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THE STANDARD AND EXPRESS.
W. Y n 1 KIViIALK , ! Kdllor* Hnd Pi-.prielor.,
I'll tC BVRHIXG PKAIRIK.
The prsirle stretched as smooth as a floor,
As i ar as the eye could see,
And the settler sat at his cabin door,
With his little girl on his knee;
Striving her letters to repeat.
And pulling her apron over her feet.
His face was wrinkled but not old,
For be bore an upright form,
And his shirt sleeves back to the elbow rolled,
They showed a brawny arm.
And near u the grass w ith toes up’nrued,
Was a pair of old shoes, cracked and burned.
A dog with his h<ad betwixt his paws,
I.sy lazily dozing near.
No* and then snapping his tar black jaws
At the flv tkat buzzed in his ear ;
And near was a cow-pen, made of rails.
And a bench that held two milking pails.
In the open door "n ox-yoke lay,
The mother's odd redoubt,
To keep the litt ! e one, at her play
On the floor, from falling out;
Win e she swept the hearth with a turkey wing,
And filled her teakettle at the spring.
The litt'e girl on her father’s knee,
With eyes so bright and blue,
From A, B. C, to X, Y, Z,
Had said her lesson through ;
When a wind came over the prairie land,
And caught the primer out of her band.
The watch dog whined, the cattle lowed
And tosied tbe'r horns about,
The air grew gray as if it snowed.
“ There will be a storm, no doubt,”
So to himself the >ettler said ;
“ But father, why is the sky so red ?”
The litt'e girl slid off his knee,
And all of a tremble stood ;
“Good wife,” he cried, “ come out and fee,
The skies are as red as blood. 7 ’
“Go save us 1” cried the settler’s wife,
‘"The prairie's a-lire, we most run for life !”
She caught the baby up, “ Come,
Are ye mad ? to your heels, my man !”
He fo iowei. terror-stricken, dumb,
And so they ran and ran.
Clo e upon them was the snort and swing
Of buffaloes madly galloping.
The wild w ! nd, like a sower, sows
The ground With sparkles red ;
And the flapping wings' of the bats and crows,
And the ashes overhead.
And the bellowing deer, and the hissing snake,
What a swirl cf t< rrible founds they make.
No gleam of the river water yet,
And the flan es leap on and on,
A crash and a fiercer whirl and jo*,
And the settler’s house is gone.
The air grows hot: “ this fluttering curl
Would burn like flax,” said the little girl.
An 1 as the smoke against hfr dri'ts,
And the lizard slips close by her,
She tell-* hew th“ little cow uplifts
Her speckled face from the fire:
For she cannot be hinde el from looking back
At the fiery dragon on their track.
Thev heir the crackling g*ass and sedge,
The flanirs as Gay whir and rave.
On. on ! they are eloFe to the water’s edge
They are breast-deep in the wave ;
Ard lifting tbf ir little ore high o’i r the tide.
We are saved, thank God, we are saved !” they
erred.
IN THE JVWS OF DEATH.
The clipper ship Transit was lying in
Roads waiting lor a cargo of
coolies, the first installment of which
was already alongside They were des
tined for the island of Cuba, and were
to he landed at Havana.
Considerable alterations had been
made for the accommodation of the
natives, and at the same time additional
security added for the security of
officers and crew. The fore and main
hatches bad been fitted with a heavy
iron grating securely bolted to the
combings, while over the main a species
of iron cage had been constructed, fitted
with a door and secured by bolts.
The ship carried three masts, a boat
swain, and sixteen men, which, with the
captain, steward and cook, completed
the Transit’s complement.
The chief mate, John Maynard, was a
handsome young son of the ocean, stal
wart and brave. The second mate. Mr.
ITalpin, was a good, efficient officer,
while the third officer wae yet ft joung
bov, scarcely twenty.
Half a dozen sail" p armed with cut
lasses ground sb cl *P 88 razors, buckled
round their *fti p ts, and with loaded
muskets, r°°d on either side of the
gangw* ie coolies filed over side
fro" the large tonka boats alongside
■ iat had received their freight at the
bnrrac'xjns.
Two days ont from port, the steward,
who had contracted the fever at Macao,
died, leaving no alternative to Captain
Sylvester, but to choose another, and
from the ranks of the coolies. He could
not well select one from the crew, there
were none too many on deck and the
duties were far from light, so a China
nian, Assam by name, was duly installed
in the cabin,
. His dark eye glittered with some
strong inward emotion as he stood
hmnbly, even cringingly, before the
captain, listening to his directions, but
he made no further demonstration.
The cantain took no notice of it, and he
was suffered to depart without further
delay.
Showed away in the rnn of the ship
abaft the eibin wpre some §20,000, a
portion of the ship’s earnings, safely
packed in kegs. The fact had been
careful y concealed by the officers from
the crew, and as for the .coolies, it would
have been adding coals to the fires had
they but an inkling of the dangerous
sec r t.
On the morning of the third day
Capt, Sylvester crawled iuto the run of
be vessel, leaving the door open be
hind him, his object being to look after
the safe stowage of the specie. With
out a moment’s warning he came upon
the Chinese steward, who was too intent
upon what he had before him to notice
he approach o? bis master.
The Chinaman by some means had
managed to break open a keg containing
the precious metal, and the glittering
contents lay exposed to the sparkling,
avaricious gaze of the wily native.
For a moment Sylvester was so taken
by surprise, so overcome by a nameless
terror, as to be incapable of motion, and
large drops of perspiration rolled down
his pallid face.
Recovering himself he roared out in a
voice of thunder, “You infernal scoun
drel, what are you doing here ?” And
scrambling forward the irate captain
attempted to grapple with his dangerous
foe. But the steward, quick as a flash
of lightning, evaded the captain’s blow,
dealt him one as he glided by, while
Sylvester was floundering around amoDg
the boxes and barrels, bewildered and
half stunned, the Chinese steward
sprang through the low door, darted
out of the cabin and disappeared on
deck.
No one took particular notice of the
fellow as lie sauntered carelessly
along, pansiDg for a moment by the iron
rage which covered the main hatch.
The latter was crowded with coolies, and
to them he addressed a few rapid, gut
tnral sentences, at t ie same time apply
ing a feey to the door which he had pur
loined from the captain’s state room.
Giancing quickly aft, he withdrew to
ones de, and at that instant a prolonged
and terrible cry burst from the coolies,
followed by a tremendous rush up the
ladders.
With one bound the treacherous na
tive sprang upon the nearest sentinel,
and before the sailor, completely taken
l>y surprise, could recover, his musket
had been snatched from his hand and a
blow from the same stretched the poor
fellow lifeless on the deck.
Like the rash of some mounta’n tor
rent i lie coolies swarmed < n deck, c ir
fyiog everything before them. The
wer* literally pwallowed up by
•
the infuriated mob of yelling demons,
and were never seen again.
Maynard, together with the second
mate and a man at the wheel, were the
sole occupants of the quarter deck, and
upon them, all unarmed as they were,
the mob rushed.
Amid the din and uproar Maynard
heard the voice of Capt. Sylvester call
ing upon him to jump through the
skylight.
“Jump, my lad, and bear a hand. I
have the cabin door barricaded.”
The mate reqnired no second bidding.
With a shout to the second mate to fol
low, he sprang throngh the frail struc
ture, and the next instant the two offi
cers were side by side with Sylvester,
who hurriedly thrust into their hands a
loaded revolver apiece.
There was no time for congratulations,
the aperture above their heads was
darken jd for a moment by a huge coolie,
who was on the point of leaping after
the fugitives, when the crack of May
nard’s revolver saved him the trouble,
and he fell headlong into the cabin.
Another und another followed in quick
succession, but not a Chinaman sue
eeeded in gaining an entrance alive.
With a yell of baffled rage the coolies
renewed the assault, but this time their
efforts were directed against the doors
cf the forward cabiD. They speedily
yielded to the shower of blows, and in a
few moments were reduced to so many
splinters. But Captain Sylvester had
not been idle after recovering from the
blow dealt him by his steward.
Every available article of furniture,
tables, chests and movable articles had
been converted into a barricade which
effectually resisted the furious attempts
of the now thoroughly aroused mob.
Maynard and his companions fired
with a cool collected aim over the
friendly cover, and at every discharge a
coolie passed to his last account. Their
cries of fiendish rage rent the air with
redoubled violence at being so loDg
balked of their prey, while their leader,
ex-steward, danced and capered about
like a lunatic.
The dead bodies of the coolies lay
piled up one across another, the sur
vivors making no attempt to assist their
wounded comrades. Their ardor had
been dampened by the severe cneck
they had sustained, and retiring from
the scene of the conflict, they held a
hurried consultation—a respite that was
made the most of by Maynard and his
companions in repairing and strenthen
ing the barricade which had suffered
somewhat from the frantic efforts of the
mob.
An ominous silence had fallen upon
the ship, which boded no good to the
three resolute men who held possession
of the cabin, With anxious hearts and
fingers pressing the triggers of their
firearms they stood straining both ears
and eyes to discover what might be
going on among their enemies.
Suddenly a simultaneous yell burst
from the hoarse throats of the gang,
followed by a united rush which shook
the vessel.
“ Look to the cabin doors, Maynard,
I will look to the skylight 1 ” shouted
Sylvester, in an undaunted tone, and
again the crash of firearms, mingled
with cries of pain resounded through
the ship. In the mean time the ship,
left to the mercy of the winds and
waves, was driving along before the
wind with no one to control her move
ments.
Both Sylvester and Maynard were
well aware that both shoals and reefs
abounded in the vicinity, which added
to the deep anxiety preying upon them.
Unless the contest was decided in their
favor, and the coolies driven below in a
short time a common death might over
whelm besieged and besiegers. To add
to the perplexities and dangers which
appeared to the little band on all sides
night was coming on, and, under the
cover of darkness, the Chinese steward
might obtain the mastery by some sub
tle strategy.
The whistling of the wind, the dash
of the rising waves, and the flashing of
the canvas aloft, were the only sounds
that reached the ears of tho.se in the
cabin.
Bat it was only for a moment or two
that the treacherous calm reigned over
the ship,
A shout of triumph rang through the
vessel, followed by a few rapid orders,
then, without a moment’s warning, a
bale of oakum, soaked in tu.pentine,
was hurled throngh the open skylight.
The burning fragments were scattered
about the cabin, and as flames and
smoke followed, a cry of dismay es
caped Sylvester’s lips.
“My God ! they have us now,” ho
murmured.
And he staggered back, his face palo
as death in the ruddy glow of the
(lames.
But the calm, deep voice of the mate
resounded in his ears, restoring both
confidence and courage.
“Give me some wet blankets, cap
tain, and bear a baud, we will soon
smother the lire. The second mate is
guarding the forward door and he is
more than a match for the devils.
Work sharp, sir, aud we will yet gain
the day.”
The two menjivorked with a will,
buowing full well what depended upon
their efforts. Despite tho clouds of
blinding smoke which nearly drove
them ont of tho cabin, they persevered,
fighting the new enemy inch by inch,
which every moment .gained despite
their utmost efforts.
The situation was certainly a desper
ate one, as inch by inch the blinding
smoke drove them back until they were
forced to take refuge in the forward
cabin.
“’Tis useless to struggle, Maynard.
Help may come.”
Even as be spoke a deep heavy report
reverberated over the ocean. ’What
was that?” he asked, in the next
breath.
“It sounded like a cannon. Hark!
there it is again ! ”
And three men crowded close np to the
barricade, while a low hum of conster
nation was heard among the insurgents.
“ Now is your time, Captain Sylves
ter. A man-of-war is bearing down
upon us. In less than half an hour we
shall be rescued—if we can hold out.
The coolies are too intent upon the
strange vessel to watch us. We’ll make
a dash for the main rigging, and under
cover of the darkness there will be no
trouble. Stand by Halpin.”
“ I am ready, and my revolver also,”
growled the second mate.
“Are you, Captain Sylvester?”
“You have saved our lives ; you lead,
and I will follow. ”
“ Then forward, and shoot the first
one that stands in onr way.”
And, with a bound th 6 three men
cleared the barricade, gained the deck,
springing on to the rail before the as
tonished coolies knew what was going
on.
They rushed in a body towards the
three fugitives, but the rapid crack of
the revolvers soon quelled their ardor,
and sent them howling to cover, white
the whistling of a round shot above
their heads caused all to look to wind
ward, wher a large, heavy-sparred ves
sel, under all sail, loomed up, the open
ports revealing her deck crowded with
men.
The coolies could make no use of the
muskets they had wrested from the
hands of the murdered sentinels, having
no ammunition, and they had already
expended the charges with which they
had been loaded.
The survivors were therefore compar
atively safe, and from the maintop,
where they had taken refnge, contented
themselves with watching the move
ments of the man of-war.
She was soon withing speaking dis
tance, and, ranging close alongside,
took in at a glance the true state of
affairs. Sheetling under the counter,
soores of nimble sailors, armed to the
teeth, leaped aboard, the coolies sul
lenly retired to their quarters, and in
ten minutes the fire was subdued, the
coolies secured, and the danger over.
A sufficient number of sailors were
detailed by the commander to work the
ship into Singapore, where anew crew
was secured, and the vessel enabled to
continue her voyage. But it is needless
to add that a sharp and vigilant lookout
was kept upon the treacherous crowd.
The instigator of the mutiny, the
Chinese steward, was placed in double
irons, and confined in the run of the
ship, alongside the kegs of gold which
he so much coveted, and when he again
saw the sun it was to land on the shores
of “ the ever faithful isle.”
Maximilian's Widow.
The princess enjoys better health
than might be expected. She has even
attained a certain embonpoint. But,
morally speaking, her case seems des
perate. The most sanguine physicians
oonsider her insanity incurable. Her
mental condition is very strange. She
appears to no longer take any part in
this world ; she speaks to nobody, but
always seems planning with, following
and talking to, imaginary beings. Those
persons who surround or serve her ap
pear to her as nonentities—she looks at
them, yet does not appear to see them.
She seems to suffer if her vision is ob
structed by a living being while she
ponders ; when a human voice reaches
her ear she seems to treat it as a sound
from another world ; she is only pleased
when in deep solitude and talking with
her familiar invisibles. All company is
a bore to her. Her appetite is ex
cellent, and she writes her menu each
day with astonishing intelligence, mak
ing such changes of diet as the seasons
suggest. She gives all her orders in
writing concerning this and other mat
ters. She has seleoted a table in her
chateau upon which she deposits her
billets and which are taken at a fixed
hour. In this respect she shows no
hesitation or confusion in her thoughts.
The princess pushes her love of sol
itude to such .n extreme that she does
not wish to have her servants with her j
she dresses herself and completes her
toilet with an exquisite care that bor
ders on the realms of a coquette.
She dresses her hair always in plaits
as she did before her trouble. Her
dressing maid is not admitted in her
sleeping apartment; she alone presides
over all the details of her toilet. She
preserves a remarkable memory for all
the usual affairs of life. Thus on a
fixed day a note is written ordering her
bath to be got ready. If, when she has
ordered a special plate for her dinner
and that plate is not brought on the
table she simply remarks the fact in
writing, without reproach, without ill
temper, like a person who notices an
omission and then calls attention to it.
When the weather is fine she walks in
the park every day at about eleven
o’clock. She invariably follows the
same road, walking always at a very
rapid pace. It need scarcely be added
that she is watched at a distance with
out her knowledge and that every pre
caution is taken to shield her from ac
cident.
She often takes to mnsic and some
times she designs and executes a paint
ing with taste and talent. Music seems
to charm and soothe her, wh'le painting
absorbs and captivates. With her dis
position, with a disinclination for all
human society, it is difficult to pay her a
visit without causing her pain. Her maj
esty the queen, only visits Tervneren
every fortnight, and even then she does
not see the princess ; this depends upon
the temper of the patient. Several times
every day, however, news is sent from
the chateau de Laeken or to the royal
palace at Brussels. Every month Dr.
Gheel visits the august patient, the
ueenaVv tually accompanying him in
these visits. The visits seem really sad,
and are always to this effect: The
doctor asks the patient as to her healtb,
when she always replies, “Oh, I’m very
well,” then turns her back upon him and
walks away.— lndependence Beige.
What Men of Fashion arc Wearing.
Extremely English styles of dress are
adopted by men of fashion. They Wr ar
low crowned Derby hats, long coats,
and large trowsers. Their collars high,
their cravate wide. Gray suits and
piaided ones are their choice for morn
ing, traveling and office wear. Their
handkerchiefs are bordered as if with
gingham, their body-linen is of the
plained, their shoes have broad soles
aud low heels that look as if they were
really meant to walk in with oomfort.
This combination of style and utility is
followed iu a measure only, and at n
respectful distance by conservative
gmtlemen and men of taste, who, dif
liking to attract attention by their
dress, are never
“ The first by whom the new is tried.
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.”
Fashionable tailors announce that all
coats are made longer ; vests are princi
pally single-breasted and pantaloons
ore straight and large in tho legs, add
ing that “pegtops” are fast coming
into vogue.
Shbikkage on Cotton. —A corres
pondent of the Arkansas Grange gives
nuexoerience on the shrinkage of cot
ton as follows :
I had a dispute last September with
a Memphis merchant about the loss of
weight on cotton. To test the matter I
ginned a bale on the 12th of October,
weighing 462 pounds. 1 then put it in
a dry shed on a plank floor, so situated
tint it had sunshine on it every day
that was clear until December Btb,
when it was again weighed, and found
to weigh 468 pounds. I had three men
‘o see the test. I wish all my brother
planters would make a test, and see if
it brings the same result. This is the
third year I have tried with the same
results. The average loss on cott< n
shipped to Memphis is about tea
pounds per bate; this, at 15 cents,
amounts to §600,000 on the cotton
shipped to that place. This would pay
all par
CARTERS YILLE, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1575.
SOCIAL LIFE IN MEXICO.
The following interesting facts are
translated from Princess Salm-Salm’s
“ Recollections of Mexico”:
Although the Mexicans are a lazy
people, they rise early—the gentlemen
to take their morning ride, the ladies to
go to early mass, which is the only oc
casion on which they appear in the
streets on foot. They take a luncheon
between twelve and one o’clock. The
Mexicans are a very temperate people ;
they drink little brandy, wine or beer,
but on every table you find pulque , a
light, vinous beverage resembling cider,
obtained from the American agave. As
a general thing they lead very regular,
exemplary lives, but gambling is their
passion.
The men are usually small, delicately
but symmetrically made, and have very
small hands and feet. They are very
polite and graceful, reserved and cau
tions, as though they were always on
their guard against deception—and for
a very good reason, since trust worthi
ness is far from being a lending virtue
among them. They are ready to promise
—with words; are always at your ser
vice, but they are not to be trusted.
Fifty years of civil strife would be suf
ficent to demoralize better people than
the descendants of Cortez and his fol
lowers. They love money, but have
little idea how it is to be honestly ob
tained ; hence it is looked upon rather
as being meritorious than sinfnl to steal
from the government, be that govern
ment what it may. Whoever gets into
office uses his position for this purpose.
In genera] they are very hospitable,
and at dinner there are always two or
three covers laid for guests who may
chance to come in. Frugal as they
usually are, when they entertain they
provide very bountifully.
The women of the better classes are
very handsome, and are especially re
markable for their abundant heads of
black hair, their large, dark, melan
choly eyes and their small, delicately
formed extremities. They marry young,
often at the age of fourteen or fifteen,
aEd usually bave large families ; it is
not unusual to see a woman with a
dozen children, and sometimes with
even more. The children are very frail,
very quiet and well-behaved. I have
never seen them romp and quarrel, as I
have always seen hearty, strong chil
dren do in other countries. The mothers
usually nurse their children themselves,
are very fond and devoted, and bring
them up very irrationally. They treat
them like dolls, and their chief study is
to dress them prettily. The children
are very precocious; up to their tenth
or twelfth year they progress with won
derful rapidity, but then their intellect
ual development becomes very slow or
entirely ceases.
Family life in Mexico is quite pleas
ant ; the husband and wife are always
seen together, and they live mostly at
home, surrounded by their relations.
Parents separate themselves from their
daughters very unwillingly, and not un
frequently they marry them to men who
are content to make the house of their
father-in-law their home and to live at
his expense.
The ladies are exceedingly ignorant.
They read nothing but their prayer
books and are hardly able to write the
most commonplace letter. They know
no language but Spanish, and of history
and geography they are entirely igno
rant. They knew before they were in
vaded by the French that Paris is the
eipital of France, and of London they
had also heard, since from both of these
cities they have always received their
finery and many objects of luxury. All
they know of Rqme is that the pope has
his residence there, and but for that cir
cumstance they would not know there is
such a city. They, however, have •
good deal of taste for music and many
of them sing and play very creditably.
In many Mexican houses they have, as
a rule, no regular dinner. If they are
hungry they eat some simple dish or
drink a cup of chocolate, whwh is ex
cellent ; the coffee, however, although
they raise a good quality, is not good—
they do not know how to prepare it.
At six o’clock they drive ont and from
the promenade they go to the opera or
theater, taking their daughters, dressed
in their finest, with them. If perchance
there is no place of amusement to which
they can go, then they remain at home
and amuse themselves with cards and
music. The young people assemble
very frequently for a hop or a tertulia,
as such gatherings are called in Mexico.
Although there are in Mexico among
the 8,000,000 inhabitants about half a
million negroes—very few in the cities—
the house servants are Indians, mostly
young girls, who are generally treated
in a very friendly and familiar manuer
by their employers. They are well
skilled in household affairs, and many
of them embroider beautifully.
More than half the population of the
country are Indians ; those who live on
the plateau of Mexico and in the vici
nity are descendants of the < ztecs,
who, 300 years ago, astonished the
Spaniards with their civilization, which
some say surpassed that of the ancient
Egyptians. The conquerors who ex
pected to meet with savages only, found
in the Aztec capital a flourishing city
containing many fine buildings adorned
with numerous works of art. What has
become of this intelligent, industrious
people i The mauner in which the
English treated the American Indians,
bad as it was, had some excuse in the
obstinacy with which they resisted
every attempt to civiliz them ; but
the Aztees were very far fiom being
savages.
Maltreated as the poor natives were,
they took refuge in the forests, where
they were deprived of every means of
cultnre. Their children grew up in
ignorance and, in course of time, they
even lost their mechanical skill. No
wonder th?y are shy and distrustful.
When they are well treated they evince
great goodness of heart, are faithful
and evince a stroEg desire to learn.
When the conquerors spread over the
country the aborigines could not keep
entirely away fr,m them, especially in
the vicinity of the cities. Of this con
tact there came among them anew sort
of civilization. They soon learned the
value of money, and that it could be
obtained by selling their service to
their lazy ma ters, Tha coneeauence
is that we see them everywhere the
petty tradesmen and laborers of the
country. They were almost exclusively
the providers for the capita]—they
came from every direction with their
poultry, fruits, vegetab'es, wood, char
coal, etc., etc.
The women work moie tbsn the men,
and, together with a heavy load, carry
ing their babies on their backs, they
can be seen on every road leading to
the city, going on a dog-trot to market.
Their dress is very simple. A piece of
blue cotton stuff is -nound round the
waist and falls to the aDkl s, while the
shoulder and breast are covered by an
other piece of cotton of a different
©©lor, in whieb is hoi© to put
the head through. I have seen the
peasants in the Tyrol wear pieces of
carpet in a similar manner.
The dress of the mien is still less com
plete. Around the waist they wear a
piece of leather in such a manner that
it forms a sort of short breeches. Their
shoulders they cover in the same wav
the women oover theirs, and on their
heads they wear a palm leaf hat.
Ihe Aztec women have large, hand
some eyes, are generally well formed,
and many of them are quite good-look
ing ; but the womeu of the other Mexi
can tribes are, for the most part nglv.
Not a few of the companions of Cor
tez married Aztec girls, and from these
unions, which became more and more
frequent, there sprang a mongrel race
called creoles. Many of these are
rancheros , planters or farmers, and
looked upon as forming the best portion
of the natio.n. Some of them are very
rich ; and, as they have little opportu
nity to get rid of their money except by
gambling, they gratify their passion for
costly apparel.
After-Thoughts.
A writer says: How very often it
happens in conversation, as Bernard
Barton remarks in one of his letters to
Crabbe, that the thing you might and
should have said occurs to you just a
little too late. He draws on his own
experience for the record of many a long
ana animated discussion with a friend,
after which he called to mind some pithy
argument that would have smashed his
opponent’s case, and which, affirms the
gentle Quaker poet, “ I should have
been almost sure to have had at my
fingers’ ends had I been quietly arguing
the matter on paper in my own study.”
Cowper complains that when he wrote a
letter to any but a familiar friend, no
sooner had he despatched it thau he was
sore to recollect how much better he
could have made it. Horace Walpole
opens his epistle with the remark that
mere answers that are not made to let
ters immediately are like good things
which people recollect they might have
said had they but thought of them in
time; that is, very insipid, and the
apropos very probably forgotten. Van
ity, as well as vexation of spirit.
Little Henry Esmond, when pointed
out by saucy Trix to my Lord as “ say
ing his prayers to mamma,” could only
look very silly. If he invented a half
dozen of speeches in reply, that was
months afterward ; as it was, be had
never a word in answer.” Mr. Thack
eray’s writings offer divers lllnstrations
of the same kind. There is Mr. Batch
elor, for instance, when impertinently
quizzed to his face by that supercilious
Capt. Baker. “ ‘ Sir!’ says I; ‘ sir’ was
all I could say. The fact is, I could
have replied with something remarkably
neat and cutting, which would have
transfixed the languid little jackanapes,
* * * but, you see, I only thought
of my repartee some eight hours after
ward, when I was lying in bed, and I
am sorry to own that a great number of
my best bon mots have been made in
that way.”
Dr. Holmes suggestively records on
the subject of mistakes and slips in
writing, that he never finds them out
until they are stereotyped, and then he
thinks they rarely escape him. Southey
once assigned as the reason for his not
reading for the bar that he was so easily
disconcerted ; that the right answer to
argument never occurred to him im
mediately. “I always find it at last,
but it comes too late; a blockhead who
speaks boldly can baffle me.” A state
of mind figured in a modem poem :
‘ ‘ Speech, only quick to blush its own delay,
Made me a fool, ■when fools had their own way.
And awkward-silent wben conceit was loud,”
Charlotte Bronte relates how Mr.
Thackeray met her at the door, at the
close of one of his readings, and frankly
asked her what she thought of it; and
how, liking his naivete she was entirely
disposed to praise him, having plenty
of praise in her heart, “ but, alas 1 no
word on my lips. Who has words at
the right moment ? I stammered out
some lame expressions ” —and doubtless
hit on some neat and pithy eulogium
soon after his back was turned.
The good dame in one of Mrs. Has
kell's fictions is speaking for thousands
when she says of the rector and his wife
that they “ both talk so much as to
knock one down, like ; and it’s not till
they have gone, and one’s a little at
peace, that one can think there are
things one might have said on one’s own
side of the question.” And so again
John Sercolaske, introduced by Philip
van Artevelde as our “ sagacious friend”
—than whom a better counsellor need
not be, if only be have full scope be
forehand to ponder and devise what to
say; bat “ask him on the sudden” a
simple enough question, and—
“ Confonmled wilt he stand
Ti'l livelier tongues from emptier heads bave
spoken;
Thf n on the morrow to a tittle kno'vn
What should have been his answer.”
A Orazy Doctors Extraordinary Freak.
Ellen Case, a young woman employed
as a domestic servant in a family* at
Oakland, Cal , was attacked by a trivia]
malady, and Dr. Pentack was called in
This Dr. Pentack had long been known
as an odd man, full of freaks in profes
sional and social conduct, yet he had a
reputation for skill in the practice of
medicine, and enjoyed a large practice.
Really he was a maniac, aud insanely in
love with the girl whom he was sum
moned to treat. He had made some
advances which she had repulsed. The
sight of her ill pat the idea into his
crazy head that if he conld only get two
quarts of her blood he could construct
from it an exact counterpart of her.
This counterfeit creation, he supposed,
would be endowed with life, and be in
all respects like the original. He an
nounced that it would be necessary to
bleed the girl, and he actually let out
from her arm the two quarts that he
wanted, taking it away in a pail. The
operation was injurious to the patient,
aud nearly killed her. Another physi
cian was sent for, and, upon hearing
what Dr. Pentack had done, he com
municated to the police his belief of
that practitioner’s ineanity. A visit to
Pentsck’s resideoce was made at once.
He was found boiling the blood in a
kettle, and mixing various chemioals
with it. He begged to be let atone in
his f xperiment, declaring that his pro
cess was certain to evolve a living
woman within a few minutes if he was
not disturbed. The officers arrested
him, and he is now in an insane asylnm,
where he. talks about nothing but his
pr g ess of making fac similes of human
baings from their blood.
A good many years ago a Massachu
setts man was elected to the office of
lieutenant-governor. When the fact of
hi3 election was announced he was
called upon for a speeeh. He proceeded
to acknowledge the honor in very hand
some terms.- and added that he had no
doubt he should make a good lieuten
ant-governor, as that was the office he
b*d he l d in hit C w n house*
Homes of Genius.
Genius is no aristocrat. She does
not seek marble palaces or tnrreted cas
tles to dwell with king or noble; but
loves rather to linger in the humble
home of the peasant, among the poor
and lowly. Of course there are excep
tions to this, as to every other role, and
many of the rich and titled have become
famouß, bnt generally the favorites of
genius are those who bave no long line
of ancestors to look back upon with
pride, no coffer whose golden contents
are never exhausted.
One of the trials, coming hand in
hand with the fame and success which
ever attend men and women of genius,
is the curiosity of the world. Their
private life must be fully unfolded to
the public gaze, and they, patiently or
not, must submit to the rude scrutiny.
This curiosity, to some extent, belongs
to every one; we all have a desire to
know what Shakespeare did when a boy,
what he said and how he acted ; if Mil
ton was happy in his home life ; if Mo
zart ever quarreled ; if Michael Angelo
ate and drank like other men, and a
thousand other similar questions pre
sent themselves to every mind while
thinking of the lives of the great and
famous.
We should not seek to raise the veil
which shields a home from envious out
siders ; but since it Las been already
uplifted, there sorely can be no impro
priety in taking a peep beneath.
In an old-fashioned country village,
among the hills of Yorkshire, stands a
quiet parsonage, where dwelt the author
of "Jane Eyre.” The house is of gray
stone, strongly roofed with flags in or
der to resist the winds which sweep
fiercely across the moorlands. The
church is on one side, the school
house on the other, while the purple
moors stretch far away beyond. Under
the windows of this parsonage grew a
few plants, hardy ones, for such only
conld endure the oold and rigorous
climate.
In this dreary and desolate place
lived, wrote, and died, that woman of
true genius, Charlotte Bronte. The
bad roads cut off all communication
with the surrounding oountry. and all
the intellect and education of the Bronte
family were far superior to their neigh
bors ; their lives, one might say, were
bounded by the home circle. Their
father spending all of his time in his
study, the mother an invalid confined to
her room, the brother and sisters early
learned to depend upon themselves.
After the death of her mother and two
elder children, Charlotte supplied their
place to her younger aisters, and the
cares incident upon such a position
caused her to beoome old and thought
ful beyond her years. Such were the
home and circumstances of “Carrer
Bell,” and both had their influence
npon her works and character. The
bleak, cold winds infused some of their
own vigor and strength into her writ
ings, the purple heath some of its fra
granoe and beauty; her isolated position,
so unusual for a young girl, gave her an
originality and freedom of thought that
has made her famous. Yet, when we
think of her small circle of acquaint
ances, it seems truly wonderful that
one, thus situated, oould have given to
the world works of such thrilling inter
est and power as “Jane Eyre,” “Vii
letto,” and “ Shirley.”
The home of Mrs. Browning, one of
the world’s favorite poets, was in Eng
land, but more beloved than her native
soil was the land under Italia’s sunny
skies. For Italy’s freedom she wrote
and prayed, and it is truly fitting that
the last home of this “ soul of fire en
closed in a shell of pearl ” should be in
beautiful Florenoe.
“ Where olive orchards gleam and quiver
Along the banks of Arno’s river,”
she now sleeps, with the bright Etrnsean
roses bending over her, and the sweet
music of the golden river to sing her
requiem.
A clay-built cabin in Ayrshire was the
birthplace of Scotland’s greatest poet,
Robert Burns. He was a simple peas
ant boy, but, nevertheless, genius had
endowed him with that immortal fire
which so few possess. He deserted the
plough for the pen, and the Soottish
rustic became the renowned poet. His
fame, however, brought him no pros
perity ; feasted and flattered for a time
he was soon neglected and forgotten, and
died in obscurity and poverty.
That genius is not always so fickle
and cruel to her favorites, is shown by
che life of Washington Irving. His last
days were spent in his keantiful resi
dence, Sunnyside, on the banks of the
Hudson, where the
Soil is rich with Fancy’s g®ld,
And stirring memories of eld,
and around which cluster historical
stories and romantic legends. ,
There seems now to be ringing in our
ears the familiar strains of “Home,
Sweet Home;” and we think of its
author, who never experienced the de
lights and comforts of which he sings,
never knew what it was to have a home.
A wanderer all his life, he died at last in
a foreign land ; bnt we wish that all men
and women of genius, be their homes
in poverty or in wealth, so lived that it
could be Slid of them as of John How
ard Payne :
True, when tho gentle spirit fled
To realms beyond the azure dome,
With arms outstretched. God’s angle said,
Welcome to heaveu’s Home, sweet Home.
At it Again.
The more those English scientific men
invest : gite the so-cailed phenomena of
spiritualism, tbe more confusing to the
average mind are the results cf their
stedy. Messrs. Crookes and Wallace
first tried it, and ended by embracing
spiritualism outright. The phenomena
were then studied by a committee of the
London Dialectical society, which made
a report so dubiously worded that the
Dialectics were accused of an intention
to go over bodily to the spiritualists.
Amorig the investigators appointed by
the Dialects were Dr. Huggins, the
celebrated speetroecopist and astrono
mer, and Edward W. Cox, a London
barrister, with a high reputation for
fi’ting evidenoe. The latter gentleman,
seeing the work of himself and his com
panions critic zed by the papers, and
themselves char tcteriz p d as incompe
tents and gnllibles, has published a
p-ain statement of his own co nsetion
with the investigation He weut into
the examination fudy convinced that
phenomena were fraudulent. He says
that no professional medium was <m
ployed, but a lady who bad never at
tended a “seance,” the wife of a member
of the committee, served as the medium.
Their investigations fully convinced
them that what they saw was not the
work of slight-of-hand or trickery. On
one occasion, in a brilliantly-lighted
room, a table around which the members
of the committee were seated, bnt which
none of them were touching, was lifted
eight inches above the floor repeatedly,
by some unseen force. The table was
then placed in a position where neither
tbe feet nor hands, nor any part
of pereorvj of th© inveaGga-
tors could possibly come in con
tact with it, but it still continued to
move. Asa final result of these and
many other observations, the committee
came to the conclusion that there exists
a force which proceeds from the human
organization, by which motion may be
produced in heavy substances without
the employment of museular power, and
without contact or material connection
of any kiud. The force they call
“psychio force,” and declare that it is
exercised in the presence of certain
highly-developed organisms more read
ily than others. The committee did not
meet with ary manifestations which
they believed to proceed from the spirits
of the dead. Mr. Cox, since his report,
has been chosen president of the Psycho
logical Association of Great Britain,—
an organization formed to study this
and kindred subjects. Spiritualism has
been long enough before the public to
demonstrate that it has “something‘in
it” beside fraud, and the Psychological
association, which goes to neither ex
treme in interpreting its manifestations,
should be encouraged by the British
press in its honest effort to find just
where the truth lies.
The Colors of Horses.
The Pall Mall Gazette says : How
much or littie climate has to do with
the colors of horses it is very difficult to
predicate at this age of the world, for,
though we may be told that white or
gray and chestnut predominate in Ara
bia, that black is most common in Rus
sia, and that in England, France and
Germany bay is found to greatly out
number any other, there is no telling
how far fashion and consequent high
prioes may have spurred on enterprising
breeders to tho accomplishment, of a
triumph over the primordial tendencies
of climate. We should be inclined to
confine the colors of horses in this coun
try to black, bay, blown and chestnut.
It is true that there are plenty of grays,
but gray really belongs to composite
colors ; anl it is stated by an authority
that “all gray horses come into the
world chestnut, or more generally
black.” Grays, notwithstanding Gray
Momus, are comparatively seldom seen,
and more seldom Brill to advantage, on
the race course, to which all questions
relating to the excellence of horses must
ultimately be referred. As for the
white horses, which are such “ pretty
creatures ” in the oyes of the nursery
governess and her young charges, it
may be interesting to their admirers to
learn that they are said to be, for the
most part, gray horses whose hair is
white with age. A white horse, bom
white, with the pink nose and the pinky
eyes, is said to be as great a rarity in
Europe as an albino ; and there seems
to be no good reason why art should be
employed to make it increase and multi
ply. Though it might not be impossible
to give a list of black horses which have
distinguished themselves in England
and won undying fame in the Racing
Calendar, that color is most associated
in one’s mind with the heavy household
cavalry and the undertaker. Roan, a
composite color, is the name given to
the appearance created by an intermix
ture of white, black, and bay or chest
nut hairs, mingled in such different
proportions that the coat may vary in
shade from the darkness of Erebus to
the lightness of what is commonly called
strawberry. There lived good roan
horses before Rapid Rhone, who ran
third to Macaroni and Lord Clifden for
the Derby, and how likely the color is
to be reproduced is shown by his own
offspring ; but there appears to be no
great reason for encouraging the multi
plication of what was, no doubt, origin
ally as much au accident or freak of
nature as the piebald. Of your pie
balds, skewbalds, and the like it is
soaroely desirable to maintain the breed,
if they be capable of being reproduced
at will beyond the number sufficient for
the parade, the esplanade and tne cir
cus. It is desirable, however, to be
clear as to what constitutes piebald.
Sappers of reputation, to whom nothing
is sacred, have gone so far as to accuse
such great creatures as a Stockwell or
a Blair Athol of piebaldness because
of certain “blazes” on the face,
or patches on the legs, or a
couple of white stocaiDgs. Be it known
to all such heretics that a chestnut, a
bay, or a black must have the white
extending over parts of the body before
the charge of piebaldness can be sus
tained.
A Hint for Mothers.
The new-born English aristocrat re*
oieves, as soon as bora, a little bed with
a hard mattress. From its earliest age
it is taken, warmly wrapped, into the
fresh air. After tho first year, its me ds
are reduced to three, and this rule is so
unchangeable that no child thinks of
requiring anything more. After brex -
fast it remains several hours in the
open air and then sleeps. The whole
afternoon is passed outside. From
erliest childhood, the children of the
aristocracy have the extremities clothed
in the warmest weather. Never are
English children intrusted to the care
of a young nursery-maid, but to an
elderly, experienced person, under
whose direction they constantly are.
As soon as the young girl goes to
school the carriage oi the head and
shoulders becomes au objeot of atten
tention, and under no circumstances is
she permitted to sit otherwise thau up
right. “my child grows but once.”
says an English mother, “and there
fore, nothing ; s so imoortant as her
physical dt-velopmfnt.’’ Everything
else can be acquired late. An EDglish
child risos at seven, breakfasts at eight,
dines at one, suds at seven and at nine
goes to bed. Until twelve years of age
it passes the greater part of the day in
the open air, with only about four hours’
mental work. An English maiden at
eighteen is fresh and blooming as a
rose, with light step and eyes beaming
with pleasure and life.
Of Cf u -se, the life of gay society un
dermil ds to some extent what the early
training has accomplished; but the
sensible physical education of the first
years leaves permanent effeots, and the
English woman remains equal to the
duties of life and the requirements of
wife and mother. If she does not con
tinue perfectly well, she retains enough
health to be very beautiful.
One sees in great Britain ladies of
sixty with complexions fairer than those
of our young maidens, and whose hair,
though silvered, is yet abundant and
handsome.
Odd Zacbariah Jackson, of Rocky
Gulch, Nevada, is a “ forty-niner who
had been through the mill. ” The other
day he hobbled up to a party of new
comers and observed : “ ’Tend to yer
bizness, boys, and ye’ll be all right.
I’ve been here nigh on to thirty years,
and have been lynched, shot and
stabbed, knocked down, thrown off a
mountain and mopped around generally,
but V m here to day. biggem’n a box
©•Si’**
VOL. 16-NO; 26.
SAYINGS AND DOINGS.
Borden’s condensed milk factory in
Orange county, New York, uses 14,000
quarts of milk daily and pays out $27,000
monthly.
There are 300 to 400 American girls
in Milan learning to sing, in considera
tion of which Providence kindly exempts
Milan from the prasenee of cats.
There are only two hundred men in
Connecticut who have not invented some
sort of clothes-pin, or some kind of
salve or liniment.
How a woman can keep on talking
while she is twisting up her back hair
and has her mouth full of hairpins, is a
mystery not yet explained.
A Dr. Glenn, who is ranked as the
wealthiest and most extensive farmer in
California, has sold his wheat crop for
$500,000.
I look upon an able statesman out of
business like a huga Whale, that will
endeavor to overturn Hie ship unless he
has an empty cask to play with.— Steele.
Dr. Matjrin suggests keeping the
wire or mosquito-bar blinds of sick
roomß wetted. The effect on the at
mosphere is to refresh it, as thongh a
storm had occurred.
Life would be a perpetual flea hunt
if a man were obliged to run down all
the innendoes, inveracities, insinuations
and suspicions which are uttered against
him.
Petroleum oils are now said to be
coming into use for dressing leather,
and are claimed to be much better and
cheaper than animal oils for that pur
pose.
A rot is a blessing until he puts on
pants. From the period of the first
rent in his trousers dates a feeling in
the maternal breast that is not wholly
affectionate.
All life is sacred, and therefore not
to be lightly taken, is a reflection which
occurs to many humane persons who
carefully extricate bugs from their
strawberries before eating them.
The mania for suicides is becoming
so general in the Prussian army that a
proposition has been made to investi
gate the cause, and devise means to
remedy it.
This is the time of the year when
mothers and daughters endeavor to give
the breakfast table chat a watering
place tint, while the old gentleman eats
hastily and departs promptly to his
business when his second cap of coffee
is finished.
A widow has no bridesmaids; her
dross is generally gray or lavender,
never white, and she wears a bonnet
and veil. It makes no difference
whether she marries a single man or a
widower, or whether either party has
children.
It costs SI,OOO, they say, to educate a
girl at Vassar college, but when she
gets her diploma she can hang on the
trapeze head downwards, kick open a
gate, jump a fence or crowd a saucy
chap off the sidewalk, aud the money is
not wasted.
An exchange says: “ A person In
Indiana who was caught in the act of
illicitly distilling a run of twenty gal
lons of ‘ crooked ’ wbitky very promptly
explained that he was only making a
little for his sick wife.” A run of but
twenty gallons for a poor sick wife!
She couldn’t have been sick much.
If a lady wears a three-story hat to
the theater, is it etiquette for the gen
tleman who sits behind her to climb np
and roost on the back of his seat ? Or
must he bob his head from side to side
to catch furtive glimpses at the stage
around her head ? Will some modern
Chesterfield answer ? •
The annual report of the register
general, for 1874, of the, “births,
deaths, and causes of death, ” in Lon
don and the other large cities of the
United Kingdom has been published.
The report gives the statistics for
twenty-one large cities, and of these
London is the most healthy. The death
rate in London was only 22 per 1,000
and the excess of births over deaths
was 44,788. In London there are 45
persons to each acre of space ; in Edin
burg, 47 ; in Manchester, 82 ; in Liver
pool, 98; in Glasgow, 100. The re
spjetive rates of mortality are : Lon
don, 22 ; Edinburg. 23 ; Manchester, 30;
Liverpool, 32 : Glasgow, 31.
Cardinal Manning, in a recent letter,
puts his foot down thus forcibly upon
vivisection : “ I cannot pretend to imi
tate the scientific utilities of vivisection;
bu t I have no need of- any such refine
ments to enable me to say that the in
fliction of physical pain without just
canse is an abuse of the dominion that
God has given to man over the lower
creatures. It is lawful to take their
life for the food of man; but it is not
lawful, even for this just and necessary
purpose, to tak° their life by needless
pain. To inflict the exquisite and pro
longed torments described by those
who have been present at vivisection,
can, in my belief, be brought under no
moral law, nor nnder any right pos
sessed by man over any of his fellow
creatures.”
Among the Ogallalla Sioux chiefs is
one named Blue Horse, who was unable
to come to Washington with the delega
tion,and he has sent the following letter
to the president : “ There are fifty
families of my people who wish to go to
farming. We wish to go to work, and
do not want white men to run over us.
We intend to remain here, and we want
the neat honses and fences and every
thing that the white men use. We want
a cow, two yoke of oxen and a wagon ;
also chickens. Whatever the president
may give those who visit Washing
ton I wish a share also. I also want a
sewing machine and other farming im
plements. The Great Father has prom
ised ns that we should not starve, and I
wish to make a living for myself on
these rivers in this way.”
A Joke Carried Too Far.— Denver,
C >L, gives an instance of a joke being
carried too far. It was perpetrated
years ago, but only came to light in
public dress. Some time after the At
lantic cable bad been established, a tel
egraph operator at Denver sent the fol
lowing dispatch : “ To the Emperor
N ipoieon, Garden of the Tnileries.
Paris, France : Gov. Gilpin will not
accede to the cession of Italy to France.
P ease let Bohemia alone. ” The oper
ator supposed it would make some fun
in the Omaha oftme and stop there, as
the station agents have a general nnder
staedingiu regard to each other’s jokes.
By some hook or crook the dispatch
went on and dived under the ocean and
came np smilingly in the Garden of
the Tnileries in France. The manner
of its reception by Napoleon has been
lof tto history. All that is known,
the emperor did not pay for it, and
the facetious operator was hunted up
an obliged to pay a bill of $187.50 in
goid for his little joke. The operator
was entirely satisfied with the result *f
Svdsn,