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mssxm //l^y.C^v-e^ W- r , A Advertiser. Terms: $1.50 per annum, in advance. OLD SERIES—YOL. YII-NO. ].. CEDARTOAYN, GA., MARCH 18, 1880. NEW SERIES—YOL. II-NO. 11. TO-DAT. . . The boars were bright in days that are no more, And pleatsaut life's strange way— A rapture hang aroaod the hills—a glory on the shore— Yet is aught changed to-day? Shone ever bluer skies than the*e—e’er sweeter sang the birds, Or lisped the brooklet’s lay— Or love, time tried, confessed its’ tale with truer, gentler words Than t‘ ese it breathes tc-day? And crimson buds so fair, albeit they grow in early spring And with its zephyrs play. That when the iater Autumn's handmaids ripe red roses bring, We’U wear them not to-day? Hope then dung fondly to our breasts and like a Summer friend, Sang to us on our way, But with the Winter fields—while strong and faithful to the end, Truth gives her band to-day. Tiiat was at night—we even slept an 1 dreamt illusive dreams. So let them pass away; To those who will, there’s sweetest rest and bliss in these full beams • That light our lives to-day. £ £ ... ~ . Jt was to be the great wedding of the year -Howards. Ransom to Miss Minnie Ford. It was to be in church in the even ing. Only a few select guests were to be present at the ceremony, though there was to be a great reception at Mr. Ford’s after ward. Every one was discussing the strange ness of having a ceremony in the evening, in church, and only a few guests present, but such was the wish of the bride, and her betrothed seemed very willingly to consent to It. The music of the noble organ was again pealing through the arches of the church. Only a few candles,were lit about the chan cel—the fest of tliejchurch was indarkness. It was the wish of the bride, who was not accustomed to have anything, denied her. It was a lovely sight to see the ladies, in their snowy dresses, marching up the aisle with the ghostly shadows of the great church thrown upon them. Not a dozen in all, in cluding tlie gentlemen—yet a striking sight in the noble edifice. The little assembly was soon grouped about the chancel-rail; and the deep grave voice of the aged minister was heard re sounding through the empty church, and 1 he Terrible Tragedy. plements occupying regular strata in the earth. The remains consist of hammers, implements, etc., both finished and unfin ished, together with the chips struct off from the articles in the process of maim- ^ facture. The material of which they are , rea j charactei, and it was not long before ^ , composed is principally compact, lustrous ! hig image was banished from her heart, and echoing through the wide range of deserted ..quartz, frequently mottled as if selected , that was in due time surrendered to one of with an eye to the artistic beauty. The her cousins, a captain of an Austrian A buret of sacred music, from the care fully-trained choir, rolled up through the arches of the magnificent church where Fashion in many guises held sway. Just as the hymn was about closing, a figure en tered through one. of the small rear doors: hardly a fit person to mingle with the “qual ity” all about her, you would have said. A coarse, highly colored shawl was wrapped about a petite and shrinking form; a piquant hat, lined with faded blue, crowned a head of curly, golden hair. Though her garb was coarse, it seemed to set off the wonderful beauty ot her face—the charac terizing feature iff which was a pair of large, blue eyes, which seemed to appeal and pray to whomsoever they gazed upon. A dry, hacking cough shook her shivering form every now and then. As she took her seat in the pew, no prayer was murmured from her lips. Her whole attention, immediately on entering that church, was directed to watching a couple directly in front of her—a dark man who would have been strikingly handsome h .d it not been for the wolfish glare in his black eyes and the sensual turn of his mouth —a woman who, rather overdressed, was nevertheless a fashionable beauty in the highest sense of the term. As the poor girl in the back pew looked with her great glittering orbs at the man as he bent toward the lovely lady at his side, it was easy to be seen that something more than common animated her in relation to him; the agony, jealousy, rage, depicted on her countenance, and the tear drop in her eyes, told a tale of wrong and woe. The service was soon over; and amid grand swell of solemn music from the great organ, the fashion devotees filed forth from the temple of worship. The poor girl was not seen by the man as he passed her pew; he was bending low over the grand lady with him. As soon as they were past, the girl came forth from her pew and crept out immedi ately behind him. It was a dark, December night; large drops of rain were pattering down on the flag-stones about the church steps. The lady and gentleman evidently expected a carriage, for the}' stood in the vestibule some moments before entering the street. At last he said: “I am afraid we will have to .walk.” She linked her arm in his, and, raising his umbrella, they started forth. The poor girl crept on behind them— slinking into the shallows cast by the street lamps whenever possible. Square after square was passed, and still the small, shrinking figure was there, al ways in the same relative position. Once, as she crept under a street lamp, he looked back and seemed to recognize her—for he started and muttered something to himself. The lady with him looked back several times, and at last said: “Howard, I am sure that woman behind ua is following our footsteps; she has been following us since we started from the church.” “Oh, no, I think not,” lie answered, striving to speak carelessly. Another square was passed, and still the girl was there. Again the lady turned, and said to her escort: “I am sure she is following us.” The man muttered some unintelligible reply, and nervously quickened his pace. It was but a short time ere they reached their destination. He rang the bell of a brown stone mansion. '1 he door had but just closed on him when he issued forth alone. The poor girl was leaning against a tree, in the shadow, on the opposite side of the way. He evidently saw her, but took no notice, and walked quickly do\yn the street. She followed. When he came to a crossing he came to the side of the street she was on, j ust a few paces in front of her. He turned down a side street, and soon slackened his pace and waited for the girl to come up with him She was within a few pacesof him, when he stopped short, put a cigar in his mouth, and struck a match against the side of a dark factory-building standing there; and then, just as she came up to him, he turned 'and cast the lighted match iu her face. It was the action of a brute; but the laugh which accompanied it was that ot a human fiend—such a harsh, fiendish eujoymen; was mingled with it. Tlie girl shrunk back, but uttered no , sound. “So you jade, this is the reward for all my kindness!” he hissed forth. “After I furnished you with a good home, every thiug any girl could wish, I find you dog giug me round in this fashion. A pretty return for my magnanimity and affection. 7 Still the girl leaning against a tree, ut tered no sound, save a few low spoken words. “Howard, are you not my husband? Do you think you have killed all the woman in me, ail that is human, that I should hear your marriage with that lady you were walking with discussed, and not feel for her, for you, for myself, a shame at what may be* in store for us?” “How often shall I have to inform you that our marriage was a mere farce, gotten up for the occasion?” “So you have said before; but I believe that, before the Great Judge of all, we are man and wife.” “Why don’t you say it again?—why don’t you say it again?” he returned, in a, voice of suppressed passion, while his wolf ish eyes glared with rage. “Come home with me! ” he cried, grasping her by the arm. The girl made no reply, but followed him quietly. They turned up another side street, and were soon lost to view in the depths of the great city. seats: ‘ ‘Into tliia holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined. If any man can show just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter hold his peace!’ ” ‘His words had scarce ceased to resound through the empty church, when a white- robed figure, heretofore unseen, rose from a pew, mid-way back, stretched her arms imploringly to Heaven, like some supplica ting angel, and said, in a voice heard dis tinctly through the. echoing church: “I am his wife! I am Ills wi—” The blood gushed from her lips, and she fell forward across the pew—dead! It is an intensely cold night in January; snow lies on the ground; the carriage w heels grinding over it, sing a slow music of their own. The night express is flying over the frozen rails. WhQjs.' tjiis sitting iu the seat in the corner? Howard Ransom! That man there! Iiow a few hours have changed him! He throws up the window anil leans far out into the night. Faster and faster flies the iron steed over the cold steel rai.’s. Faster and faster—on, still on, with thunder aud crash—yet never fast enough to deadeu the heart pangs of the wretched man who sees his past misdeeds rise up before him os he hail never seen them till now. He at last closes tlie window and falls asleep in his seat. But not to rest. Like some dark phantasmagoria of the past, his crimes pass in vivid array before his ex cited mental vision. One can see, from the clutching of his hands and the twitcli- ings of the muscles of his face the agony he is suffering. Hours have passed. Still grind, grind, grind; still on, on flies the through express. The man is awake again. He throws up the window. It is almost morning, A faint light appears far off on the horizon. Day is about breaking. The deathly cold breezes fan his fevered brow, and play wildly with his locks of curly black hair. An Ancient People. I “Break the lock then,” returned the u Count, and with liis Distol in his hand,-he In 1876 Prof. Winchell discovered at repeated: / Little Falls, Minnesota, a dumber of quartz ! “Break it, or I’ll blow your brains out.” chips which bore evidence rof having been j (j ar j obeyed. cut from the parent rock? [by the hand of j “ft 1S well,” said the old gentleman, man. He therefore cocbluded that the j “those bank notes are yours. Have you a quartz workers inhabited this country be- j p0C ketbook with anything identifying it as fore the mound builders’ nice, as he found ; belonging to you ?” these chips in strata underhung the mound ; “Yes.” building period. He also fixe-* the era of i “Then let it fall iu front of the secretary the quartz workers as that ending .with the j y OU j iave broken open.” last glacial period. It is often disputed,! “What sir!” * however, whether these quartz remains be-1 must have proof to convict you. I long to a past glacial folk, or to co-glacial inter-glacial or pre-glacial people, the ques tion being difficult to decide because the remains found and noted by Prof. Winckell, whiA are surface deposits, are so scattered mean to have all the evidences of burglary. Robbery or death. Choose! Ah,* I see your choice is made. Now go before me. I do not quit you until you are a league from Baden. 1 return late, and enter no and irregular. At Little Falls also, there . complaint against you till to-morrow noon, has been discovered quartz chips and im- j Begone!” Chevalier Carl could not resist the com pulsory order, and Count Christian's plan was carried out to the very letter. The affair created great noise and excitement. Helen could no longer doubt as to Carl’s stratum is some few inches in thickness, and lies in the soil a few feet below the sur face. The appearances indicate that this was once the site of a manufactory of such quartz objects, and this idea is upheld by various considerations. '- There are tools found such as would be used in the manu- cavalry regiment. ’•I.et’rt !tla»h the Villain! A passenger train which left Lansing coming east recently had among the pas- facture of quartz articles, and the whole •«*“* 8 P hlin - iace, f 1 ’ ^"sihle-lookiug girl stratum is mired with nimrtr. chins which a ^ <m f twenty years of age, and a thin-waist- ed, sickly-lookmg young man a year-or two stratum is mixed with, quartz chips which in many cases appear stuck in the dirt just as they fell from the land of the unknown. Unfinished implements are also found in more or less advanced stages of manufac ture. It is not possible to fix the precise point occupied by these remains in the scale of the glacial epoch, until the drift features and surrounding formations of the locality shall be better understood than now. Still it is certain that the remains belong to a palaeolithic people, that is, a people living before the end of the last glacial period, because they arc deposited in a drift which is known to be of glacial origin. The hard- pan upon which the quartz formations lie is probably of the first glacial period, aud the quartz may belong to an inter glacial epoch. Prof. Winchell somewhere records the opinion that between the first and second epochs, a considerable interval of time may have elapsed, during which forests may have flourished not unlike those now in possession of the soil. Should future researchs cor roborate this theory, it may be found that the precise period in question is tiiat in j yvu J l . . , which Little Fails quartz workers peopled f ml now >°, u .«° lato th , e bil ' 1 - 1 let me run this affair alone. older. No one would have mistrusted that they were eloping bad’ not the young man asked the conductor if there was a clergy man on the train. There was none, and the young man explained to the passengers around him that he was in a bad fix. He had come down from Bath Township m a buggy, and he was quite sure that the girl’s father would take the other road down to Chicago Junction, and there board the Lan sing train and raise a row. He was not on a row, but yet be loved the girl, and they were bound to marry. If the old man came alone he thought he could bluff him off, but if his two big sons came along the scales would be turned. He therefore wanted to know of a man wearing a red w’oolen shirt and coonskin cap if he would stand by him. “You bet I will!” was the hearty re sponse. “I got my old gal by running away with her, and I’ll see you through this if 1 never do any more good! You wouldn’t be worth a cent in a free fight, age car and I want to be seated beside tlie gal when the old man comes in. ” When the whistle blew for the Junction, Coonskin changed places, and as the cars How She was Saved. But he does not seem to feel it: yet he , , - . trembling like a lost - - ~-j- a # Ua, e <i '>7 ice-wpowerful currents Sitting there in the cool gloaming of the breaking morn, let us hope he feels the cominv events, and is thinking of the days of early j r outh, when his soul was white and guiltless! The train at last slows up. He goes to the platform to disembark. “Look out, sir!” cries the brakeman, warningly. It is too late. One wild shriek from the passing express, and a man is twisted and ground to atoms beneath the cruel wheels. A gray-haired woman is giizing from the porch of a beautiful country-house down across a wide, sloping lawn, to where the sunset glows in crimson splendor. Minnie Ford is an old woman, who has never re covered entirely from the excitement of her early years. Yet her life is not entirely unblessed. Her nieces and nephews neither think her sedate uor thoughtless, aud every one looks to Aunt Minnie as the one to seek when in trouble of any kind. Only those of riper years know of the terrible tragedy which defaced her once young aud glowing life. that part of the Mississippi valley. Ap pearauces all indicate that these “rude quartz implements” were finally submerged by a flood, gentle in its action, probably of long continuance and perhaps foreseen by . . . . „ , & , r VUn halted he put his arms around Mary and the pa ajohtlHC men interested, lhe dis- . 5 . , , . ,. mA .*. , i took one ot her hands in his. lhe old position of small, smooth, water-worn peb- 1 , , . . - bles in the interslices of the stratum shows ! “ an sons ware °“ hand > and this, as likewise does the fact that collec- : the JP lled , mto tbe ** P? 1 :“ ed • . lions of implements of one sort are not tin- I ^ Te . “ , ca ! I ? d th , e t , fatber ’ “ frequently met with, a portion of which | “"8“ ”S ht of the S ,r1 ’ 80,1 the three raade will, perhaps, be unfinished and the re- ar M® * ... .. mainder completed. No such systematic .. Run awa y, wub my--! began the arrangement of material would, of course, old man; but when be saw the stranger bo- be possible had the quartz been ! side her he cheeked himself. Love anil Lariats. There is in Texas an individualized set of men called Cow - boys. They are knights of the plains, rough riders- and rough fighters, who manage the immense droves of cattle on the plains, sleep in their saddles, are experts with the six-shooter, knife, lariat and whiskey bottle, and as de void of fear as they are foreign to civiliza tion and culture. They are rude children of nature, always equally ou tlie look-out for a drink or fight, and when they dis cover, as they are sure to discover, on entering cities or railroad stations, that they are “Grey wolves, and its their night to howl!” a liveliness of an electric and dangerous character is very certain to fol low. They live on the prairies, taking seasons and chances as they come and go, and herd and drive the cattle of the rancli- eros to the inner western markets. They are not the typical romantic Tityre tu pa- tulce order of piping shepherds of the ear liest days, but of the modern wild-cat order, and when they come around the quieter ci tizens are either very reserved or obsolete as to street presence, or heavily heeled. Their usual style of setting difficulties is, of course, with the bowie-knife or pistol; but we find that civilization is at last growing upon them, aud, as our friend Jim Breslin would remark, the effete idiocies of other days ere passing away. Recently two of them quarreled on their way back from Colorado. They Were returning from a cattle drive, and, oddly enough, they quar relled about a woman. Far down near St. Antonio some dark-eyed maid, with all the mellow beauty, dashed throughout with the electric light—way above Edison’s— that flashes the soul of loveliness into Texas girls, held the hearts of both, and as they rode back, well filled with money, head aches and poor whisky, the rivalry be tween them broke through the barriers of self-control, and a quarrel ensued. Before either of the two hot-headed young fellows could get the drop on the other their friends intervened. A challenge followed. They were inhibited from the use of either knife or pistol by their seconds, and lariats were the weapons. It must have been a novel “Want anything of us ?” asked Coonskin, as lie looked up. “Who are you, sir?” “I’m going to be your son-in-law in less ~ than an hour—eh! darling?” At Baden Bailen, about twenty years He gave Mary a squeeze and Mary look- ago, a Hungarian count, Christian W , i ed happy. and his daughter came to pass the season. ! “Come along, Mary—come right home The young countess, charming and beauti- j with me!” ordered the father ful, and heiress to a large fortune bequeath-! “Let’s mash the villain I” added one of ed her by her mother^ was soon surrounded the sons. Character in Handwriting. by a host of admirers. She speedily be came captivated by one of the most worth less of her suitors, Carl M , because he had a handsome face, and long, black, wavy hair, was gifted with a fascinating manner, dressed with exquisite taste, danced marvelously, and possessed rare powers as a singer. Carl was a noted gambler and given to dissipation, and Count Christian became possessed of information that the young chevalier, had quitted Naples in con- Put a head on him—let me get a! him!” shouted the other. The father seized Mary and the sons seized Coonskin. Then a red shirt tower ed aloft, a pair of big fists began working with a “pop!” “pep!” ana as fast as the trio got up they made for the door. Coonskin followed, arms and feet working like a trip-hammer, and when the train moved off the father sat on a box with a big woolen mitten held to his nose, one of the sons sequence of some scandalous adventure in j was pulling loose teeth from his jaw, and which he had been implicated. Helen was so completely infatuated with Carl that she gave no heed to the advice, the prayers, or even the orders of her father. She would not believe the disgraceful ai te- cedents of her wily lover. The conditions of affairs brought the old Count, possessed of a remarkable degree of firmness, to the determination of originating some plan whereby he could effectually overcome the the other boy was groping his way to snow-bank. “Now, then,” said Coonskin, as the ex ultant lover returned, “resume your seat, take her little hand in yours, and don't calkerate you owe me anything.” “Say, Tom,” said the girl. “I’m going to kiss him for that!” “All right, sis.” “Wall, just as you feel,” said Coonskin, African Modes of Salutation. persistent efforts of Carl to secure his as he returned the smack, “but I want it daughter, as well as convince Helen that j distinctly understood around these parts, to save her from suck an unprincipled man j that when I see true love on its way from was a deed of paternal tenderness and care, j Lansing to Howell to get spliced I kin lick The chevalier had continued adroitly in j all the pursuing dads in the State of Michi- his work of ensnaring the young heiress, ;gan!” and finally m direct terms asked her to elope with him. He wrote a note propo sing a clandestine meeting at an hour when her father was in the habit of going out to play whist with some gentlemen of his ac quaintance, and in it made the suggestion that if she favored the proposition she would wear in her belt a rose as a sign of consent. Count Christian, having intercepted the letter, took the occasion soon after to ap proach Helen, and asking her to go out with him, at the same time handing her a flower, remarking: *‘put this in your belt as an ornameut.” She smilingly obeyed. In course of their walk they met Carl, who bowed, and was overjoyed to notice that Helen had carried out his request. Robert Browning “writes as a poet should write.” And his manuscript is “thoroughly emblematic of bis poetry.” He punctuates carefully, and his words are neatly finished. “Were his beautiful chiro- graphy placed before us as that of a stranger we should at once pronounce it not only that of a distinguished man, but also of one who never did* anything carelessly. Mr. Bryant’s writing is severely censured. For a young clerk seeking a situation, “it might prove a recommendation,” but for the poet wha wrote the lines on June, “it is most disappointing.” Late in life it assumed “a more manly and decided style,” but during the larger part of his career, * it was sim ply horrible, and did not intimate the slightest scintillation of genius.” The letters sloping in different directions, the ar^ay of flourishes, aud the looping of words ou to each other give his manuscript “an execrable appearance. ” Indeed, “these calligraphical fanfaronades in a literary man are heart-rending and cast grave doubts on his genius. Finally, “there is no r beauty and nothing but commonplaceness about every specimen of Bryant’s correspondence that has yet come under our ken. ” Car lyle’s hand is not a very commendable one, altnough it is not conventional. There is “tpp much evident effort at effect for it to pass current as pure inspiration.” “Ec centric and spiteful-looking little flourishes dart about his manuscript in various odd ways.” As for the autograph, “its crabbed look is not very significant of ami ability. Charles Darwin's writing is so il legible that he lias certainly never carried out his idea of “Natural Selection and the Survival of the Fittest” iu the choice of his letters. They are without form, and void. ” The only inference the author draws from them is “immense labor that allows of no leisure.” Tlieophile Gautier’s hand is “one of "the most singular to be met with.” Sometimes it was most exquisitely fine, again it was larger, after the manner of the sixteenth century, “but it was always beautiful and most original.” “The author of such a hand could never by any possi ble chance be an ordinary person.” In the paragraph on Gautier Edgar Foe is alluded to as “the supieme prince of manuscript.” The introduction of postal cards has de moralized Mr. Gladstone’s handwriting. Previous to them, it was of the usual Par liamentary type—“clear, undemonstrative and readable. ” It had, however, a chief defect* “uncertainty.’ But since the postal innovation it has “fallen into chaos.” The fac-simile which Salamanca gives us is from a signature “prior to that lamentable descent. ” Tlie writing of no American pleases Salamanca so much as that of Oliver Wendall Holmes. Like his verse it is sometimes old-fashioned, but it has the polish of a man accustomed to good society, and is indeed that of a gentleman. ” It indicates “enough independence to pre serve him from doing a shabby act, without any trace of those flourishes which betoken offensive egotism.” As for Victor Hugo’s, no one could glance over it “without arriv ing at tlie conclusion, that it was tlie pro duction of an illustrious personage.” Lo well’s is far more sightly than that of Long fellow’s, and would pronostigate greater wealth of imagination, and more-terseness of style than its author has yet given evi dence of. It is disfigured by no vainglo rious flourish, nor affected strain ing aftei originality, but is just what one would wish a poet's to be. ” George Sand indited a more manly hand than did most of her manly compatriots. Her’s was “a very legible and noble style, replete with frankness and originality.” Swinburne exercises the presumed prerogative of genius, and “writes a wretched hand.” It has much picturesque vigor, but no beauty, and ‘ ‘gives one the idea of having been written by a pen that, having served several generations of authors, its owner deemed it sacrilege to cut.” Something of his originality might be derived from it, “but nothing of the voluptuous beauty and unparalleled music of its author’s verse. ” M. Zola’s is uot very commendable. It possesses a few negative virtues—being legible and without flourish—but “it is not free from vice.” ' There is “a general lack of elegance and deficiency of artistic taste.” The signature is “utterly preposterous.” Longfellow’s hand is not very much to the author’s taste. In the signature the flourish of the “L” is “very unsightly, while the H” is “simply preposterous for a man of genius—which the author of “Hiawatha” undoubtedly is.” There is little natural fluency about the hand; it is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought and is a manufactured style, more significant of the length of Ait than the fleetness of Time. ” Salamanca finds Whittier’s manuscript very vexatious, it varies so wildly, and gives very slight indications of any charac ter at all.” Albanian Brigands. Modes of salutation differ in all parts of the world, and in some countries assume strange and grotesque forms, at least what are so in our eyes. Most of tnern originate in old ideas of vassalage, and are part of the liqpor paid to royalty and divinity. A lover kisses his hand to his mistress as he leaves her, without an idea that it is a rem nant of what was once divine worship; ad-ore is simply “to-mouth,” raismg the hand to the mouth; and Job, justifying himself, says that he never did so to the sun. In one part of Australia, the more polite native strikes the attitude of a kanga- The Count conducted his daughter to the j roo, and runs out his tongue, as a sign that residence of one of their acquaintances and requested her to wait until he called for her. This done he returned to the house he oc cupied on the outskirts of Baden. He had sent away his servants and was alone. At the appointed hour Carl arrived and leaped over the garden wall. Finding the door securely closed, he entered the house through one of the windows. With pleasurable he is glad to see you. In Africa, on the western coast, one who meets a superior prostrates himself at full length on the ground. Till recent times, a Spanish letter ended by saying, at least, by the initials of the words, “Whose hands and feet I kiss,” showing that such a custom was once deem ed proper and respectful. Some nations rub noses, some shake hands, others ap- excitement he hast.ned towards Helen’s | proach each other on all fours. The Bat o- apartments, but great was his astonish-! kas, an African tribe, have several ways of ment to find her father armed with a brace | saluting: The women clasp their hands, of pistols. The Count closed the door, and ! and utter a peculiar cry; men stoop and said to the miserable chevalier: “Carl M , I could kill you; I have the right to do so. You have entered my house at night; you have broken into it. £ could treat you as a felon—nothing could be more natural. clasp their hands on their hips; but when they wish to be especially respectful, they throw themselves on their backs on the ground, and roll from side to side, slapping the outside of their thighs, crying Kinabom- ba,” kicking out furiously with their legs “But, sir,” said Carl, trembliug, and in | all the time. Dr. Livingstone tried to stop an almost inaudible tone, “I am not a rol>-: this strange spectacle on several occasions, her.” but they thought he deemed their welcome “Not a robber!” exclaimed Count Chris-! not friendly enough, and kept it up more tian. “What are you, then? You have energetically, couth to steal my daughter, to steal au lieir- duel—more dramatic than the tilts of the j ess and a fortune. I have your criminal knights of medieval times. The space and j letter. I shall show you no mercy. If circuit was measured; both men leaped into ! you refuse to obey me I will slay you.” tlie saddle, each on his lithe, active and j “What is your will, sir?’’ foot-sound mustang, with the lean coil of I Tiro Valuable Belles. Iii the Library of Congress, under lock and key, are two very interesting manu- ‘You must leave Baden this instant; i script volume with a history. They were rope at hand and the end safely fixed about ! you must put, at least 200 leagues between j written about the middle of the seventeenth the saddle’s crupper; the word was given i it and you, and never come into the pres- j century, and contain an account of the for- and the war began. The thin lashes whipped through the air, cutting space like arrows; but one struck too far, the other closed about the opponent’s throat like a hangman’s noose, and as the fortunate due- list drew back his horse upon its haunches his antagonist was dragged from his saddle to the ground. Happily, the lariat snapped, aud though seriously Injured, the vanquished man was not killed. The duel over, the defeated returned to life, friendship was also restored, and the cow-boys continued on their homeward trip. mation and acts of the Virginia company in regard to the early settlement of Virginia. They were originally in the possession of the Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of Shakespeare, and, after several transfers, became the property of Thomas ence of my daughter. For your traveling expenses 1 will give you 20,000 francs.” Carl endeavored to speak. “Silence!” said the Count, in a voice of thunder. “You must obey. In that sec retary is the money; take it.” The chevalier ventured the remark: “per-1 Jefferson, and were sold among his effects mit me to decline your offer.” j at his death, finally reaching the libraiy of The false modesty bf the young mar was j Congress, where they have since remained overcome by the imperious gesture of the | almost forgotten. Senator Johnson of old man. j Virginia has introduced a resolution provid- “But,” said Carl, the secretary is lock- ing for.printing 1000 copies of this valuable • ed.” J relic for the use of the government. Some time ago a native of Delvino, Al bania, was traveling, and came upon a man asleep under a tree, and immediately recog nized him as the leader of a well-known band of brigands. On looking around and finding that he was not observed he cut off the brigand’s head. Two nephews of the murdered brigand have now come to live in Delvino, and every one knows the object of their visit. They will stop there for years until their vengeance is satisfied. Sometimes the man sought for, goes to live in the island of Corfu, thinking in that manner to escape; but he is generally fol lowed, and suffers the penalty. While I was stopping at Corfu, the body of a Mus sulman Albanian was found just outside the town with liis head cut off; and lrom this fact it was believed that he hal been fol lowed to tlie death. It is a horrible and ghastly practice; and as I sat in my quar ters at Delvino, and looked from my win dow on the lovely scenery of moimtain and valley, river and forest, the houses sur rounded with olive, orange, pomegranate and myrtle trees scattered on either side of the steep hills and extending for two miles along the valley, with here and there a minaret, and then a Christian church—I felt a shudder at the thought that, notwith standing this peaceful scene, each house probably contained a murderer. With all this, the Albanians have a certain sense of chivalry. They assured me that a stranger might travel with perfect safety from end to end of Albania with a sack full of gold, provided he was accompanied by any female companion: and I have heard this confirmed from other parts of the country. An English lady of my acquaintance was traveling to join her husband in Northern Albania. She was accompanied by only two zapteehs, or policemen. She had stopped in the middle of the day to rest un der a tree, when a fine looking man, armed to the teeth, suddenly appeared and entered into conversation. He was shortly joined by many others, and she found that she was in the hands of a large band of brigand’s; but they showed her every courtesy, anil conducted her safely on her way. These same men would have robbed a man cf everything he had, and would probably have made him pay a ransom besides. —A York county, Pa., farmer was fined $13.95 for using profane language. —One-fifth of Norway is under tim ber. Transformed. Deadwood. Tessa was the name of a little maiden who had the misfortune to be very ugly; indeed, her face was so repulsive that no one loved to look at her. “It is the face of a Medusa,” said Carl, the young artist, who roomed across the way. “Poor thing! I should think she would want to bury herself,” said the pretty landlady. Tessa knew only too well why they all shunned her, and her heart was consumed with hate and envy. “Why should others be beautiful and I so plain ?” she said, gaz ing enviously on the young faces that passed her window : and the more hate there was in her heart the more repulsive grew her features. One day while wandering in the woods brooding morosely over her own misfor tune, with no thought of the beauty about her; she came suddenly upon a dwarf, misshapen and ilisfigured beyond anything she had ever imagined in human form. For once she was happy; she had found someone more ugly than herself, and a laugh, fiendish and cruel as a hyena’s rang through the forest. But the dwarf began to weep. “No wonder you weep,” said Tessa, “with such a face and figure*” “Nay,” said the dwarf sorrowfully, “I weep because I have found some one more wretched than myself.” And as the tears streamed from her eyes, her mottled skin grew white and soft; and Tessa saw with amazement that the poor deformed creature was actually becoming beautiful. “What has changed you so ?” she cried. “Am I changed?” asked the dwarf, eagerly. “Am I beautiful again ?” “Yes, so beautiful that I hate you,” I answered Tessa, regarding her with aston- : ished and envious eyes. “Nay, do not hate me,” she entreated; “it was hate and envy that deformed me; it is pity that has broken the spell. Re joice with me, and with all others who are beautiful and happy, and pity those less fortunate than yourself, aud some time you j may be freed from the curse.” As she! spoke she vanished. Then Tessa went to her house an I pon- j dered the words she had heard. It was j hard advice to follow, to rejoice in the beauty and happiness of those who scorned and shunned her, but she determined to make the effort. Hitherto she had spent | her time in idle repining, caring only for herself, but now she resolved to do some-! thing for the comfort of others, and remem-! bering a poor widow with a family of young children, living not far away, she set herself to fashioning warm mits and j stocking? for the little hands and feet. “Ugly as I am, I can create beauty for others,” she said, as the pretty things grew j under her fingers, aud the thought made j her glad. As time went on, all the poor and needy ! in the neighborhood learned to bless her, ! aud she half forgot her own misery in try-1 ing to relieve the misery of those about her. j One day as she was entering her gate a: beautiful child who was passing, slipped I and fell. Once she would have felt a cruel 1 delight in the child’s mishap, hoping that tlie lovely features might be marred for life, but now she sprang to help her. ; How good you are, ” said the little one, putting up her lips for a kiss, when Tessa had bathed the bruised forehead and bound it tenderly with soft linen. “And you are beautiful,” said Tessa, re turning the kiss. “And so are you,” said the chikL quickly, “as beautiful as my own mamma.” “Am I ?” cried Tessa, t urning with eager haste to the mirror, which for many a day she had kept closely veiled that she might not see her own ugliness reflected, and lift ing the drapery, she beheld a fair, sweet face, with tender, pitying eyes. Then Tessa, gazing a moment to make sure that this glorified face was her own, went down on her knees and thanked God. BRIEFS. — r l’he first steel pen was made in 1830. —The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7. “Deadwood,” said the stranger, putting down his half-eaten slice of lemon pie and taking a long pull at the milk, “I went there when the first rush was made for the hills. Rather a rough crowd the first lot, you bet; more wholesome now. When I got there I was dead-broke—didn’t have a dollar, didn’t have a revolver, which a man ’ll often need out there woree’n a meal's vittie 8 I was prob’lytlie only man m the '"S Th ' e fln?t , Dcifer match wa3 ma de hills who didn’t carry a firearm, an’ I was : n iq^q —Ships were first “copper-bottomed” in 1837. —Japan has a well organized bank system. —The first iron steamship was built in 1830. some lonesome, I tell you. The only weapon I hed—I’m a blacksmith—was rasp, a heavy file, you know, ’bout eighteen inches long, which I carried down my back, the handle in easy reach just below my coat collar. Understand? Like the Arkan- saw man carries his bowie knife. I'm not axactlya temperance man. I just don’t drink an’ doif t meddle with any other man’s drinkm’—that’s all. One day—I hedn’t been in Deadwood more’n a week—I was sittin’ in a s’loon—only place a man kin set to see any society—when feller come in, a reg'lar hustler, with his can full and a quart over. Hed a revolver on each side of his belt an’ looked vicious. Nothin’ mean about him, though. Askt me to drink. ‘Not any, thank you,’ sez I. ‘Not drink with me! Me! Bill Feathergill! When I ask a tenderfoot to drink } expect him to prance right up an’ no monkeyin’! You h-e-a-r me! ’ “Well, when his hand went down for his revolver, I whipped out my old file quicke’n fire ’ud scorch a feather an’ wiped him one right acrost the face. When he fell I thought I’d killed him, an’ the s’loon fillin’ up with bummers 1 sorter skinned out, not knowin’ what might happen. Purty soon a chap in a red shirt came up to me. Sez he, ‘You the man aske-arved Bell Feather- gill ? ’Cos, ef so be as you are, ef you don’t want ev’ry man in the hills to climb you, don’t you try to hide yourself—the boys is askin’ fur you now. ’ “It struck me that my friend had the idee, so I waltzed back and went up and down before that s’loon for nigh three hours. I’e found out Bill wasn’t dead an’ was bad medicine, but it would do to let down. Purty soon I see my man a-headin’ for me. His face had been patched up till it looked like the closing out display of a retail dry goods store. There was so little counte nance exposed that I couldn’t guess what he was a-aimin’ at, so I brought my hand back of my collar an’ grabbed my file. “ ‘Hold on there, there; hold on,’sez he, ‘gimme y’r hand, I’m friendly, I’ve got nothin’ agin you, not a thing, but—you’ll pardon my curiosity—what sort of a weepon was that, stranger?’ ” Cat and Rattlesnake. Superiority of Skill over Humber: Military history abounds in instances where, on account of position and skill, a force has vanquished an enemy greatly its superior in numbers. Hannibal gained his memorable victory at Cannie with a force not half so large ns the Romans, and killed upward of 40,000, while his own loss was less than 6,000. So Lucullus in his great battle against Tigrapiis met an army cf 260,000 men. The force of Lucu lus was not more than about 16,000—a force so small that it is told" of Tigrauus that he said “if they came as ambassadors, there were too many of them; if as soldiers, too few.” Yet over this mightyjiost, vain and confident, on account of their numbers, Lu cullus gained an overwhelming victory. So Marcus Lucullus, a brother of the for mer warrior, when under Sylla, attacked and became complete master of the field, killing 18,000 men, and routing thrice his own number. Sylla also gained remarka ble victones over forces vastly his superior. Marius at Aquae Sextiae, with greatly infe rior numbers, overcame the- army of the TuetOuS and Ambrones, killing and cap turing over 100,000. So numerous was the army of his enemy that they occupied six days in marching, without intermission, by the camp. Again, on the plain of Ver- cellae, with an army of 52,000, he cut to pieces the Cimbrian host, whose infantry centre formed a front of some four miles, with each flank of about the same length, and whose cavalry numbered 15,000. In the great battle of Leuctra, the Thebans had but 6,000 men, while the Spartans had at least 18,000, but the former, under Epa- minondas, gained a complete victory. A captain, Pelopidas by name, gained almost as much honor by this victory as did Epa- minondas. He afterwards, with only 200 mounted men, routed a large force under Alexander of Piiera?. Caesar, with a force of 7,000, in one battle, defeated the Gauls, numbering 70,000. In more modern times Napoleon gained his important victory at Marengo, with a force of 28,000 men, over an enemy numbering 40,000. His still more decisive victory at Austerlitz, was over an enemy numbering not less than 90,000, his own numbering about 70,000. The loss of th^llies was 10,000 killed and wounded, and he captured 20,000 prisoners, 185 guns, 400 cassions, and 45 standards. At the battle of Blenheim, Marlborough and Eugene gained a* complete victory over an enemy superior in numbers aud stronger in position, causing a loss to the enemy in killed and wounded and prison- era of 36,000 men. .Clive, with 3,000 men at the battle of Plassey, defeated and put to rout 70,#00 men supported by fifty can nons. Wellington won the battle of As- saye with 1,500 British and 3,000 Sepoys over 20,000 Maharatta infantry and 30,000 cavalry. In the battle of Corunna, zhe French, numbering 20,000, and numerous artillery under Soult, were driven from their position by the British, numbering 14,000,. and only nine six-poundere So it will be remembered General Scott, in his victory of Cherubusco with 7,000 men, de feated the enemy five times as numerous. About three weeks ago, during the beau tiful sunny weather we have had which in duced the trees to bud and bloom, I was walking in my garden in Atlanta, Georgia, thinking about preparing for an early start for spring vegetables, when I saw a large rattlesnake sunning. My firet impulse w?is to go to the house, get a gun, and kill it. But looking around, I saw* a large house cat cautiously creeping upon the reptile. An ticipating a fight, and equally desirous of getting rid of the cat, which killed chickens, I concluded to witness his attack upon the snake. The cat crawled upon its stomach, pulling aloDg on its feet, whisking its tail from side to side, and every now and then stretching its neck to view the snake. When about eight or ten feet off, the snake sud denly coiled up, sprung its rattle, faced the cat and darted its forked tongue out rapidly. The cat commenced a rapid circle around the snake, so fast in fact that the eye could hardly keep up with it. At last it got near enough and made a dart at its enemy, but through providential reasons it went high above the snake, which also struck at the cat, thus breaking its coil. The cat went too far and by the time it turned to face its foe, the reptile was again coiled ana ready for the attack. The same method was adopted and carried on for four or five times, occupying at least half an hour. The cat wished to catch the snake, but seemed aware that if it missed the neck it would be certain death. At the sixth as sault they met and instantly the snake was wrrapped in several folds around the body of the cat, which used its sharp claws with deadly effect. The cat had been bitten on the head and neck several times, and both continued to fight. The snake was torn nearly to shreds, but did not unloose its coil around its victim: The poison was swift and deadly, but before the cat died it caught the snake’s head in its mouth and crushed it, and fighting they died, the snake enwrapping the cat in its coils. The snake measured four feet eight inches and had thirteen rattles. The Conscience Fund. Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so when there,are no tale bearers the strife ceaseth. The first record of money received by this Government from repentant defrauders was in 1863. When General Spinner was trea surer he kept the account separately, but the practice was discontinued. The money now, as it has bean for the greater number of years since 1863, when the contributions began, is turned into the treasury as mis cellaneous receipts. Repeated attempts have been made by members of Congress to secure appropriations to be paid out of the conscience fund. If the money goes into the treasury as miscelladtous receipts, it ceases to be a separate fund, and cannot be drawn upon. It is not known how much the conscience money now amounts to. The total amount from Dec. 1, 1863, to June 30, 1874, as given in the treasurer’s repoit for the latter year was $162,914. Since then no account of the contributions has been kept. Treasurer Gilfillan, how ever, estimates that tlie money now foots up $250,000. The contributions, as a rule, come through the mail with a note saying for what purpose the money is forwarded. Very frequently a penitential explanation is included. Some of these explanations are very curious and some very laughable. The ladies contribite a good deal. They repent principally over false returns made under the income tax and for having evaded the duties upon articles of dress. A lady visited this country in 1864 from England. She smuggled in while here a silk dress pattern. A short time ago she wrote con fessing the evasion of customs duties and sending $15 to clear her conscience. She gave the value of the dress and wanted the balance sent back to her if the duties did not amount to $15. The customs division of the treasury made a computation based upon the duties charged in 1864, and found that the lady owed exactly $7,50. The bal.mce was remitted. Ministers of the gospel are very frequently the medium through which the money is refuuded. While administering spiritual consolation, the confession of defrauding the Govern ment is made, and a restitution follows. The clergy transmit the money without mentioning names. The largest amount ever received as one contribution was $15, 000 in United States 7-30 notes. This con tribution was announced in the newspapers. Many and ingenious attempts were made to get this money out of the treasury. One man said his father made the contribution, and that he was crazy. The contributor of it had carefully cut out the numbers of the notes so as to make it impossible to discov er from the books who had sent them. in 1829. —Gold was first discovered in Cali fornia in 1848. —Hot house strawberries are 50 cents apiece at Boston. —Virginia has now 2,491 schools, in structing 108,074. —Tha first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1820. —There are 7,500 journals published in the United States. —Kerosene was first used for light ing purposes in 1826. —Last year Colorodo produced $2,- 310.000 worth of coal.. —The first saw-maker’s anvil was brought to America in 1819. —The fences of the United States have cost about $2,000,000,000. —Virginia has 675 colored schools taught by 415 colored teachers. —A Japanese geographical society has recently been founded at Yedo. —Upward of 1,442 persons in* the British empire enjuy hereditary titles. —The firet experiment, in 1767, with iron rails for a road was made in Eng land. —A New Haven factory showered upon the world 22,000,000 fish hooks last year. —The kingdom of Siam is to be con nected with the telegraphic system of the world. —A school teacher thinks that pupils ought ro have a great hearty laugh every day. —The coach is of French invention. In the reign of Francis I. there were only two in Paris. —In the 15th century, straw was used to sleep on in the royal chambers of the English palaces. —The Presbyterian Church has 123,- 228 communicants in the State of New York, with 1,042 ministers. —The fifteen car manufacturing es tablishments in the country turned out 37,350 cars in eleven mouths. —The balance of trade in favor of the . United States for the last fiscal year was no less than $269,000,000. —Arizona has produced a quality of cotton equal to the Sea Island cotton from seed brought from China. —Pins were first used in England in the reign of Henry VIII., previously to which ladies used wooden skewers. —The Chilian government has forced into the market $4,000,000 of paper cur rency, making $16,000,000 outstanding. —St. Paul’s Cathedral, .London, oc cupied thirty-seven years in building and cost £1,000,000, raised ty a duty on coals. —The seventieth birthday of Ole Bull was celebrated at his residence in Cam bridge, Mass,, on Friday, 13c.i, by a surprise. —There aie fifty-one furnaces in the Lehigh Valley, Pa., with an an nual capacity of over 600,000 tons of pig iron. —Out of the million of inhabitants of New York city, it is calculated that only about 800,000 attend church on Sunday. —The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad is building a new bridge over the Minnesota River that will be 2,000 feet long. Chicago lumber receipts the past year have been greater by 25 per cent, and its shipments by 15j>£ per cent, than In any previous year. —It is estimated that 50,000 men and women are employed in Philadelphia in the manufacture of clothing, making 20,000,600 suits a year. —The January dividends in Boston aggregate $13,649,734, of which the railroads pay $1,874,375, and manufac turing companies $883,240. —The packages of tomatoes put up last year in the United States reached the total of 19,968,000, of which New Jersey put up 5,592,000 cans. —Illinois farm products amounted to $200,000,000 last year, which is dou ble the product of all the gold and sil ver mines in the United Stares. —Chicago packed last year 5,100,000 hogs, being an increase of 10 per cent, over 1878, and 75 per cent, over 1877. Over 10,000 men were employed. —The New Orleans mint has turned out 2,887,000 silver dollars and $60,000 worth of gold double eagles daring the eight months it has been running. —Manufacturing clothing in Chicago gives employment to 30,000 people, and the value of the goods made is $15,000,- 000. This industry has doubled in four years. —Queen Victoria has presented $250 to Private George Dodd, of the British army, in recognition of his gallantry in saving a child from death under the wheels of a tram-car in Dublin. —A musician, named Bruno, was killed by an electric shock received from the apparatus for producing the electric light at the Holte Theatre, Aston, Birmingham. —During January, 1880, the mints coined 992,000 gold pieces of a value of $7,067,500. They also coined 2,450,000 silver dollars, 16,000 five cent pieces and 5,820,000 cent pieces. ■—The Hudson Highlands and Cats- kill Mountains contributed 260,000 ever green trees and 100,000 yards of ever green roping, which was sold in New York city during the holiday season. —The paintings, sculpture, frescoes, ete., contained in the churches under the supervision of the city of Paris are valued at 6,116,339 francs, of which 3,- 391,094 francs is apportioned to paint ings, 1,776,040 francs to sculpture, aud 949,205 francs to stained glass. An English journalist has discovered that there are in France, at the present time 1,700 women of letters and 2,150 women artists. Two-thirds of the wri ters Were horn in the provinces Nor mandy, Brittany and the south, while two thirds of the artists were born in Paris. —There are about 125 acres of straw berries planted in Florida this season for the market. The yield ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 quarts per acre. An aver age of about5,000 quarts per acre would make the yield 725,000 quarts. The growers are negotiating with the Flor ida Despatch Line for the movement of the crop. —The preliminary taxable valua tions of New York, real estate for 1880, just completed by the Assessors, show an increase for every ward in the city, ranging from $43,600 in the Thirteenth to $9,348,520 in the Nineteenth Ward. The aggregate increase is $28,183,417, or about 3 per cent, on the valuation of last year.