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contrive to express it distinctly in words, du
ring the interval between his first seeing a
meteor shooting along the sky (or a falling
star, as generally miscalled) and its final dis
appearance. The same notion is popular in
India; and serves, as a learned man of that
country explained it, to inculcate a lesson of
constant perseverance in endeavors to accom
plish any favorite object, which ought to be
on all occasions uppermost in the mind.
■Natural JJistorg.
THE BEAR.
The bear is capable of general attachment.
Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, had a bear called
Marco, of the sagacity of which we have
the following remarkable instance :
During the winter of 1709, a Savoyard
boy, ready to perish with cold in a barn, in
which he had been put by a good woman,
with some other of his companions, thought
proper to enter Marco's hut, without reflecting
on the danger which he ran in exposing him
self to the mercy of the animal which occu
pied it. Marco, however, instead of doing
any injury to the child, took him between his
paws and warmed him by pressing him to his
breast until next morning, when lie suffered
him to depart to ramble about the city. The
young Savoyard returned in the evening to
the hut, and was received with the same af
fection. For several days he had no other
retreat, and it added not a little to his joy, to
observe that the bear regularly reserved part
of his food for him. A number of days pass
ed in this manner without the servants know
ing anything of the circumstance. At length
when one of them came, one day, to bring
the bear his supper rather later than usual
he was astonished to see the animal roll its
eyes in a furious manner, and seeming as if
he wished him to make as little noise as pos
sible, for fear of waking the child, whom he
had claspen to his breast. The bear, though
ravenous, did not appear the least moved with
the food which was placed before him. The
report of this extraordinary circumstance was
soon spread at court, and reached.the ears of
Leopold, who, with part of his courtiers, was
desirous of being satisfied with the truth of
Marco’s generosity. Several of them passed
the night near his hut, and beheld, with as
tonishment, that the bear never stirred as long
as his guest showed an inclination to sleep.
At break of day the child awoke, was much
ashamed to find himself discovered, and fear
ing that he would be punished for his temeri
ty, begged pardon. The bear, however, ca
ressed him. and endeavored to prevail on him
to eat what had been brought the morning be
fore, which he did at the request of the spec
tators, who afterwards conducted him to the
prince. Having learned the whole history of
this singular alliance, and the time which it
hat continued, Leopold ordered care to be
taken of the Savoyard.
SAGACITY OF A PYRENEAN DOG.
Opposite our hotel was a dog of singular
appearance, a great favorite with the neigh
borhood, and as I might add, with my son,
who took pains to ascertain all that could he
learned of his race and breeding. It was a
white-wolf dog of the Pyrenees, soft, silken
haired, scentless, spotless; invaluable as a
guard, and evincing, not only the utmost pow
ers of instinct, but, as lhe owners affirmed, of
judgement and [reason!— chien de discerne
ment. This clever animal, named by the fa
miliar English abbreviation “ I'liss,” used to
lie at the booking-office door of the Messo
geries Royales. Rue dc Bee, noticing, with
one eye open, everybody and all things. She
knew why luggage was placed here or there
and whether certain discriptions of goodj3
were intended for this or that conveyance.—
She would not permit crowding at the coun
ter : she could discern whether the book
keeper was being annoyed by too many ap
plicants at once; she barked ofi all those
who seemed to be de trop: and when special
care was manifested by any of the porters in
arranging a party’s personal effects at the
moment of departure, she would sit upon the
property until the owner began to ask for it,
She was almost two sizes smaller than our
Newfoundland dog, and would have realized
a high price in England. She was five years
old, and malgre her ultraism in discipline, was
a perfectly good-natured creature; and how
ever loudly the might bark, however fiercely
she might look, she was considered by all
who understood her good qualities as a dog.
who did everything for the best, and did it
well too. We subsequently fell in with a
similar dog, three years younger, on our way
troni Boulogne, homeward : and I am surpris
ed that the breed has not been introduced in
England.
Q®®TFSHSIBE!I Qa aIT {£ AIE H
®l)e iUorking Jllan.
From the Nationai Era,
WORDS TO THE WORKERS.
BY A. J. 11. DUGAN NE.
Speak ye, men of thought—speak out!
Trust ye still response to find:
Thoughts will gush from kindred mind —
Even as the arousing shout
St irts reply fron cavern deep:
Echoes till ye speak will sleep!
Patch not ancient lies with r.evv!
Moths will seek their old abode:
Build on sand a marble rood,
And twill sink its basis through ;
Rivets in a rotten shield
Will but make it sooner yield!
What though ye be weak and few !
What though ne’er a sunbeam smiles !
Insects build the coral isles —
Inserts pierce the ocean through:
Ye are men — and will ye quail,
When the insect did not fail?
Clothed with night-shade thrive the oaks:
Truth, though bound in shackles, strives ;
Error forgeth her own gyves,
As itself the night shade chokes :
Sla's, and flowers, and all things bright,
Work through darkness into light!
Speak ye, then, to echoing soul,
Till the eternal concave sound —
Till around creation roll
Voices from the vast profound:
Even like the glorious shouts that rang,
When the Morning Stars together sang !
Speak ! till the Voice of Truth hath broken
The bands of buried mind —
Till souls shall spurn the chains that bind —
When the prophet Word is spoken ;
And like Lazarus shall spring forth mankind,
And leavn the grave of its thought behind !
THE BENEFIT OF APPRENTICE
SHIP.
There is an important feature in the regu
lations of a master-mechanic, which is fright
ful to some kind parents’ hearts: and that is
the five to seven years’ apprenticeship he
boy who learns a trade must submit to. But
it is an excellent discipline. It takes the lad
at a critical period of life—when he perhaps
has a disposition averse to steady employ
ment —when he is inclined to roam at large,
amid the contaminating influences about him
—and puts him to a steady round of duties
—severe, at first, but soon becoming, from
habit, agreeable : and when his minority ex
pires, his steady habits and industry are es
tablished, and he comes forth a man, the
master of a tra le, of fixed principles and good
habits’ a blessing to himself and the commun
ity*
If parents would but look at it aright, they
would declare that, had they many sons, they
should learn trades. Contrast the youth just
alluded to with him who, having a honor of
an apprenticeship, is allowed to run at large.
At the mod critical period of life for forming
habits, he is forming those that are the re
verse of industry. He is not fitting himself
to be a man, but wearing away his boyhood
in idleness. The partial parent sees this,
yet has not fortitude to avert it. At twenty
one years of age when the first-named lad
comes out a good mechanic, it is wonderful
if the other has not fastened habits upon him
that will be his ruin, if he is not ruined al
ready. More than one excellent man in our
community can say with thankfulness, that
it turned out so that, to his half dozen years’
apprinticeship, he is indebted for the habits
of industry and sobiiety he hasobtaine l, that
when he was put to a trade, he was on a piv
ot, as it were. Had it not been for the firm
ness of his parents, lie likely would have
been a ruined lad ere his minority expired.
This was lhe turning point.
THE LARGEST SCYTHE MANUFAC
TORY IN THE WORLD.
At North Wayne, sixteen miles from llal
lowell and Augusta, is situated thm Scythe
Manufacturing establmhment of Reuben B.
Dunn, Esq., the largest of the kind in the
world.
The establishment consists, besides ware
houses, finishing shops, &c., of three princi
pal buildings for manufacturing, two of which
are one hundred and forty-four feet each in
length. In these, and in departments con
nected with the establishment are employed
about one hundred men, many of whom have
families settled at the place. A flourishing
village has grown up within a few years, and
is rapidly increasing.
Twelve thousand dozen scythes arc annu
ally manufactured, tu,produce which are re
quired 450,000 lbs. of iron, 75,000 lbs. of
steel, 700 tons of hard coal, 10,000 bushels
of charcoal, 100 tons of grindstones, and half
a ton of borax. The last article is used in
the process of welding.
The system of division of labor has here
been successfully adopted. First the weld
ers mark and cut the bars of iron and steel,
in proportions of suitable length for each
scythe. A portion of iron about five inches
or more in length is folded over another of
steel, when both are heated and drawn to the
proper length for a scythe. It then passes
into the hands of the pointer, whose business
is to harden, draw, and break a small portion
of the point, to see that the steel has not been
over heated —that the iron has not been
drawn over the steel, and to examine the
whole process thus far. The plater then
spreads the rod to a proper width, leaving the
full thickness at the back. It then passes a
process of fitting for the machine hammer,
when th & finisher turns the back and gives its
general shape. One fashions and finishes
the point, another turns and finishes tbe heel
when it passes the hardening process by a
different hand, from whom it is taken to the
tempering forge, and then into the hands of
the grinders.
An experienced workman does nothingbut
carefully examine each scythe, and test the
correctness of each process thus far, and ev
ery imperfect article is laid aside. After pass
ing the polishing wheel, it goes into the hands
of the painter, and finally to those whose
business i$ to stiasv the scythes into bundles
of a dozen each.
The proprietor has been at great pains to
manufacture a superior article, and no scythe
is permitted to go into the market till it has
passed the ordeal of two experienced and
careful workmen, besides the examination of
the general superintendent, whose inspection
extends to every part of the establishment.
This care has given to these scythes a cele
brity which secures a ready sale for all that
can be furnished. Extensive orders are now
received from all the Western States, Canada,
New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. So great
indeed is the demand, that the proprietor has
not been able thus far to supply his orders.
A silver medal was awarded him by the
American Institute, for the most perfect speci
mens of his art, and he has received the first
premium from the New York and other State
fairs; never in any case having failed to re
ceive the first premium when his scythes
have been exhibited.
Mr. Dunn is erecting additional works in
the vicinity, which will soon he completed,
when he will he enabled to turn out 17.000
dozen scythes annually. This establishment
is now more than double the extent of any
other in the world —none even in Europe be
ing found to compete with it. It has rapidly
grown to its present gigantic size, by the in
domitable enterprise and energy of its present
proprietor, who, from small beginnings, has
attained to wealth and deserved distinction
as a public benefactor.
Colds.— Young ladies should take care
not. to sit near the piano; for it is a well
known fact that this instrument lias caused
more Dreadful Colds than all the thin shoes
and draughts in the world. The most beau
tiful creatures, who were perfectly well and
laughing the minute before, have, no sooner
approached the Grand Broadwood than they
have been suddenly seized with a sore throat
Urul have lost in a minute the use of their
voice. This complaint is generally less tak
ing as the young lady grows older, and rare
ly has any elleet in a family where there are
several sisters. 1
A Reasonable Prayer.— Josias Winslow
was one of the early governors of the Mas
sachusetts Colony. If it said that at his fun
era], the Rev. Mr. Wilherellof Scituate pray
ed that the Governor's son might he made
half equal to his father. The Rev. Dr. Ga 1
Hitchcock observed afterwar Is that the pray
er was so very reasonable, it might be hoped
that God would grant it—but he did not.
JS&ijr* The New Haven boat leaves New
York at an early hour, and the passengers
generally come at the last minute, in a des
perate hurry. One day last week, a lady and
her husband stepped on board just as they
were drawing in the plank, but just then she
remembered something, and screamed out:
“Goodness, George, I must go back to the
Astor House I've left my teeth in the wash
bowl!' 1
—~ -- — —
ICtT* A miifical instrument of lhe Fejee
Islanders, is a flute blown through the nose.
We have heard !. limpets blown in that way
here.
71 (Holunm (Erateir to Jun.
IN A QUANDARY.
The author of Ship and Shore, Rev. Wal
ter Colton, mentions in his work a restless
out-of-place sailor, of whom lie says, ne will
doubtless be seen coming out of somebody
else’s grave. We thought of this singular il
lustration just now, on hearing the remark of
a drunken fellow who had been placed by
his companions in a coffin, conveyed to a
neighboring church-yard, and there left alone
with his watchers, until he should awake
from his maudlin trance. When he awoke
after three or four hours, the wags who were
peeping and listening behind a broad grave
stone, saw him raise his head slowly up, look
vaguely around him at the silent monuments
exclaiming, as he did so:
“ Well, I’m either the first one riz, or else
I’m plagerly belated.”
Precept vs. Practice. —Dr. Channinghad
a brother, a physician, and at one time they
both lived in Boston, A countryman, in
search of the divine, knocked at the doctor's
door. The following dialogue ensued—
“ Does Dr. Canning live here'?”
“ Yes sir.”
“ Can I see him ?”
“ I am he.”
“Who? you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You must have altered considerably since
1 heard you preach.”
“ Heard me preach ?”
“Certainly. You are lhe Dr. Charming
that preaches ain't you ?”
“Oh! I see, you are mistaken. It’s my
brother who ‘preaches , I’m the doctor who
practices /”
Antidote to Strychnia. —Dr, Isaac Pid
j dock of London, recommends camphor as an
| effectual antidote to the terrible poison, strych
nia. The recommendation howeveris found
ed merely upon a single case in which a man
who had by mistake swallowed one-fourth
instead of the one-sixteenth of a grain, which
was prescribed ft i r.euralg a. and was con
; vulsed in consequence vvitn tetanic spasms,
was almost immediately relieved by a dose of
five grains of camphor dissolved in almond
: emulsion.
The Gobbler's Last Words. — “ I feel
that I wax weaker each succeeding day, and
that lam fast approaching my end; a few
more stitches and all will be over; in Heaven
there iy rest for the weary soul; earth has no
sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. Having
I said aid he wished, he calmly breathed his
I last.
The Florida War.
Hurrah for our lads of the sabre and trigger,
in history’s page they’ll make a great finger’
; No heroes on record were braver or bigger —
They’ve capture 1 three children, two squares and’
a nigger.
Mrs. Partington on Physics.— “Thisis
an age of enervation in physics, sure enough! ’
said Mrs. Partington, as she glanced at the
column of new and remarkable specifics;
“why will people run after metaphysics and
them rostrums, when by taking some simple
! purgatory they can get well so soon. It’s all
nonsense, it is—and if people instead of dos
ing themselves with calumny and bitters,
would only take exercise and air a little more,
i and wash themselves with care and a crash
towel, they would he all the better for it. ’
She said this on her own experience. As
for “ diet drink” and summer beverages, Mrs.
; P. is high, she is.
Good English Weather. — Do you re
member the Wapping sailor in the Mediter
ranean, who called out to His shipmates one
morning, when there happened, after w*
, months’ clear weather, to be a slight fog-p
“Turn out, boys! turn out!—Here’s weath
i er—none of your darned blue sky!”
Soul Touching Wit.—The Inquirer has
the following: ,
A lady residing in England, who had a
number of female servants in herfamilyi an |
to whom she on one occasion, gave to eac i
a pair of cast-ofl half-worn shoes, found tie
following impromptu on her chamber mane,
the succeeding morning:
“ How careful should our mistress be,
Th ‘ narrow j ath lo choose,
YDicn all the maids within the bouse,
Are walking in her shoes.”
£o7* “Guilty, or not guilty ? v asked th®
1 Dutch Justice. “ Not guilty.” “Den vat >o
| do here ? Go apout your piziness.”