Newspaper Page Text
A ' 11 MB—
wceklg Constitutionalist.
BY STOCKTON & CO.
OCR TERMS.
The following are the rates of Subscription:
Daily, one year 00
Wnm, one year jg qq
The “ Whippowil.”
As I wended my dreary, lonely way,
Through the mossy path, ’mid the giant.trees,
That were dressed in their lovely Spring time
garb,
And rustled, and nodded to every breeze,
So like weird forms, to beckon me on,
And at each dark shadow, my heart would
thrill,
Then the moon arose, and X heard the song
Os the melancholy “ Whippowil.”
My heart grew faintier, at every step,
And that song so sad, with its plaintive moan,
Seemed an echo of all the sorrowfnl past,
As it fell on the air, with its dirge like tone,
And higher and higher, the moon arose ;
While softly, and gently the leaves were stirred,
But Oh! that weird song ever haunted me,
The song of that sad, and mournful bird.
While deeper and darker, the shadows grew,
That troubled song still rang in my ear;
Like a low wailing voice, from out of the deep,
Came the notes of that bird, all sad and drear.
Oh! bird of the night, why art thou sad ?
And why do your plaintive notes so thrill
My heart, that would list to a livelier strain..
Sad bird of the night, lone “ Whippowil.”
Dost sing of the loved ones, now far away,
Whose voices no longer shall echo thine own ?
Oh! tell me, thou gloomy and sorrowful bird,
Why lurks their such sadness, in every tone ?
Perhaps thou hast drank of that deep bitter
cup,
Where the torn heart is broken, all pulseless
and still, .
1C so, I will list to thy heart’s gloomy tale,
Oh 1 bird of the wood, lone “ Whippowil.”
Links in Heaven.
BY ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTOR.
I.
Our God in Heayen, from that holy place
To each of us an angel guide hath given;
But mothers of dead children have more grace,
For they give angels to their God and Heaven.
ii.
How can a mother’s heart feel cold or weary,
Knowing her dearer self, safe, happy, warm;
How can she feel her road too dark or dreary,
Who knows her treasure sheltered from the
storm.
in.
How can she sin P Our hearts may be unheed
ing ;
Our Ged forgot; our holy saints defied ;
But can a mother hear her dead Child pleading,
And thrust those little angel hands aside ?
IV.
Those little bands stretched down to draw her
ever
Nearer to God by mother love : we all
Are blind and weak, yet surely she can never,
With such a stake in Heaven, fail or fall.
v.
She knows that when the mighty angels raise
Chorus in Heaven, one little silver tone
Is hers forever ; that one little praise,
One little happy voice, is all her own.
VI.
We may not see her sacred crown of honor,
But all the angels, flitting to and fro,
Pause smiling, as they pass—they look upon
ber
As mother of an angel whom they know.
VII.
One whom they left nestled at Mary’s feet—
The children’s place in Heaven —who softly
sings
A little chant to please them, slow, and 6weet,
Or smiling, strokes their little folded wings.
VIII.
Or gives them her white lilies or her beads
To play with ; yet, in spite of flower or song,
They often lilt a wistful look that pleads,
And asks her why their mother stays so long.
ix. *
Then our dear Queen makes answer, she will
call
Her very soon ; meanwhile they are beguiled
To wait and listen while she tells them all
A story of her Jesus as a child.
x.
Ah ! Saints in Heaven may p’ray with earnest
will,
And pity, for their weak and erring brothers;
Yet there is prayer in Heaven more tender
still—
The little children pleading for their mothers.
A poetical correspondent, of the Buffalo
Courier , who, poetical as he is, is not more
poetical than practical, contributes the
following song for the protectionists and
the people:
Cold iron, in the common folks’ shovels and
axes,
Has strength to submit to the heaviest taxes ;
While the high price of salt from a pickle may
save ns,
And a duty on coffee vex Jefferson Davis.
Put on the screws
As hard as yon choose,
To be swindled the people can never
The people at large are but rebels and rioters,
Good loyal men are iron, lurnace proprietors ;
In return for this loyalty let us content ’em
By taxing all others a hundred per centum.
Put on the screws
As bard as you choose;
From the ax in our hands to the nails in our
shoes.
The monarch* of salt-pans, the lords of the
furnace,
And roasters of bread crumbs to Congress re
turn us, . , v ,
So we squeeze in good earnest the laboring
classes,
For why should we care for the woes of the
masses?
Put on the screws
As bard as you choose,
Till the groans of our victims our masters
• amuse.
A Ttrre Haute paper reports that a
small bop In that neighborhood, who had
seen s sleight-of-hand performer pass a
crooked wire through hia cheek, undertook
to Imitate him wltn s piece of telegraph
wire. He succeeded In getting the wire
fust in his nost, and wm compelled to ap
ply to • surgeon for nld tu removing ft,
The wire wits extricated with some dlfll
■•ultv, and the young man returned home,
resolved to retire from the show Intel ness
[Special Correspondence of the N. T. World.
Too Much Prosperity.
STORY OF TWO VICTIMS OF. WEALTH—VAIN
SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS—PREPOSTEROUS
FOLLIES—OLD AGE IN YOUTH—PROFIT
LESS LIFE AND PREMATURE DEATH.
Paris, June 0, 1870.
We have had within the last few days
examples to show not only that gold can
not command happiness but that it is not
(infrequently a curse, rather than a bless
ing. Everything depends upon the man.
Great wealth may be used so as to com
mand happiness, and it may be made the
greatest blessing on earth; but as men
commonly go (the slaves of prejudice or
passion) wealth usually makes the posses
or wretched, cursing instead of blessing
him. For he throws the bridle over each
desire, he prides himself upon exercising
no authority over the tumult which reigns
in every man’s breast; self-denial is a Laz
arus, not for Dives; industry is for the
poor, not for the rich. So he becomes the
slave, mot the master of riches. Satiated
desires crouch torpid in the mind and op
press it. He finds it impossible to fill the
hours which sleep refuses to steep in its
forgetfulness. Death is fearful and life is
oppressive. The curse of the Wandering
Jew is upon him; his time is spent in flee
ing from himself.
NO REST BUT THE GRAVE.
Prince Anatole Demidoff and Count
Koucheleff never knew peace and quiet.
They amassed the most wonderful crea
tions of art, in all its forms, from the Ori
ental poniard, enamelled with arabesques
as intricate as delicate, to the Dane’s sculp
ture, whose charms were heightened by
simplicity and boldness. They had palaces
in town and cottages in country in Russia,
in Prance, in Italy. Adorned as these
abodes were with the spoils of art, they
could rest in none of them. They were
constantly on the railway or in the public
inns, as if the very sumptuousness of their
homes made them distasteful to them.
They seemed to be clogged with money.
The wretched roads of Spain, of Asia
Minor and of Palestine, and life under
tents, where only scanty food of inferior
quality, ill-served, was to be had, seemed
preferable in their sight to the railways
and inns of the civilized world. Their very
wealth drove them to suffer the pangs of
poverty as something more endurable than
the pangs of riches.
PREMATURELY WORN OUT:
The wearisome life and the unchecked
indulgence of passions antedated years.
-Prince Demidoff was so outworn that his
parasites here called him Prince Decompo
sition. He indeed seemed as if decomposi
tion had begun; he walked with difficulty,
his eyelids hung heavily, half concealing
his pupils; iurrows reticulated and den
ticulated his fneo. »rwi hlj» Inwor Jaw
dropped almost idiotically ; paralysis had
made lodgment there, and had destroyed
the salivary glands, condemning him al
most to Tantalus’ doom ; incessant thirst
was his; he drank efery five minutes, but
he could not drown that craving. Where
ever he was—in church, at a theatre, in a
ball room or in a green room—a servant
constantly stood behind him to appease
that unquenchable thirst. Count Kouche
leff did not look so old, but he looked still
nearer the grave; of a truth, he seemed to
belong rather to the grave than to earth,
an estray on some respite from the never
recrossed bourne. His pallor was un
earthly. He was so wasted he seemed less
flesh and blood than a mere skeleton. Epi
lepsy was bis tyrant.
PROFITLESS LIFE.
Prince Detnidoff is understood to have
regretted the life into which his passions
had driven him. He had grown tired of
pretty actresses, who had not even the
charm of forbidden fruit, or fruit not
easily reached. He had but to put napo
leons enough under his feet, and there was
not one of them he could not make his
own. It is wearisome to see so many
smiles and such blandishment lavished on
one’s gold, and not even a kind glance
given one’s self. It i3 humiliating to be
invariably the cypher while one’s gold ft
the efficient numeral. Again, pretty ac
tresses are surrounded by very low compa
ny, as eager as the fleas on their pug-dogs
to draw good blood. The blackguards are
amusing, but, to a gentleman, revolting
companions. Prince Demidoff longed to
assemble brilliant company—his equals by
talent, or birth, or wealth—around him*in
rooms adorned by art. The wish came
too late. His character was stained by
the low company he had kept. His mis
tresses w< re riveted to him by habit. His
ignoble companions could not easily be
shaken off. Infirmities had impaired body
and mind. Ho he lay in the mire into
which he had been driven, and from which,
with all his life, he could not extricate
himself. Count Koucheleff had no desire
to see good company. His pleasure was
to be surrounded by fawners and flatterers
and other parasites, and all the knaves who
came to fatten on his wealth as vultures
on quarry. His rooms were filled with
these people from morning to past mid
night. It was known he had $400,000 in
gold to spend a year. Judge if the knaves
were numerous! Again, his rule was that
anybody introduced and invited by him to
dinner or to supper considered himself in
possession of a standing invitation. As
yon may imagine, the dinner-table and
supper-table never lacked guests. His
bills for meals at the hotels where he
lodged was constantly S4OO a day.
FOLLIES.
He threw away money foolishly. One
day he gave a dinner to eight “ friends,” at
which fried parrots tongues were served.
This dish alone cost S6OO. He took it into
his head he had invented a steamboat which
would in speed outstrip all vessels afloat
on the water. He spent $60,000 on It.—
When It was launched It could not be made
to move. A Christmas eve he bad a Christ
mas tree brought in for his guests. There
were on it SOO,OOO worth of jewels. He
frequently gave gambling Parties- It was
rarely that Calztdo or Garcia quitted them
with less than SIO,OOO In the pockets of
each of them. Calaado wis the manager
Sf the Italian opera here; Garcia was the
Spaniard who so often broke Urn German
gambling banks. They both ware caught
by Duke da Gram moot Cadcrooass cheat
ing cards, and Calaado was aontanoed to
Imprisonment; Garcia contrived U» make
Ills oaospe Til* evening M. Alexandre
Dumas iris Introduced to him, triumphal
1 aridiea of tropical flower* wars erected In
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MOBNING, JULY 6, 1870.
Ithe drawing-room in honor of the distin
guished visitor. He had, besides a numer
ous retinue of servants, a menagerie of wild
animals in seventy-five immense cages,
which were always placed in the court
yards at the hotel where he stopped. More
over, a physician, an Egyptian or an Ar
menian, an old man of 84, whose snow
white beard fell on his breast, and who was
attired in Algerian costume; a philosopher,
whose office was to discuss abstruse themes
with Count Koucheleff, “ and And no end
in wandering mazes lost;” a piano plaver,
and a chess player. Tlic Count never could
understand how it was that when he played
chess with this fellow at $5 a game he, the
Count, was always victorious; but when
they played far SIOO stakes the fellow
always won. The Count, for the life of him
could not sec through this; his philosophy
had not dreamed of It.
COUNT KOUCHELEFF’S MARRIAGE.
Soon after Count Koucheleff came of age
he saw and became enamored of the wife
ot a poor officer at Moscow. He offered
the latter SIOO,OOO to get a divorce from
his wife. The offer was accepted, and in
due time Count Koucheleff married the
discarded wife. She became so extrava
gant that it was necessary, when her hus
band’s estate became involved in pecuniary
embarrassment, for him to publish an ad
vertisement that he should be responsible
for none of her bills. They virtually sepa
rated. She took up her residence on an
estate near Perigueux, where she still lives.
D. D. HOME’S BROTHER-IN-LAW.
Among the persons who insinuated them
selves into Count Kouclieleff’s intimacy
was Mr. D. D. Home, then in the meridian
of his reputation as the lineal descendant
of the Witch of Endor, and, like her, able
to raise the dead. I believe M. Alexandre
Dumas introduced them. Count Koucheleff
was greatly infatuated with Mr. Home’s
wonderful powers, and insisted upon his
joining the Koucheleff party, among which
M. Alexandre Dumas had already taken
his place. The author was paid some large
amount of money to go to St. Petersburg
to write a novel, portraying Russian life,
which was to be published in a review
Count Kouolieleff was going to establish in
that eapltal. In a few months Mr. Home
married Count Koucheleff’s sister. The
Count gave his sister-in-law a princely
dowry. In a year she gave birth to a child,
to which the Czar stood god-father. In
two years she died. Mr. Home is now
giving readings in London, and has a suit
for millions pending against the Koucheleff
family.
THE END.
Count Kouc'ielefTs wild extravagance
soon got him into great embarrassment.—
His plate was pawned. His picture gal
lery sold. His expenses were reduced to
SIOO a day. He was getting an his legs
again brother dled,,leaving_him
extricated him from his troubles. The
liquidation of the great estate took up a
good deal of his time. He did not live to
complete it. Epilepsy, which had afflicted
him for several years, returned frequently,
and at last ended his life, which had not
numbered thirty-seven birth days. His
brother died of consumption, still under
thirty. To complete the sketch of this
lord of $400,000 a year ($600,000 after his
brother’s death), I may add that thougli
wearing diamond studs and sleeve buttons
and shirts which cost SIOO each, he never
brushed his teeth or washed his hands, and
wore a dirty look about his whole person.
The Lord’s Pkayer.—When the elder
Booth was residing in Baltimore, a pious,
urbane old gentleman of that city, hearing
of his wonderful power of elocution, one
day invited him to dinner, although always
deprecating the stage and all theatrical
performances. A large company sat dowu
at the table, and, on returning to thedraw'mg
room, one of them asked Booth, as a spe
cial favor to them all, to repeat the Lord’s
Prayer. He signified his willingness to
gratify them, and all eyes were fixed upon
him. He slowly and reverently arose from
his chair, trembling with the burden of
two great conceptions. He had to realize
the character, attributes and presence of
the Almighty Being he was to address. He
was to transform himself into a poor, sin
ning, stumbling, benighted, needed suppli
cant, offering homage, asking bread, par
don, light and guidance. Hays one of the
company who was present, “ It was won
derful to watch the play of emotions that
convulsed his countenance. He became
deathly pale, and his eyes, turned trem
bling upwards, were wet with tears.—
As yet he had not spoken. The silence
could be felt; it had become absolutely
painful, until at last the spell was broken
as if by an electric shock, as his rich toned
voice syllabled forth, ‘ Our Father, which
art in Heaven,’ etc., with a pathos and
fervid solemnity which thrilled all hearts.
He finished; the silence continued; not a
voice was heard nor muscle moved in his
rapt audience, until from a remote corner
of the room a subdued sob was heard, and
the old gentleman (the host) stepping for
ward with streaming eyes and tottering
frame, seized Booth by the hand. ‘Sir,’
said he, in broken accents, ‘ you have afford
ed me a pleasure for which my whole future
life will ■ feel grateful. lam an old man,
and every day, from boyhood to the present
time, I bave repeated the Lord’s Prayer;
but I never heard it before, never!’ ‘Yon
are right,’ replied Booth, ‘ to read that
Prayer as it should lie read caused me the
severest study and labor for thirty years,
and I am far from satisfied with my render
ing of that wonderful production. Hardly
one person in ten thousand comprehends
how much beauty, tenderness and grandeur
can be condensed in a space so simple.—
That Prayer itself sufficiently Illustrates
the truth of the Bible, and stamps upon it
the seal of divinity.’ ”
What a Man Does in Half a Century.
According to a French statistician,
taking the mean of many accounts, a man
ol fifty years of age has slept 6,000 (lays,
worked 6,500 days, walked 800 days,
amused himself 4,000 days, was eating
days, was sick 600 days, Ac. Ha ate 17,000
pounds of bread, 10,000 pounds of meat,
4,000 pounds ol vegetables, eggs and fish,
and drank 7,000 gallons of liquid, viz:
water, coffee, tea, beer, wine, Ac., all to
gether. This would make u respectable
lake of (WO square feet surface and Hires feet
deep, on which a shall steamboat could
navigate. And all this solid and liquid
material passed through a human bring In
fifty years
Hot Summers.— From the record kept at
Nuremberg, in Bavaria, we get the follow
ing interesting facts:
In 1132 the earth cracked by reason of
the heat, the wells and streams in Alsace
All dried up, and the bed of the River Rhine
was dry. In 1162 the heat was so great
that sand exposed to the sun’s rays was hot
enough to cook eggs. In 1160 great num
bers of soldiers in the campaign against
Bela died from the heat. In 1276 and 1277
crops of hay and oats frilled completely.
In 1303 and 1304 a man conid have crossed,
dry shod, over the rivers Seine, Loir, Rhine
and DaHube. In 1393 and J 394 a multitude
of animals perished by the heat, which was
so great that the harvest dried up. In 1440
the heat was extraordinary. In 1538,1639,
1540 and 1541 all the rivers were nearly
dried up. In 1556 there was a great
drought, which extended over nearly the
whole of Europe. In 1615 and 161 G there
Was in Italy, France and the Netherlands,
an overpowing heat. In 1648 there were
58 consecutive days of extreme heat. 1678
was very hot. and as were the first three
years of the 18th century. In 1718 it did
not rain a single time from April until
October ! The growing grain was burnt,
' the rivers dried up, the theatres (but where
fore is not stated) were closed by command
of the police. The thermometer showed 36
degrees Reaumer. equivalent to 118 degrees
Fahrenheit. In Irrigated gardens the fruit
trees bloomed twice. In 1723 and 1724
there was great heat. The Summer of 1746
was hot and dry, the growing grain being
calcined. Itdid not rain for mouths. 1748,
1754,1760,1767,1778 and 1788 were years
in which the Summers were extremely hot.
In the famous comet year—lßll—the Sum
mer was warm, and the wine produced that
.isason was very precious. In 1818, the
theatres had to be closed on account of the
heat, the highest temperature being 85
Reaumer, or 112 Fahrenheit. During the
three days of the revolution of July, in 1880,
tte thermometer stood at 36 degrees Cen
tigrade, about 97 Fahrenheit. In 1832,
awing the uprising of the sth and oth of
July, the temperature was about the same.
Stamps on Bank Checks.—Commis-
sioner Delano has given the following In
structions to the United States Stamp
Agents concerning bank checks:
♦lt was ruled by my predecessor in this
office, Jane 22,1867, that a check drawn by
an individual upon himself, or drawn upon
a"bank by its cashier in his capacity, and
in the discharge df ills official duties, Is In
its legal effect “ written or printed evidence
of an araonnt of money to be paid upon
demand or at a time designated,” and
s&puld be stamped at the rate of a promis
whr note—five <jents for eaoh SIOO, or frac
tmnai part thereof, (Internal Revenue, vol.
196, series 6, No. 10, p. 15,) and you
hflVe heretofore been directed pot to 1m-
You are instructed, hereafter, to treat
■such checks, except when designed to be
used for circulation, like checks drawn by
one party upon another. Except when de
signed be so used, a two-cent stamp
only is to lie required upon each one, when
drawn for any sum whatsoever, at sight or
on demand, upon a bank, banker or trust
company. A like stamp Is to be required
upon each for o sum exceeding too dollars,
when drawn at sight or on demand upon
any other person or persons, companies or
corporations than those above named.—
When such checks, drafts, &c., are drawn
otherwise tliau at sight or on demand, they
are liable to tax at the same rate as prom
isory notes—five cents for each SIOO or
fractional part thereof. Inasmuch as the
amount of tax varies upon time drafts,
stamps cannot be imprinted upon them,
but the tax must be paid by adhesive
stamps.
What I Know of Farming. —Turnips
should never be pulled ; it Injures them. It
is much better to send a boy up and let him
shake the tree.
The guano Is a fine bird, but great care
is necessary in rearing it. It should not be
imported earlier than June or later than
September. In the Winter it'should be
kept in a warm place, where It can hatch
out its young.
It is evident that we are to have a back
ward season for grain. Therefore it will
be well for the farmer to begin setting out
his corn-stalks and planting his buckwheat
cakes in July instead of August.
Concerning the pumpkin—this berry is
a favorite with the natives of the Interior
of New England, who prefer It to the
goosberry for the making of fruit cake, and
who likewise give it the preference over the
raspberry for feeding cows, as being more
filling and fully as satisfying. The pump
kin is the only esculent of the orange
family that will thrive in the North, except
the gourd and one or two varieties of the
squash. But the custom of planting it In
the front yard with the shrubbery is fast
going out of vogue, for It is now generally
conceded that the pumpkin, as a shade
tree, is a failure.
The Negro and Coolie Races Com
pared.—The Rev. Chas. Kingsley thus
compares the negro with the Coolie races
as experienced by him during a recent visit
to Trinidad;
We saw almost daily proofs of the Coolie
men’s fondness for their children; of their
fondness, also—an excellent sign that the
morale is not destroyed at the root —for
dumb animals. A Coolie cow or donkey
is petted, led about tenderly, tempted with
tit-bits; pet animals, where they can be
got, are the Coolie’s delight, as they are
the delight of the wild Indian. I wish I
could say the same of the negro. His treat
ment of his children and of the beasts of
burned Is, but too often, as exactly op
posed to that of the Coolie as are his man
ners. No wonder that the two races do
not, and it Is to be feared, never will amal
gamate j’that the Coolie, shocked by the
unfortunate awkwardness of gesture and
vulgarity of manners of the average negro,
and still more of the oegress, looks on
them as savages; while the negro, in his
turn, hates the Coolie as a hard-working
interloper, and despises him as a heathen;
I or that heavy fights between the two race*
i arise now and then, in which the Coolie,
i in spite of his slender limbs, has generally
i the advantage over the burly negro, by
; dint of his greater courage and terrible
' quickness.
I The Episcopalians of Uawklnevllle pro-
I Ject the building of a church.
The Eauthqtakb at Oaxaca.—Mexican
letters of a late date contain descriptions
of the terrible earthquake at Oaxaca, on
the 11th ult., which nearly rutned that
ancient city. One account is as follows :
About half-past 11, p. m., several hard
shocks were felt, causing destruction of
life and property all over the city. The
motion was oscillating at first from South
to North, then vertical or trembling. The
shocks lasted about fifty-eight seconds,and
in force, destruction and severity surpassed
anything* of the Kind that has ever taken
place In this State. Oaxaca is probably
oue of the strongest, most flrmly construct
ed cities in Mexico ; yet the condition of
the houses since the earthquake Is truly
deplorable—some of them in complete
ruins. The palace is almost destroyed,
and will require thousands of dollars be
fore it can be made suitable for occupation.
San Francisco Is one mass of ruins, and
the whole of the corridors of the old Con
vent of San Juan de Dios fell, burying four
persons and wounding many more. The
clock tower, which was only finished on
the sth of May, was shaken down, passing
through the top of the building into the
Supreme Court rooms, and through the
floors of these into the portals of the palace.
The total number of persons killed isabout
one hundred, while it is impossible to
ascertain the number of the wounded. The
shocks continued the next day (Thursday),
and about a quarter to 1 a very severe oue
was felt. Friday there were one or two
very slight shocks. Terror reigns supreme,
and upon the countenance of every one
anxiety and fear of greater evil are plainly
depicted. All remained in the pubile
squares and outside of the city for fear that
greater shocks would come, and on account
of its dilapidated condition, would make a
complete ruin of the entire city.
A Rich Case of Mistaken Identity
in the Pension Business.— The United
States Pension Agent for Alabama has been
favored with the following juicy letter from
one of the Jones family:
Wetumpka, Ala., March 26,1870.
Dear Sir : I am just in receipt of your
circular dated tho 24th of November, 1869,
euclosing blank to be filled by me as an
11 invalid pensioner’ upon the Government
of the United States. I am, unfortunately,
an Invalid, having lost my right leg at the
battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, while In
the service of the Confederate States, (84th
Alabama regiment, company F,) but, up to
this time, am pleased to state that 1 am
not a “ pensioner ” upon any government.
On the contrary, I am now laboring dally
on one leg, to assist in paying pensions to
those who shot the other off. Not being
able to use the papers sent me, and not
knowing any William Jones in this ooun
ty; formerly a member of the 20th Massa
chusetts Volunteers, I reinclose them to
™ WM" JfTNKff.
N. B.—lt is highly probable that the
William Jones of whom you are in search
is a “ fifteenth amendment” (as Massachu
setts filled her quota in the United States
army during the late war mostly from that
class of population), and has gone to assist
in 11 reconstructing” our sister State, Mlsr
sisslppl. We may expect him to return to
Alabama. Though an “ invalid,” he will
be able to vote in several counties.
How it Feels to be Struck by Light
ning.—The Elko (Qal.) Independent says
“ Avery extraordinary case of the freaks’
and effects of thunderbolts transpired last
week on the line of the new telegraph be
tween Elko and Hamilton. Mr. P. H.
Lovell, who was engaged in constructing
the line of telegraph, was struck by light
ning while kneeling on the ground holding
the wire In one hand. The lightning first
struck the wires at some distance, followed
It to the end, entered Lovell’s hand, split
ting three of ills lingers ; followed up his
arm, and thence down ills breast ana side
to the knee, which was on the ground,
where it left the leg, breaking through the
flesh aud skin, leaving a blackened hole
like that caused by a bullet. The light
ning entered the ground under the knee,
tearing a hole through the sodas It enter
ed. Lovell was knocked over senseless,
but soon recovered, and, strange to say, re
ceived no permanent Injury, resnming his
work again In a short time. He says he
felt ail the stronger for the electrical shock.
The seusation caused by the passage of the
lightning through his system lie describes
as very peculiar—very much like the sharp
pricking of pins—particularly whoa tho
mysterious element entered and left the
body. 4 Scientific men can add this to their
list of extraordinary cases.”
Telegraph Money Orders. —lt Is not
generally known that the managers of the
Western Union Telegraph Company have
Inaugurated a system for the transmission
of money from the principal
respects like the post office money order
system. A person wishing to make a quick
payment' to another person in another
place has only to step into the telegraph
office, deposit the amount of money he de
sires to pay, send a message to the payee
that he has deposited a certain amount to
his credit, naming the telegraph office at
which it Is payable, and almost before he
leaves the office the payment will be made,
though hundreds of miles separate the par
ties to the transaction. The office receiving
the money authorizes the office from which
it is to be paid to pay the amount so de
posited, and charge the amount against the
office giving the authorization. The fate
of commission is one per cent. Orders
ranging among the thousands may be ob
tained, and the amounts are only governed
by the ability of the offices to which they
are sent to pay. The Hartford (Connecti
cut) office has for some time had the system
in operation, and it is proposed to extend it
to all the principal offices In the conntry.
It cannot fall of being popular.
Ancient, but good: Old John Berry, who
used to live np Lake Champlain, liked to
tell a big story. One evening, sitting In
the village store, he said he once drove a
horse seventy-two mile* In one day on the
ice, when the Ice wss so thin that the wa
ter spirted np through the holes cut
through It by the horse’s hoofs. One of the
bystanders remarked that seventy-two
miles wss a pretty good drive for one day.
• Yes,” said Uncle John, " but It was a
lung day In Jons."
1 Cadetship Whlttemore will cousole ids
» retirement" by a visit to Ills friends in
I New England.
YOL. 29. NO. 27
Varieties.
In the graveyard at Childwald, England,
are the following queer epitaphs :
“ Here lies the body of John Bmlth,
Burled in the cloisters;
If he don’t jump at the last trump,
Cali ‘Ojstera.’”
“ Here lies mo and wy three daughters,
Brought here by using SedlU* waters,
If we had stuck to cpsom salts,
We wouldn’t have been in these here
vanlta.” '
An actor is not always acting in a friend
ly spirit when he takes another actor’s
part.
When women come to sit in the jury box
possibly infants may get to be criers in
courts.
Somebody says the women make very
good street sweepers when they are trained
to do It.
A Providence undertaker has a pleasant
habit of sending his card to all the sick
persons he can hear of.
A roan is said to be absent-minded when
he thinks he has left his watch at home
and takes ft out of his pocket to see if he
has got time to return home to get it.
Just opposite to the famous political
prison of Mazos, in Paris, Is an inn with
this legend over the door: " Here the In
mates arc more comfortable than they are
across the way."
A cautious look around he stole—
His bags of chink he chuck—
And many a wicked smile he amole,
And many a wink he wunk I
In the old time a Connecticut pastor de
clined an addition of SIOO to his salary for
the reason, among others, that the hardest
part of his laber heretofore' had been the
collection of hir salary, and It would kill
him to try to collect SIOO more.
Editors do net always think of thelx
smart things on the spur of the moment:
but one of them down In New England
got In a *good repartee the other day. Dan
iel Pratt, a great bore, came with his cus
tomary introduction: “I am the Great
American Traveler 1" “ Well, travel," wm
the reply he got.
At a public sale of books In London,
Drew’s “ Essay on Bonis" waa knocked
down to a shoemaker, who, to the great
amusement of the assembly, asked the auc
tioneer If he had “ any more books on shoe
making to sell.”
“ Where the deuce have you put my bar
ometer f” inquired an English squire of his
man, an Importation from the wilds of Suf
folk. “ I heard you say the higher It was,
the finer the weather; se, as I knew yon
were going to ride to the assizes to-day, I
hung it in the front attic.”
A traveler who has-crossed the Atlantic
tells a story of a storm, when the rain came
sauiawy
“ besides the captain kept a mark on the
side of the vessel.”
There Is one consideration which may
induce the secularists not to.persist in op
posing the admission of the Bible into na
tional schools. If that book is excluded,
the scholars may surmise that the reason
be because they ought not to read It, and
then they will.
Two farmers in Kansas recently had a
law-suit about seven pounds of butter.—
When the Jury retired they took wltl) them
the butter, procured some crackers, ate
them together,' und returned a verdict of
“ no cause for action.”
An ingenious citizen of Connecticut has
invented a machine for indicating the con
dition of an egg. By an ingenious but
simple contrivance it can be made to boll
an egg soft or hard, rings a bell when they
arc done, takes them from Hie water, and
Is qnly second to a cuckoo clock.
At a ball in high life, a young man and an
old gentleman, seated near each other, were
yawning so that their jawbones were in
danger of dislocation. “ Are you having a
good time?” asked the young man. “Me ?
Not at all.” “ Let’s cut. then.” “ Can’t,
I’m master of the house.”
The last year that Davy Crocket was in
Congress, a political joliflc&tlon was held,
professedly in honor of the birthday of
Jefferson. Davy mot several of the compa
ny going home from the festival, and thus
graphically described their condition:
“ They were so drank that I’ll be d—d if
either of them could hit the. around with
their hat in threetimee throwing."
(some mad wag at Richmond, Va. p has
sent to one of the local papers, as original,
an extract from the Bongs of Solomon, and
the editor Introduces It by styling It trash,
and saying that it is a fair specimen of the
poetical effusions which are daily thrown
into his waste-basket.
A Busy Executioner.— A letter from
Athens, speaking of the execution of the
brigands concerned in the murder of the
English travelers, says their decapitation
was delayed in consequence of the absence
of the public executioner on a professional
tour. The following list of his perform
ances is given:
“Last Friday week he beheaded three
brigands at BtyUda, on Saturday two at
Lamia, on Monday two at Hypate; he was
then at Lcvadel, where lie was to execute
a notorious criminal. He was theatogo
to Cbalsis and to Athens to behead, after
ward, the seven nailer sentence of death.
His next destination is Corinth, where he
is to execute five brigands who have been
for some time awaiting vbe execution of
their sentence. One of the brigands be
headed at Btyllda had been condemned
to death five times. These executions, it
might be imagined, would be a heavy
biow and great discouragement to brigand
age, but it is not so. Either the system of
the sympathy with it seems rooted among
the mass of the Greek people, and by no
means the people of the lower orders ex
clusively."
A New York Jury, In the case of Tracy
E. Roberts, who sued for damages tor In
juries received on a railroad, by the over
turning of a car, in 1806, gave the plaintiff
$6,000. The defense urged In extenuation
that the accident was unavoidable, and
that Roberts was traveling on a free pass.
Rolierts denied the latter allegation, and
! the Judge Instructed the Jory thst if they
I found he had a pans, he oouid not recover,
os he would be bound by the conditions
! orluted upon It- A free ticket is, there'
i fore, ol less value than a paid ticket.