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THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
W.” * Ml As iVa I,K,} Kd “° ,s " nd * r ®prJ®trs.
TUB WANDKH.IAG .IKW,
The Wandering dew once said lo me,
I passed through the city iu the cool of the
year;
A man In the garden plucked fruit from a tree.
I asked, “ How long has the city been here 7 ’
And he answered me, and he plucked sway,
“ It has always stood where :t stands to-day.
And here it will stand for ever and ave.”
Five hundred years rolled by, and then
I traveled the self-same road again.
No trace of a city there I found,
A shepherd sat blowing his pipe alone,
His flock were qolntiy nibbling around.
I asked, ‘■‘How long has this city been gones”
And he answered me, and he piped away,
“ The new ones bloom and the old decay,
This is my pasture-ground for aye.”
Five hundred years roiled by, and then
I traveled the eeif-saine road again.
And I came to sea, and the waves did roar,
And a fldierman threw his net out clear.
And, when heavy laden, fie dragged it ashore.
I asked, “Howlong has the Bea been here?”
And he laughed and he said, and he laughed away;
“ A* long as yon billows have to*sod their spray,
They’ve fished and they’ve fished in this self-same
bay.” . .
Five hundred ysrs rolled by. and then
I traveled the self-same road again.
And I came to a forest, vast and free,
And a woodman stood in the thicket near;
His ax he laid at the foot of a tree.
I asked, “ How loner have the woods beau here 7”
And he answered, “ These woods are a covert for
aye;
My ancestors dwelt here alway.
And the trees have lieen since creation’s day.”
A;\-e hundred years rolled by, and then
1 traveled the self-same road again.
And I found there a city, and far and near
Resounded the hum of toil and glee.
And I asked, “ How long has the city been here,
And where is the pipe, and the wood, and the
sea 7”
And they answered me, as they made their way,
“ Things always have stood as they stand to-day,
And so they will stand for ever and aye.”
I’il watt five hundred years, and then
I’ll travel the self-same road again.
THE BABES IN THE CLOUDS.
A TRUE STORY.
Just ten years ago, there suddenly
hurst upon the western world a mag
nificent stranger from foreign parts,
with all his traveling glories on.” It
was the great comet of 1858, on the
grand tour of the universe.
It seemed strange that petty human
life could go on as usual, with its eat
ing and drinking, toiling, trafficking
and pleasuring, while that “flaming
minister,” on his billion leagued cir
cuit, was preaching the wonders of in
finite immensity and power, and the
nothingness of earth. The comet no
longer runs his kindling race, like Vich-
Alpine’s henchman, with his fiery cross,
announcing war and disaster.
Herald of battle, fate and fear.
He is on his own business, not ours.
Under the tail of this particular
comet doubtless many a tale of love was
told—in the light of his swift splendors
many a tender look exchanged. The
astrofiomer coolly swept the starry field
with his glass, unawed by the irregular
uicht-guard patrolling the heavens, and
the robber and murderer disdained tho
awful witness. He left us as he found
us—joined to our mortal idols, wise in
our own conceit, weak, and worldly,
and wicked, but no castaways of the
universe after all.
We remember that comet summer,
not so much for its great astronomical
event as for two singular incidents that
more nearly touched our human sym
pathies, which will grovel in poor
earthly affairs, even within sight of tbo
most august celestial phenomena.
One pleasant Saturday afternoon
during the comet’s appearance, an aero
naut, after a prosperous voyage, de
scended upon a farm in the neighbor
hood of a large market town in one of
the western states. He was soon sur
rounded by a curious group of the
farmer’s family and laborers, all asking
eager questions about the voyage and
the njanagement of the balloon. That
seem ed by an anchor and a rope in the
hand of the aeronaut, its car being a
foot or two above the ground, was
swaying lazily backward and forward
in tho evening air. It was a good deal
out of wind, and was a sleopy and inno
cent monster in the eyes of the farmer,
who, with the owner’s permission, led
it up to his house, where, as he said,
he could hitch it to his fence. But be
fore he had thus secured it, the three
children, aged respectively, ten, eight,
and three, begged him to lift them
“into that big basket,” that they might
“sit, on those pretty red cushions.”
While the attention of the aeronaut
was diverted by moro curious ques
tioners from a neighboring farm, this
rash father lifted his darlings one by
one into the car. Chubby little Johnny
proved the “ounce too much” for the
serial camel, and brought him to the
ground ; and then, unluckily, not the
baby, but the eldest hope of the family,
was lifted out. The relief was too
great for the monster. The volatile
creature’s spirit rose at once, he jerked
his halter out of his father’s hand, and,
with a wild bound, mounted into the
air! Vain was the aeronaut's anchor.
It caught for a moment in a fence, but
it tore away, and was off, dangling
uselessly after the runaway balloon,
which so swiftly and steadily rose’ that
in a few minutes those two little white
faces, peering over the edge of the car,
grew indistinct, and those piteous ories
of “ Papa !” “ Mamma ! ” grew faint
and fainter, up in the air.
When distance and twilight mists had
swallowed up voices and faces, and
nothing could be seen but the dark,
cruel shape, sailing triumphantly away,
with its precions booty, like an serial
I’nvateer, the poor father sank down
helpless and speechless; but the mother,
frantic with grief, still stretched her
yearning arms towards the inexorable
heavens, and called wildly into the
unanswering void.
The reronant strove to console the
parents with assurances that
, balloon would descend within thirty
miles of the town, and that all might
well with the chilren, provided that
1 aid not come dewn in the water or in
1 ce P woods. In the event of its de
scending in a favorable spot, the
nought that the older child might step
;> in leaving the younger in the balloon.
en it might again arise and continue
its voyage.
Ah, no,” replied the mother, “ Jen
nie would never stir from the car with-
in her arms.”
The balloon passed directly over the
market town, and the children seeing
many people in the streets, stretchod
? , their hands and called loudly for
• ! —p. But the villagers, though they
r a\v the bright little heads, beard no
calls.
Amazed at the strange apparition,
hey might have thought the translator!
nt,e creatures small angel navigators,
’ ) . a B ome voyage of discoveiy, some lit
, cherubic venture of their own, as,
reading toward the rosy cloudlands and
purple islands of sunset splendor, they
sailed deeper and deeper into the west,
&ud faded away.
Borne company they had, poor little
sky-waifs ! Something comforted them
and allayed their wild terrors—some
thing whispered that below the night
and clouds was home; that above was
God; that wherever they might drift or
clash, living or dead, they would ttill
be in His domain and under His care—
that though, borne away among the
stars, they could not be lost, for His
love would follow them.
When the sunlight all went away, and
the great comet oame blazing out, little
Johnny was apprehensive that the comet
might come too near their airy craft,
and set it on fire with a whisk of its
dreadful tail. But when his sister as
sured him that the fiery dragon was “as
much as twenty miles away,” and that
God wouldn’t let him hurt them, he
was tranqnilized, but soon afterward
said, “ I wish he would come a little
nearer, so I could warm myself, I’m so
cold !”
Then Jennie took off her apron, and
wrapped it about the child, saying ten
derly, “ This is all sister haß to make
you warm, darling, but she’ll hug you
close in her arms, and we will say our
prayers and you shall go to sleep.”
“Why, how can I say ray prayers be
fore I have my supper ?” asked little
Johnny.
“ Siste? hasn’t any supper for you or
for herself, but we must pray all the
harder,” solemnly responded Jennie.
So the two baby wanderers, alone in
the wide heavens, unawed by darkness,
immensity and the millions of unpity
ing stars, lifted tffeir little clasped
hands, and sobbed out their sorrowful,
“Our father,” and that quaint little
supplementary prayer :
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to,keep;
If I bhould die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul te take.
“ There ! God heard that, easy ; for
we are close to Him up here,” said in
nocent little Johnny.
Doubtless Divine Love stooped to
the little ones and folded them in per
fect peace—for soon the younger, seated
on the bottom of the ear, with his head
leaning against his sister’s knee, slept
as soundly as though he were lying in
his own little bed at home, while the
elder watched through the long, long
hours, and the car floated gently on in
the still night air, till it begun to sway
and rock on the fresh morning wind.
Who can divine that simple little
child’s thoughts, speculations, and wild
imaginings, while watching through
those hours? She may have feared
coming in collision with a meteor—for
many were abroad that night, scouts
and heralds of the great comet—or,
perhaps being cost away on some deso
late star-is land, or more dreary still,
floating and floating on, night and day,
till they should both die of cold and
hunger. Poor babes in the clouds !
At length, a happy chance, or Provi
dence—we will say Providence—guided
the little girl’s wandering hand to a
cord connected with the valve ; some
thing told her to pull it. At once the
balloon began to sink, slowly and gent
ly, as though some oelestial pilot guided
it through the wild currents of air, not
letting it drop into lake, or river, lofty
wool, or impenetrable swamp, where
this strange, unchild-like experience
might have been closed by a death of
unspeakable horror; but causing it to
descend as softly as a bird alights, on a
spot where human care and pity await
ed it.
The sun had not yet risen, but the
morning twilight had come, when the
little girl, looking over the edge of the
car, saw tho derr old earth coming
nearer—“rising towards them,” she
said. But when the car stopped, to her
great disappointment it was not on the
ground, but caught fast in the topmost
branches of a tree. Yet she saw they
were near a house whence help might
soon come, so ahe awakened her brother
and told him the good news, and to
gether they watched and watched and
waited for deliverance, hugging ea?h
other for joy and warmth, for they were
cold.
Farmer Burton, who lived in a lonely
house, on the edge of his own private
prairie, was a famous sleeper in gen
eral, but on this particular morning he
awoke before the dawn, and though he
turned and turned again, he could sleep
no more. So, st last, he said to his
good wife, whom he had kindly awak*
ened to inform her of his uuacconntable
wakefulness, “It’s no use, I’ll just get
up and dress, and have a look qt the
comet. ”
The next that worthy woman heard
from her wakeful spouse was a hasty
summons to the outer door. It seems
that no sooner did he step forth from
his house than bis ejqs fell on a strange
potentous shape, hanging on a large
pear tree, about twenty yards distant.
He could see no likeness in it to any
thing earthly, and he half fancied that
it might be the comet, who, having put
out his light, had come down there to
perch. In his fright and perplexity ho
did what every wise man would do in a
like extremity; he called upon his
valiant wife. Reinforced by her, he
drew near the tree cautiously recon
noitering. Surely a pear tree never bore
such fruit.
Suddenly there descended from the
thing a plaintive, trembling little voice:
“Please take us down. We are very
cold.”
Then a second little voice said :
“And hungry, too. Please take us
down.”
“Why, who are you ? And where are
you?”
The first little voice said : “ It’s us,
and we runned away with a balloon.
Please take us down. ”
Dimly comprehending the situation,
the farmer, getting hold of a dangling
rope, succeeded in getting down the
balloon.
He first lifted out little Johnny, who
ran rapidly a few yards toward the
house, then turned round, and stood
for a few moments, euriousljfsurveying
the balloon. The faithful little sister
was so chilled and exhausted that she
had to be carried into the house, where,
trembling, she told the wonderful
story.
Before sunrise a mounted messenger
was dispatched to the Harwood home,
with glad tidings of great joy. He
reached it in the afternoon, and a few
Pours later the childred arrived, in
state, with banners and music, and cov
ered hay-wagon and four.
Joy-bells were rung in the neighbor
ing town, and in the farmer’s brown
house, the happiest family on the con
tinent thanked God that night.
It would seem that this comet had
some occult maddening influence on
the balloons, for during its appearance
there occurred in another western state
an involuntary ascension, similar to the
one I have related, but more tragical in
its termination.
An aeronaut, while, if I remember
rightly, repairing the network of his
balloon, was seated on a slight wooden
cross-piece suspended under it; the car
having been removed a few feet above
the ground by merely a rope in the
hand of an assistant. Fr6m a care
less grasp this rope escaped, and in an
instant the gigantic bubble shot up
ward, carrying the teronaut on his frail
support; a rider more helpless than
Mazeppa bound to his Ukraine steed, a
voyager more helpless than a ship
wrecked sailor afloat on a spar in mid
ocean.
The balloon rose rapidly, but un
steadily, swaying and pitching in the
evening wind. As long as it remained
in sight the form of the aeronaut could
be distinguished, swinging beneath it.
And as he was kno'n to be a man of
uncommon nerve and presence of mind,
it was hoped that even from his dizzy
perch he might manage to operate on
the valve, or at least to puncture a
small hole in the balloon, and thus ef
fect a descent.
But such efforts, if he made any, were
vain, as for many days and nights there
was anxious inquiry and patient search
over a wide extent of country with no
result. We gave him up. Only wifdv
love hoped on, and looked and waited".
At last, iu a wild spot, the wreck of the
balloon was found, and that was all.
Still, wifely love hoped on, until, a
month or two later, some children nut
ting ia a wood, many miles away from
where the balloon was found, discov
ered, half buried in the ground, a
strange dark mass that looked like a
heap of old clothes, but there was a
something, shapeless and fearful, hold
ing it together.
It was thought the aeronaut parted
company with his balloon by loosening
bis hold on the cords above him, in
desperate efforts to open the valve ; but
he may, after whirling in swift vortices,
or plunging and mounting, through
cloudy abysses of air, have become un
nerved by the awful silence of the up
per night, by the comet’s fearful com
panionship, by whelming immensity
and infinity, and wearily let go his hold,
to drop earthward.
Anecdotes of Sir cott.
[“Some Old Letters,” iu Scribner’s for
March, are accompanied by a hitherto unpub
lished life-sketch of Sir Walter Scott, by the
celebrated artist Gilbert Stuart Newton. In
this installment of “ Old Letters” we find the
following anecdotes of the author of “ Wa
verley:”]
“At half-past six we went to dine
with the Fergussons. The doctor was
quite ill with a cold. Sir Adam Fergus
son. Sir Walter Scott’s intimate and
confidential friend, dined there; our
selves, Mrs. L., and one of her daugh
ters.
“ We had a very charming dinner, for
Sir Adam has the most marvelous pow
ers of description. He made us laugh
heartily, and told us, too, a great many
interesting anecdotes about Sir Walter
Scott. He is a very remarkable person
himself. He is the original of Dugald
Dalgetty.” This is all I find in the old
letters about the dinner, but I must tell
what I can recollect of the account
Mrs. X. gave me in later years, Sir
Adam, she said, was a tall, gray-haixed
man, with a broad Scotch accent. He
described how one early morning, in
Sir Walter Scott’s library, when he and
Sir Walter tried to make the fire of peat
burn, and, after many efforts, succeeded
in some degree. At this moment one
of the dogs, dripping from a plunge in
the lake, scratched and whined at the
window. At last Sir Walter let the
“puir creature” in, who, coming up
before the little fire, shook his shaggy
hide, sending a perfect shower-bath
over the fire and over a great table of
loose manuscripts. Sir Walter, eyeing
the scane with his usual serenity, said,
slowly : “Oh! dear, you’ve done a great
deal of mischief.” It reminds us of
the tale related of Newton. On this
same occasion of the dinner, Sir Adam
Fergusson told of traveling with Sir
Walter on the continent and going to
see the troops on donkeys, and he per
formed both donkeys and riders with
his fingers on the table until his audi
ence was in an agony of laughter.
“Fergusson passed the evening with
us, and we had some music. I asked
him, as he was so fond of listening, if
he didn’t sing a little himself. ‘ I’ll
tell you an anecdote of Sir Walter
Scott.,’ said he, ‘ that will answer your
question. One night, when I was stay
ing at Abbotsford, Annie Scott had
been singing to the accompaniment of
her harp a Scotch ballad with a wail for
tho chorus. Sir Walter turned to me,
saying iu a strong Scotch accent;
“ Noo, Fergusson, gie us a howl.’ ”
“‘During one of my visits there,’
continued Dr. rergusson, ‘amoDgother
guests was Hogg, “Ettrick Shepherd.”
I heard a horrible noise in an adjoin
ing room, and, after listening some
moments to it, became alarmed, and
said to my host: “ What is that roise ?”
“ Oh ” said he, “ it’s Hogg—just Hogg
composing his verses. He always sings
them as he writes them.”
“ Though he liked some rude strains,
Scott could well attune his ear to softer
music, and was very fond of Moore
song X. sings, that ends :
“ ‘Short aa the Persian's prayer, his prayer at
close of day,
Should be each vo >v of love’s repeating.
Quick let him worship beauty’s precious ray,
E’en while he kneels that ray is fleetiDg.’
“He used to say, ‘Come X., let me
have that Persian’s prayer; ’ and he
would listen with great delight to the
singing of it.
“ They recalled an amusing story of
an old servant who had lived with Scott
for nearly a lifetime, and became very
much spoiled. Sir Walter at last, out
of patience with his sins of omission,
said:
“ ‘ Donald, I think we must part.’
“ ‘ Part! why ?* Where’s your honor
going?’
“Of course peace was made, and
Donald remained.
“They told sadly of the dear old
man returning from Italy (where he
went for his health), with his *memory
impaired. Mrs. Arkwright, who had
set his ‘ Pirate’s Farewell to Minna ’ to
music, ang it to him. * Those are very
pretty verses, said Sir Walter. ‘ Who
wrote them?’
“ Charles Scott, Sir Walter’s second
son, is a very clever, agreeable man. I
see a good deal of him at the Lock
harts’, here and elsewhere. Sir Walter
was most proud of his eldest son Wal
ter, o is rather a dull fellow, but
large and fine-looking. His father
used to say that it was enough if a boy
knew how to ride and speak the truth;
those were the most important things.
“ Charleß Scott mode me laugh about
the visitors at Sir Walter’s house and
Melrose Abbey. See the Abbey by
moonlight they mußt, because of the
lines:
“ ‘lf thou would'stview fair Melrose aright,
Go visit it by the pale moonlight.”
“ ‘ And many a time,’ said Charles
Scott, ‘when the moon wae not con
venient, I took a lantern to produce the
effect.”
A good joke is told of a resident of
Providence, R. 1., who, failing to get
his usual supply of water, concluded
the pipe was frozen, and spent nearly
a day in endeavors to thaw it out. His
feelings may be better imagined than
described when he found that the water
had been shut off for non-payment of
water rent.
CARTERSVJLLE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MARCH 11. 1575.
THE COMING WAR IN EUROPE.
An Kngltgh Writer on tle Fighting Ca
pacity of the Nation*.
Ia that respectable London periodi
cal, the - Gentleman’s Magazine, for
January, there appears an article con
tributed by Mr. H. M. Hosier, which,
in an intelligent and thoughtful man
ner, discusses the fighting capacity of
the nations of Europe in view of the
feneral war so confidently predicted by
Ir. Disraeli and other English states
men. Mr. Hosier alludes to the dis
quietude prevailing in the public mind
in England in consequence of these
mysterious utterances on both sides of
the house of commons, and believes
that a careful survey of the field will
have the effect of enlightening his read
ers as to the nature of the conflict, the
parties which will be engaged in it, and
the duty of the English people and gov
ernment in the crisis which will soon
be upon the civilized world.
He begins his survey of E a rope with
France, considers the military condition
of each country in turn, and concludes
with an endeavor to fix the exact point
where hostilities will break out.
FRANCE.
Notwithstanding the desire which
may exist on the part of the French
people to rush into a war with Germany,
to gain revenge for the defeat of four
years ago, it is doubtful if the French
government would encourage the as
piration. Torn as France is by politi
cal dissentions, it is extremely cToubtful
whether any ministry would add the
cares and the perils of war to the other
prominent dangers of its existence.
Neither is the French army in condition
—nor is likely to be for many years—to
undertake a campaign of any magni
tude. The military organization of the
second empire was entirely broken up
by the disasters of the German war.
At the present time no fixed plan can
really be said to have been adopted for
the organization of the army; the
questions as to depots and cadres are
still unsolved. French military men
assert that their artillery is in a power
ful state; but it may reasonably be
doubted that, in the short time that
has elapsed since tho enormous loss of
that arm which occurred in the German
war, it can have been replaced by guns
judiciously selected and carefully man
ufactured. Though there is not a great
dearth of men in the French army, it
cannot be said that the recruits are of a
satisfactory kind. The weakness of the
commissariat arrangement was one of
the most potent causes of the failure of
the French in the German war. It has
not yet been thoroughly changed for
ths better. The mitrailleuses, whioh
were so zealously guarded, and which
were expected to strike terror in the
German ranks, were found to be a fail
ure in the war, and have now been
abandoned for all practical purposes of
campaigning; so that at present Franco
is not in a condition to “rush into
war.” It has taken England twenty
years to reorganize from the break
down of her military system in the
Crimean war, and a vast amount of
money has been expended in effecting
the changes ; and it can hardly be pos
sible that things aro so much better
managed in France that she can in four
or five years put an army in the field
with any prospeot of winning back the
laurels so rudely wrested from her in
her last groat contest.
SPAIN.
Spain may be considered at the pres
ent moment out of the military arena of
Europe. She is too much engrossed
by her internal troubles to be available
either as an ally or enemy in case of
international disturbances. Italy pos
sesses an army of considerable numeri
cal foroe—an army which may be in
round numbers said to amount to 400,-
000 men. But in Italy the sinews of
war are wanting. The Italian govern
ment is hard pressed by financial diffi
culties. The Italian army is anew
machine, and, like all other new ma
chines, it can not be expected to work
smoothly throughout. Its organiza
tion and administration were originally
copied from the French ; but since the
breakdown of the French system the
organization of tho Italian army has
been considerably modified. Still, it
can not be deuied that the Italian mili
tary forces are a formidable power to
be considered in the fighting capacity
"of Europe, and would cast an enormous
weight into the scale on either side.
BEIiGIUM AND SWITZERLAND.
As to th® two new neutral countries
of Belgium and Switzerland little need
be said. The neutrality of one is guar
anteed by the great powers, and the
other has a perhaps still greater guar
aMee of neutrality in the shape of
public opinion in Europe. The Bel
gian army may be 80,000 strong. Per
haps they are not the finest troops in
the world, but still they are not, as a
great statesman is reported to have
said of them, “merely all coat and
mnsket and little man.” It is certaiH
that Belgium, unaided, could hold her
frontiers against neither Germany nor
France if either of these powers wished
to make the Netherlands its battle
field or its line of communications.
RUSSIA. .
“ A great and mysterious power looms
up in the north.” On the Ist of No
vember last a law came into force in
Russia by which every Russian subjeot
became liable to military service, and
the consequence of this decree is au
enormous increase in the army. It is
estimated that neft year Russia will be
able to put in the field 1,500,000 men.
These men are excellent soldiers in
many respects. They may not be acute
or intelligent, but they are strong,
hardy, capable of bearing fatigue, have
an intense loyalty to their sovereign,
believe that the Russian government
can do no wrong, and would enter upon
any campaign ordered by that govern
ment with all the religious excitement
of a crusade. The organization of the
army is simple and well conceived. The
men are tall, Btrong and fine, and, if
properly led and supplied with good
ammunition, the Russian army would
be most formidable in any war. For
defensive purposes Russia holds a pe
culiarly advantageous position. The
terrible example of the first Napoleon
still gives a shiver to almost anybody
who contemplates the idea of invading
her. No doubt an invasion at the pres
ent time would be a very different mat
ter from what it was at the beginning
of this century. Still, it would be at
tended with enormous difficulties, not
the least of which would be the inhos
pitable climate, the impossibility of
feeding an invading army on a wild and
sparsely-populated country, and the
necessity which would fall" on the in
vaders of drawing their supplies almost
wholly from their base. A line of com
munication might become so much ex
tended that the troops requisite to
guard the line and the officers necessary
to administer it would consume more of
the provisions than the line itself could
bring up. In future wars it is doubtful
whether, considering the number cf
men that would probably be eugaged,
it will ever be possible to rely on the
supply of an army from its base of com
munications. A weighty oppression,
however, hangs over the military or
ganization of Russia. The official r.d
ministration is so corrupt that it is al
most certain that in case of war pecula
tion would be rife, and that the Russian
soldiers—brave, loyal and hardy as they
might be—would find themselves
worsted by an internal enemy more
deadly than any external foe. All this
is well known and alked of openly on
the soil of Russia.
SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
The united northern power of Sweden
and Norway possesses certainly a stnali
but excellent anny, bat probably would
be too wise to enter upon any European
war, even of great dimensions. It
would have little to gain by descending
into the theater of contest, and possibly
might lose some provinces to Russia,
lenmark might, indeed, b 9 anxious to
join an alliance against Germany, for
the sore of the Schleswig-Holstein
campaign is not yet healed over. But
she lias been so hampered by the war
of 1864, and her population has been
so reduced, that her tiny army of 40,000
men would rank as comparatively insig
nificant in the consideration of the mil
itary capacities of the continent.
TURKEY.
Turkey is always a source of danger
in European policy, and must be
“ almost a nightmare in every foreign
office. ” The men of the army are good,
but the administration of Turkey is
much more corrupt and venal even than
that of her northern neignbor, Russia.
The small principalities which form the
kingdom of Roumania have an army
not to be despised. They could put in
the field about eighty thousand men,
and these not at all bad troops.
GERMANY.
It is Germany which is universally
considered at the present time to be
the first-rate military power of Europe,
and toward it all eyes are direoted.
The German army has proved itself to
be a most admirable military machine.
Most armies after such successes as
those which have attended the German
army would have got idle and claimed
the right to rest on their laurels and
enjoy luxury and ease, but it is a no
torious faot that the German officers,
high and low, have been working hard
er, perhaps, than they worked before
the late war in order to keep their
army from retrograding and to bring
it steadily forward. The opinion of
those who witnessed the late German
maneuvers is, that at no time has the
German army ever been in such a first
rate condition as it is at the present
moment. Not content with the needle
gun, whioh showed an inferiority to
the Chassepot during the French war,
experiments have been instituted and a
new arm has been adopted, which, it is
confidently asserted, will be much
more superior to the Chassepot than
ever the Chassepot was to the needle
gun. It is believed by the best judges
that the German army now is the best
armed force in Europe. As to the or
ganization of the army there can not
be two opinions ; it has passed through
the fire of three wars, and has proved
its capacity. The empire could, at the
present time, put 1,200,000 fighting
men iu the field in case of actual neces
sity, and the reorganization of the
Landstrum will increase that force to
perhaps 1,600,000 men. As to the pol
icy of Germany towards other powers,
it is a great mistake to attribute blood
thirstiness to the Emperor William or
his heir, the Prinoe Imperial. It is
known by everybody who has a
knowledge cf the character of
the Emperor that he is peculiarly
kind and just, and rather soft-hearted;
he is loved by those who are brought in
connection with him, and is respected
by his household, and it has only been
after the strongest representations from
his ministers, severe mental struggles,
self-torture and deep and anxious pray
er, that he consented to enter into hos
tilities with neighboring powers. As
long as the emperor of Germany can
exert his individual will there can be no
doubt that, although Germany will be
strictly fenced and guarded against any
attack from without, and will be heJd
in a state of the highest military prep
aration for every contingency, she
herself will not willingly commence
a war, or without very grave and
serious cause draw the sword from the
scabbard. Yet though the princes and
people of Germany, alike combine in an
honest desire for peace, oircumstances
may arise which may render them pow
erless to avert bloodshed. There can
be no doubt that dislike exists between
the people of Russia and Germany, but
at the si* me time there is a strong per
sonal affection between the head of the
house of Hohenzollern and the emperor
of Russia, springing from family con
nection and matured by reciprocal re
spect ; and as long as the present em
peror of Russia lives, hostilities between
the two powers are not imminent. Ac
cording t© all human calculations the
life of Alexandria may continue for some
time.
DANGER OF WAR
It has been said that the danger of
war between Germany and does
not appear considerable, because of the
importance of the latter at this time.
It may be regarded as aknostr certain
that unless France should provoke Ger -
many to the utmost she would be con
tent with guarding her newly-acquired
acquisitions, and not again cress the
Moselle as an invader, nor attempt to
dictate anew peace at the gates of
Paris. On the south matters hardly
appear to be so entirely satisfactory.
The inhabitants of Austria at large
have almost forgotten the war of 1866.
The benefits which accrued to their
country from the results of that crush
ingly rapid campaign have been so
great that they have blotted out the
sense of soreness that sprang from the
d.feats which the Austrian army suf
fered. But though antagonism against
Germ any has ceased among the people
composing the Austro-Hungarian em
pire, it still lurks between the cabinet*
and governments of the two countries,
and on the Austiian side not only does
there appear to be a feeling of personal
resentment against the cabinet of Ber
lin among some of the advisers of the
crown, but it is almost universally be
lieved that the head of the state has a
desp personal and individual grndge
against his northern reighbor, and re
fust s to meet even half way, or perhaps,
in any way, the advances which have
often been made to him from Berlin.
This fact, if not clearly ascertained, is
at least thoroughly believed north of
tbe Giant Mountaics, and the belief
leads to a feeling of distrust on the
part of northern Ge many towards
Austria. It. is this attitude of the Aus
trian court which is one f the prime
reasons why Germany keeps up her
great anl expensive armament. But
this state o:f things cannot always en
dure. Throughout the Fatherland
there is a feeling that it must come tq
an end, and that the only way to reduce
these enormous armaments to a footing
proportionate to the capabilities of the
people is to force on events, aud some
how or other disarm those on account
of whom these military preparations
are necessary.
England’s policy.
What role would England take in
case of a great European contest? The
general answer will doubtless be—that
of neutrality. But is it possibto that
neutrality cau always be maintained ?
If the British realm were confined to
the two small islands which constitute
its heart, it might be true that
it could keep out of war, but with
wide spreading colonies and foreign
entanglements it would be almost im
possible for England to avoid taking
part, sooner or later in the struggle.
How, then, is she prepared for the
emergency that is almost sure to arise ?
The navy ia apparently in good order.
The numerical strength of the British
fleet is larger than that of any other
power, and English sailors have not
deteriorated. But a large port of the
navy is compos£d of vessels built since
England was engaged iu a great naval
war. Their construction, to a great
extent, has been experimental. Sup
pose on going to war it should be dis
covered that the navy had been bnilt
on faulty principles ? The result might
be to nullify that arm of the national
defense, and uncover the coast of Eng
land to any powerful nation imtent upon
invading the country and lajing it un
der tribute. The enormous wealth ac
cumulated in London is a bait to aver
ice which must not be ignored in con
sideration of the possibilities of hostile
invasion. Suppose the coast should b 8
defenseless, what kind of an army
could England oppos e to the magnifi
cent troops of the continent? The
militia and volunteers would be useless.
The regular army would be effective as
f*r as it goes, but at most it would be
60,000 strong. What could this hand
ful do against the tremendous hosts of
Germany, Russia or France. If Eng
land will save herself she must be
willing to spend her money freely to
to maintain a large and efficient regular
army. If Englishmen will not serve
their country in person they must be
prepared to pay the price for that im
munity as for any other luxury. That
price is not so great as that which
might be assessed by a committee of
continental bankers, in session in cap
tured London.
The Mennonite Immigrants.
Over Six Thousand Members of the Com
munity Arrived in this Country.
The New York Tribune describes
this interesting sect, which is now fast
making its home in this country, as
follows :
Nearly 1,000 families of Mennonites,
it is expected, will soon arrive in Can
ada from Russia. They have chosen
Manitoba for their future residence, and
have commissioned an agent to buy for
them several thousand head of cattle in
the west.
There has been a large immigration
of this people to the United States
during the past two years, the number
being estimated at 6,000 persons, or
1,200 families. Of these 230 families
have settled in Manitoba, 200 in Dakota
Territory, 15 in Minnesota, 80 in Ne
braska, 315 in Kansas, and 60 in other
states. Tho remaining 300 families
have arrived recently, and their desti
nation is unknown. The Kansas Men
nonites have bought 150,000 acres of
land upon which they will settle in the
spring.
The Mennonite church was founded
in Germany by Monno Simon, who be
came a fugitive on account of his re
ligious belief, Charles V. setting a price
on his head. His doctrines soon gained
followers, and about a century ago a
large community of Mennonites was
formed in Russia of families from Hol
land and Germany. They settled near
the Black Sea, and entered into an
agreement with the Russian government,
by which the latter exempted them
from military duty. About two years
ago the compact was annulled, and the
Mennonites were given the choice of
bearin > arms or leaving tho country.
They chose to emigrate, and resolved
to come to America, where they could
have complete religious freedom, and
would not be called upon, probably,
to serve as soldiers. Their number in
Russia is t aid to have been about 40,000.
They are a very industrious and frugal
people, and owned much landed prop
erty. The immigrants sold their prop
erty in Russia for whatever they could
get to those who remained. The Men
nonites strive to live an every-day,
practical Christian life ; they are* strict
in discipline, oppose infant baptism and
the taking of oaths, and, like the
Friends, are strongly opposed to war.
The brotherhood in America have or
ganized a board of guardians, which is
charged with arranging for transporta
tion across the Atlantic and from New’
York to the points of destination in the
west. These guardians are custodians
of a fund contributed by the brethren
who have already settled to provide for
the ocean passage of those who are
without means.. Last summer passages
were paid for seventy families.
A meeting of. delegates is to be held
in March, at Elkhart, Ind., to make
arrangements for the immigrations of
the present year.
Charlie Ross and Pinkerton’s Photo
graphs.
The Charlie Ross case has now been
a prime topic of public interest so long
as to rise to the level of one of the most
celebrated police cases on record. One
of Pinkerton’s detectives states that at
the office in Third street they have a
collection of several hundred photo
graphs of different children of unknown
parents, not only from all parts of the
United States and Canada, but even
from Europe. These were either chil
dren who had got lost, or who had been
stolen, or followed strolling bands, or
been taken in charge as being without
homes. Many cases exist of children
being abandoned by cruel or shiftless
parents or guardians. In reply to a
question as to whether he thought the
child dead, the detectrvesaid he thought
it might be so without his being mur
dered, as li3 had been subject to a
paiaful complaint of the bladder, and
had several times been operated on sur
gically before he was stolen. Had this
attack come on again after ha was
stolen, the wretches would have been
afraid to call in a physiciaD, and the
child might have died. The* 3 is no
doubt that the two men killed on Long
Island were leall > the abductors. From
all that can be learned, there is no Pres
pa ct of any further developments or
discoveries in the ease. But lost ehil
diea supposed to be Charlie Ross will
probably continue to turn up for a year
to come.
“ Goon many children !” echoed a
Missouri farmer as a traveler counted
up fourteen ; “I just wish you'd come
up to the graveyard with me !”
The Garmon of the Future.
England is now building a ship to
carry twenty-four inches of armor, and
she is making a gun w’hick will be 61
tons in weight. It may be said here is
proof enough of England’s superiority.
Unquestionably the ship is splendidly
designed. So also is the gun, whioh
we are to have ready some time
next July, and which will doubtless
turn out to be a wonderful weapon,
Artillerists speak of the coming monster
as an “ awful gun.” Crowds assemble
at the forge whenever one of the huge
coils is to bs pummeled by the new
steam hammer at Woolwich Arsenal.
Even in the making of the 38 tan guns
masses of iron weighing 28 tons, at a
welding heat, have to be laid under the
hammer. For the larger gun an incan
descent mass of forty-five tons has to
be fetched out of the fire and duly ham
mered. The furnace has the capacity
of a oottage, and the tongs by which
the glowing cylinder is lifted out of its
burning bed weighs no less than thirty
tons. A steam crane bears the whole
weight of tongs and coil, and everything
proceeds without accident or hitch of
any kind. At night the sight is truly
grand, and well repays those spectators
who take the tronble to be present.
Other nations are not likely to be blind
to the advantage which accrues from
the possession of guns exceptionally
powerful. Already it is known that
steel tnbes are being made, having a
diameter six inches greater than that of
the tube of the 81-tcn gun. These
tnbes may be intended for the lining of
the American smooth-bore guns, which
are to be converted into rifles. Possi
bly they are for the use of the French
government, or for the Italian. At all
events, such mass.es of steel are being
made, and are destined to play some
part in connection with foreign artillery.
Most certainly the appearance of a 100-
ton muzzle-loading gnn among foreign
armaments is by no means a remote con-
tingency.
But what are we prepared to do ? As
suredly the great steam-hammer at
Woolwich arsenal cau accomplish tome
thin g more for us than the making of
an 81-ton gun, big as that undoubtedly
will be, with its bore of sixteen inches
in diameter, and twenty four feet in
length, firing a projectile weighing
1,600 pounds, propelled by 300 pounds
of powder, the range of the weapon be
ing seven miles. All tills is very for
midable, but it is not by any means all
that can be done. We may double the
weight of the gun, making it 160 tons,
having a caliber of 20 inches, and a
bore of at least 30 feet. This would be
a magnificent piece of ordnance ; but
even then there would be something
beyond, and why should we stop short
of that which must be gained at some
period or other ? Let us contemplate
the further step at once. Why not
have a gun with a bore of 24 inches—
simply two feet? The weight would
be 275 tons, the charge would be 1,000
pounds, the weight of the projectile
nearly two tons and a half, and the
range eight or nine miles I This is not
a mere dream, but a perfectly practica
ble piece of work. The cost would
probably be a trifle less than £IOO
per ton, or about £25,000 for the entire
piece. The weight of projectile of such
a gun would be something more than a
5,000-pounder. Perhaps when we had
made such a weapon we might think
we had gone far enough. As for the
armor, the projectile of the 275 ton gun
would possibly penetrate three feet
with corresponding packing. As we
showed some time ago, Dr. Collis
Brown has modeled a ship which shall
actually carry 3 feet of armor. This
armor would also be present at a slope,
so that our 5,000-pouuder would have
its work to do. As for the cost, there
is the consideration that one such gun
will give results such as no number of
smaller guns could accomplish. The
In flexible, sheathed in psrt with 2 feet
of armor, will carry four 81-ton guns,
costing £B,OOO each. Her four guns,
therefore, will cost more than one 275-
ton gun. Yet how would such a vessel
as the Inflexible be able to stand the
attack of so tremendous a weapon ? The
5,000-pound projectiles, unless striking
with considerable obliquity, would
readily smash through the thickest part
of the armor, and two or three such
visitors, having a bursting charge of
300 pounds of powder, might decide the
fate of the ship. Surely the result
would be cheap at the price. —London
Standard.
Modern Matuary.
The modern sculptor has a hard time
of it with his portrait statues, it must
be confessed. What is he to do ? Shall
he dress a gentleman as he finds him ;
go back to the toga; or go farther back
still to the altogether natural man ? Or
shall he compromise with a cloak or
water-proof—as in the case of the savior
of his country, expiating his virtues in
Union square? They have the same
trouble in England as here: vide Wm.
B. Scott. For centuries, he says, the
portrait statues of their kings appeared
in the Roman cuirass with bare arms
and knees, and their statesmen in the
chlamys and toga. “One last step only
was wanting to adopt the ideal antique
and abandon clothing altogether, and
this was very neary accomplished toward
the close of the last century. Canova’s
statue of Napoleon, now in Apsley
House, is absolutely naked; and the
statue to Samuel Johnson, in St. Paul’s,
is almost undraped, the single loose
covering being thrown so as to be only
useful for the sculptor’s supposed artis
tio purposes—a ludicrous spectacle in a
simply rational point of view ; the stout
old gentleman, as he leans his head in
his hand in his nakedness, seeming to
be saying to himself : ‘ What a sad
case things have come to with me at
last, standing before the public in a
state of nature. ’ ”
It is a matter of tradition that the
statue of Washington, by Greenough,
in the grounds of the capitol at Wash
ington. is saying, as plain as gesture
and countenance can say : “My sword
is by my side, and my clothes are in
the patent office”—toward which he
points with majestic modesty.—Scrib
ner.
Having attempted to hang himself,
but having been prematurely cut down,
a young gentleman of Paris has sur
vived to give this account of his sensa
tions : “As I kicked away the chair
and fell I had the sensation of receiv
ing a blow from a hammer on the top of
my head. I did not feel the rope, and
the only defined sensation succeeding
that of the blow was a sensation of
weight in my head. My head seemed
heavier and bigger than the great bell
of Notre Dame. It was night all about
me, and then there came a serrible cold
in the lower part of my body, and then
a sharp pain where the rope was tear
ing my neck, and then—nothing.”
A house whose carpets are not shaken
for years breeds diphtheria,
VOL. 16-NO. 11.
SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
MARCH.
March! March ! March! They are ooming
In troops to the tune of the wind ;
1 ied-headed woodpeckers drumming,
Gold-crested thrashes behind;
Sparrows in brown jackets hopping
Past every gateway door;
I inches with crimson caps stopping
Just where they stopped years before.
Btarch ! March! March 1 They are slipping
Into their places at last—
Little white lily buds dripping
Under the showers that fall fast;
Buttercups, violets, roses!
Snowdrop and bluebell and pink,
Throng upon throng of posies,
Bending the dewdrops io drink.
Btarch! March! March! They will hoary
Forth at the wild bugle- sound—
Blossoms and birds in a flurry.
Fluttering all over the ground.
Itang out your flags, birch and willow !
Shake out your red tassels, larch !
C rase-blades, up from your earth-pillow!
Hear who is calling you—March!
A Missouri woman who applied for
a situation as car driver, being asked if
she could manage mules, scornfully re
plied : “Of course I can, I’ve had two
husbands.”
“My lecture,” said a California or
ator, “ will be brief.” A turnip hit
him on the “divide” at that instant,
aad he announced: “The meeting
stands adjourned! ”
We are still a long way from the
millennium. A witness in an Ohio court
has just swcrn that he “ never knew a
miller on the canal who wouldn’t steal
water whenever he got a chance. ”
The Roman Catholics of Germany
have resolved to demonstrate their un
faltering allegiance to the Holy See by
a pilgrimage to Rome, in which depu
tations from every diooese in the em
pire are to take part.
Don’t tell ns any more about the
good women of old. An observer who
wrote hundreds of years ago said:
“ Woman is a necessary evil, a natural
temptation, a desirable calamity, a do
mestic peril, a deadly fascination and a
painted ill.”
“ I see very little of you,” said an
old gentleman at a Louisville ball to a
?roung lady whom he had not met in a
ong time before. “ I know it,” was
the artless reply, “ but mother wouldn’t
allow me to wear a very low-neck dress
to night, the weather is so cold.”
At Mons, in Belgium, they had a
scene in court that would have” made a
Montana man feel at home. The prose
cuting attorney insulted the accused,
whereupon the accuser drew a revolver
and pointed the muzzle toward the at
torney—who left. He then pointed it
in deliberate succession toward all the
other functionaries of justice—and they
all left. Then the accused left, and
they have not seen him since.
4t,t. the statisticians of the French
department of the interior were worried
to death for a month over a return in a
report on eggs, by which it appeared
that there were so many millions of
eggs and a half laid in a certain district.
How that half got in no one could tell,
and it had to be hunted down. Finally,
it was traced to a conscientious farmer,
one of whose hens had laid an egg on
the division between his department
an and another.
Seventeen years ago a Louisville
woman was told by a clairvoyant that
she was destined to marry an auburn
haired young man with blue eyes and a
heavy moustache ; that he would soon
be rich, and that they should have two
ch ldren—a boy ands, girL She did
merry the auburn-haired man. They
ha ?e five children now, the auburn hair
hai disappeared from the husband’s
head, and he is getting fifteen dollars a
week.
“ Hi! Samuel, has you moved yit ?”
inquired one colored man of another
whom he met at the market yesterday.
“ No, d’se still in de old place,” was
the answer. “ But I war’ told dat you
war’ gwine to get out ob de neighbor
hood,” continued the first. “ Wall, I
did make up my mind to, but you see
de family next door, and de family on
de corner, and de family ’cross de street,
have left dere wood piles out. doors,
and I doesn’t desire to change.”
The statement is made in an interest
ing article in the Trade Journal that
within the past forty years the gross
weight of cast iron articles produced
in America has been diminished fully
one half. Half a century ago the iron
frame of a Washington printing press
weighed nearly 1,000 pounds, and al
though it was an arch of metal nine
inches wide by three inches thick, so
poor was its quality that it was often
broken by the pull of one pressman’s
arm. The present smooth light cast
ings show an actual elasticity under
strain approaching the service of
wrought iron.
A farmer called, at the house of a
lawyer to consult him professionally.
“Is t* Squeer at home? ” he inquired
of the lawyer’s wife. He was answered
negatively. After a moment’s hesita
tion a thought relieved him. “ Mebbv
yourself can gi’ me information as well
as t’Squeer, as ye’re his wife.” The
kind lady promised to do so if she
found it in her power, and the other
proceeded as follows ; “ Spoaze ye
were an old white mare, an’ I should
borry ye to gwang to mill with grist on
yer back, an’ we should get no farder
thaE Stair Hill, when all at once ye
should back up, and rear up, and pitch
up, and kneel down backward, and
break yer darned old neck, who’d pay
for ye ? Not I—darn me if I would ! ”
The* lady f smilingly told him, as she
clos*id the door, that as he had himself
settled the case, advice would be super
fluOt!.
Gseece is about the size of Vermont.
Palestine is one-fourth the size of New
Yorlt. Hindoostan is more than a hun
dred times as large as Palestine. The
Great Desert of Africa has nearly the
present dimensions of the United
States. The Red Sea would reach from
Washington to Colorado, and it is three
times as wide as Lake Ontario. The
English Channel is near ly as large as
Lake Superior. The Mediterranean if
placed across North America, would
make sea navigation from San Diego to
Baltimore. The Caspian Sea would
stre ch from New York to St. Augus
tine and as wide as from New York to
Rochester. Great Britain is two thirds
the size of Japan, one-twelfth the size
of Hindostan, one-twei tieth of China,
and one-twentieth of the United States,
the Gulf of Mexico is a bout ten times
the nize of Lake Superior, aid about
as large as the sea oi Kamtchatsa, Bay
of Bengal, China Sea, Okhoteh, or
Japen Sea ; Lake Ontario would go in
either of them more than fifty times.
The following-named bodies of water
are nearly equal in size: German
Ocet n, Black Sea, Yellow Sea; Hudson..
Bay is rather larger ; the Baltic, Adri
atic, Persian Gulf and JEgean Sea half
as large and somewhat larger than
Lak< Superior.