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" V . • - . "n - - ,m ."» * u t < ^ s* *-<»; « • ' i - ' Y - : • ' " » > - «» » ' • • . ' ' ' -- SHc Ptinmi jltaintokr. J. VAN BLTKE, PuBtismnu McHENRY, ILLINOIS. AGRICULTURAL AKD DOMESTIC. The Hen and the Honey Bee. (An Apologue-- from the German of GeUett.) A laxy Hen--the story goes-- Loquacious, pert and self-oonoeltod, Espied a Bee upon a roee, And thus the busy insect greeted: " Say, what's the use of such as you,- (EICUHO the freedom of a neighbor!) Who gad abotit. and never do . A single act of useful labor? " I've marked you well for many a day. In garden blooms and meadow-clover; Now here, now there, in wanton play; • From morn till night an idle rover. While I discreetly bide at home, * A faithful wife--the best of mothers; Abo tit the fields you idly roam, Without the least regard for others. . v ' 4i While I lay eptm and thetn out You seek the" flowers most sweet and fragrant, And, rrtroll sl^out, At beet a good-for-nothing vagrant!" " Kay," said the Bee, "you do me wrong; I'm useful, too, perhaps you doubt it, Be oh use--though tolling all day long-- I seorn to make a fuss about it! " While you, with every egg that cheers Yoiir daily task, must stop and hammer The news in other people's ears, Till they are deafened with your clamoV! Come now with me and see my hive. And note how folks may work in quiet; To useful arts much more alive Than you with all your cackling riott" I/BNVOI. The Ptet, one may plainly see Who reads this fable at his leisure, Is represented by the Bee, Who joins utility to pleasure; While in this self-conceited Hen We note the poet's silly neighbor, Who thinks the noisy " workingmen " Are doing all the useful labor! --John O. Sate. Around the Farm. ' To draw a nail from wood after it has become rusted in, first bit it a blow with a hammer sufficiently hard to start it in a little. This breaks its connection with the wood when it has become rusty. WHITEWASH.--Whiting five pounds, skim-milk, two Quarts; fresh slaked lime two ounces. Put the lime in a stoneware vessel, put in milk enough to make a mixture resembling cream ; then add the balance ' of the milk ; then sprinkle on the whiting and stir thor­ oughly, when it is fit for use. Apply in the same manner as paint, two or three coats. It will bear sweeping with a broom. TREATMENT OP GORGED HOBSES.--A •correspondent of the New England Farmer gives the following method of treatment for animals who may have gorged themselves with grain : " Keep tllC aliiiual f iGiii wiitci. X" Ul a (JUArC Ol wood ashes into a pail of lukewarm water, stir it up, and let the horse drink one or two quarts of this alkali water at intervals of one or two hours, and in this way the horse always does well, and af­ ter a day's treatment, water and feed as usual." THE CABBAGE WOBM.--The best way we know to circumvent cabbage worms is to hunt them persistently, being specially vigilant when they are in the chrysalis state. Remember that every •one of the chrysalises which develops into the perfect winged state will have a numerous progeny. Watering with -soapsuds is useful. Anc^we have heard of a man who raised a good crop, while his neighbors raised none, by dusting finely sifted buckwheat flour on the cab­ bages.--Canada Farmer. SHEEP raising has had its ups and downs like almost every kind of busi­ ness, but it is a question if any business has paid better for a series of years. The rapid increase of sheep is very fa­ vorable to farmers of small means who wish to engage in wool growing. Sheep raising is too much neglected in the "West. The animal that furnishes cloth­ ing, food and light, which crops hill­ sides too steep for other creatures to -fiscend, is entitled to vastly more credit than it receives.--Chicago Times. KEEPING VEGETABLES. --The German- town Telegraph say that pumpkins for domestic use may be kept in a good cel­ lar, where they will not freeze, for from r six to nine mor ths, by being put on a ^scaffolding. Potatoes should be* kept in the dark as much as possible, but should not be excluded from the air. A good -covering for bins, boxes, barrels, etc., is two or three layers of old newspapers pinned or stitched together. As soon as potatoes begin to sprout, as they will in the spring, they should be overhauled once a week, all sprouts removed, and the potatoes put in as dark and cool a place as possible. RAISE GBAPES.--It must be a small yard that has not room enough for one vine, and every farmer's family should have all the grapes they can eat and some to give away. Those who grow for market will not look here for advice. The universal grape, corresponding in' popularity to the Bartlett among pears* is the Concord. Every one can grow it, a cutting of two or three buds is very snre to make a plant. Many others can be raised in the same way, while some must be started under glass. Buy only one year old vines ; cut back to two or three buds, and let only one shoot 'grow. •* THE SWEETS OF FARMING. -- Of the many enviable things about farming, is the enjoying of plenty of good butter, xich milk, fruits and vegetables without stint, and honey, sweet, pure and un­ adulterated. Farmers and their families, as well as everybody else, like honey, and every farmer should keep a few stands of bees to supply his table with the luxury that few cannot enjoy who do not keep bees. Bees are not expensive to t-my or to keep; they generally pro­ vide their own iood, and have a good surplus for your table, and with a little extra core mny be made profitable. And In these times of adulteration, when the •syrups of commerce are made of poison, it is a matter of importance to every farmer to supply his family with syrup •of honey, gathered pure from the flowers of his fields.-- Western Agriculturist. WOOD ASHES FOR HOGS.--In these times of hog cholera, every innocent remedy that can be given to hogs to keep them in health, should be tried. We make a practice of throwing our ashes into the hog pastures daily as they are $aken from the fire place or stove. If hogs are kept up, we throw some of the ashes into their troughs or into the swill barrel, and our hogs never have hog cholera. Whether it is owing to the virtue of the ashes or to bome other cause, we don't know. We see in some of our exchanges the same remedy for the disease, where it has appeared, reo- ommended, and highly spoken of. It is said that disease only occurs where hogs are chiefly fed on corn. Farther north, where hogs are fed on peas, or small grain, and where the swill barrel is largely used in fattening the family supply of pork, the hog cholera is un­ known. There is something in our cli­ mate, or in our feed, that causes the dis­ ease, and we must learn the cause and avoid it, and learn a remedy ^hen it appears and use it--for there will be a loss this year alone of more than a mill­ ion of dollars by hog cholera. This great loss of course will keep upfche highprioe of pork.--Rural World. About the House. MAKING beds early in the morning is il bad plan ; they need siring to make them healthy. Give them a good shak­ ing up and let them lie an hour or two with the room well ventilated. Put the pillows, feather bed or mattress out in the sunshine as often as convenient. PiiANTs should be watered with rain water in the morning or at evening. The leaves of plants should not be sprinkled with water when the sun is shining hot upon them. If rain water cannot bo had well water can be used by exposing it to the air for a day or two. APPLE FRITTERS.--Make a batter, not very stiff, with one quart of milk, three •eggs and flour to bring it to a right con­ sistency. Pare and core a dozen apples, and chop them to about the size of small peas, and mix them well in the batter. Fry them in lard as you would dough­ nuts. For trimmings use powdered white sngar. How TO COOK SALT PORK.--Many people do not relish salt pork fried, bnt it is quite good to soak it in milk two or three hours, then roll in Indian meal and fry to a light brown. This makes a good dish with mashed turnips, or raw onions cut in vinegar ; another way is to soak it over night in skim milk and bake like fresh pork ; it is almost as good as fresh roast pork. OATMEAL AND TEETH.--The London Medical Record says : "It has long been noted in this country that in those districts where the use of oatmeal (in place of wheaten flour) prevails, we find children and adults with the best devel­ oped teeth and jaws ; and so well recog­ nized is the influence of oatmeal diet upon the teeth, that many practitioners order its use as an article of daily diet for children, in cases where the denti­ tion seems likely to be either retarded or imperfect." THOSE who have " no hair on the top of the head, in the place where the hair ought to grow," have no dandruff ; and as for those who have a fine head of hair, and are troubled with dandruff, let them dissolve an ounce of borax in four ounces of water, and rub the scalp well. It will form a soap that will wash the head and hair clean, after which the head should be thoroughly washed in clear water. After the cleansing process comb, dry, brush and oil to taste. GOLD iish may be kept ten or twelve years, (their average period of exist­ ence,) by using the following precau­ tions : 1. Allow not more than one fish to two quarts of water. * 2. Use the the Fame kind of water, whether well or river ; change it every other day in summer, and twice a week in winter. 3. Keep clean sand and pebbles at the bottom, washing it occasionally or re­ placing with a fresh supply. 4. Use a small net rather than the hand while changing the water. 5 Feed with cracker, yolk of egg, lettuce or flies, once each week, except in cold weather. Feed but little at a time. Remove any crumbs that may remain on the surface after feeding. 6. Do not feed at all from November to the end of February, and but little during the following three months. 7. If there are growing plants in the aquarium, water need be changed but rarely. 8. Keep from sun and in coolest part of room. , A Profitable Hogr. The following description of a profit­ able hog was reported by the Committee at the Swine Breeders' Convention, at Indianapolis, Ind.: He must have a small, short head, heavy jowl, and thick, short neck ; ears small, thin, and tolerably erect; not ob­ jectionable if they droop slightly for­ ward ; must be straight from the neck back to flank ; must be let well down to the knees in brisket; of good length from head to tail; broad on « the back ; ribbed rather barrel-shaped ; must be slightly curved or arched in the back, from shoulder to the setting on of tail; tail small; long on the ham, from hock to letting off of loins ; shoulder not too large to give symmetry to tlie animal; ham broad and full; hair smooth and evenly set on ; skin soft and elastic to the touch; legs short, small and well set under ; broad between the legs ; good depth between bottom and top of the hog ; with pleasant, quiet disposition ; should not weigh more than 300 or 400 pounds gross at twelve or eighteen months old, according to keep ; color may be black or white, or a mixture of the two. The above described hog will measure as many feet from the top of the head to the setting on of tail as he does around the body, and will measure as many inches around the leg below the knee as he docs feet in length around the body ; depth of body will be tour- fifths of his height. \ « V r THE State Prison of - Vermont has a new chaplain, who has worked so dili- £9ntly sii.ee the beginning of his en­ gagement in September, that five of the prisoners have been converted, and have made profession of their religion by being baptized. A jail seems an un­ promising olace for Christian effort, but a jail chaplain has advantages in address­ ing his congregation not enjoyed by other preachers. His hearers are bound to be punctually on hand, rega* 3less of the weather ; and their attention is not distracted by being compelled to notice the new fashions in thf apparel of their fellow-worshipers. PASSING EVENTS. AM investigation into the charges of fraud and mismanagement in the Chicago Custom House building has been or­ dered by Congress. ABOUT the most extensive job of in­ vestigation yet proposed in Congress is that of Senator Harvey, of Kansas, who wants a thorough inquiry into the inju­ dicious habits and abominable morals of the grasshoppers. THE Southern Claims Commissioners transmitted a supplementary report to the House of Representatives. The value of claim? disposed of last year was $4,051,974. The amount allowed was $532,510. The amount disallowed, $3,- 539,464. THE annual sale of pews in Plymouth (Beecher'ci) Church, Brooklyn, occurred a few evenings ago. The amount re­ ceived for rentals and premiums was #63,680, against 870,319 last year. Oaf lin, the dry goods king, paid the largest price for a pew--$650. OHIO has a liquor law which makes liquor-sellers and the owners of real estate occupied by saloons responsible for all damages that may result to drunk­ ards or their families from the sale of liquor on such premises. A bill is now pending in the Ohio Legislature to apply the same principle to gambling houses. A PLAN for the removal from political influences of the system of selecting jurors in the Federal courts has been devised by Mr. Hopkins, of Pennsyl­ vania, and embodied in a bill which he has in Congress. The bill contemplates that each Judge of the United States Circuit Court shall call to his aid two prominent citizens of different political predilections, and with their advice and counsel shall himself select the panel of jurors, the United States Marshal having nothing to do in the matter. SENATOB MOBKILL, of Vermont* has introduced a bill to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to redeem legal-tenders by the issue or sale of bonds bearing in­ terest not exceeding the rate of 4$ per cent, in accordance with the act of July 14, 1870, and thus to carry into effect the Resumption act of Jan. 14, 1875; and further providing that all contracts made after Jan. 1, 1878, shall be pay­ able in hard money unless otherwise stip­ ulated, and prescribing the coin reserve to bo held by the national banks. THE Cleveland Herald says that on New Year's Eve. Mr. A. Sherwin, re­ siding at No. 71 Cedar avenue, that city, received a call from two old friends from East Cleveland, the united ages of the three amounting to 258 years, the oldest, Mr. Ansel Young, being 88; the next, Mr. Elias Cozad, 86; and the latter, Mr. Sherwin, 84. The three have been friends and neighbors for nearly sixty years, the former removing to Cleveland in 1817 ; Mr. Cozad in 1808, and Mr, Sherwin in 1818. They had a very pleas­ ant visit recalling old times when Cleve­ land was but. a small collection of houses, numbering but a few families, piost of whom have passed away. MR. REUBEN WILLIAMS, of' Fort Wayne, Indiana, says the Chicago Times, is the victim of an accident or a joke. If it was a joke, however, the joker must feel no less astonished than Mr. Williams at its results. When a lot of officers were run out of the Treasury Depart­ ment, for passing bogus claims,* a Wash­ ington dispatch undertook to give the names of their suooeasoaa, and the list included Williams. How his name was put in it does not seem to be known to anybody. The Secretary knew nothing about it, and could give Morton no in­ formation, when he called to ask who rec­ ommended Williams. The latter saw the dispatch, however, volunteered his acceptance, and raised such a fuss a out it, wnen informed he had not been ap­ pointed, that, to quiet him, Morton se­ cured him a place. And so Mr. Williams has had greatness thrust upon him. THE Hon. E. M. Hungerford, Regent of the Nebraska State University and editor of the Orleans Sentinel, in Har­ lan County, Nebraska, retired on Sun­ day night, apparently in as good health as usual. Before going to sleep he re­ quested the young man who occupied the same room with him to wake him early, as he had important work to do in the morning. During the night the young man was awakened by Mr. Hun­ gerford making some noise, but sup­ posed he was dreaming, and went to sleep again. In the moiuingMr. Hun­ gerford was found dead, with his arms folded across his breast, as if peacefully sleeping. He must have died without a struggle. Mr. Hungerford was one of the most promising young men in the State, a thorough scholar, and a gentle­ man. I MEMPHIS furnishes many itemj of court etiquette. The latest is of a pe­ culiarly striking character. Two law­ yers, respectively named Moss and Bur­ rows, in the heat of argument over a case pending in the Criminal Court, by degrees descended from eloquence to billingsgate, and the transition from the latter phase to fisticuffs naturally be­ came easy. While the enraged limbs of the law were continuing their rough-and-tumble debate in a confused heap in the sawdust, a third party, the prisoner, apparently caring little as to who won, quietly steps out of the door, and the cause of justice is minus a prisoner and a pair of handcuffs. The rules of that tribunal shouid be so amended as to require prisoners, on pen­ alty of forfeiture of citizenship, to re­ main, and, if necessary, act the impar­ tial umpire in little contests of this sort. AT the decent session of the Iowa Teachers' Association, at Burlington, Prof. L. F. Parker, of the Iowa State University, read a long paper on the "Abuse of Grant's Iowa Speech," de­ fending the President from hostile criti­ cism. He says he wrote to the President for his interpretation of the speech, and received the following reply: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 17, 1875--Prof. L. F. Parker, Iowa City, la.--DEAKSIK: Your letter of the 4th irist. was received about tbe time I was starting for New York city, one week ago yesterday. I expected to answer it immediately on my re­ turn, but permitted the matter to escape my mind until this time. What I said at Dew Moines was hastily noted down in pencil and may have expressed ray views imperfectly. I have not the manuscript before me as I gave it to the Secretary of the Society. My idea of what I said is this: "Re­ solve that the State or nation or both combined shall furnish to every child growing up in the land the means of acquiring a good common school education." Such is my idea, and such 1 intended to have said. I feel no hostility to free education going as n high as the State or National Government feels able to provide--protecting, however, every child in the privilege of a common t<chool educ* tion before public means are appropriated to a higher education for the few. Yours truly, U. 8. OBAXT. Two Women Fighting a Bear. A correspondent of the New York Sun, writing from Delhi, Vermont, re­ lates the following: Jonas Butler and his wife and two children live in a rude cabin in a lonely place in the woods near the head waters of the Delaware, twenty miles above this place. Butler, who had a contract for peeling bark and getting out railroad ties, is sometimes away in the woods for days at a time. He was absent on Sun­ day last. Wild game, always plenty in that region, has been unusually abundant this season. Bears have been numerous and impudent Only a week ago Butler shot one that was emptying his dinner pail. On Sunday at about five o'clock in the afternoon, Mrs. Butler and her daughter Jennie heard an unusual com­ motion among the pigs in the log pen, a few rods distant from the house, and on looking out they saw a large black bear with a fat pig under one 44 arm," trying to get out of the enclosure. The sty is built of small logs, the walls being about five feet high, with a roof over part of the pen. The mother and daughter de­ termined to save the pig it possible. The former seized a heavy mallet or maul, used for driving wedges in logs, and the latter took the axe from the wood pile. Thus equipped, and accompanied by the watch dog, they hurried to the pen, and both jumped into the enclosure, followed by the dog. " They attacked his bearship vigorously, and he turned upon them. He first seized the dog, and with one squeeze of his great paws, crushed it to death and threw it one side. The infuriated bear then sprang upon Miss Jennie, quickly disarmed her, crowded her into a corner, and got the now helpless girl in his em­ brace, but the blows from the maul in the hands of Mrs. Butler became so quick and severe that he left the girl without doing her any material injury, and turned upon the mother. The girl had given the bear some fearful wounds with the axe, and from them the blood was flowing copiously. This intensified his fury, and he rushed upon Mrs. Butler with his jaws wide apart, and his great fore paws extended to draw her into his embrace. She shouted to her daughter to rim to the house and fetch the rifle and shoot the bear. The girl leaped from the pen and made for the house. She returned in the niok of time. The bear had knock­ ed her mother's weapon from her hand, and pressed her into a corner. Mrs. Butlef hed crouched down on the floor and placed her hands over her face, seeniiigly resigned to her fate. Her daug iter pushed the rifle through a chinl in the logs, took aim, and tired. The ear staggered an instant on his haun ihes, and fell back dead, shot throi gh the heart. It cas hours before the two courage­ ous 1 omen recovered from the reaction that ollowed their encounter. Tbe girl faint d after tiring the fatal shot. Her motl *r got out of the pen aud dragged her i to the house. On the next morn­ ing <] oinie walked fivo miles through the woo cm to tell her father of the adventure. The ear weighed over 300 pounds. 100,̂ 00 Bushels of Corn Raised on One Farm. Monday last we had the pleasure of meeting, for the first time, with Mr. Elia» Faylof, one of the most extensive farmers and stock-raisers of our county. His 'arm lies just north of the Oeage Rive;, some 15 miles from this place, aud contains upward of 2,000 acres of choite landin a high state of cultivation; and,[notwithstanding the fact that the grasshoppers destroyed his first planting of earn, he raised, inside of 100 days, 100,^00 bushels of corn. Now, if there is ailother man in the Southwest who can sake such a showing we would like to hair from him. One hundred thou­ sand bushels of corn at 20 cents per bushel--the ruling price at this time--is worti just $20,000. Here is an answer to the vexed question, Does farming pay?" and we think it is quite a satisfactory answer. Twenty thousand dolkrs is quite a snug little sum; and we seriously doubt if there is another farmer in the Southwest that has done as well this year as our friend Faylor. But besides raising this immense corn crop, Mr. Faylor has been trading quite extensively in cattle and hogs, and is now feeding 600 head of cattle and 500 heafl of hogs.--Nevada {Mo.) Democrat. ILLINOIS ITEMS. A Promising Youth. The following, concerning ** a very nioe little boy," is from the San Francis­ co Call: Johnnie Brady, 11 years Of age, was escorted to the City Prison yes­ terday afternoon by Officer P. Smith, who loiked him up on two charges of misdemeanor--one of assault and battery, and the other of having made use of vul­ gar language. Johnnie was walking through the Chinese quarter smoking a cigar of the class known as " stinka- aoros," and approached a Chinese fe­ male who was engaged in conversation with one of her countrymen. He looked at her for a moment, then brushed away the ashes from the end of his cigar and applied the lighted end to her neck, after which he ran away. A citizen named Overend, who witnessed Johnnie's cruel act, caught him and was reproving him for hts conduct, when Johuuie turn­ ed on h"n and called him very obscene names. Mr. Overend then turned Johuuie over to the oifioer. The little fellow was searched in the prison, and the only property found on him was a deck of cards, a parlor pistol, a double harmonium, and a paper of fine-cut. Bx resolution of the House, at Wash ington, adopted on motion of Mr. Mof- rison, the several Committees on the Executive Departments have been espe- ciallv instructed to make thorough ex­ aminations of the accounts and disburse­ ments of these departments, and to report what measures are necessary to be adopted to provide more perfectly for the proper application of public moneys, and to secure the Government agaiiu t demands unjust in character or extrava­ gant in amount. BANGOB (Me.) lumbermen are paying from $8 to $16 per month for workmen, and get more help at those flgnres than they can use. Tana Macoupin Enquirer remarks that the Illinois Supreme Court has got a new Dickey. MRS. I. pHmupg, of Princeton, com­ mitted suicide on Tuesday of last week by throwing herself in a cistern. No cauae is assigned for the act. MADISON County, at the late election, adopted a township organization, but the County Commissioners refuse to take the steps necessary for dividing the county into townships. MRS. SNTDEB, of Oairo, hid behind the door and jumped out to give her husband a gl»d surprise. The cigar in his mouth jammed into her eye, and she is now seeking a divorce. A GOVERNMENT engineer is at Rock Island, preparing models of the arsenal buildings for exhibition at the Centen­ nial. The model will be on a scale 1 to 300, and will occupy a space 12x20 feet. THK Boston Evening Journal states that Rev. Robert Laird Collier, formerly of Chicago, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Second Unitarian Church in that city, and will enter upon his duties there within a few weeks. ABOUT four miles southwest of White­ hall, a woman named Tucker, wife of one of a company of wood-choppers who are camping out on C. I. McCallister's land, while passing through some timber the other day, was struck by a falling tree, and almost instantly killed. FOUR of the coal mines at Braidwood, were dosed for the season on Saturday, throwing out of employment some 600 miners. The effect of the move will be to concentrate operations in the working mines and give full time to many who have lately made but about one-third time. A SON of S. S. Mar gram, of Bryant, was instantly killed on Friday, while out gunning. The dogs treed a squirrel, and some of the party chopped the tree down while voung Margrum held the dogs. The tree lodged, and then fell directly upon him. His skull was com­ pletely crushed. "THK PARIS THEATER," a frail wood­ en structure of Chicago, which was pat­ ronized by a miscellaneous crowd of amusement seekers, was consumed by fire recently, the loss being $2,500. Nine­ teen performers, male and female, lost their trunks and wardrobes, amounting to about $1,700. THE Grand Jury of the United States District Court, in session at Chicago, found indictments against Hon. J. Y. Scammon and other officers of the Me­ chanics'. National Bank of Chicago, for having violated the National Bank law while they had charge of that institution, by misappropriating its funds. THE high wind of last Saturdav night blew down a portion of the air B^taft of McGrew's mine,0 near Pekin. After clearing away the rubbish and ruins, the miners went to the bottom of the shaft, and was surprised to find the body of a full grown wolf. It had probably gone near the mouth of the shaft and been blown in. DB. A. C. RANKIN, of Loda, near Pax- ton, started the other night, with others of his family connection, to attend the sixtieth wedding anniversary, at Law­ rence, Kan., of his parents, the Rev. John Rankin and wife. This honored aud kind-hearted old man has been for over sixty years a Presbyterian clergy­ man, and is still at his life-work. THE stage manager of the Adelphi Theater, Chicago, to quiet the audience, who had heard the fall of a ballet girl from a platform behind the scenes, ran to the footlights and exclaimed, "It's only one of the camels." Ballet girls and camels were used in the spectacular piece, and naturally in his hurry they were confounded in his mind. THE county of Perry is having trouble with officials who are charged with doing th:tt which they ought not to do. The olHcers are the County Attorney and Clerk. The alleged malfeasance has as­ sumed such gravity that the Board of Commissioners feel justified in the em­ ployment of counsel at the expense of the county to examine into their trans­ actions. THE State Board of Agriculture con­ vened at Springfield last week, fifteen members being in attendance. The Presi­ dent made a brief address regarding the past year's work. The death of Vice- President Dyas T. Parker, of the Eighteenth District, was announced, and a committee appointed to draft reso­ lutions of regret. Reports were received and passed upon, and the winter premi­ ums awarded. CHIOAOO appears to be favored in an educational point of view. Both the Bap­ tists and Methodists have prosperous universities situated there, and the Re­ formed Episcopals will make it their chief educational center in the West. The first mentioned denomination have also a theological seminary connected with their university, and efforts will be made dur­ ing the coming year to increase the en­ dowment of the seminary by the addition of $250,000. MB. MOODY wrote to his Chicago con­ gregation as follows: "Anxious as I feel for the building [his new church] to be ready for use, I could hot give my con­ sent for its dedication till paid for. I am thoroughly convinced that it is a great mistake in dedicating any building for re­ ligious services with a heavy debt hang­ ing over it. My experience has been that it always has been a drag and a hindrance to successful work. I k now that the cus­ tom has been almost invariable to com­ mence with a debt, but I believe the whole thing is wrong, and plainly proven by many of our churches and religious bodies now." WHIM: the jury in the Davis murder case at Chicago were wrangling and flghtr ing against a verdict in the small hours of Sunday morning, another exhibition of paroxysmal insanity was in progress in that city. A peaceful gathering of Ger­ mans was invaded by a party of rowdies, including an ex-policeman who had re­ signed his star but a week before, and who slill carried a revolver. The result was the shooting of two inoffensive men, one of whom has since died, and the o? her was fatally wounded. And a polioe officer who was near at hand not only made no effort to arrest the murderer, but actually assisted him to cscape 1 So says the Tribune of that city. CONSIDERABLE excitement exists in Cairo in consequence of a report that Mr. Bagnell had suspended work on the W» new levee, which, on investigation, ap­ pears to be true. The cause for BagnelTs action seems to be that the Levee Com­ mittee, with whom Bagnell made the con­ tract, have concluded to change the line, or a part of the ground on which the levee was to bo 1-uilt, which they had authority to do, and tcs which Mr. Bag­ nell, did not object, as it gave him nine cubic yards of earth to handle, but the Mayor of the city, Mr. Winter, notified Bagnell that he would not sign any war­ rants to pay for work done anywhere ex­ cept on the original line, hence Bagnell suspended. The City Council held a ̂ _ meeting, and instructed Bagnell to go on *' ^ • Tvith the worV anyhow. . THE organization of a new church so- ^7 t ciety is noted at Henry, a town which "* has of late achieved some notoriety as the scene of the spiritual ministralaons ' >'4 of the Rev. J. S. Glen denning. The r . ne# church is broadly and mutually in- dependent, the pastor being free to preach what he likes so long as he sucks - '-y - to the New Testament as his "basis of authority," while his hearers are equally free to believe him or not, just as they prefer. The only condition imposed upon the minister is that he ohali live a moral and upright life, and do the work of an evangelist in visiting the sick anil caring for the poor and ignorant. Mr.' ^ : -^ Glendenning is the Presbyterian minis­ ter accused of having seduced the un­ fortunate Mary E. Pomeroy, of Jeraoy City, and some of the good citizens are not satisfied with his record, and aro w- willing to sit uuder his teacnmgs. ABOUT a month ago (says the Peoria Transcript) an employe of the Peoria Gas Company visited the Transcript office and inspected the gas pipes, and, during his peregrinations through the building, exchanged a large number of burners, taking away the old ones and replacing them with new. The workmen of the olHce supposed he was acting un-| 4^ der directions from some one in author- ity, and, of course, did not interfere. The effect of the gratuitous philanthropy revealed itself in the Transcript's gas bill for December, which, was increased over the same month of 1874 by the sum of $33,701 We are inclined to the opin­ ion that we do not want the gas com­ pany's burners any longer, even as a fcift. The company is, therefore, re­ spectfully requested to take away those they left and return to us our own. When we want burners hereafter we will endeavor to ord«.i them ourselves. , !v "< THE Secretary of State is not required by law to make an annual report to the Governor this year, but has given the press correspondents a synopsis of the work done in his offioe, as follows : War­ rants issued on requisitions from other States, 92 ; requisitions on Governoroof other States, 151; pardons granted, 216; restoration to citizenship, 109 sioners of Deeds appointed and com­ missioned, 43 ; Notaries Public appoint­ ed and commissioned (419 being in Cook County), 1,202 ; Justices of the Peace and' Polioe Magistrates commis­ sioned, 541; county officers commis­ sioned, 250; proclamations issued, 6 ; cities organized and certificates filed and recorded, 2 ; villages organized and cer­ tificates tiled and recorded, 23 ; railroad corporations formed and by-laws lile»J.< and recorded, 19 ; certificates of organ* ization issued to corporations formed under the general law of 1872, 470 ; li­ censes issued to form corporations, 313>|^* certificates filed reporting increase <frv: capital stock, change of name and 1< tion of corporations, 40. ....... Die West in Congress. There have been introduced in. Ctorj- gress the usual number of bills relatini* to Western interests. Mr. Franklin, of Missouri, has a bill providing for th#': ' construction of a postoffice and custonfcpi • house at Kansas City, to cost $250,000. -x> Mr. Phillips, of Kansas, has a bill to provide a government building at Leav­ enworth, to cost $250,000. Gen. Rusk, of Wisconsin, has a bill to provide a government building at La Crosse, to cost $50,000. There are several bills relating to tho establishment of mints already intro- • duced. Mr. Banning, of Ohio, wants it at Cincinnati ; Mr. Stone, of MiKHomi, at St. Louis ; Mr. Crounse, of Nebraska, at Omaha. Chicago, Indianapolis and Denver have their claims in also. * ^ Mr. John B. Clark, Jr., of Missouri, > has introduced a bill to appropriate $1,- 000,000 to be expended in deepening and permanently locating the channel of the Missouri River, to secure a navigablo depth of five feet, during low water, from. Sioux City to the mouth of the Missouri, the improvements to be made under tho direction of the Secretary of War. Mr. Oliver, of Iowa, has a bill to pro­ vide for the construction, by the Sioux: City Bridge Company, of a bridge acrocis the Missouri River, at or near Sioux City, for the use of railroads and the public generally. Mr. Williams, of Michigan, asks an appropriation of $1,200 to pay losses to workmen engaged in the construction of a lighthouse on Poverty Island, Lake Michigan, which was destroyed by tiro Oct. 25, 1873. Mr. In galls, of. Kansas, has introduced a bill in the Senate to permit the organ­ ization of national banks with a capital , of $50,000 or more in towns, irrespective of population. Mr. Howe has a bill in the Senate to authorize the Green Bay and Minnesota Railroad Company to construct a pon­ toon bridge across the Mississippi River. from soma feasible point in Buffalo ^ County, in Wisconsin, to some feasible point in Winona County, Minnesota. Mr. Harris, o? Virginia, has a bill aid the Washington, Cincinnati and St Louis Railroad Company to construct **"'• narrow-gauge railroad from tidewater to the cities of St, Louis aud Chicago. . J Mr. MoCrary, of Iowa, has a bill in the ; j House to permit the use of the surplus water of the canal, when constructed, along the Des Moines Rapids of the Mis- ^ ^ sissippi River, for the supply of the city t *1 of Keokuk with water. Mr. Brown, of Kansas, has a bill an- * ̂ thorizing the sale of the Kansas Indian ^ , ^ lands in Kansas to actual settlers, under > , 4*. the treaty of Nov. 17, 1860, and provid- ̂ s ing that the proceeds be set apart for ;sr _ the use of paid Indians, under the direo- 4 tion of the Commissioner of Indian A*" fairs. ^ - WITHIN twenty years there have been ^ - ~ ^ - 1 1 'll 160,298,000 acres of laud granted to rail­ roads--equal to the aggregate area of all New England, New York, New Jeraey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana! bla .