privilege to come and play him
for you at your leisure?” He looked
up enthusiastically to Virginia, who
nestled on the steps, her lips pressed
like a child’s.
“ Oh, if you please ! Oh, I’ll be so
glad !” she breathed,
“Such doings!” muttered Mrs.
Stump, who, having stepped out of the
hall, had left the door ajar. “That
man’s a widower, and I’ll bet she know
ed it. I can see clear through it now—
this pickin’ up babies on the straets and
foundlin’ ’em !”
“ I will come!” said Herr Kaiser,
picking up daughter and violin, and
bowing himself out of the street door.
“ And the youngling shall come. Good
day, fraulein.”
According to his word he came. And
having come once, he came again, evi
dently enjoying the odor and sanotity
of Mrs. Stump’s snuffy parlor.
While Virginia held Louise he played
all his favorite music, watching her ap
preciative face with kindling eye. Some
times, between his music-bursts, he
told her about his early days, his Hei
delburg life and student foot-tours,
Louise’s mother, his dark days, his
coming to America to better bad for
tune, his playing in orchestras and
teaching, while searching for a suitable
position. Thus he formed ties with her,
and surrounded her with Learty friend
ship.
Virginia knew her friends had come.
Light luve may come and it may go ;
men and women join hands every day,
but few women find in those who woo
them the perfectly responsive friend.
From making formal calls with his
collar set precisely, Louise and the vio
lin in arms, he went on to running in
with sudden and pretty pleasures for
Virginia. Ho would take Louise and
her to ride, that they might see some
refreshing spot outside the dusty city.
Or he tucked her under his arm and
took her to concerts, where he placed
her where he could see her from his
chair ; and then he played, always turn
ing his eager, boy-like face toward her
for his triumphs.
Perhaps on Sundays he called to take
her with him to the church of father
land, where he worshiped. Virginia
sat in this place and crowded tears back.
It was all so quaint and sweet, and like
some memory of a life she must have
lived on another pianet, it touched her
with such a sense of at homeness.
Thus Frederick Kai§er made her more
and more his friend.
“ Kaiser !” she once laughed softly to
herself ; “ that’s emperor ! Frederick,
emperor ! He a just splendid, and it
suits him.” So, under her breath, she
took to reversing his name, and calling
him Kaiser Frederick.
Said the Kaiser Frederick to Virginia
one day, in the beginning of the au
tumu, “ I am going away ! ” He told
his plans. “ Ach ! thy face grows long.
But it is on a business journey. See!
A chair—a professorship—do they call
him so ?—is maybe mine! I will go and
see. Perhaps i shall come back with
good tidings.”
Virginia carried her life without him
a week, she missed the Kaiser so; and
cried once on her arms so empty of
Louise—for he took the child with him.
On Saturday night she came home
from the store, glad to feel to-morrow’s
rest meeting her. It was her birthday,
but no one had celebrated it. She had
given it little thonght herself.
Mrs. Stump met her with a package
she said had been left for Miss Real
early in the afternoon, and which bore
unmistakable marks of having been
pried into.
Within locked doors Virginia cut the
cord, and found that the Kaiser blessed
his little friend on her birthday, and
begged her acceptance of this volume—
his favorite Schiller. It was a nice
birthday! thought Virginia. She did
not feel too tired to dress for dinner,
and to put a late rose in her hair.
Just as gas was lighted, Mrs. Stump’s
door-bell was nearly rooted oat of the
basement. The Kaiser was at the door,
and eager to see Miss Real.
The moment Miss Real dawned upon
his vision he flew out of his chair and
ran to take her hands.
“It is mine! lam now in good posi
tion ! I will teach my art and German
letters to an institution! Ach, you are
glad! ” He stopped and studied her
face. “Bat lam not until yon tell me
you will go too. So good—so true ! I
will take such care of thee—and thou
shalt have Louise. Thou wast my
friend—can’st trust me all?”
“Would another be a better husband
foi thee? ” continued the Kaiser, blanch
ing at her hesitation.
“Oh, no 1” replied Virginia, looking
up shyly. “ I like you! ” sho admitted
in her quiet, bashful way.
“ How good that is 1 ’ cried the Kai
ser, impriuting the betrothal kiss on
her forehead. “Sweetheart, lam thy
own! ”
“And now I will bring my young
ling?” So he dashed out of the house
and returned in a few moments with
Lonise under one arm and his violin
case under the other.
Virginia sat through hours that even
ing (ah ! she remembered them all her
life), holding Louise upon her bosom,
listening to the violin, which uttered its
masterpieces, and watching with indes
cribable satisfaction that most satisfac
tory man in the world—her Kaiser
Frederick.
Tlie Transit of Venus Expedition.
The question may be asked why so
much pains snould be taken to measure
the distance of the sun, and whether it
makes any difference to mankind what
orbit Venus describes. Scientific in
vestigators never inquire of what use
knowledge is ; they leave its practical
application to others. But a very little
consideration will show that astronomy
has, in a merely utilitarian wav, paid
the world manifold for all the labor
spent in learning it. Did it never oc
cur to the reader that it is to Kelper,
Newton, and their successors that we
owe the means of navigating the ocean
in safety? When a ship is out of
eight of land there is no way of de
termining her position except by obser
vations of tne heavenly bodies. But
observations could not be used for this
purpose unless the laws of motion of
those bodies had been discovered and
taught by mathematicians and astrono
mers. A striking example of this is
fresh in the memory of all. A year
and a half ago the spendid steamer City
of Washington sailed on her usual voy
age across the ooeau, but constant
cloudy weather prevented observations
to determine her position. In conse
quence, she was wrecked on the coast of
Nova Scotia, and the loss of more
property than would pay for all the
expenses of observing the transit of
Venus paid the forfeit for failure to
make the necessary observations. A
large portion of the labors of astrono
mers is devoted to fixing the positions
of the stars and planets with continu
ally increasing accuracy, and the ob
servations we have been describing are
one step in this work,— Harper’s,
There is a good deal of sympathy
felt .or the duke of Edinburg in eon
seqneuce of a remark of his Maria, that
if he had the heart of a man iu his bosom
be wouldn’t expect her to sit up all
night alone with a colicky baby.
SARDINES.
How They are Caught and Prepared for
market.
The sardine fishery, with all ita at
tendant industrial activities, is one
of the important business features of
the coast of France. There are indica
tions, however, that these toothsome
little fish are either becoming scarce or
else less easily caught than aforetime ;
for the yield grows less every year, both
in the aggregate Quantity obtained and
the average caught per boat. The fish
ery is prosecuted from April to Octo
ber, and furnishes employment to some
20,000 sailors, with their 3,840 boats, on
the water, and some 13,000 men, women
and children on land, in preparing the
fish for market. Every year shows a
diminution in the catch and advance in
the price. This is shown by a table,
recently published, which gives the
figures of the sardine fishery for the
past thirty years, and exhibits the an
nual decline in quantity caught and the
corresponding advance in market price.
Whereas, from 1840 to 1849, the aver
age catch per boat was 835,600 fish, and
i heir price about one dollar per 1,000,
the catch last year averaged only 65,-
000 fish per boat, and the price has
mounted up to some eight dollars and a
half per 1,000 fi=b. It is, therefore,
quite probable that, unless some change
soon comes, sardines will take their
place among epicurean rarities, and
will command that peculiar respect
which, while so numerously and cheap
ly procured, they have failed to compel.
The preparation of sardines for mar
ket is quite an interesting performance,
and is mostly done by women and chil
dren who leave country homes to spend
the “ sardine season” on the coast.
These do all the handling c f the fish
from the time they leave the boats un
til they are ready to be finally soldered
up in their boxes. They work ten
hours a day, as a rule, and may do as
much overwork as they choose, at from
three to four and a half cents an hour.
They usnally make sixteen hours a day’s
work, and- as they are free to eat as
many sardines as they want (although
expected to “ find themselves” in all
other respects), they generally manage
to make enough during the sardine sea
son to keep their families through the
winter. They sleep in an outhouse of
the shanty description, and supply their
own beds and do all, their own house
keeping.
The condition precedent—“ first catch
your fish ” —having been complied with,
the sardines are taken to the workshop,
where they are at once salted, which is
done by throwing into each basket a few
handfuls of rock salt, and shaking the
basket so that the salt shall reach every
fish. Then they are spread out npon
tables covered with zinc and left there
three or four hours, to allow all liquid
to drain off. Next they are decapitated
and deprived of their insides by means
of sharp knives, which are made to
operate with wonderfnl dexterity in
the hands of these female and infantile
experts. Washing with sea water is the
next process, after which the fish are
placed tails up, in a wire basket of 200
sardines capacity, which is hung up in
the open air for several hours, until its
contents are dried. Frying comes next
in order, and this is done, not in their
own fat, of which the fish have no su
perabundance, but in the best kind of
olive oil, in pans each just large enough
to hold one of the wire baskets. Here
they simmer in the boiling oil from five
to ten minutes by testing they are
found to be cooked. This testing con
sists in taking out a fish and breaking it
in two, when, if it is white and the
backbone quickly detaches itself, the
fish is considered cooked and the bas
ket is taking from the pan.
After cooking, the baskets of fish are
taken away and hung just over a zinc
table for three or four hours, where
they drip until perfectly dry, and are
then placed before the women who do
the packing. This is the only handling
they get after being stood up to dry as
previously described. They are now
taken ont of the baskets one by one and
laid in the boxes, literally sardine fash
ioD, and are overflowed with pure, fresh
olive oil. As the fish absorb a portion
of the oil, there is no stinting of the
deluge they receive. The boxes then
pass to the hands of the solderer, who
operates with an iron kept hot by a gas
burner “in its midst,” connected by a
rubber tube with the gas pipes, and
having befere him a table so arranged
as to revolve and save time in manipu
lating the boxep. The process of sold
ering is swift and systematic, a single
revolution of the iron completing the
job.
A final touch is the depositing of the
boxes, 800 or 1,000 at once, in a vat,
where they are made to boil ten or fif
teen minutes. After this they are put
away for a day or two in a room, in or
der to see if any fermentation is likely
to take place, and then they nre taken
to a room knee-deep with saw-dust,
whera a swarm of girls are ready to rub
them with sawdust until all the oil is
wiped off and the boxes are as bright as
can be. Then they go to the packing
room, and thereafter to the place ap
pointed for all good sardines.
The rerils of Csing.Paris Green.
In a paper read before the American
Academy of Science, last week, Prof. Le
Conte expressed the following rather
startling views :
I call attention to the extensive use ef
Paris or Schweinfurth green for destroy
ing insects injurious to agriculture.
Paris green is a mixture of arsenite and
acetate of copper, and in the result of
certain empirical experiments has been
recommended as destructive to the Col
orado potato beetle, and, in fact, as a
univeisal remedy against injurious in
sects which appear in masses. Now
arsenic and copper are poisons which
act with equal energy upon plants and
animals. The material, though diffused
upon the leaves of the plat ts to be pro
tected, which are incapable of absorb
ing it, is speedily carried into the soil,
and if used annually it is merely a mat
ter of time how mmy years will elapse
before the soil is poisoned so as to pre
vent the growth of all vegetation. The
chemical possibilities which may result
in the poisoning of the vegetation raised
from the soil I will leave to be developed
by my colleagues. I solemnly protest
against the loose manner in which, on
the recommendation of persons who
have observed only the effects of these
poisons upon the insect pests to which
their attention has been directed, a most
dangerous material has been placed in
the hands of a large mass of uneducated
men. The manufacture of this poison
has increased to a fearful extent. A
friend, residing in one of the great agri
cultural centers of the west, writes that
the druggists of his town order it by
the ton. The ravages of the Colorado
potato beetle, which has been the chief
cause of the use of Paris green in agri
culture, commenced in the west many
years ago, and its extension at a regular
rate was predicted by entomologists.
The prediction has been verified almost
to a year. Now, it was within the
powir of the government, through a
properly 1 organized scientific bureau
for the protection of agriculture, to
have the subject investigated by a com
mission and recommend proper meas
ures to be adopted. The use of metallic
poisons would not be one of them, but
human labor, properly compensated and
intelligently employed, might have been
one of the agents employed to avert a
national calamity snch as has come
upon ns.
An interesting discussion followed the
reading of this paper. All the members
who took part in it approved Dr. Le
Conte’s views as to the danger of using
Paris green. Prof. Silliman had heard
of several instances of loss of hnman
life from carelessness in its use for kill
ing cockroaches. Prof. Alexander said
that there were well-established cases
where its employment as a coloring
matter, for wall paper, had resalted in
poisoning persons who were affected
after only half an hour spent in the
rooms hnng with such paper. Dr.
Mitchell referred to a number of cases
of poisoning by this substance. It
might be that the soil in whioh it was
strewn imparted a poisoning influence
to plants before refusing to yield its
product, and that the plants so affected
acted injuriously upon the human sys
tem. Dr. Le Conte sharply criticised
the agricultural bureau at Washington
for failing to investigate this subject
The use of strychnine in fields to kill
crow? was referred to by another mem
ber, who thought that this most inde
scrutible of poisons might affect the
vegetation.
Spectra of the Planets.
The German scientist, Herr Vogel,
has been making a series of very inter
esting researches in regard to the spec
tra of the planets. He says : “ Mer
cury he finds to give a spectrum m'osl
in accordance with that of the sun, and
that some bands which are produced by
the action of our atmosphere belong to
that planet. Venus likewise shows
bands like those of our atmosphere.
In Uranus numerous lines of the solar
spectrum are recognizable, but in the
least refrangible parts are a few bands
which are like the absorption bands of
oui atmosphere, and which indicate the
presence of water vapor in considerable
quantity. In the red of the Mars spec
trum, between lines C and B, are bands
apparently occasioned by the planet’s
atmosphere, but which are too faint to
be measured with accuracy. The plane
toid Vesta gave a weak spectrum, with
a liue identified with Fraunhofer’s line
F, and two bauds, one corresponding
with position of C-line of solar spec
trum and the other with a telluric
group. So far as an opinion may be
formed of an object so difficult, Vesta
may be presumed to be surrounded with
its atmosphere. Flora gave a weak con
tinuous spectrum, in which the colors
could scarcely be distinguished. Jupi
ter’s spectrum lines correspond for the
most part with those of the sun, out show
certain special bands, particularly in
the most refrangible parts ; a dark band
in the red being very noticeable. There
are also lines and bands like those of
the earth’s atmosphere. The gaseous
envelope of Jupiter acts on the sun-'
light like our atmosphere, and the pres
ence of water vapor may be concluded.
The band in red indicates the presence
of something not in our atmosphere,'or
perhaps a different mixture, but with
the different pressure and temperature
belonging to Jupiter, a different absorp
tive spectrum would be obtained. The
dark parts of Jupitor do not give a dis
tiot spectrum, but indicate greater in
fluence, as if they were situated deep in
the planet’s atmosphere. Saturn, be
sides showing a certain correspondence
with the solar spectrum, exhibits special
bands in the red and orange, which cor
respond with our telluric bands, except
one intense band where the wave
length is 618.2 mill. Mm. The blue
and violet rays suffer similar absorption
in passing through the Saturnian atmos
phere, which is especially noticeable in
the speotrnm of the dark equatorial
belts. The Saturn spectrum corres
ponds most completely with that of Ju
piter ; the ring spectrum is faint, and
the characteristic band in the red is
wanting, or feebly seen, from which it
would appear that the ring has either
no atmosphere or one of small height
and destiny. The spectrum of Uranus
was found too weak for easy recognition
of Fraunhofer’s lines, but Herr Vogel
gives several wave lengths as indicating
the position of banks, and considers the
presence of an atmosphere to be estab
lished. One band (wave length 618
mill. Mm.) fairly coincides with similar
bands in Jupiter and Saturn. The
faint spectraobtained from Neptune
was characterized by one dark absorp
tion band, and it is probably identical
with the spectrum of Uranus.”
Treasurer Spinner’s Report.
Treasurer Spinner’s annual statement
shows that the receipts for the year,
ending June 30, 1874, show a decrease,
compared with the previous year, in
customs, caused by the panic, of $24,-
985,689, and in internal revenue, occa
sioned by recent changes in the law, of
$11,335,529. The expenditures, exclu
sive of those on account of the public
debt, have been decreased $1,869,652.
Commendable, he says, as this retrench
ment is, it is believed it will bo still
greater at the end of the current year.
Spinner says the labor required in his
office has increased. The reduction in
the number of female employes, and
the reduction of the salaries of those
remaining, under the act of congress at
last session, has been a source of incon
venience to the department, and of dis
tress to poor widows and children.
The treasurer asks legislation to re
strain the issue of circulating notes
other than are authorized by acts of
congress, making the same a misde
meanor, punishable by fine or impriron
ment, or both. This evil is mainly at
the south, in some localities of which
almost the only circulating medium
consists of local issues by mnnicipali
t es and manufacturing companies.
He suggests an amendment to the
law, attaching a penalty for non-pav
ment within the prescribed term of the
amount due from any national bank, of
an additional sum at the rate of one per
cent, per month, upon the amount due
and unpaid, the same to be retained
from the next interest due on its stock
held in trust for the redemption of the
circulating notes.
As to nation *1 bank note redemption,
he thinks no further delay will occur,
though the redemption agency is still
without sufficient help. Notice will
soon be sent to the banks advising them
of the amounts charged to their re
demption fund to reimburse the treasu
ry for the charges for transportation
and cost of assorting notes. The
charges will be in proportion to the
number of notes redeemed rather than
their value.
It is also recommended that the
comptroller of the currency, with the
concurrence of the secretary of the
treasury, be empowered to appoint a
special agent to examine the affairs of
hanks neglecting to keep up their 5 per
cent, redemption fund, and on his re
port, if warranted, to place such banks
in the hands of a receiver.
Electricity Tor Toothache.
A Paris journal states that Dr. Bou
chard, of that city, finds the use of elec
trioity very efficient in cases of severe
toothache, a perfect cure, even where
the teeth are greatly decayed, being
not unfrequently obtained, and tempo
rary relief almost invariably ensuing.
In numerous instances, where allevia
tion at first was of short duration, the
effect became more and more marked,
and lasted longer as the treatment was
repeated. The method pursued by Dr.
Bouchard in applying the electricity is
to place the positive pole of the current
on the cheek opposite the diseased
tooth and the negative upon the antero
lateral portion of the neck, and to avoid
ulcerations the electrodes are made very
large, and their place frequently
changed. The application is continued
about half an hour, a 1 though relief is
frequently experienced in ten to fifteen
minutes. A battery of about tec ele
meots is used.
DARING ROBBERY.
A Sate Full o* Money Stolen Bef>re the
Watchman'! Kyes.
Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 16.
One of the Ixildest and most im indent
robberries of these times of brazei/crime
was perpeti ated at the office of the
American express oompany in this city
yesterday afternoon, in the full blaze of
day, and iu part right under the eyes
of the unsuspecting day watchman of
that office. During the afternoon a man
by the name of James Munrce, an ex
messenger of the American exprei s com
pany, was in the office conversin g with
the day watchman. Daring this time a
stranger of good address, who seemed
to know the messenger, came in and en
gaged in conversation. He took a
“ shine” to the watchmaD, and soon en
gaged him in marking for cigars, in the
meantime engaging him in convei sation
—in short., entertaining and aimsing
him more than strangers are w >nt to
do. He grew upon the day watchman,
and in marking for the cigars enjoyed a
run of luck that was remarkable. The
fates were against the watchman, but
the pleasant company of the stranger
compensated for his ill run of luck.
After a considerable’season of enjoy
ment their amusement was intermp ted by
the arrival of an express wagon oont aining
two men, who alighted and brought in
a trunk, which 4hey said they war ted to
send off by express. The watchman
ceased marking for cigars and attended
to the trunk. This done, the pi ;asant
stranger proposed that the watchman
should go across the street and get he
cigars. He assented and went, leaving
the agreeable stranger, the expres 3 mes
senger and the two newly arrived men
in the office.
What transpired during his absence
he did not, of oonrse, see ; but it be
came very apparent before the time for
the Chicago train to start out last even
ing. Wnat they did was to transfer the
messenger’s iron safe, filled and locked
for the Chicago run, containing from
$40,000 to $50,000, intc the old trunks
and shut it up.
When the watchman jeturned he
found that the ex-messenger had left,
and that his friend who blandly took
his cigars and the two other strangers
were waiting. The two proprietor of
the trunk told him that they had trade
a mistake, that the American was not
the office they wanted, it was the Ad
ams, and immediately picked up the
trunk, lugged it into the express and
drove away, the winner of the cigars
taking his departure at the same t me.
When the time to gather up for the
Chicago run came around there was a
commotion in that office. The whole
thing became as luminous as the foun
tain of light to the troubled and cha
grined watchman. The officers of the
company gathered up all the detectives
in the city, and sent them out to thtow,
if possible, the toils around the robbers.
George Black, one of the men who
carried the trunk out, and the son of a
lawyer in this city, has been arrested.
The trunk that contained the chest was
carried out right before the office watch
man and two of the Metropolitan police
who happened to be in the office at the
time. It is now stated on good author
ity that this same trick was attempted
in that office without success.
The Altitude at Which Man Can Live.
There has been a great deal of dis
cussion, says Chambers’ Journal, as to
the altitude at which human beings can
exist, and Mr. Glaisher himself can tell
us as much about it as anybody. In
July, 1872, he and Mr. Coxwell as
cended in a balloon to the enormous
height of 38,000 feet. Previous to the
start Mr. Glaisher’s pluse stood at sev
enty-six beats a minute, Coxwell’s at
seventy-four. At 17,000 feet the ptlse
of the former was at eightv-four, that
of the Latter at one hundred. At 19,000
feet Glaisher’s hands and lips were quite
blue, but not his face. At 21,000 feet
he heard his heart beating, and his
breathing became oppressed ; at 29,000
feet ho became senseless; notwithsta ld
ing which the aeronaut, in the interest
of science, went np another 8,000 fr et,
till he could no longer raise his hands,
and had to pull the strings of the valve
with his teeth. Aeronauts who have to
make no exertions have, of course, a
great advantage over members of :he
Alpine club and those who trust their
legs; even at 13,000 feet, these climb
ers feel very uncomfortable, more so on
the Alps, it seems, than elsewhere. At
the monastery of St. Bernard, 8,117
feet high, the monks become asthma ;ic,
and are compelled frequently to descend
into the valley of the Rhone for —any-
thing but a breath of fresh air ; and at
the end of ten years’ service are
obliged to give up tiirir high living end
come down to their usual level. At -lie
same time in South America there ire
towns, such as Potosi, placed as higt as
Mount Blanc, the inhabitants of wh ch
feel no inconvenience. The highest in
habited spot in the world is, however,
the Buddhist cloister of Hanle, in
Thibet, where twenty-one priests 1 ve
at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The
brothers Schlsginsweit, when they ex
plored the glaciers of the Ibi Gamin in
the same country, encamped at 21,(00
feet, the highest altitude at which a
European ever passed the night. Even
at the top of Mont Blanc Professor
Tyndall’s guides found it very nnplesis
ant to do this, though the professor
himself did not confess to feeling so
bad as they. The highest mountain in
the world is Mount Everest (Himalaya),
29,003 feet, and the oondor has bean
seen “ winging the blue air,” 500 feet
higher. The air, by-the-by, is nit
“bine,” or else, as De Saussure pointed
out, “ the distant mountains which are
covered with snow would appear blue
also,” its apparent color being due to
the reflection of light. What light cm
do and does is marvelons ; and not the
least is its power of attraction to hu
manity.
Condition of the Iron Trade.
The latent reports of the iron moul
ders’ onion thus summarize the present
condition of their trade: New Yoi k
city very dull. At Troy, Albany,
Rochester, Syracuse, Peekskill. Hud
son, Brooklyn. Little Falls, Auburn,
Dunkirk and Utica, very dull and no
prospects of improvement. In Phila
delphia, Pittsburg and Meadville, “not
good,” and “no improvement,” is tbe
report. At New Haven and Norwich
the report is, “trade poor.” All the
Ohio branches —Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Toledo, and elsewhere—the report in,
“trade very dull,” and “was never
worse.” From Indianapolis, Louisville
and St, Louis it is, “ very bad,” “no
work,” and “ trade dull.” At Detroit,
Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Grand Rapids,
Bay City, Bacine, it is, “ dull” and
“trade poor.” From Chicago, Peoiie
and Springfield, the report, “only tol
erable,” and a “ great many idle.’
From all the southern unions—Balti
more, Richmond, Chattanooga, Mem
phis, Wheeling, Savannah, Columbus,
(Ga.,) Water Valley, (Miss.,) Mobile
and Peteisburg, the reports are “very
dull,” “trade slow,” “uo work,”
’’tired of feeding and lodging tramp*
in search of work,” “trade slack,” etc.
So also from Salt. Lake City and Vir
ginia City the same comes. In a few
places the trade is reported as fair, and
in a very few as good, but in all cases
moulders are warned against risking the
expense of a trip to these places, as
there is no prospect of steady improve
ment.
London, it is estimated, has 150 rail
way stations within her limitß. Seven
hundred trains daily pass the Clapham
Junction, and a single railway, the Me
tropolitan, carried last year 43,000,000
passengers.
VOL. 15-NO. 48,
SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
Thebe is never a scarcity of the small
potato crop.
Where to go when short of money—
go to work.
The Japanese make a strong string of
pap>er, and we have seen a very good
oord of wood —but not lately.
When a man saves his cigar money to
bny his wife a new bonnet and the
chi dren new shoes, it indicates a sp>ell
of sunshine.
Mr. Smibkins says he has been mar
ried sixteen years, and all the income
they have had to live on has been in
come-patibiiity.
Olive Logan pjoises a rolling-pin on
the end of her thumb and demands to
know who first uttered that expression,
“Logan’s man Sykes.”
Poltoamt cannot be very unpopular
ameng the woman of Utah, when 10,000
of them vote'to sustain it, as they did
at the last congressional e’ection.
The prevalent superstition that to
spill salt is unlucky, arises from the
well known legend that Judas, the be
trayer, spilled the salt at the “lastsup
per.
Girls, as you value your lives, don’t
get up and get breakfast in the morn
ing. A young lady attempted it one
day last week, and was burned to death.
Show this to’your mothers.
Ecbope is discussing the oelebration
of one more centennial. This is the
centennial of the px>tato, or of its in
troduction to European tables. Al
though the potato, went to Europe
much more than a hundred years ago,
its introduction to the table of Louis
XVL, by Parmertier, in 1774, is the
date counted as the beginning of its
history beyond the water.
Charles H. Webb, one of the most
amnsing men on the planet, dedicates
his forthcoming book “To the Bald
headed, that noble and shining Army of
Martyrs.” Entertaining the idea that
“ loss of hair is caused by loss of sleep,”
be offers them his books as an intellect
ual ptoppy, believing (to nse his own
words) that in its wake shall follow
“tired nature’s hair restorer, balmy
sleep!”
The police boundaries of London
cover 576 square miles and a population
of 4,000,000 inhabitants. Here are
gathered more Jews than there are in
Palestine, more Scotch than there are
in Edinburgh, more Irish than there
are in Dublin, more Roman Catholics
than there are in Rome, and there is a
great variety in the languages spoken.
There is a birth in London every five
minntes, and a death every eight min
utes.
Pity the poor Celestials. They are
to learn French after Ollendorf’s sys
tem ; and so now, no doubt, the young
Mongolians are studying in their Ollen
dorf’s snch passages as this : “ Have
yon the old horse of vonr dead grand
mother?” “No, I have not the old
horse of my dead grandmother, but I
have the small squirrel of my old step
father.” As “ Ollendorf” seems based
npon the principle of using phraseL
chiefly to be met with in insane asy
lums, we presume the above is a fair
specimen of the exercises ‘‘boned” by
young John Chinaman.
England’s marriage statistics have
been analyzed to show the probabilities
of marriage for women at different ages.
Supposing the sum of a woman’s chan
oes of marriage to be one hundred, she
exhansts between the ages of fifteen
and twenty years, fourteen and a half
chances. If she lives unmarried from
twenty to twenty-five, fifty-two more of
her chances have vanished into thin air.
If she remains unmarried for five more
years, she will turn thirty with only fif
teen and a half chances ont of her hun
dred left. After thirty-five, she has
eleven and a half chances, and at this
point the statistician gave up his calcu
lation, except that he assures ns that
after a woman has lived unmarried sixty
years she still has the tenth of a chance
of getting married out of the hundred
with which she is snppiosed to have
started life.
Gray Eyes.
The gray eye is peculiar to the eye of
women. And here we meet with a va
riety enough to puzzle Solomon him
self. We will pass over in silence the
sharp, the shrewdish, the spiteful, the
cold and the wild gray eye ; every one
has seen them—too ofteD, perhaps.
But then, again, there are others beau
tiful enough to drive one wild, and it is
only them which we mean. There is
the dark, sleepy, almond-shapjed gray
eye, with long' black lashes—-it goes
with the rarest face on earth —that
Sultana-like beauty of jet-black hair,
and a complexion that is neither dark
nor fair—almost a cream color, if the
trnth must be told—and soft and rich a8
the leaf of the calla Ethiopian itself.
Directly opposite to this is the calm,
clean, gray eye—the eye that reasons,
when this only feels. It looks you
quietly in the face ; it views you kindly,
but, alas ! disappointedly ; passion rare
ly lights it, and love takes the steady
blaze of friendship, when he tries to
hide within. The owner of that eye is
upright, conscientious, and pitying his
fellow-men, even while at a loss to un
derstand their vagaries. It is the eye
for a kind and t considerate physician,
and for a conscientious lawyer (if such
a man there be), for a worthy village
pastor, for a friend as faithful as any
hnman being can be.
Last of the gray eyes comes the most
mischievous; a soft eye with a large
pupil, that contracts and dilates with a
word, a thought, or a flash of feeling ;
an eye that laughs, that sighs almost,
that has its sunlight, its moonbeams,
and its storms; a wonderful eye, that
wins you whether yon would or not, and
holds yon even after it has cast you off.
No matter whether the faoe be fair or
not, no matter if the features are irreg
ular and complexion varying, the eye
holds yon captive, and then laughs at
your chains.
The Boys in Bed.
Whoever has lifted the curtains of
boys’ alcoves, soon after their inmates
have gone to bed, and has looked lov
ingly in, has seen a pretty sight. Gen
erally their faces are laying most rest
fully, with hand under cheek, and in
many cases look strangely younger
than when awake, and often very infan
tile, as if some trick of older expression,
which they had been taught to wear by
day, had been dropped the moment the
young ambitions will has lost control.
The lids lie shut over bright, busy eyes;
the air is gently and evenly fanned by
ooming and going breaths; there is a
little crooked mound in the bed ; along
the bed’s foot, or on a chair beside, are
the day clothes, sometimes neatly
folded, sometimes hnddled off in a
hurry; bulging with balls, or, in the
lesser fellows, marbles; stained with
the earth of many fields where wood
chuck have been trapped, or perhaps
torn with the roughness of trees on
which squirrels have been sought; per
haps wet and mired with the smooth
black or gray mud from marshes, or
the oozy banks of streams, where musk
rats have been tracked. Under the bed’s
foot lies the shoes—one on its side -
with the gray and white socks, now
creased and soiled, thrown across them ;
and there, in their little cells, squared
in the great mass of night, heedless
how tbe earth whirls away with them
or how the world goes, who is thinking
of them or what is doing at home, the
bnsitet pieople in the world are resting
for tbe morrow, —Ixnvcll s Anatomy
Blade,"