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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,