Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 1.-NO. 45.
POET It Y.
“THE LORD’S HOCS2.’>
Two children, standing with yellow hair
In tho sunV rich, golden ray,
Winking at Sol with their eyea so rare;
And this is what they say:
" I come from over tho Rhino," one said.
And smiled as she thought of home;
" It's prettier there than hero; you’ve read
Os our church with its handsome dome.
" Germany’s lands arc po fine," sho said,
“ And wo have lords’ houses there
Sho glanced at tho c<v i.igos white and red,
At ,he landscape, plain, but fair.
“Is America poor?" sne asked in pity,
“ And have you nothing hero,
To compare with the grand old Rhenish city,
And tho lord* wo so much four ?"
Answering then, the American child
Thoughtfully raised her eyes,
And in a manner lirm but mild,
She joyously pointed high.
To the rich illumined, lofty spire,
Shining in God’s own light.
All lit with the sun’s rich beams of fire,
And claspsed her comrado tight;
" That is the House of our Lord," said she,
And smiled at the othor's look;
For tho Rhenish maid said, “Can it be?"
And slowly the meaning t-'ok.
Two childron, standing with yellow hair,
And their soft, white anna entwined;
Gazing at heaven with oyea so rare,
And thoughts toward God inclined.
THE BTO R r- TELL ER.
THE WIFE OF DR. FRANKLIN.
BY JAMES PARTON.
On a fine Sunday morning in October,
1723, Deborah Read, a beautiful and
blooming lass of eighteen, stood at the
door of her father’s house in Market-st.,
Philadelphia.
The city was then forty-threo years of
age, and it contained a population of
seven thousand. Many trees of the
original forest still stood upon its site ;
the houses were built at some distance
apart, with gardens between them.; and
as yet the streets were all unpaved. It
was a large, tranquil Quaker village,
surrounded by the primeval wilderness,
with groups of Indians frequently to be
seen in its streets; and such game as
wolves, bears, wild turkeys, and deer to
bo shot within four miles of tho town.
As the young lady stood at the door of
her home—it was about church time in
tho morning—she saw in the crowd of
church-going people a strange figure
that both amused and surprised her. It
was a stout lad of seventeen, not ill
looking, but dressed in the very extreme
of shabbiness. He wore the working
clothes of an ordinary apprentice, and
these, by exposuro to rain and the wear
and tear of travel, had become dirty and
dilapidated. The pockets of his coat
were stuffed out with shirts and stock
ings, and under each arm he had a large
roll, while he was eating a third. She
gazed at him as long as she could see
him, wondering and laughing at his
ridiculous appearance. If she had any
thoughts upon the subject, she probably
set him down as a runaway apprentice,
for such indeed he was, one Benjamin
Franklin, who had made his way from
Boston by sloop, by barge, and on foot,
to escape the tyranny of his brother, to
whom he had been apprenticed.
A few days passed. Miss Read learn
ed from her father that ’a young man
was coming to board with them, .a print
er, who worked in one of the two print
ing houses of the town. "What was her
surprise when the young man arrived,
nicely dressed, with clean linen, and
very neat in his person, to recognize the
forlorn and shabby youth who had
caught her eye on that Sunday morning.
His chest had arrived meanwhile by sea,
and thus he was able to present himself
at his new abode in a becoming costume.
The young man proved Highly agreeable
to the family. He was full of intelli
gence, amiability, and good humor, one
of those young fellows who make friends
wherever they go, because they are
themselves obliging and friendly.
A year glided rapidly by; during
which the father of the young lady died,
and was buried in Christ Church bury
ing-ground, Philadelphia, where his
grave-stone may still be seen and read.
His wife, a vigorous and prudent wo
man, carried on the house as usual, so
that it still furnished a home for tho
young printer. His fortunes had bright
ened during the year. The Governor of
the province, who had accidentally be
come acquainted with his talents, had
promised to set him up in business as a
printer, and was going to send him to
London to buy types, a printing press,
and whatever is necessary for the busi
ness of a printer. With this prospect
before him, the young man was embold
ened to speak to Airs. Read on a mo
mentous subject. He had fallen in love
with her beautiful daughter. He told
her this mighty secret, and of his intend
ed voyage to London, and of the Gov
ernor’s project of establishing him in
business. Finally, he asked her daugh
ter’s hand in marriage.
Mrs. Read was far from disapproving
the match, but, like a prudent mother
as she was, she called the young man’s
attention to the fact that neither he nor
her daughter wero yet nineteen, and
that it would be most unwise for them
to marry just as he was going upon a
long voyage, and about to engage in a
new business which might not prove
profitable. How much better to wait
until he was safe at home again, and the
business was well established. There
was no denying this, and he was obliged
to submit. Having thus arranged the
matter with the mother, he spoke to the
daughter, who confessed with her
tongue, what her eyes probably had
often avowed, that she loved him, and
shepromisod to marry him on his return.
lie set sail, and reached London in
due time. There he discovered that the
Governor had deceived and wronged
him most cruelly. Instead of letters of
credit, the Govornor had given him
mere letters of introduction which were
absolutely worthless. The consequcnco
was, that this young printer of nineteen
found himself in London with ten
ponnds in his pocket, and not a friend in
Europe who could boos the slightest
help to him. To complete his misfor
tunes one of his Philadelphia friends,
who had crossed the Atlantic with him,
and had come to London expecting to
live by literature, could obtain no em
ployment, and had no resources but
Franklin’s purse. The printer was not
long in getting work at his trade ; but
as there were two to be supported, the
ten pounds rapidly melted away, and
Franklin saw no prospect even of his
being able to get back to Philadelphia
at all, still less of appearing there as a
master printer.
In these circumstances he should have
written to Miss Read a plain statement
of the case, and asked her to wait for
him or released her from the engage
ment. Either he had not the courage to
do this, or else, absorbed by the wonders
and pleasures of the town, he had be
come indifferent to her. He merely
wrote her a short note, announcing his
safe arrival in London, and telling her
he was not likely to return soon. This
was one of tin* great errors of his life,
which, he said, he could wish to correct
if he were to live it over again.
Month after month passed, andJDe
borah Read, anxious and forlorn, heard
no more from her faithless lover. Anew
suitor presented himself, Rogers by
name, who carried on the trade of a
potter. He was an excellent hand at
his business, and for this reason Mrs.
Read favored his suit. Other relations
persuaded her to marry him, and at last
she gave her consent and the marriage
was celebrated. Soon the dreadful
rumor was noised abroad in Philadel
phia that Rogers the potter had another
wife. Such strong reasons appeared for
crediting this report that Deborah Read,
who had lived unhappily with him, re
turned to her mother and resumed her
maiden name, a sorrowful and hopeless
woman. Her most sanguine friends
could not have foreseen for her a happy
and honorable future. Soon after
Rogers, who owed money in all direc
tions, fled from his creditors to tho Most
Indies, whence came soon after a report
of his death.
Franklin remained in London for
about two years, at the end of which lie
returned as cleric to a Philadelphia mer
chant, whom he had met by chance in
London. Upon his arrival he renewed
liis intimacy with Mrs. Read and her
daughter, and doubtless explained his
inconstancy as best he could. He la
mented Deborah Read’s unhappy con
dition ; and, however he may have ex
cused his behavior, he felt that she owed
the ruin of her life to his own “giddi
ness and inconstancy.” The mother,
however, insisted that it was she who was
most in fault, because she had urged on
the unhappy marriage, even against her
daughter’s inclination. She still con
sulted Franklin about her affairs, and
they were all excellent friends.
And so passed three or four years;
during which Franklin, through his own
industry and good conduct, became a
master printer, and proprietor of a news
paper, with the prospect of founding an
extensive business. Needing capital,
he tried to increase his store by mar
riage, and when that scheme failed, he
turned his thoughts to his first love,
poor Deborah Read. Her runaway
potter was probably dead ; but he might
not be; and she seemed forever cut off
from marriage by the fact that her
second husband would be responsible
for the debts of her first. Such was the
law of the period.
Franklin, pitying her forlorn condi
tion, always reproaching himself as tho
cause of her w r oe, and not less fond of
her than before, at last proposed that
they should risk a marriage. Nor was
the match so unequal as it seemed; for,
bachelor as he was, he had a son a few
months old upon his hands, which was
a good set off against the chances of
Rogers’ reappearance. In 1730, seven
years after Miss Read had seen Franklin
walk up Market street eating his roll,
they were married. Rogers, it turned
out, was really dead ; nor did any of his
creditors apply to Franklin for payment.
The child was taken home and reared as
though it had been born to them in wed
lock. He was educated, and afterward
became Governor of New Jersey.
The marriage was eminently success
ful in every respect. One of Franklin’s
maxims in Poor Richard’s Almanac was
this : “ A man must ask his wife to
thrive.” Nothing more true. In vain
shall a young man, without much capi
tal, toil and deny himself, if he has a
wife who squanders his gains, and takes
no interest in his career. Airs. Franklin
was one of the most industrious, careful,
and friendly of women. Beside attend
ing her husband’s little shop, she bought
rags, stitched pamphlets, folded newspa
pers, tenderly nurtured his child, and
kept her husband from being extrava
gant. He was by no means of an eco
nomical disposition. He was generous
to a fault, and, I am sure, was much in
debted to his wife for the rapidity with
which he made his fortune. In tho ear
ly years of their married life he could
sometimes boast —and he did boast of it
—that he was clothed from head to foot
in garments which his wife had first
woven, and then made.
It seems, however, that she was not
averse to a reasonable amount of com
fort and display. Franklin narrates that
for a long time after his marriage he had
nothing for breakfast but bread and
milk, and he used to eat it out of a two
penny bowl with a pewter spoon.
“ But,” he continued, “ mark how lux
ury will enter families, and make a pro
gress in spite of principle. Being call
ed one morning to breakfast, I found it
in a china bowl with a spoon of silvor.
They had been bought for me without
my knowledge by my wife, and had cost
her the enormous sum of three and
twenty shillings ; for which she had no
excuse or apology to make but that she
thought her husband deserved a silver
spoon and china bowl as well as any of
his neighbors.”
We have another pleasing glimpse of
Mrs. Franklin, in the early years of her
married life, in an advertisement pub
lished in Franklin’s paper, The Pennsyl
vania Gazette. Franklin advertised eve
rything, and this is one of his attempts
in that way :
PALMETTO, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 1872.
“ Taken out of a pew in the church,
some months since, a Common Prayer-
Book, bound in red. 1 1, u.nd lettered D.
F. (Deborah F:.Ui.xn.u) on each cover.
The person who took it is desired to open
it and read the Eighth Commandment,
and afterwards return it in tho same
pew again ; upon which no further no
tice will be taken.”
The iirst great sorrow of her married
life was the death of their first child, a
most beautiful and intelligent boy, four
years of age. So engaging was he, and
so rooted in the hearts of his parents
that Franklin declared, thirty-six years
after, he could never think of him even
then without a sigh. When the reader
visits the grave of Franklin in Christ
Church burying ground he will observe
near it a little stone, not two feet high,
which Franklin placed over the grave of
his boy. He added to the usual inscrip
tion these words : “ The delight of all
who knew him.” Their only other child,
Sarah, grew to womanhood, inheriting
and transmitting her mother’s beauty.
During the last fifteen years of their
married life Franklin spent most of his
time in England, as agent for the Colon
ies. Such was her dread of the ocean
that she never could be persuaded to ac
company him or visit him. During his
absence she took care of all his affairs,
better, in some respects, than he could
have done it himself. By almost every
ship she sent him American nuts, ap
ples, and other products, and lie sent her
in return all sorts of rare and beautiful
things in fabric and household furniture,
such as sets of china, articles of silver
ware, table-cloths, tea trays, blankets,
silk for dresses, and any curious house
hold implement which he thought
might be useful. On one occasion he
sent her a large, handsome beer jug.
“ I fell in love with it,” he told her,
at first sight, for I thought that it look
ed like a fat, jolly dame, clean and tidj r ,
with a neat blue and calico gown on,
good-natured and lovely, and put me in
mind of—somebody.”
To make the jug more welcome, he
filled it with pretty little coffee cups,
packed in salt.
During the Stamp Act troubles of
1765, when the false report reached
Philadelphia that her husband had fa
vored the odious measure, the mob
threatened to sack his house. On this
occasion she proved herself worthy to be
the wife of Pennsylvania’s representa
tive. Gov. franklin entreated her to
take refuge in his own house at Burling
ton, and all her friends urged her to go.
For nine days, she says, people kept
persuading her to leave her house. At
length, she le. her daughter go to Bur
lington ; but .or herself, she would not
budge.
“ I am very sure,” .said she, “ that my
husband has done nothing to hurt any
body, nor have I given any offense to
any person at all, nor will I be made
uneasy by anybody. I will not stir, nor
show the least uneasiness. But if any
body comes to disturb me, I will show
a proper resentment.”
And, indeed, she armed and fortified
her house, stationing her brother and
cousin below with guns and ammuni
tion, and mounting guard up-stairs her
self, prepared to defend her abode. The
storm blew over, and very soon the truth
respecting her husband’s conduct was
known.
For forty-five years Benjamin Frank
lin and Deborah Read were united in
marriage.
Slie lived to see her husband the most
honored of Americans on both conti
nents, and she lived also to see her daugh
ter suitably married to a merchant of
Philadelphia, Richard Bache. Her last
years were greatly cheered by her beau
tiful grandchildren.
She had the happiness of escaping the
anxieties and terrors of the Revolution
ary War. She died in December, 1774,
with only one regret, that she could not
live to see her husband once again. In
deed, she had been for ten years longing
and pining for his return ; but the press
ing business*of the Colonies still detain
ed him, and sho died at last when Ik;
was making his preparations for his
homeward voyage. Her body was borne
to the grave by some of Franklin’s old
est friends, men who had known them
when, 44 years before, they had begun
housekeeping, and ate their breakfast of
bread and milk from Eastern bowls.
There were scaroely any women at
that period who were what we now call
educated, and the letters of Mrs. Frank
lin show that sho was not gifted in the
use of the pen.
But she was a faithful and affectionate
wife, a friend and helpmeet to her hus
band, who was enabled to devote him
self to the public service because he had
at home a wife competent and willing
to take charge of his affairs in his ab
sence.— WooiVs Household Magazine for
January.
A Railroad Surrey on Snow Shoes.
The Green Bay (Wis.) Gazette of the
9th, says : “We had tho pleasure of a
call several days since from Air. Archi
bald McNab, of the staff of Sanford
Fleming, Esq., Chief Engineer of the
Canada Pacific Railway, a proposed
route from the navigable waters of the
St. Lawrence River to Frazer River, on
the northern boundary line of British
Columbia. Mr. McNab left Sault Stc.
Marie on the 29th of November, with a
party of men to go to Nepigon Bay, in
tending to start from that point to sur
vey. They embarked on the screw
steamer Mineral Rock, and after various
delays, owing to imperfect machinery,
they were, on December 13, frozen in off
Kewenaw Point. Here they were on a
bleak point, no money, little provisions,
and destitute of comfort. After much
trudging and hard labor they finally
reached Houghton, and from thenco
they made their way to this point, and
by communicating with the Canadian
authorities, procured sufficient funds to
enable them to recommence thsir jour
ney. Air. AlcNab and party left here
on Sunday evening for Duluth, where
they will commence their pilgrimage for
the point originally intended—Nepigon
Bay; being compelled to travorso the
entire distanco on snow-shoes.”
Hints About Conversation.
Special conversation, says an English
magazine writer, is work, serious work ;
general conversation should be the diver
sion of our leisure. Special conversa
tion is to end in a resolve, and in action.
General conversation ends, as far as any
visible effect is concerned, with itself.
Thus, what is familiarly called “ shop”
should be rigidly banished from tho lat
ter. There aro moments when women
may fairly compare notes about their
servants, their children, their dress ;
when lawyers may fittingly discuss their
suits, their clients, their courts, their re
forms ; when artists may properly can
vass the time expensed over certain pic
tures, their price, thiir technical merits,
and so forth. lUit, %>. it understood, all
this is business; it is nothing but “ shop,”
lot the conversation bo carried on when
it may. General conversation needs all
of these—indeed, there.", no tid that it
scorns : but it needs them as accessories,
not as principals. They should be used
as the side-lights, the timely illustrations
flashed upon the main theme, at mo
ments when it is threatened with dark
ness or dimness. This miin theme should
be no one’s in particular, but should
seem to be any one’s at times, and in
turns. Thus only can le reconciled the
two at first seemingly conflicting condi
tions of all good generai conversation—
that it should not be mean, common, or
vulgar, and yet that everybody should
have an interest it,
It is the humility of some, and the ar
rogance or egotism of others, that pre
vent the happy combination from being
more common. People hive only to be
gin with three axioms—the first of which
is, that everybody is entitled (indeed
bound) to form his own opinion, quite
irrespectively of anything he may have
read or been told ; the second of which
is, that everybody is equally entitled to
declare that opinion ; ana the third of
which is, that everybody’s opinion is en
titled to consideration, am. that not on
ly on the ground of courtesy, but be
cause it is certain that any opinion hon
estly and independently formed is worth
something, and opportunely expressed,
may contribute in a striking manner to
a current discussion. But *'or this most
desirable consummation to be reached,
difference of opinion must no longer be
thought to verge upon bad manners, and
truth or the pursuit of truth, not vic
tory, must be the common quest.
The upper ten thousand of this world
pride themselves upon being so vastly
superior to the rest of the human race,
that they are confidently justified to
themselves when they strengthen the
barriers which separate them from the
common herd. We aro not among the
believers in the social equality of men,
but we cannot allow Ourselves to be
blinded by tho spurious distinctions
which now pronounce them unequal.
Abolish distinction of dress, manner,
and speech, and where is the difference
between many a lady and her maid, be
tween many a gentleman and his valet,
between some peers and their grooms V
The conversation of the drawing-room
is, in too many instances, not one whit
better or more elevated than that of the
servants’ hall, and the discussions of a
smoking-room are perfectly on a par
with those of the stable. And if wo are
to stick to our definition, does it not fol
low that he is the highest man whose
conversation, i. e. whose thoughts—for,
depend upon it, the two things are con
vertible —-is habitually' the highest and
the most soaring V
A Queer Story of Superstition.
The Berlin (Wisconsin) Journal has
this story ; A gentleman who resided
in this city has related to 11s a strange
story of superstition and barbarity,
which lie claimed had happened in this
city recently. Our informant was a
German, and the parties in the story are
Polanders, but their names we could not
learn. The story, as related to us, is
substantially as follows: About the first
of December or last of November a young
Polish woman gave birth to a child.
About two days afterward she died and
was buried in the city cemetery. After
about five weeks the wife of the brother
of the dead woman was taken very sick,
and it was thought she would die.
It appears there is a superstitious idea
among the Polanders that if one of a
family dies, unless the head of the corpse
is cut off the whole family will be likely’
to follow in rapid succession. However,
if after one has died, another is taken
sick, if some of the blood is procured
from the dead body and administered to
the patient he will recover. In accor
dance with this superstition, our in
formant alleges, the husband of the sick
woman went to the burying ground on
the night of January 2, five weeks after
interment, dug up the body, cut off the
head, and took from it blood and other
liquid, which he administered to his wife
as a medicine. That shortly after this
the side woman’s malady’ assumed the
form of smallpox, from which she reco
vered and she is now entirely well. Our
informant claimed that many witnesses
story, and from what we learned we are
could be brought to corroborate t’lis
to believe that there is some foundation
for the story’. The person who gave 11 s
our information knows the name of the
Polander in question, but would not
disclose it.
Nevada “Ships of the Desert.”
The Virginia City’ Enterprise, of the
13th, says:
A train of over a dozen camels arrived
in this city' yesterday afternoon from
the valley' of the Carson River, below
Dayton. These “ ships of the desert”
were loaded with hay in bales for Adams’
hay yard on North D street. The huge,
ungainly beasts presented quite a pic
turesque appeareuce as they filed into
town with their cumbrous freight. Upon
arriving at tho hay yard, at the word of
command, they all knelt down to he re
lieved of their loads. These animals
appear to thrivo quite as well in this
country as in the wilds of Sahara. There
are an abundance of doserts here, if
they aro neeossary to the comfort of the
beasts.
The Narrow Gauge in Colorado.
Mr. Samuel Bowles, of the Springfield
Republican, gives the following descrip
tion of tho experimental narrow gauge
railway’ now in operation for about sev
enty'-five miles below Denver :
The Colorado road, which has been
constructed with gre? 1 rapidity for sev
enty-five miles south of Denver, is in
tended ultimately to be built along tho
base of the Rocky Mountains to Saute
Fe, thence to Albuquerque, thence to El
Paso on the Mexican border, thence to
Chihuahua and finally to tho City of
Mexico—a total distance of about 1,750
miles. When completed, it will be one
of the most important lines of railway
on the Continent. It is not likely that
it would have been undertaken but for
the fact that the narrow gauge plan of
construction involves so "much less ex
pense than that of the accepted system.
Mr. Bowles says that the cost of build
ing this road has been but $13,000 a
mile, while the Kansas Pacific, which
traverses a like region of country’, cost
§22,000. As to its working, 110 says :
“ The road and its trains, in the first
place, look like a railway plaything, in
contrast with the broader and heavier
tracks and larger oars of tho accustom
ed lines ; delicate and dainty, they seem
almost too faint and feeble for the hard,
quick work to which they are called,and
especially unequal to the great contest
which they have invited. Yet so far,
surely, they are performing their task
with ease, with comfort, with celerity
and with success. The track-bed of the
narrow gauge is 0 foot wide, us against
9 ; tho distance between tho rails 3 feet,
as against 4 feet 8 1-2 inches; thetiesare
6to 61-2 feet, as against 8; the rails weigh
30 pounds to the yard, as against 56; the
engines 12 to 10 tons, as against 25 to 30
tons, putting about half the weight on
the drive-wheels that the large locomo
tives do ; the passenger cars, with 8
wheels, and carrying 32 passengers,
weigli 0 tons, as against 18 tons, 8 wheels
and 50 passengers ; and the freight cars
so far introduced weigh 2 tons, run on 1
wheels and carry 4 to 5 tons of freight,
as against cars weighing 9 tons on 8
wheels, and capable of 10 tons load.
Where four passengers sit in the ordinary
car, three are seated in the narrow ones,
two on one side and one on the other of
the passage way’, the car being divided
in the middle by a door, and the seats
for two and one, respectively, being re
served in the two sections, so as to bal
ance the carriage. The cars at first in
troduced are 7 feet wide, and 10 1-2 feet
high from rail to top. They prove a
trifle more compact than is necessary,
and not quite generous enough in ac
commodations for passengers ; but this
evil is being remedied in new cars now
constructing; while sleeping cars and
day drawing-room cars can be made for
the narrow gauge roads, which will ac
commodate still more persons, in pro
portion to their size and weight, than
the ordinary cars of this character now
do.”
Building and Loan Associations.
Much has been said of co-operative
associations for manufacturing and for
carrrying on other branches of produc
tive industry, as well as of co-operative
stores, but what are known as building
and loan associations, representing an
other application of the same mutual
principle, are comparatively little under
stood. The latter offer very decided ad
vantages not only to the working peo
ple, but to all persons in receipt of
wages or a fixed salary, whether shop
girls or railroad superintendents.
The building and loan association is
in the nature of a savings bank, all the
depositors in which are stockholders and
entitled to a pro rata share of the pro
fits which their aggregated savings earn.
It is a perfectly mutual concern, there
being no preferred class of stockholders,
and, as usually managed, the officers for
tho most part serving without salaries.
Tile expenses aro exceedingly small.
A prominent feature of such associa
tions is the privilege accorded to mem
bers of borrowing money, in amounts
proportioned to the number of their
shares of stock, on remarkably favora
ble terms. This enables a poor man to
become the absolute owner of a house in
from eight to eleven years by paying an
nually but a small sum in addition to
the rent of it.
A law passed by the Legislature of
Pennsylvania in 1859 qirovides for the
incorporation of building and loan asso
ciations, and prescribes oertain general
rules and limitations respecting them.
Some of the details of their working are
a little oomplex, but the plan in the
main is very simple, and entirely within
the comprehension of everybody. A
man—or woman either—who can save
ten dollars a month, may take ten shares
of stock, which have a nominal or pros
pective value of S2OO each. By contin
uing monthly payments of $lO during a
term which varies from eight to eleven
years, he can withdraw the sum of
$2,000 at the end of that time. Sup
posing tho association to run nine years
and six months (which is about the aver
age period under good management),
such a stockholder actually pays but
$1,140 in return for tho $2,000 which he
obtains. He thus realizes an average
annual interest of very nearly eight per
cent, on his money, while five per cent,
is the highest ever allowed by savings
banks, and four per cent, is the more
usual rate.
This example shows the paramount
advantages of such mutual societies sim
ply as a depository for savings. Os
course a smaller or larger amount of
stock may bo taken with proportionate
results.
Men who desire to borrow moderate
amounts of money, either for the pur
pose of purchasing or building a house,
or starting in business, find quite as
great an advantage from the possession
of stock in a building and loan associa
tion, though they may be obliged to
pay a considerable premium iu addition
to legal interest. That premium goes
to swell the common fund, and the larger
the profits thus made by tho association
the sooner its object is accomplished and
the end of its existence reached, when
the borrower is not only relieved from
further payments of interest, but his
note and mortgage are cancelled without
the payment of any principal beyond
the amounts which havo boon received
from him ns monthly duos on his shares
of stock.
Tho stock in tlieso associations may be
transferred at any time, and always for
more than it cost; thus there is no pos
sibility of loss, provided honest or re
sponsible officers are chosen. The prin
ciples and workings of this plan cannot
all be explained within the limits of a
newspaper article. Several books have
been written concerning it, and a month
ly journal— The, Building Association
Journal —devoted to the subject, lias
been published in Philadelphia for more
than a year past.
The idea of such associations origin
ated in Scotland about 1815. The first
one in this country was organized ill
Frankford, Philadelphia, January 3,
1831. The number now in this city is
estimated at 350, and the average of
capital invested in them at umvards of
s2s,ooo,ooo.— Philadelphia Press.
Facts About Trichime in Hogs.
A Cleveland despatch says ; •* A well
authenticated and undoubted case of
trichinae spiralis is now undergoing in
vestigation by our physicians, li, has
already resulted in the death of one vic
tim, and several more are iu a dangerous
condition. The unfortunate sufferers
are a family’ by the name of Martens.
For several weeks past they have at dif
ferent times eaten of pork, either made
into sausages or cooked in the usual
maimer, which was to all appearances
in good condition, and there was no in
dication of disease of any kind. A few
days ago the entire family, consisting of
Charles Martens, his brother Ernst, wife
and two children, were seized with
symptoms that baffled at first all at
tempts at discovering their character ;
but an examination of the pork partaken
of proved r inclusively tho presence of
" :..: ■ .:i t richinm in an encysted state,
m spite of all that was done to relieve
him, Charles Martens died Monday
night. Miss Martens is in a very crit
ical condition, and there is but little
hope of her recovery. One of the chil
dren may recover, but the only member
of tho family out of danger is the broth
el', Ernst Martens, who ate but little of
the. affected meat. A microscopic exam
ination made of a piece out from the
muscle of the arm of the deceased with
an instrument having a magnifying ca
pacity of four hundred times, revealed
the presence of a number of trichinae,
some of them still alive and active, but
soon dying on exposure to the air.
Their average length was one-eigh
teenth of an inch. Their color wan a
light drab, marked with shades of a
darker color. Experiments have shown
that exposure to heat greater than 160
degrees effectually destroys these dread
insects. The first cases of trichinosis in
America wero in New York. At
Marion, lowa, in 1863, nine cases occur
red in one family, five deaths resulting.
In the same county, eating raw ham
containing trichina; (proved afterward
by examination) caused the death of six
children at the same time. An examin
ation of pork in Chicago by a commit
tee of the Academy of Science of that
city’ proved tho existence of trichinae in
one in fifty’ of the hogs inspected. Some
of the flesh contained from 10,000 to 18,-
000 of these insects to the cubic inch.”—
Buffalo Express.
The Submerged Treasure iu Cuinana
Bay.
The wrecking expedition, (says the
Boston Journal), sent out by the Ameri
can Submarine Company has been for
some time engaged in the endeavor to
recover the treasures sunk in the Span
ish frigate San Pedro de Alcanbctra, in
Cumana bay, more than half a century
ago, are progressing in the work. The
hulk has been cleared, and the debris
above the ballast removed. Tho result
shows that the treasure room was above
and abaft the after magazine, and the
terrific force of the explosion scattered
its contents broadcast over the bay. An
idea of the explosion may be gained
from the fact that oarmon weighing six
tons were found to have been hurlod
three hundred feet. A few Spanish
milled dollars and some interesting relics
and curiosities were found. The com
pany have decided to fit out at once
small vessels suitable for dredging pur
poses, and expect to bo able to recover
a large portion of the millions of coins
which cover the bottom of the bay for
over an area of an acre or more. Mr.
Fuller of Norwich, Conn., is the man
ager of the expedition; and the brig
Nellie Gay, w’hich has been engaged in
this work, will, on her return to New
London, be fitted out for another expe
dition of like character.
Children’s Eating.
When a parent sees a child come to the
breakfast table, nibble a little, then go
away, death is in the distance, and may
be near iu a great many cases; in all
there is solid ground for apprehension of
coming ill in some form or other. This
want of appetite for breakfast may come
on very slowly ; it may be weeks before
it is decided enough to be remarked ; so
much the worse for the child, because
greater will be the difficulty in righting
things. If children are going to school,
eating should be made compulsory, or
brain disease will follow sooner or later,
for the brain must be nourished, or rest
less sleep follows, and in its train dreams,
nervousness, cold feet and hands, with
severe debility. All school children
should havo plenty of meat and bread
for breakfast and dinner, with all the
fruit and berries they can got afterward
for dessert; if not these, then no dessert
at all. A speedy and easy way to remedy
meal-time nibbling is to begin with a
supper of bread and butter, and one cup
of hot milk and water, and nothing olse.
Allow not an atom of anything to be
eaten between meals, and compel them
to be in bed by nine o’clock. Within a
week a hearty breakfast will be tho re
sult, with an increasing vivacity, activity,
life and joyovumesa.
$2 PER ANNUM.
Facts and Figures.
Diamonds in Arizona havo advanced
in price. You cannot now purchase
really good ones short of sixty cents a
bushel.
Illinois is tho great railroad State of
the Union. She lias now in operation
3,725 miles—just 705 milos more than
any other State.
A human footprint fifteen inches long
has been found in a slate quarry noar
Seneca, Kansas. The pro-Adamite man
wore large boots.
A Boston coroner has been accused of
presenting bills for viewing bodies that
he never saw. He gets $4 a head, and
gets ahead about $4 every time.
A woman engaged in passing counter
feit twenty-dollar notes has been arres
ted in Milwaukee, and a large amount
of counterfeit money found in her pos
session.
A Cincinnati paper says that the lo
cation of the Union Pacific depot
grounds at Omaha, on G. F. Train’s
property, will make Train worth over
$100,006,000.
Among the literary people who make
tlieir winter homes in Washington, are
Mrs. Southworth, Mrs. Ann Stephens,
Mrs. Mary Clemmer Ames, Mrs. Mary
A. Dennison, and Mrs. Harriet Prescott
Spofford.
A prominent manufacturer of wood
working machines in Cincinnati has re
ceived orders from the government of
Japan for shinglo and lath machines,
turning lathes, and Other machinery for
wood-working.
Some of the towns in Vermont having
vaccinated most of their population, aro
now a little inclined to grumble because
the small-pox does not como along.
There is a general foeling that all tins
t rouble has been taken for nothing.
Some of tho quiet villages of New
Hampshire have a commendable way of
reliving the tedium of their long winters.
Two rival towns engage iu a spelling
contest, which is Carried on without any
of tho bitterness which is apt to be de
veloped in other “ wars of words.” Antrim
and Bennington have been fighting it
I out on that line all winter. At last re
port. Bennington was two words ahead.
Carroll county claims to have the big
gest man ill Tennessee, in tile person of
William B. Shaver. According to a
recent measurement lie measure around
the wrist eight and one-half inches;
around the arm, eighteen inches ; around
the calf of leg, nineteen inches; around
thethigh, midway above the knee, thirty
three inches ; around the chest, five feet;
and around the waist, six feet. His
height is six feet five and one-half inches.
Boston has had another big swindle.
An enterprising man named Brock
openu Commercial Agency ” in that
city, through which country merchants
could of course make tlieir purchase at
a vast advantage. So large was the
concern that it had its own printing
establishment for getting out circulars,
reports, etc., and employed a large num
bes of men and girls. No sooner had it.
got well a-going than the projector sud
denly conceived that he would find the
climate of Canada beneficial. He left
many debts unpaid and carried off some
plunder.
“ Aunt Phillis,” an old colored wo
man, who was well known in and about
Rahway, N. J., was burned to death at
Bricktown, near Rahway, tho other
night. She was born in New Jersey
about the year 1767, and during the
Revolutionary war, although a mere
girl, is said to have been of some service
to the American cause as a spy. Sho
herself used to say that at one time she
was in the special service of General
Washington. Sho had in her posession
a gold snuff-box, which was given to
her by Governor Livingston as a tes
timonial of ber services to the Federal
cause.
An ardent youth of Cleveland, over
whose romantic hoad seventeen summers
had passed, blow out his brains the other
day because he was “ crossed in hopeless
love” with a young woman some years
older. His mother made the course of
his true love exceedingly rough, and
poor fellow he had nothing to live for,
and so got rid of the small modicum of
brains that nature had lodged in his
cranium. If he had had his wish, and
married the woman, it would only havo
postponed the catastrophe, for he would
very likely have awakened from his rosy
dream to discover that he had been a
fool, and had no resort but the pistol to
end his married woes. He evidently was
marked for woes anyhow.
The suggestion of Gen. Hazen of the
United States Army that Government
should take some means to prevent the
extermination of the buffalo, appears to
be a sensible one ; for there is no reason
why animals so valuable and so easily
subsisted should be wantonly butchered
by thousands, and their carcasses left to
rot on the plains, as is now the case.
The buffalo lives upon a short grass
which grows luxuriantly upon the high,
arid plains of the far West, and while it
is valuable as food, its skin, when dressed,
is an almost indispensable adjunct of a
sleighing equipage. If any effectual
means for protecting these animals from
unnecessary slaughter can be devised a
great benefit will be conferred upon the
country.
Mr. C. E. DeLong, the United States
minister to Japan, is a self-made man,
who, by his indomitable energy and
ability, from small beginnings has
climbed the path to distinction. In
1856 he was constable in Foster’s Bar
Township, Yuba county, California. He
afterwards studied law, and practiced
with considerable success. He represented
that county several times in the State
Legislature. From California he went
to Nevada and acquired a very large
and lucrative practice. He was twice a
candidate before the Nevada Legislature
for the United States Senate, but was
defeated both times by very small ma
jorities. He went to Japan as minister
in 1869, and has been very active ad
vancing American interests in that
country.