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BRUNSWICK,
GEORGIA.
TIMELY TOPICS.
Naval armaments are still in a tran
siiies itaie. It is nwrted is England
that the moment an 81 ton gun is fairly
-afloat, in a ship built to carry it, and
use it, the fate of csa going armor-clad,
vessels of the present type is sealed,
Tbs Union Pacific threatens a war
against the express companies, propos
ing to ran the oars and do the business
itself. If some of the profit^ on expres
sage weie diverted to modify the
charges on freight and passengers, the
public would bid this new movement
God-speed.
London advices indicate that the
financial breeze is over, and attribute
the late crisis to over speculation, par
ticularly in teas, silks and opium, aud
an excess of discounted paper. It may
be remarked that in this country also
the tea trade threatens to be overdone,
as it now comes round the world to us
both wayp, from the east as of old, and
from the west via San Franoisco.
Postmaster General Jewell ex
plains that the increase in the rate to be
charged for registered letters, from
eight tojen cents, has been made neoes-
eary by the fact that this branch of the
service has not been paying expenses
The law leaves the rate optional with
the postmaster general, and Creswell re
duced it from fifteen to eight cents.
There were 4,500,000 letters registered
IaBt year,
Speaking of the crops in Louisiana,
the New Orleans Picayune says Reliable
accounts from every quarter concur in
representing the crops of this year as
exceptionally fine. A better mutual
feeling prevails as between employer
and employe, and there has been a be
neficent concurrence of circumstances to
reward the courageous energy with
which, despite the many reverses and
discouragements of the past, the plant
ers have labored to secure the present
and propitiate the future.
The United States steamer Plymouth,
which is to go to the month of the Rio
Grande to assist in preventing Mexican
raids, carries twelve guns; but as the
river is not navigable on account of
sand and shoals, the servicesof the vessel
can probably not extend beyond the
protection of Brownsville, the capital
of Cameron county, which is only
thirty-five miles from the Gulf. Boats
may ascend, however, to a considerable
distanoe, provided they can be of any
use.
The new system of prepayment of
postage on newspapers by stamps
seems to promise satisfactory results
m the way of revenue. The weight of
this class of matter from the New York
postoffloe during the first quarter of the
present year aggregated 3,745,357
pounds, The postage collected amount
ed to 882,353. At this rate New York
.city alone will pay during the year
much more than it he* ever paid be
before, or about one quarter of the ec
tire receipts throughout the Uuited
States from this source.
are, no donbt, glad to get work now,
even at the rednoed rates, for many of
them were reduced to the verge of Star
vation by their prolonged idleness.,'
The homliest women in th'e'worla are
said to live in the valley of Spiti, twelve
thousand feet above the sea, in the
Himalaya mountains. Their faoes are
horribly repulsive, mid they wear high
leather boots dear up to their bestir*,
which they fill with flour to keep their
extremities warm. Yet, nevertheless,
travelers say that the men of Spiti are
just as apt to get “ looney ” and lose
their sleep over these ridienlous crea
tures as are the men of more favored
regions over their own beauties. There 7
is just as much sighing in Spiti as
there is anywhere else.
The project of the St. Petersburg
conference on the international laws
of war seems to be kept in abeyance.
As yet only Austria, Germany, France,
Italy and Sweden, have signified their
readiness to be parties to it. Four of
these powers havi given in simply their
adhesion, while Germany has, at the
same time, sent in the amendments
which she means to make to the prelim
inary stipulations of the protocols
signed last year in Brussels. England,
as it is well known, has decided to take
no part in it, while none of the smaller
powers have as yet returned any answer
either way.
A physician in London sends to the
Lancet a letter which he received from
a firm of nndertakerB inclosing a check
for £2 14s., being five per cent commis
sion on the amount received by the
firm for two funerals furnished on the
physician’s recommendation. It had
not occurred to the physioian that he
was entitled to commission on funerals
until he received this bribe, and be im
mediately inclosed it to the Lancet, in
quiring what he shonld do with it. He
was advised to send it back, and donbt-
ess did so. It must have produced a
queer sensation when the honest doctor
found himself credited with a commis
sion on the fnnerals of his patients.
THE FINE AND THE WALNUT.
BY THOMAS BAXLEY ALDRICH*
(Xewcattle, 1862.)
A mile or so from the Kray little town
Of Newcastle, ptrchtd like a gall by the ees,
On the Klttery side (where the banka soelve down
To the lovely river’s golden brown)
There towered, long since, sn old pine tree.
And acrose the stream, in a right ber-line,
Like a c-ntry guarding tbe rained fort.
Wss a Isrge-llmbed wtloot. where the sine
Huddled togHuJishower and sh ne,
Nibbling the herbage, sparse and short,
nx.
Bummer and wisicr those brave old tree*
Watched the bine rivtr that slipt between,
Leaned to the aunsblne and drank tbe breeze,
Clothed like emperore, taking their ea«e,
Now in ermine and now in green.
/ ■ IT.
i Many • time, when I was a lad,
I drifted by with tuepended oar,
Tbe wind in the walnut seemed so sad 1
But ab, wbat a blustering voice it bad
In the rugged pine on the other shore!
And often, in restless clamber tost,
I teemed to be drifting down tbe tide,
Hearing the strident wind on the coast,
To die away like a murmuring ghost
In the drooping boughs on the farther side.
Perhaps liras a boyish fantasy,
Tbe dream of f dreamer, half afraid,
That tbe wind grew sad in the walnut tree.
But snrged through the pine like the surging sea.
With a sound cf distant cannonade I
vn
Only a fantasy • Who can tell ?
But I think twill haunt me to ihe end,
Seeing wbat curious things befell
Tbe walnut tree, and tbe pine as well—
For they went together, friend and friend I
vm.
From a sullen clcud broke war at last,
And a grim, sea-dng of tbe quarter deck
Took tbe gaunt old pine for a mlzzen mast.
In the flame of battle his Spirit past,
And tbe mizzen dragged by tbe shattered
wreck'
K.
With tbe Union Jack across him laid,
They bote him back to the town by the sea;
Tbe guns st tbe Yard his requiem played;
And tbe Admiral’s coffin, it is said,
Was shaped of tbe planks of tbe walnut tree
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.
Cotton-spinning appears to pay well
in England. According to the pros-
peotns of a new company, “no other
class of industrial investments returns
profits approaching the average divi
dends earned by the numerous Lan
cashire cotton-spinning and manufac
turing companies, and it is now gener
ally admitted that the profits of public
companies in this branch of industry
are even higher than those of private
firms, many of these companies paying
dividends of from 10 to 45 per cent per
annum.” The names and dividends of
twenty companies are given in proof of the
latter statement. Of these companies
the dividends of five average 15 per
cent; of twelve, 23 per cent; and of
three, 41 per cent per annum.
The strike that has just oome to an
end in the Pennsylvania coal regions is
estimated to have caused a loss of at
lout ten millions of dollars to the op
erators and workmen. It was all about a
reduction of ten per oent. in the pay of
the workmen. As they have resumed
Work at the rates proposed by the op
erators, it will be seen that they have
gained nothing, bnt have lest their
wages for three or four months. They
—A singular illustration of the para
lyzing effect of the imagination under
some circumstances was recently afforded
at Allentown, Pa.: A bright boy of
eleven years was engaged in watching
some cattle in a field, and killed time
by swinging with a rope from the branch
of a tree. His brother, also a small
boy, was near him. All at onoe the boy
with the r?p<_ dipped with his entire
weight upon the rope, but with hfs
knees almost tonohing the gronnd.
The brother, very much alarmed, at
onoe ran for assistance, bnt before aid
came the swinging boy was dead The
rope was ent, when the loop fell from
the vietim's neck, indicating the fact
that there had been no knot, and that
the looping was bnt an accident. The
boy, imagining himself beyond all self-
preservation, had become so frightened
as not to stand upon bis feet, as he
might have done, bnt had fallen for
ward, and bo strangled. A more strik
ing illastration of the remarkable influ
ence over reason sometimes obtained by
the imagination oould scarcely be af
forded.
Calcium chloride has the property
of attracting moisture, and objects wet
with its aqneons solution do not dry,
It is proposed to use this to subdne
dnsty roads. It has been found to keep
land moist for three days, when ordi
narily it would dry in an hour. As the
ohlorides are injurious to vegetation, it
can not be utilized in agriculture, as
illustrated by the reclaimed marshes of
Holland, where the saline matter has to
be washed away by spring water before
vegetation appears.
A Cure for Opium Eating.—Many
devices, says the Troy Times, have been
resorted to enable opinm and morphine-
eaters to break the remorseless habit,
bnt we think the one tried by the friends
of an old lady in Jefferson county nan
not be beaten. She first used morphia
as a relief from the pains of a tumor.
Nothing conld induce her to give up the
use of the poison after the tnmor had
been removed. The family accordingly
resolved npon a harmless deception.
Oare ully prepared potato starch was
substituted for the morphia in tbe
bottles. She complained that tbe drug
was of an inferior quality, bnt reassured
by her physioian, continued to use it
with Bublime faith in its virtues until
her death, fifteen years afterward. At
no time conld she do without her potato
starch. Once, when ill, her physician
gave her Dover’s powders, bnt she could
not rest nntil she had taken some of her
bogus morphine. The success of this
deception ought to be a suggestion to
the friends of slaves of this drag.
Joannqn has made a communication
to the academy of sciences in Paris up
on the method adopted by him in fresh
ening the saline lands in the south of
France, so as to mate them available
for agnonltore. There are immense
tracts along the ooasi of the Mediter
ranean, from Arles to Port Yendres,
which are entirely unproductive in con
sequence of the amount of colt which
they contain. The process adopted by
him consists first in draining, then in
ditohing to a depth of about two feet,
and then damming and covering with
fresh watei. The water filters through
the soil, and dissolving the salt contained
therein runs off by tbe drains. This
operation is to be continued with sub
mersion from three to five months, ac
cording to the nature of the soil. After
this the layer between the level of the
drain and the surface of the field will
be sufficiently free from salt to be
capable of cultivation. In one estab
lishment, near Narbonne, a property
which, before drainage, was worth $750,
was, in a few years, raised in value to
$8,500.
FACTS. ANIT FANCIES.
Two Pictures.—
BEFORE MABBIAGE.
My Maggie, my beautifol darling,
Creep Into my arms, mv sweet,
Let me fold yon again to my bosom
So close I can hear yonr heart beat.
Wbat! these little fingers been sewing ?'
One’s been pricked by tbe needle, I see
These hands shall be kept free.from labor
When once they are given to me.
All mine, Hi lie pet. I will shied you
From trouble and labor and care.
1 will robe yon like some fairy princess.
And jewels shall gleam in vour hair;
Th se slippers yon gave me are perfect,
That dressing-gown tits to a T ;
My darling, I wonder that heaven
Should give such a treasure to me.
Eight—nine—ten—elven! my precious,
Time flies so when I am with you,
It seems but a moment I’ve been here.
And now, must I eav it ? Adieu.
AFTER MARRIAGE.
Ob, Meg, you are heavy—I’m tired;
Go eit in the rooker, I pray;
Your weight seems a hundred and ninety
When you plump down in that sort of way
You had better be mending my coat sleeve—
I’ve spoken about it before—
And I want to finish this novel,
And lcok over those bills from the store.
This dressing-gown sets like the d—1;
These slipoers run dowu at the heel;
Strange, nothing can never look docent;
I wish you could know how they feel.
What’s this bill from Morgan's ? Why, surely
It’s not for another new dress ?
Look here! I’ll be bankrupt ere New Year,
Or your store bills will have to grow less-
Eight o'clock! Meg. eew on this button
As soon as you finish that sleeve :
Heigh-ho! I am so deucedly sleepy,
I’ll pile oiT to bed, I believe.
—Mark Twain, apropos of a new port
able mosquito net, writes that the day
is coming “ when we shall sit nnderour
nets in church and slumber peacefully,
while the discomfitted flies club together
and take it cut of the minister.”
—A Frenchman has discovered a
method bj which he can bring down
rain whenever it is needed ; or, rather,
draw moisture from tbe air. He claims
that sprinkling of chloride of calcinm
upon tbe surface of the gror.nd is en
tirely effect ve.
—Here is an extract from a letter
written to her lover by a Montgomery,
Ala., girl: “ For your Pake, darling, I
have quit using chewing gum, would
you have quit gum for me ? I would
not have quit gum for any other person
in the whole world.”
—According to lh6 New York Mail
Mr. Bunker, the early proprietor of the
hill of that name is not now living. It
is rather unfortunate that Mr. B. should
have been gathered in so soon. If he
could be here now to see how far his
hill has got ahead of old Breed’s it
would do him good.
—If a man wishes to cruelly lacerate
the feelings of an acquaintance he re
marks: “A cow would regard your
feet with complaoence,” and, upon,
being questioned why, he answers:
“ Because she would see at a glance that
her hide would not have to be cut down
very mnch to make shoes for them.”
—A young lady living in the northern
part of Indianapolis has, through a
ifcfcle simple vanity, nearly if not quite,
destroyed her eyesight. A few days
ago she painted her cheeks with the
red coloring matter of some cinnamon
candy and went to a party. Daring the
evening her cheeko became very much
swollen and the poison soon after com
municated itself to her eyes. She be
came quite blind, and, though receiving
the best medical attention the eiiy
conld afford, there seemed to be little
hope that she would ever regain her eye-
It was an ancient enstom of the
Spartans, in order to inculcate among
their yonth an abhorence of intemper
ance and its kindred vices, to make
their slaves drank with wine in tbe pub-
lio market-places, so that the rising gen
eration, npon whom wonld some day de
volve the honor and safetv of the Lace
demonian Republic, might see before
them all the ghastly details of the
drunkard’s disgrace, his loss of reason,
and of physical strength. ’Twere well,
perhaps, to-day, oornd some of our
ybnng men contemplate a similar
mstraotive lesson drawn from the life,
showing them by a sharply drawn con
trast, the advantages and true loveli
ness of abstinence and virtue.
Forspoh as appreciate these, Vinegar
Bitters is the beverage best adapted, it
being purely a vegetable draught,
d void of alcohol or mineral poisons,
and possessing all the virtues, but none
of the damning curses, of the different
poisons which year by year are sweep
ing away thousands of dollars and lives.
