The Eastman times. (Eastman, Dodge County, Ga.) 1873-1888, June 04, 1874, Image 1
KASTMAN TIMES.
A Iteal Live Country Paper.
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THE MAIDEN'S LAST FAREWELL.
IN THE DAY OF CREMATION.
Then I he night wore on, and we knew the worst,
That the end of it all was nigh :
Three doctors they had from the very first
Aud what could one do but die?
>• oh, Wiiliam!” she cried, “strew no blossoms of
spring,
For the new ‘ apparatus* might rust;
j(i it say tlist a handful of Hhavings you’ll bring,
And linger to see mo combust.
••Oh, promise me,love, by the fire-hole you’ll watch,
And when mourners and stokers convene,
y. u will see that they light me some solemn, slow
match,
A’.d warn them against kerosene.
••It would cheer me to know, ere these rude breezes
waft
My essences far to ibe pole,
Tnat one whom l love will inok to the draught,
And have a fond eye on the coal.
* ‘ Then promise me, love”—and her voice fainter
grew—
“ While this body of mine calcifies,
You will stand just as near as you can to the flue,
And gaze while my gases arise.
■' For Thompson—Sir Heury—has found out a way
(;)f ins ‘process’ you’ve surely heard tell),
And you burn like a parlor-match gently away,
Nor even offend by a smell.
“ So none of the dainty need sniff in disdain
When my carbon floats up to the sky ;
And I’m sure, love, that yon will never complain,
Though an ash should blow into your eye.
“ Now promise nie love”—and she murmured low*—
“ When the calcification is o’er,
You .will sit by my grave in the twilight glow—
-1 mean by my f uruace door:
“ Yes, promise me, love, while the seasons revolve
On their noiseless axles, the years,
You will visit the kiln where you saw me ‘ resolve,’
Aud leach my pale ashes witu tears.”
PRACTICAL CREMATION.
Shell* .v* Body C remated in Presence of
I,ord Byron.
It is rather singular that in the many
articles written recently on the subject
of cremation no account has been given
of the most notable instance of burn
ing tne dead in modern times. Wo re
fer to the burning of the body of the
poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, on the
shore of the Mediterranean in the sum
mer of 1822, in the presence of Lord
Byron, Mr. Leigh Hunt and Mr. E. J.
Trelawny. Shelley, like Byron, was
passionately fond of the sea, and loved
to talk of ships aud sailors and of the
adventures of the early navigators in
their small craft. While in Leghorn
ho would visit the vessels of all nations,
and take notes of their shapa, build,
rigging and decoration. His friend,
Lieut. E. E. Williams, a half-pay officer
of the eighth dragroons, recently from
India, was his constant companion—a
genial man, fond of books anti the sea.
His family occupied the same he use
with Shelley, on the Gulf of Spezzia.
After much talking and planning,
\Villiams, who had been three years in
the navy, assisted Shelley in building a
boat, according to his own cherished
model, which the happy owner chris
tened the “Don Juan.” She was fast
and strong;, but it took two tons of iron
ballast to bring her down to her bear
ings, and the Genoese sailors considered
her ft ticklish craft to manage. It was
pleasant to behold Shelley’s boyish
eagerness at the possession of this new
toy, anticipating never-failing pleasure
in gliding over the blue sea, beneath
the cloudless sky of an Italian summer.
Shelley and Williams were in ecstasies
over their boat, and were hardly ever
out of her. Their only assistant was a
boy, quick and handy and used to boats.
Trelawny advised them to add to their
crow a Genoese sailor accustomed to the
coast, such an one as lie had on Lord
Byron’s boat, the Bolivar, but thinking
their seamansh p scandalized, they re
pelled the suggestion. Toward the end
of June, 1822, Leigh Hunt and his
family arrived by sea from England.
Hunt aticipated great literary projects
m conjunction with Byron and Shelley,
and the pleasure which surpassed all
th(> rest was of meetiug aud commun
ing with his friend, Shelley. Alas ! for
the brevity of their union.
On the Bth of July, 1822, Shelley and
liis friend Williams left Leghorn in the
Don Juan, to go to Spezzia, where their
families awaited them. Trelawny ac
companied them to the offing in the
Bolivar. They were fretting and fum
ing to he off; it was getting late, and
there was very little wind. Trelawny
watched the progress of his friends’
Boat through a glass, while his Genoese
mate observed: “They should have
sailed this morning ; they are standing
too much in shore ; the current will set
in there.” “But,” said Trelawny,
“ they will soon have a land breeze.”
“Their gulf topsail,” continued the
mate, “is foolish in a boat with no
deck, and no sailor on board.” Then,
pointing to the south-west, “Look at
those black lines, and the dirty rags
hanging on them out of the sky—they
are a warning. Look at the smoko on
the water—the devil is brewing mis
chief.” Shelley's boat was soon after
enveloped in a sea-fog, and was never
again. A fnous storm ensued ;
* , ”, ■•‘oatcl Trelawny watched every
peck that loomed on the horizon V*"
I . n vaiu 5 the boat had gone Wllh
precious freight.
After three ot horrible suspense
L i lawny rode to Pisa and told his fears
to Byron and Hunt. On the third day
two bodies were found on the shore—
one at \ ia lteggio, the other three miles
distant. The tall, slight figure, the
ickefc, the volume of Sophocles in one
pocket and Keats’ poems in the other,
doubled back as if just read, were suf
ficient to identify the body of the poet;
' pother was identified as the body of
Williams. They were immediately
~ rit Hie sand beyond the reach of
the waves.
* t 1 hen became the melancholy duty
jl* to carry the sad news to
Jjic lone house on the sea shore where
, ie widows of his deceased companions
jved. Mary, the wife of Shelly, was
. 10 daughter of William Godwin and
Wary Woolstonecraft, and herself a
woman of genius; Jane, the lovely
of Lieut. Wi liams, had just re
turned from India. These young moth
<i* were left by their husbands on a
veranda, singing merry tunes to the
k’utar, the happiest and most united of
amilies. It was now determined by
those most interested that Shelley’s re
mains should be removed t > Home, and
’aid beside his child and his friend
tveats, while those of Williams should
be taken to England.
To do this in their then far advanced
suite of decomposition was almost im
possible, and the ancient custom of
burning amt reducing the bodies to
ashes was resorted to. The Luccheseand
I torentme governments having granted
-two Dollars Per Annum,
volume 11.
the request mf de by the British legation
“to ba allowed to remove the mortal
remains of Mr. Shelley and his com
panion, cast ashore by the waves of the
sea, Air. Trelawny caused a furnace to
bo in Leghorn of strong sheet
iron, with iron bands around it, and
also collected such articles as Shelley’s
much loved Hellenese used on their
funeral pyres.
An .officer of the quarantine, with a
squad of soldiers, accompanied the expe
dition, armed with long-haodled tongs,
nippers, poles with iron hooks, and di
vers other implements. Lord Byron
and Air. Hunt joined them on the beach,
with the health officer and some dis
mounted dragoons. There was also a
considerable gathering of spectators
fro Ti the neighborhood, aud among them
many ladies richly dressed. A morbid
curiosity drew most of these, but it is
almost beyond belief that personal
friends, men of birth, culture and gen
tle breeding, could have witnessed the
scene which followed. We copy Tre
lawny’s account:
On the removal of a layer of brush
wood all that remained of our friend
Williams was exposed—a shapeless
mass; the head had fallen from the
trunk on being touched. “Is that a
human body ? ” exclaimed Byron.
“ Why, it’s more like the carcass of a
sheep or any other animal ; this is a
satire on human pride and folly,” and
he pointed to the letters E. W. W. on
the black handkerchief tied sailor fash
ion which had fallen* with the head.
Byron looked on and muttered, “The
entrails of a worm hold together longer
than the potters’ clay of which man is
made.”
The remains were removed piecemeal
into the furnace. “Don’t repeat this
with me,” said Bvron ; “ let my carcass
rot where it falls.” The funeral pyre
was now ready. The materials being
dry and resinous burned furiously and
turned us back. As soo as the flamesbe
came clear, and allowed us tp approach,
we threw frankincense and salt into the
furnace, and poured a flask of oil and
wine over the body. The Greek ora
tion was omitted, for we had lost oui
Hellenic bard. It was now insuffera
bly hot, the officers and soldiers seek
ing shade from the effects of the fire
and the sun. “ Let us try the strength
of these waters that drowned our
friends,” said Byron with his usual au
dacity. “ How far do you think thev
were out when their boat sank ? ” “If
you don’t wish to be put into the fur
nace you had better not try; you are
not in condition for a plunge.” Byron
stripped and went into the water, but
soon returned sick and cramped.
At four o’clock the funeral pyre
burned low, and when we uncovered
the furnace nothing remained in it but
dark-colored ashes, with fragments of
ILe larger bones. Pol©c wov now pul
under tne rod-hot furnace, and it wps
gradually cooled in the sea. I gathered
together the human ashes and placed
them in a small oak box bearing an in
scription on a brass plate, screwed it
down and placed it in Byron’s carriage.
He returned with Hunt to Pisa, promis
ing to join us the following day at Via
Reggio. The next morning we went to
Via Reggio with the same party and
things, and began our preparations. In
the meantime Byron and LeigU Hunt
arrived, attended by the health officer
and soldiers as before. The lonely and
grand scenery that surrounded us har
monized so exactly with Shelley’s gen
ius that I could imagine his spirit soar
ing above us. As I thought of the de
light Shelley had in scenes of such
loneliness and grandeur, I thought we
were no better than a herd of wolves or
a pack of wild dogs, in tearing out his
battered and naked body from the pure
and yellow sand that lay so lightly
it, to drag him back to the light of day;
but the dead have no voice, and the
work went on silently in the deep and
unresisting sand. The Italiaus showed
a touch of sentiment and sympathy, and
even Byron win silent and thoughtful.
From Washington.
The Pennsylvania delegatioi in con
gress have been notified of the adoption
by the Pennsylvania legis’atire of a
joint resolution opposing any cancella
tion of the contract maJo by the post
master general with the Pacific Mail
steamship company for additional mail
services between San Francisco and
China, as it would cripple if not break
up the iron ship building industry in
this country.
The committee on ways and means
have, by a vote of eight against two,
expressed th mselves to the
restoration of the ten per cent taken oft
the rate of duty on certain articles in
the second section of act of June
(5 1872. [Tbi* ° ecfclon relates mainly
to manuP'“ irerß cotiton wool, iron
aty’
The committee on ways and means
have authorized Mr. Foster to report a
resolution censuring the secretary of
the treasury, the assistant secretary
and Solicitor Banfield for the tax and
careless administration of the law in
the Sanborn contract cases.
Both houses of congress have resolv
ed to adjourn June 22d.
The Loudon Standard says it under
stands that the queen will go to Russia
iu the autumn.
The house committee on naval affairs
has agreed to recoinm* ml the purchase
of Capt. Hall’s mauuscript relating to
his Arctic explorations, at a price not ex
ceeding $15,000, in lieu of giving Mrs.
Hall a pension of S3O per month.
Congress has appropriated the sum of
SOOO,OOO to replace worn-out and muti
lated national rank currency.
The congressional delegations of the
ftates of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mis
sissippi have had a conference at the
capital, with the viewof obtaining father
goverment aid for sufferers by the over
flow of the Mississippi river. It is<x
pected that $500,000 additional will be
asked of congress.
—They tell a queer story about the
doctors in a certain Texas town, who
were all away last summer to attend a
medical convention. They were absent
about two months, and on their return
found all their patients had recovered,
the drag stores had closul, the nurses
had op ned dancing schools, the ceme
tery had been cut up into building lots,
the undertakers had gone to making
fiddles, and tka hearse had been paint
ed and sold as a circus w’agoD.
EASTMAN, DODGE CO., GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1874.
SUMNER S BILL.
It Passed the Senate on the ‘43*l by a Vote
of !49 to 16.
The followiug is the full text of the
supplemental civil rights bill as it passed
the senate:
Section 1. That all citizens and other
persons within the jurisdiction of the
United States shall be entitled to a full
and equal enjoyment of accommoda
tions, advantagi s, facilities and privil
eges of inns and public conveyances on
land or water, theatres and other pub
lic places of amusement, and also of
common schools and public institutions
of learning, or benevolence, support* and
in whole or in part by the general taxa
tion, and of cemeteries so supported,
and also institutions known as agric il
tural colleges, endowed by the govern
ment, subject to the conditions and
limitations as established by law, and
applicable alike to citizens of every race
and color, regardless of any previous
condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. That any person who shall
violate the foregoing section, by deny
ing to any person entitled to its benefits,
except for reasons by law applicable
to citizens of every race and color, and
regardless of any previous condition of
servitude, the full enjoyment of any ac
commodation, advantages, facilities or
privileges in said section enumerated,
or inciting such denial, shall for
every such offense, forfeit anti pay
the sum of SSOO to the person so ag
grieved thereby, to be recoverd in ac
tion on the case, with full costs ; and
shall also, for every such offense, be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction thereof shall be fined
not more than SI,OOO, or shall be im
prisoned not more than one year;
provided that the party aggrieved shall
not recover more than one penalty. If
the offense is a refusal of burial the
penalty may be recovered by the heirs
at law of the person whose body has
been refused burial. And, provided
further, that all persons may elect to
sue for the penalty aforesaid, or to pro
ceed under their rights at common law
and si ate statutes, and when they have
so elected to proceed in the one mode
or the other, their right to proceed in
the other jurisdiction shall be barred;
but this proviso shall not apply to
criminal proceedings, either under this
act or the criminal laws of tlie states.
Sec. 3. That district and circuit courts
of the United States shall have, exclu
sively of the courts of the several stales,
cognizance of all crimes and offenses
against and violations of the provisions
of this act, and actions for penalty given
by the preceding section may be pros
ecuted in the territorial, district or cir
cuit courts of the United States, wliere
ever defendant may be found, without
regard to either party, and the district
attornovo, marulitilo deputy mar
shals of the United Srates, and com
missioners appoited by the circuit
aud territorial courts of the United
States, with powers of arresting and
imprisonment and bailing offenders
against the laws of the United States,
are hereby specially authorized and re
quired to institute proceedings against
every person who shall violate the pro
visions of this act, and cause him to be
arrested and imprisoned or bailed, as
the case may be, for trial before such
court of the Unit and States, or the terri
torial court, as bv law has cognizance
of the offense, except in respect of the
right of action accruing to persons ag
grieved ; and such district attorneys
shall cause such proceedings to be pros
ecuted to their termination, as in other
cases, provided that nothing contained
in this section shall be construed to de
ny or defeat the civil action accruing to
any person by reason of this act or
otherwise.
Sec. 4. That no citizen, providing he
meets all other qualifications which are
or may be prescribed by law, shall be
disqualified for grand or petit juror in
any court of the United States, or of a
state, on account of race, color or pre
vious erudition of servitude, aud any
officer or other person charged with any
duty in the selection or summoning of
jurors, who shall exclude or fail to
summon any citizen for the causes afore
said, shall be depmed guilty of a mis
demeanor and fined not more than
SI,OOO.
Sec. 5. That all cases arising under
the provisions of this act in courts of
the United States, shall be reviewable
by the Supreme court of the United
States, without regard to the sum in
controversy, under the same provisions
mid regulations as are now provided by
law for the review of other causes in
tho said courts.
How to Kill Off Presidential Aspi
rants.
Only six of the presidents of the Uni
ted States ever had seats in the cabinet,
namely, Thomas Jefferson, James Madi
son, James Monroe, John Quincy Ad
ams, Martin Van Buren, and James
Buchanan ; and all those six held the
office of secretary of state. Mr. Monroe
■was the only one of the number who
ever held auy cabinet office, he being
secretary of war iu 1814-15, because
there was little or nothing for him to do
in the state department, and it was ne
cessary to kill off General John Arm
strong, not because he had been at the
head of the war department at the time
the British took possession of the vi -
lage of Washington, but because he,
being a New l’VVer, had presidential
pretentions, that were working against
Mr. Monroe’s “claims’' to “the succes
sion.” Mr. Crawford, who was, first,
secretary of war. nurl secretary of
the treasury, could not get a presiden
tial nomination in 1810, nor a presiden
tial election iu 1824-25. Henry Ciav
went into the state department, and
there smothered himself, or rather his
presidential hopes. Mr. Calhwun was
the best secretary of war that the coun
try ever had, and later he was secretary
of state; but he never could get into
the presidency, though he longed for it
most ardently, and sought it as eagerly
as it was sought by Mr. Clay. Mr. Web
ster went into the cabinet twice, in the
hope of passing thence to the presiden
tial chair, but failed cn both occasions.
How completely poor old Cass expended
himself, we all know, —and yet he made
a very good secretary of war. and a
tolerably respectable secie ary of st ite,
considering Louis McLane, of Dela
ware, who was, successively, secretary
of the treasury ands eretary of state,
had presidential aspirations, but never
In God )te Trust.
could get any support* Judge Wood
bury, who had been secretary of the
navy and secretary of the treasury,
probably would have been made presi
dent in 1852-53, but that death cut
short a most promising career. Chief
Justice Chase, who was half crazy for
tlie presidency, aud never got it, had
been secretary of the treasury. Secre
tary of War Stanton had presidential
prospects, but Ue died before they cou'd
ripen, if they had a ripening capacity.
So it would seem to be the part of pru
dence in politicians to keep out of the
cabinet, if they * xpect to get into the
white house,—and what American does'
not espect to reside in that Uueligible
mansion, or is not expected to reside in
it by his mother or his wife, his sister
or his cousin, his daughter or his aunt,
his sweet-heart or his grandmother ?
The Legend of a Missouri Cave.
A writer in the St. Louis Republican
says: “ On the dividing ridge separating
the waters of the Meramee from the
Missouri, in Franklin county, is a cave,
mainly remarkable from a tragic event
which occurred in the early part of the
century. The mouth of the cave is
funnel-shaped, and about eighteen
feet deep. A horizontal passage leads
off in a southwest direction to a dis
tance of two hundred and sixty feet,
when an enlarged chamber suddenly
terminates in an abrupt chasm of un
known depth. Early in the present
century a hunter from St. Louis, named
Labadie, connected with the families of
that name identified with the history of
this city, went out to Franklin county,
then mostly a wilderness, in pursuit of
game. He had his sou, a small lad,
with him. They got on the trail of a
bear, which they followed until the ani
mal took refuge in the cave. Nothing
daunted, Mr. Labadie followed the
bear into its hiding-place and never
came out alive. The boy heard the re
port of a gun and then all was silent.
He watched and waited at the mouth of
the cave for his father’s return, but lie
came not back. The boy remained near
the cave all day and night, and then
gave up his father for lost. With his
hatched he ‘ blazed ’ the trees around
the spot, in order identify the place,
and then returned home. Whether
search was made or not is not known,
but the hunter, it is certain, was given
up for lost, and his remains were allow
ed to rest in their rock-bound tomb.
Time rolled on, and about twenty years
ago, when the engineers were laying out
the track of the Pacific railroad, which
passed the cave, they had the curiosity
to enter, and explore its secrets. They
there found the bones of a bear and a
skeleton of a human being Iving close
together. Not only this, but they also
found an old musket-barrel, half-eaten
lay th*me4>, a .and itjr o£ *
French and feoauisli coin. All these
circumstances pointed fo the old hunter
Labadie as the person whose skeleton
was thus revealed to the gaze of the
explorers, and whose tragic history was
preserved by tradition. The trees were
also examined, and the old scars caused
by the hatchet of young Labadie were
distinctly traced. ‘ Labadie Creek ’ and
‘Labadie Station’ preserve the name of
the daring hunter who lost his life in
the vicinity.”
Gardens of the Olden Time.
A writer on life in this country in the
last century, says : “ The present gen
eration is scarcely aw r are of how little
their forefathers knew of many vege
tables, fruits, and flowers which are
now seen to be so abundant. These
have been successfully increased among
us by so many gardeners, florists, etc.
Tomatoes, orchra, and artichokes were
first encouraged by the French emi
grants, and had but very slow favor
from ourselves. Afterwards came in
cauliflowers, head salad, egg plants,
oyster plants, canteleupes, mercer, and
foxite potatoes, rhubarbs, sweet corn,
etc. The seed of the canteleupe w r as
brought to this country from Tripoli,
and distributed by Col. James Barron.
Formerly we had only a few fox and
other grapes ; we have since several for
eign varieties, and have discovered and
propagated among ourselves the Cataw
ba and Isabella. Once we had only one
sort of small stiawbtrrics, and now we
have mauy kinds and large. We had
only the small blue plum, and now we
have them and gages of great size. We
have greater varieties of pears, peaches,
apricots, and apples. The peaches were
wholly unmolested by the worms. Our
former garden flowers and shrubberies
were confined to lilacs, roses, snow
balls, lilies, pinks, and some tulips.
The Jerusalem cherry was a plant once
most admired, and now scarcely seen.
Now we have greatly increased our gar
den embellishments by such new things
as altheas, seringas, cocoras, geraniums,
verbenas, and numerous new varieties
of roses, including cliampigneas and
cluster roses, with many new beauties
iu the class of tulips and other bulbous
roots. In olden time, the small flower
bed stood * solitary and alone,’ in most
family gardenp, and : unflowers, and
gay and rank hollyhocks and other an
nual productions, were the chief articles
for a greater display. Morning glories
and the gourd vine were the aunual de
pendence for cases of required shade.”
New Plan for Raising Sunken Ships,
At a meeting of the London Inven
tors’ Institute, T. Yafea of Liverpoo 1 ,
proposed a plan for raising ennkeu
ships, and also for preventing the
foundering of ships. The main fea
tures of the plan were, first closing
hermetically the hatches, port-holes,
and all other openings in the deck or
upper or side parts of the sunken ship,
and after having so closed the openings
to pump down air to the bottom of the
ship through tubes iuserted either
through the bottom of the ship’s hull,
or through the deck, each tubs being
passed down ctose to the bottom of the
ship. The air thus introduced rises by
itself toward the undeiside of the deck,
and, not being able to escape, presses
the water contained in the fhip down
and out through the hole made bv ac
cident, or througli holes made for the
purpose. The vessel will thus be ren
dered buoyant, and will rise to the sur
face. To prevent fouu eriog or reduce
the risk to a minimum, the ships are
provided with air-tight covers, which
when force 1 over the openings confine
the air therein, and keeps the ship
always buoyant.
THE PLOW.
Wliat the Ancients Knew About this
I’seful imp emeut.
The plow is, par excellence , the em
blem of agriculture, and its history,
both authentic and mythological, pos
sesses a peculiar interest. The period
at which man first began to comminute
the soil for the purpose of making it
produce sustenance tor himself and liis
flocks is so remote as to be lost in the
obscurity of the past; but that it was
at an early period is clear. It is also
generally admitted that the ox and cow
were in this age used as native farmers,
and it is asserted that me'n and women
captured in war and reduced to slavery
were employed in this way before the ox
was trained or the cow became accus
tomed to the yoke ; for war, and its
offspring, slavery, are older than agri
culture.
The earliest plow was a pointed stick,
which the primitive man used to break
up the soil. This was a slow and labo
rious process, and one day the thought
came to one wiser than his fellows that
the forked limb of a tree might be made
efiicient for this purpose. Acting upon
this thought, he formed a plow by cut
ting a forked limb from a tree and
sh rpening one of the prongs, so that it
would penetrate the soil. It took two
persons to use this implement—one to
draw it, which he did by a bark or raw
hide trace, and one to hold and push it
into the ground. This, the first plow,
proved a great success, and was for a
while thought to be the ne phis ultra
of improvement in that line. In the
course of time, however, some inge
nious laborer began to question the per
fection of this implement, and finding a
limb of somewhat diffex*ent shape, he
constructed an improved plow. The
fogies shook their heads and muttered
“humbug,” but the progressive men
adopted it, and it ultimately superseded
the earlier devices. Ages went by be
fore the forked stick plow was succeeded
by'another, composed of several pieces of
wood held together by mortises and
pins. This was improved from time to
time, untill it approached as near perfec
tion as it was possible for a plow com
posed wholly of wood.
The Romans were probably the first
to use iron in the construction of the
plow. The plow that Cincinnatus fol
lowed was a rude affair, with no iron in
it except the point and share. The
Greeks have a myth which is interest
ing in this connection. Prosperine, a
daughter of Ceres (goddess of agricul
ture), was abducted by Pluto while she
was in the forest gathering flowers, and
was installed as queen of the lower re
gions. Ceres, inconsolable at the loss
of her daughter, wholly neglected the
agricultural interests in her search for
I the. missing goddess. The result was
that the whole earth eventually became
a barren waste. Jupiter and the other
gods implored her to return to Olympus
and resume her duties as guardian of
agriculture, but in vain. She could
think of nothing except her lost daugh
ter. Jupiter now visited Pluto and
petsuaded him to permit Prosperine to
revisit the earth and remain eight
months each year, and then return and
spend the other four with him. Ceres
consented to this arrangement, and at
once returned to Olympus. Before
going, however, she instructed Tripto
lemus of Eleusis in the art of agricul
ture, and giving him her own chariot,
drawn by dragons, commanded him to
travel over the whole earth and distrib
ute seed corn to its inhabitants. Trip
tolemus was the inventor of the plow.
The Greeks held two feasts a y* ar in his
honor, one on account of the distribu
tion of seed and the other because he
invented the plow, without which the
seed would have been of little use.
Little improvement seems to have
been made in the plow used by the
Greeks and Rornate for over two thou
sand years, and indeed it was a most
clumsy affair, as recently as fifty years
ago being only a wedge, clearing the
soil and compressing the subsoil.
it may be predicted that before many
y ars, some Yankee Triptolemus will
revolutionize the plo v by constructing
one that shall combine the functions of
both the plow and the harrow, and pos
sibly other and valuable adjuncts not
now anticipated. With all due respect
to the great plowmakers, it must be ad
mitted that the mechanical idea em
bodied in the plow as now constructed
is imperfect, and it is time this was re
cognized and correct principles incor
porated in its construction, that it might
meet the demands of this progressive
and utilitarian age. Some attempts in
this direction have already been made,
but they, like all first attempts to em
body anew idea, have been only par
tially successful. It is a recognized
axiom of modern times, that “ Ameri
can genius and perseverance know no
such word as failure,” and it is confi
dently expected that success in this de
partment of mechanical invention will
soon be achieved.
New Explanation of the Aurora.
Mr. J. A. Beeves, in the “English
Mechanic, ’ offer.- an ingenious theory of
the aurora borealis, as follows : 1. A
large quantity of light from the sun
falls upon the up; er pottions of the
earth’s atmosphere, so far north that al
though it is refracted and bent toward
the earth, yet it does not impinge upon
it, but passes on, illuminating the at
mosphere over a vast egion beyond.
2. Other rays, which fall upon the at
mosphere rather more southward, after
being refracted, do reach the € arili’s sur
face, but as that surface in the polar re
gions consists of masses of ice and
snow, the light is immediately reflected
into the upper portions of the atmos
phere, and comes in contact with the
rav of light before mentioned, thus
sufficiently illuminating the vaporous
matter suspended in the atmosphere, to
become visible in the form of the auro
ra. 3. The shooting appearances of the
aurora are produced by the rays of
light continuing to cross and recross
each other, consequent on the ever
varying destiny aud changed position
of the parts of the atmosphere through
which the light is refracted, as well as
the constant change of angular posi
tions of the reflecting surfaces of ice
and snow, by the revolution of the
earth or is axis. 4. The various hues
which the aurora assumes are a proof
that the light composing it is refracted.
The theory will hold good also for the
aurora australis.
Payable in Advance.
NUMBER 1!>.
GENEALOGY OF THE HORSE.
The Darwinian Theory ns Applied to
tile Horse.
A correspondent of the New York
Tribune, who has visited Prof. O. C.
Marsh, of New Haven, gives au account
of a remarkable series of discoveries
made by the professor which seem to in
dicate the ancestry of the horse and the
gradual development of that animal
from a remote progenitor in distant ge
ological eras. The Tribune says edito
rially, in speaking of the letter alluded
to, which is too long for us tc publish
entire:
The number of eminent men who in
this great conflict attack the various
fc rms of the development theory upon
purely scientific grounds is compara
tively small, and it suffered a notable
loss in the death of Prof. Agassiz.
Perhaps the only opponent now left in
America whom the believers in evolu
tion consider worthy of their steel is
Prof. Dawson of Montreal. What Prof.
Agassiz might have done if his life had
been spared, can of course only be a
matter of conjecture. We cannot re
construct a statue as the antomist can a
skeleton, from a few fragments of bone;
and in what Prof. Agassiz has left, there
is little more than the pedestal and per
haps the feet of the image which he
had in mind. Yet it is well known
that ardent as was his opposition to the
theories of Darwin, his own belief as
to the origin of man included the crea
tion of several distinct races, and was
compatible with the usual formula of
evangelical faith as to the origin of the
human species.
Under these circumstances it is inter
esting to know how Prof. Agassiz re
garded these discoveries, in which Prof.
Marsh has had so large a share. In a
conversation with the great naturalist
on Penikese Island, last year, when the
more complete results of these research
es were as yet dimly foreshadowed, he
said, while expressing his warm person
al friendship and admiration, for Prof.
Marsh : “He seems to me like a man
who" has only one page of a book be
fore him. He has torn out the leaf of
the Tertiary formation, and from it he
would deduce the whole. The book
of nature is too large to be learned from
a fragment.”
Bearing this criticism in mind, it must
yet be admitted that the chain of argu
ment in regard to the genealogy of the
horse is strikingly interesting. From
the lowest depths of strata a mile in
thickness the remains are exhumed of
animals more like horses than like any
other living creatures, but small in
size, having four toes to the fi re leet
and three to the hind, all touching the
ground. Higher up in the formation
are found larger animals, similar in oth
er respects, but having only three toes
touching the ground, the middle one
much enlarged. Still higher in these
deposits are similar three toed animals,
still larger, with only one toe reaching
to the ground. Near the top of the
formation not only does the likeness to
the modern horse grow apparent, but
the distinction becomes imperceptible.
There are also similar changes in the
head and neck of these animals ; they
become gradually elongated. The
teeth and the jaws undergo successive
changes, equally marked. Admit the
theory proposed, and there is a ready
explanation for most of these changes
in the needs of the animal for strength
and fleetness in the struggle for exis
tence.
But after we have the whole story,
some strange and as yet unanswerable
questions remain. The horse existed
all over this hemisphere. His fossil
remains have been dug out of the cliffs
of Escholt’s Bay, in Alaska, and out of
caves in Brazil, where he was cotempo
rary with the megatherium, and yet no
trace of him is found in America coeval
with man till the Spaniards brought
him from Europe early in the sixteenth
century. Modern theories of geology do
not admit the notion of vast cataclysms
by which the races of a continent could
be swept away ; and thus the utter dis
appearance of all evuine forms seems
as yet almost inexplicable. But this is
always a consequence of scientific in
vestigations ; no sooner is one gieat dif
ficulty surmounted than another and
another is presented. To the student
of nature as w T ell as to the poet, “Hills
oeep o’er hills, and alps on alps arise.”
A New Fabric.
An improved or rather newly-invented
felted fabric has been brought to great
perfection by English manufacturers.
In London it sells at prices which make
it the rival of wovtn fabrics for curtains,
upholstery, book-binding and similar
purposes. It can be made to imitate
the solidity of Cordova leather, the
rich brocaded silks of Lyons, the ele
gant cretonnes, Mulhouse, the purity
and gloss of damask linen, and the mag
nificent paper of China and Japan. It
is, in fact, a species of Japanese paper.
It is as durable as any woven fabric, is
impermeable, light and warm, and par
ticularly applicable for curtains and
quilts, and needs no washing. Its colors
never fade, and it is so cheap that ele
g nt curtains three yards long, ready
made with bands, sewn and lined, range
in price from a dollar to five dollars the
pair. It has not yet been manufactured
in sufficient quantity to mfet the home
demand, and therefore it is not yet in
the American market.
Patti.
Patti’s presents are said to represent
a fabulous sum, and her jewelry case
contains gifts from all the potentates in
Europe. The sum she received in
money for her past engagement in St.
Petersburgh was 280,000 francs, and she
is to receive for her next tour in the
United S ates 1,000,000 francs for one
hundred evenings. Patti’s leading taste
seems to be for fine dresses, which she
Orders from Worth, in by dozens.
Before they are sent to her she permits
the autocrat of fashion to have what he
calls a Patti exposition. There the'en
tire wardrobe is laid out to be admired
by the fashionable world of Paris.
—A Detroit gentleman prides himself
on his tine fowls, aud his neighbor is
equally vain of a fine coach dog. Tho
dog worries the life out of the chickens.
A few days ago the owner of the dog re
ceived the following note : “ Friei and
You keep dogs. I keep chickens. If my
chickens worry your dogs, shoot ’em.”
EASTMAN TIMES.
BATES OF ADVERTISING:
sr\cß. 1 in. 8 in. 6 ni. 12 m.
Onrsquare j ( 4 00 $ 7 00 flO 00 $ 16 00
Two squares j .fi 25! 12 00 18 00 26 00
Four squares <j v.-.j l‘j Go| 28 00 89 00
Oue-fonrth co! Ili 501 22 60] 34 00 46 00
Oue-h&lf col 1 20 00 32 A0 55 00 80 00
Oae column | 35 001 BO DO 80 00 130 Oi
Advertisements inserted at the rate of $1.60 per
square for the first insertion, and 75 cents for each
subsequent one. Ten lines or leas constitute a
square.
Professional cards. $16.00 upr annum; for ata
months, SIO.OO, in advance.
FACTS AND FANCIES.
—Nebraska people have found pearls
in clams, and the coat-tails of dignified
aldermen may be seen floating on the
cold surface of creeks and ponds.
—A little boy heard his mother tell
of eighteen head of cattle being burnt
the other night. “ Weren’t their tails
burnt also ?” inquired the verdant
youth.
—“ Patrick,” said the priest, “how
much did you steal ?” “ Well, I may as
well confess to your riverence for the
whole stack, for I am going after the
rest to-night.”
—A fish farmer in Illinois gets seven
ty five cents per pound for his trout;
thus a small string of fish will bring as
much as a sheep, and they require
neither grain, hay nor stabling.
—A New Orleans woman wears a bus
tle made of government bonds. Her
husband looks over the bond market in
the evening paper, before going home
from the club, to see if her back is up.
—A prominent public office in Nash
ville lias this notice posted up : “ Don’t
open this doorunder which some wag
wrote the query, “ Why ?” and another
responded, “Because, d —n it, you
can’t; its locked.”
A little boy a few days ago under
took to see if he couid lift himself by
hanging on a mule’s tail. He found
out all about it, and the doctors think
the skin on his forehead will grow up,
but will leave a bad scar.
—A gentleman of Louisville has a
dog—a pointer. The dog ran up the
steps of a house and refused to come
down. His master followed, and found
“A. Partridge” on the doorplate. This
illustrates the force of instinct.
—Hon. Jefferson Davis attended a re
cent ex ruination of deaf and dumb
children in London, and Earl Granville
introduced him as a “distinguished
stranger who wished to inform himself
of the method of their education.”
—Another Yankee wants the govern
ment to pay him handsomely for a piv.
cess lie has invented for making it rain
wherever and whenever he pleases.
Tia well tbe stars are up so high,
Or some designing ass
Would soon propose to take them down
And light the world with gas.
—A Cincinnati reporter says that
there is something grand in the sight
of a pair of runaway horses, but the
Detroit Free Press believes that a good
deal depends on whether a man is on
a fence or trying to climb over the end
board of the wagon.
A bill has been introduced in the
Canadian parliament to make each
newspaper writer responsible to the law
for his articles, so that, if an editor
could prove that he had not written a
particular article, he would not be lia
ble to punishment for it.
—lt is said that Robert Dexter, of
the New York Bonner, has refused an
offer of SIOO,OOO for his trotting horse
Ledger, or words to that effect. One
of these fine days that horse is going to
lie down and die, and his owner will
feel that he has made a dropsical fool
of himself.
—A regulation black- and-tan poodle,
to be worth SIOO, must have a head
about the size of a black walnut; eyes
that stand outside of their sockets ; a
tail about the size of a lead pencil, aud
legs so attenuated that the animal falls
over on his back every time he lifts his
head to bark.
—A company have purchased one
thousand six hundred acres of land near
Butte des Morts, Wisconsin, which is to
be devoted exclusively to the raising of
muskrats. Last yeat about four thou
sand rats wore captured on this territory,
and it is estimated that six thousand
will be this year.
—A literal-minded youngster was
picked up by a visitor of the family,
who, dandling him on his knee, said :
“ I wish I had this little boy ; I think
there’s money in him.” To which
promptly replied the child : “I know
there is, for I swallowed a cent when I
w'as at grandma’s the other day.”
—The British Government and people
are giving a great reward to Gen. Sir
Garnet Wolseley for taking command of
1,200 soldiers and whipping a lot of
negroes in Africa. Parliament has voted
him $125,000 in money, the prime min
ister himself moving the grant ; and
they have made him a major general, as
w 11 as a K. C. B. and a K. C. M. G.,
the queen in person conferring the in
signia of the latter order.
—By a return j ust issued the area of
London is 122 square miles. The river
is crossed by seventeen bridges. Tho
average daily supply of water is 514,-
269 metric tons, and the annual ratable
value of property is £20,000,000 sterl
ing. Last year the number of births
was 121,100 in fifty-three weeks, or 2,-
285 weeklv ; and, as the deaths were
75,654, or 1,446 weekly, the excess of
bir hs over deaths was 43,466, or 839
weekly.
—Another horrible scene in the
British royal family. The Duchess of
Edinburgh had borrowed the Princess
of Wales’ crimping-irons. In returning
them she presented the hot ends to her
royal highness, who thoughtlessly took
hold of them, and then waltzed around
with one hand between her knees for
several minutes before she could speak.
Eye-witnesses of the occurrence express
their belief that the days of th Russian
empire are numbered.
—At the present time the postal
rates between France and this country
are so high that it is cheaper for letters
between the countries to be first sent
to England, then re-transmitted to
their destination, either France or the
United States, than for letters to be
carried direct by the French mails.
And there is an agency in London
which makes money by undertaking
this business of re-transmitting letters
between the two countries.
—The lawyers of Indianapolis are tor
turing their brains ever an extraordinary
problem. Some years ago a lady of
that city was married, and four months
thereafter separated from her husband,
w r as divorced and remarried in a month,
and four months thereafter gave birth
to a child by her first husband. Quite
recently the second husband procured a
divorce, and the custody of the child
was awarded tc; him. Now comes the
first husband and claims the child. Who
is entitled to its possession ?