Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 8 Nov 1876, p. 3

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; _ : ' •' • "-• | J. YA."K SLYXE, PUBUNRAM MOHENRT, -* - ILLINOIS. I.1111 'ss AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. The Old Log House. There's an old log bouse on my f atherli farm, Ail silent, and lonely, and still; Hot a sound of mirth is ever heard now , In the old log house on the hill. But fondly I think of the bygone days, Where with brothers and sisters dear. Not a happier home, in the country armmd, Could be found, either far or near. But my father builded another house, And my brothers are gone afar; And the old log house is deserted now, And defaced with many a scar. The rabbit and squirrel play hlde-andaaelt With mice o'er the oaken floor; But they quickly beat a hasty retreat When the owl flies in at the door. The "twittering swallow " now builds its neat On the rafters, going to decay; And the robin and sparrow have made Qwli hovse On ths logs for many a day. The little room, where my brother and I Oft listened to the weird whip-poor-will, Is open now to the birds and the bats, And tney come here without fear of ill. But poor-will is mtss'd from his nightly seat On the apple tree near the door-- For there's no one there to answer him back, As we're done a thousand times o'er. The primroses bloom uncared-for now. And the " blue-eyed violets " blow ;• 'And the cottage rose, that my sister lored, Climbs in at the casement low, if it would ask, " "Wh ere are they all gone That uoed once to caress and to love Us poor flowers, neglected now In the rank weeds that o'er UB rove ?" But the friendly vine, on the old black logs. Still clings there, loving and true. As if it would hide the marks of decay From the passing traveler's view. Oh, my heart still clings to the dear old home, And the times of my childhood there J And I'd rather live o'er those blessed days Than to dwell in a palace fair. --Rural Xeu Yorker. Experiments and Experiences. "WARTS can be removed from stock by touching them daily with a little acetic acid. It will soon destroy them. • A CORRESPONDENT of the Maine FOrmer% speaking of improving wet land, says : " A few years since I took a piece of wet, rocky pasture that pro- ""7 duced nothing but flags and rushes, cleared it from rocks and drained it ywith an open drain, then plowed and thoroughly pulverized it and seeded it down. The first year there was from one to two tons of grass per acre." No TOOL is more essential on the farm than a good grindstone. They were for­ merly all imported from England. Then the Nova Scotia ones were found supe­ rior. Ohio grindstones are largely used by Western farmers. But now Lake Huron grindstones are superseding all others; they have a fine, sharp grit, and leave a fine edge. The stone should be kept clean and dry, and free from grease and rust. IT used to be thrown in our face by Eastern butter and cheese makers, that . " the corn-growing Vest could not grow the grass and had not the water to make good market butter, except for the vitiated tastes of Western people, who know no higher flavor." But since we have come in competition with them in a fair field, and carried off the palm, they now patronizingly conclude, " you better confine your operations to corn and wheat-raising, for which your soil is peculiarly fitted." Come out West, young man.--Des Moines Register. To ASCERTAIN the number of head cattle of an average of eight cwt. that a farm ought to support, French agricul­ turists generally estimate than an ani­ mal consumes in a year eleven cwt. of hay Tor every one cwt. of its weight. Thus, twenty-two tons of hay ought to support during a year two tons ot live stock, equal to five animals of eight cwt each. Two hundred weight of nutritive hay, being taken as the standard of nu­ trition, are found to be equal to eight and one-helf stones of oats and sixteen of potatoes. It should be borne in mind that the richness of food varies with the soil, and its feeding value will vary with the temperament and the di­ gestive powers of the animal. WHO that has had a garden and grow vegetables but has time and again been disappointed, in getting old, worthless seeds, or such as turn out untrue to name. There are a few leading sorts of vegetables that are indispensable in a kitchen garden, and to have these fail is a serious matter. To avoid such fail­ ures, and always be sure of such crops, there is one measure which if put in practice is certain of success. This is at the time of gathering the crop to select a few of the best specimens of the dif - ferent kinds, from which to raise seed the following spring. With the excep­ tion of parsnip seed, these are good for terms of from two to ten years, if prop­ erly kept. By following a plan of grow­ ing two or three kinds of seed each year, a supply can be kept up at a small outlay. In this way the constant an­ noyance and loss resulting from sowing seeds not true to name can easily be avoided.--P. T. Quinn, in Scribner for November, Ok To HANG seed-corn, or plaoe it where it can be smoked a few days, will put it in a condition beyond question. The heat will dry it out and the smoke leave a covering upon it which will protect it from the changes of temperature, from insects when planted, and be a stimulus to it when it starts to grow. It is hardly possible for a farmer to devote more time in the selection and care of his seed-corn than will be returned to him in a tenfold ratio in the crop which may be produced from it. When the seel is saved, be sure that it is placed beyond the reach of vermin. Mice will walk with feet uppermost if they only have two sides to brace them against. Sus­ pend the frame or scaffold which sup­ ports the ears, by wires or rods of iron which can neither be gnawed off or de­ scended by the little rodents. Do not fail to save the seed-corn in proper con­ dition, for it is often worth, in a wet, backward spring, nearly a whole crop of corn to the man who devotes a little time to saving it just at the proper Western Raral. four inches long, and one wide, and bake delicately. DRIED SAXIMON.--Pull some into flakes; have ready some egfgs boiled hard, and chopped large; but both into half a pint of thin cream, and two or three ounces of butter rubbed with a teaspoonful of flour; skin it and stir till boiling hot, make a wall of mashed potatoes round the umer edge of a dish, and pour the above into it. BROWN SOUP volt INVALIDS. -- Take one tablespocmfnl of flour and brown it. Put it in a bowl and mix with it one ounce of butter, stir them together to a smooth paste; then add half a pint of boiling water, with a slice of toasted bread cut in small pieces, and just salt enough to taste; if approved, a little black pepper may be added. When ani­ mal fooi is forbidden, t-hia may be used as a substitute for a richer soup. BUCKWHEAT CAKES.--One quart of buckwheat flour, one pint of wheat flour, half a teacupful of yeast; salt to taste. Mix the flour, buckwheat and salt with as much water, moderately warm, as will make it into a thin batter. Beat it well, then add the yeast; 'when well mixed, set it in a warm place to rise. As soon as they are very light, grease the griddle, and bake them a delicate brown. Batter the cakes, and eat while hot, ONION SAUCE.--Take four onions, four peppers, and one pint of green tomatoes, and chop all fine. Add one small cup of salt, and let it stand Over night. Next morning drain off the liquors and add one cupful of grated horseradish, one tablespoonf ul of ground cinnamon, and a teblespoonful of ground allspice. Cover with vinegar, place on the back of the stove i? a pre­ serving kettle, and stew slowly for six hours or more. Bottle tightly. An ex­ cellent relish with cold meats. WAFFLES.--In the evening boil quite soft four tablespoonfuls of rice, using more water than when cooking it for other purposes. In the morning beat the whites of three eggs, put the yelks into the rice, stirring both lightly to­ gether ; add one pint of new milk, a little salt and flour to make rather thick batter; stir in the whites last, and bake a light brown in a well-greased waffle- iron ; the batter should be thick enough to require a little spreading out with a spoon when put upon the iron, but if too thick the waffle will be tough. The above quantity is sufficient for a family of four or five persons. Deep irons are better than shallow ones. The Kitchen. TuiFiiMS.--Roll out rich puff paste, quarter of an inch thick, brush over with icing as made for oake, then cut in strips A Father's Frantic Efforts to Save His Child. Last Wednesday at noon, as Mr. Johnson went home to his dihner, he noticed his little boy, about 7 years of age, playing on the roadsido, and his little girl near him. Going into the house, he threw off his coat Mrs. ,T. called his attention to the fire the boy had set to the dry grass at the road­ side, and was now, at her bidding, trying to extinguish. With the remark that he would help, Mr. Jones took up his hat and started. When a short distance from the house he was thrilled with horror to see the little girl speeding up the ravine at her best run, and a bright tongue of fire blazing a foot above her head. Calling out, " run toward pa," the father started in swift pursuit. The child heard, but as she turned her face the fire swept over it, and she kept on without again turning until caught by the frantic father, who tried in vain to tear the, blazing clothing from her. Un­ happily her garments were all new, and it was impossible to tear them. Drop­ ping her to the ground he succeeded in slipping a portion over her head, and then as the flames blazed up caught them in his hands until they were extinguished. On raising her in Ms arms to take her home, the skin peeled from her arms and hands, which, as she ran, had con stantiy fluttered backward as if to fight the fire off. She had run several hun­ dred feet from where she caught fire. Her oonstant cry was, " Oh, father ! Oh, mother!" She was conscious to the last. Drs. Lotspeich and flowers were over two hours dressing the wounds. Two- thirds of the surface of her. body was burned. The accident occurred at half past 12, and at 10 o'clock the next day she died. She was 4 years old the 26th of last August. Mr. Johnson's hands are perfectly cooked, and he is almost helpless, so far as hands are con­ cerned. It is a great wonder that he too did not perish, as his only clothing was cotton. He thinks that had he but worn his coat the life of his pet might have been saved, but he had nothing with which to smother the fire but his bare hands.--Holden (Mo.) Enterprise An Expensive Lesson. John Bright, in his recent speech at Manchester upon the Turco-Servian war, delivered to an immense audience, told the English people some home truths not only with regard to the Eastern ques­ tion and the Bulgarian atrocities, but also the Crimean war. In the course of his speech, Mr. Bright said : Great, indeed, I know, were the reasons that were offered to thoughtless and unin­ formed people to induce them to Bupport the Government and Parliament in that unhappy war. They were held sufficient, and the war took place. That it was disastrous, looking back twenty years, I think all men must now admit. I am not speaking of the valor of the troops or of their failures in any contest in whieh they were engaged. I am Bueaking of it from a far higher point of view than that. It was a disastrous war ; and to us now looking back again it was especially humiliating*. I think Mr. Kinglake says more than half a mill­ ion of lives, first and last, were sacrificed in that war. I think our share is supposed to ap­ proach about 40,000 men. A hundred millions of money was spent by us--I am not speaking of what other nations spent; I ani not ad­ dressing other nations. The moment the war was" over, though there was a reduction of ar­ maments, still our military charges remained, and have remained from that time to this at £10,000.000 or more higher than they were before ; and, besides all this, we entered into commercial transactions with an insolvent firm on the Boephorus [laughter], to which the people of England advanced large sums which there is no hope they will ever see again, to the amount probably of nearly a hundred million of money. It may be said, looking back to those loans, that at this moment there is not an iron­ clad that slumbers on the Turkish waters, there isnot a musket or a rifle or a bayonet or a sword by which a Servian has been killed in this war, or unarmed men and helpless women or chil­ dren have been murdered in Bulgaria, that was not purchased and paid for by money borrowed from the credulous people of this country. TWO STRONGHOLDS. Key of th« Black Sea and the Key of the Mediterranean. Constantinople is to the m what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean, It is the key of the East, as the latter is of the West. There is great plausibili­ ty, to say the least, in the report that England proposes to seize Constanti­ nople now, as it did liibraitar 174 years ago, and, holding it, allow the other powers to carve the rest of Turkey in Europe to suit themselves. Gibraltar, as everybody knows, is an insulated rock, the southernmost prom­ ontory of Spain, connected with the mainland only by a low sandy klip of land between the bay of Gibraltar on the west, and the Mediterranean on the east, forming one of the " Pillars of Her­ cules," Ceuta, on the African coast, be­ ing the other. It is 1,400 feet high, ac­ cessible only on the northern and west­ ern sides. Properly garrisoned, it is absolutely impregnable, and, what is more to the point, commands completely the passage between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, In a word, England, by having possession of that jockj is en tire mistress of the commeroe of all Southern Europe. The Moors held it in the days of their power. England wrested it from Spain in 1702 by sur­ prising the garrison. Several attempts have since been made to deprive Eng­ land of this rock, which is indeed one of the most precious stones in the crown jewels of Great Britain. The most memorable attempt was made by the French and the Spaniards in 1779-83. That was perhaps the most determined siege and defense of military history. England guards Gibraltar as the very apple of her eye, and justly, too. _ Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, is situated on the Bosphorus, where it commands the Black Sea. It is a trian­ gular peninsula, with the Golden Horn on the north, and'water on every side except the west. It occupies seven hills. Properly garrisoned, it would be as impregnable and commanding as Gib­ raltar. Founded by the Emperor Con­ stantino, it is most admirably situated for being the capital of an empire em­ bracing the two continents. It is stated that the city has been subjected to no less than twenty four memorable sieges. The Crusaders took it early in. the thir­ teenth century. The Turks won it in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is a city of over 1,000,000 people, about half of them Mohammedans and the rest Christians and Jews. A city of about 20,000 has sprung up about Gib­ raltar. _ Firemen's Dress. An improved dress, designed to en­ able firemen to enter a burning build­ ing in safety, has been reoently made the subject of some interesting experi­ ments. It consists of two air-tight gar­ ments, worn one over the other, after the manner of a diver's dress. The in­ ner dress is of rubber and fits tightly ; the outer dress, worn oyer this, is of leather and is quite loose. The outer suit is also secured to a metallic helmet resting on the shoulders and entirely covering the head. A line of hose is attached to the back of the outer dress, where it divides into two smaller pipes. One goes to the top of the helmet on the outside, where it discharges a num­ ber of fine streams of water that flow down over the outside of the dress. The other branch pipe passes under the fireman's arm, and ends in a nozzle that he may use in directing the stream on the flames. Within this hose is an­ other, smaller, that delivers air under pressure to the open space between the two garments. The air expands ̂ the outer garment and keeps it away from the person, and at the same time sup­ plies fresh air for respiration. To al­ low for the escape of the spent air, two small holes are drilled in the helmet op­ posite the eyes, and through these the exhausted air escapes, driving the smoke and flames away from the face and giv-, ing a clear view without injury to the eyes. Such a dress enables a fireman to stay within a burning building for twenty minutes in perfect safety.-- Scribner for November. Miles A TEXAN was fined 3500 last week for threatening the life of a neighbor. Had he committed the murder he contem­ plated he would have fared bettor. Audible Speech Conveyed Two by Telegraph. * The Eoston Advertiser prints an in­ teresting account of an experiment in carrying on a conversation by word of mouth over a telegraph-wire, made on the evening of the 9th inst by Alexan­ der Graham Bell and Thomas Watson. Telephones were placed at either end of a telegraph-line owned by the Walworth Manufacturing Company, extending from their office in Boston to their fac­ tory in Cambridgeport, a distance of about two miles. The company's bat­ tery, consisting of nine Daniels cells, was removed from the circuit, and an­ other of ten carbon elements substi­ tuted. Articulate conversation then took place through the wire. The sounds, at first faint and indistinct, be­ came suddenly quite loud and intelligi-, ble. Mr. Bell in Boston and Mr. Wat­ son in Cambridgeport took notes of what was said and heard, and the com­ parison of the two records shows that the transmission was almost perfectly accurate. Conversation was carried on for about half an hour, generally in an ordinary tone of voice, but often in a whisper. The credit of thin important discovery is due to Mr. Bell. An Old Bombshell Explodes in a Kitchen. On Wednesday morning a bombshell, which had been picked up on one of the battle-fields of the late war as a relic, found its way into the cooking range at No. 4 South Broadway, the residence of Capt. Alex. Jones, and exploded, do­ ing considerable mischief, but injuring no one. The shell was thought to be empty, and had laid in the cellar for seven years. A servant, without know­ ing it, picked up the missile with a bucket of coal. The coal and the shell were emptied into the range, and the servant left the room to attend to other duties. The shell exploded with a loud report, nearly demolished the range, tore through the ceiling, and caused other damage.--Baltimore Sun. AN enterprising Yankee whcwe rev­ erence for historic landmarks is only equaled by his zeal in selling groceries and provisions, advertises in a Boston paper that his store was built in 1782 as a city market, and that Lafayette, dur­ ing the siege, stopped there one day with his staff and ate bread and cheese on the counter. Boston was besieged before the structure was erected, and Lafayette was not in America during the siege. But no matter; the grocer is there now, and ready to see his custom­ ers every morning. Remarkable Exits from Life.' When he (William the -3ilent) felt himself dying, "Holland's greatest warrior sent for two clergymen of the opposing religious faction*, and bade them argue which of their creeds was the right one. "I see well enough," said the hardened unbeliever, when they had finished their discussion. "I see there is nothing certain except math­ ematics." With this he turned his face to the wall. He had ceased to live. A remarkable dependence upon the cer­ tainty of mathematics. One who was not quite so confident endeavored to make " assurance doubly sure." I quote from Scaliger and De Thou, who both maintain that Hieronymus Cardan, a celebrated astronomer and mathemati­ cian, who lived in Pavia towards the middle of the sixteenth century, and who may be better known to students as the discoverer of "Cardan's suspen­ sion," having foretold the day of his death by various calculations, starved himself to death for fear that his predic­ tion would not be verified, and that his beloved science might suffer in conse­ quence thereof. This might be called being imbued with the spirit of the thing; but I think that my next example goes a step farther stilL " Creech, the celebrated commentator on Lucretius," says Voltaire in Ms Dictionnaire Pliil- osophiq|ue, " wrote on his manuscript, • N. u. I must hang myself when I have finished my commentary."' He kept his word in order to hatye the pleasure of ending his days like his author. We are told that the first copy of Copernicus' book was brought to him when all con­ sciousness was gone. When they brought Breech's they found him suspended from a beam. "If he had undertaken a commentary on Ovid he would have lived longer, ' remarks the commentator on this commentator's mad act Chainp- cenetz, the Secretary of Rivarol, during the French Revolution of '93, innocent­ ly asked, when he had heard his sen­ tence, whether a substitute would not do. Andre Chenier did not trouble himself so far. Perceiving his friend Boucher, the author of the " Months," a poem not unlike Thompson's " Sea­ sons," he apostrophized him quite cheerfully'by reciting the opening lines of the first scene of " Andromache, after which he kept silent, until they arrived at the jBarriere du Trone Renver.-e, near which the guillotine waa erected. The hideous cart was met by a flock of sheep just entering Paris. It brought to the young author's mind the seventh Eclogue of Virgil, which he closed with "Torridus." " Torrida," oorrected Boucher. His companion did not answer until they had mounted the scaffold, when he soft­ ly approached Roucher, and tapped him on the shoulder. "You were right; I forgot that summer was feminine in Latin." It brings the tears into one's eyes, and we turn with relief to more peaceful closing scenes, in which the wit, though no less brilliant, is not so harrowing. When the Count de Callus was dying, .they brought to him, much against Ms will, a priest whose name happens® to be Chapeau (Hat); upon hearing fhich he exclaimed : " I came into thfworld without breeches, I can well afford to go out without a hat" This was the same who always persisted that he had no soul. Unknowingly there may be many such, who think that it is sufficient to have lived well in order to die well. There is a sentiment of rectitude, which influences those of whom we would least expeot it to do what is right in this world, without thinking of any reward which they may reap from it in the next. That Montaigne should get up in his dying hours to pay his servants their salary, for fear that his heirs might neglect it or dispute the amount, is not so wonder­ ful, knowing what we do of tne man and his principles ; but that one his very opposite should have some thoughts for his creditors after he should be gone is lather surprising. Vaugelas, author of the " EemariHCSsur la Grammaire Fran- oaise." a not very strait-laced person­ age, did so, however. Notwithstanding his ample pension, he was loaded with debts to that extent that he no longer dared appear in the streets in the day­ time, but only went out at night, a pro­ ceeding which gave rise to his friends calling him "The Owl." This condi­ tion of things made him very uneasy, as was proved at his death in his will. After having disposed of his wardrobe to satisfy all outstanding claims, he adds, with perfect frankness and bon­ homie, "But as there might still be left some creditors who cannot be paid, even after everything is sold, in that case my wish is that they shall sell my body to some surgeon at the highest price that shall be paid for it, and that the amount shall be applied to the liquida­ tion of these debts which I may still be owing in the world ; so that, if I have not succeeded in being useful during my life, I may be at least so after my death." I wonder whether he ever heard of Dryden's body being detained by his creditors.--Tinnley's Magazine. One Fair Woman the Cause of Three Deaths. The estate of Kersalalin, in Brittany, for centuries occupied by the ancient and wealthy family of Kermel, is soon to be sold by auction. The last tenants of the old and picturesque chateau were a widowed mother and her two sons. The eldest, Olivier, waa Mayor of the Commune, and the youngest led the quiet life of a country gentleman. Both became attached to a young servant girl of the establishment, and Olivier, hav­ ing reason to think that his brother ob­ tained the preference shot him. He was condemned to the galleys for life, and soon died of mingled remorse and fever. The mother, crushed with grief, soon followed. Hence the auction. Effect of Beooil in Rifle-Shooting. It has been a question with marks­ men, says the Springfield (Mass.) Union, whether the recoil of a pistol or rifle oc­ curred before the ball left the bore. Many have contended that it did not, and that tbe tendency of a pistol to "throw up " did not affect its accuracy. A recent experiment seems to have shown conclusively that the recoil occurs before the ball leaves the bore and does affect its direction. The experiments was this : A rifle barrel, twelve inches long for convenience, was secured ta a solid bed in such a way as to prevent any movement but that of recoil directly to the rear upward. In thi3 situation it was fired a number of times, and the balls followed each other into the same hole in the target. An incline or wedge was then made fast upon the bed at the rear of the barrel in such a way that the breech would be raised as it slid back in the recoil. Fired under these conditions it sent the balls lower than before. This showed that the recoil and subse­ quent elevation of the breech occurred in season to affect the direction of the ball; that is, before it had left the borw. Of course the length of the barrel has an effect in several ways upon the degree in which the recoil affects the aoouracy of the shooting. event, the incident is probably unprece-* dented in the varied history of Mexican, revolutions.--New York Sun. up. She expects on Tbanksgiv- Frog Story* A remarkable incident oocurred at Brown & Hall's sawmill, in Acton, while a pine log was being sawed up into lumber. The outside slab and one board had been cut off, and while the workmen were turning over the log they were surprised to see a large toad poke his head out of a hole in which he was imbedded, and where he had barely es­ caped being cut up by the saw. How the stranger got there was a mystery, as he was completely incaged in the wood, with no possible means of ingress oi" egress. As the log was the fourth or fifth from the butt of the tree, his posi­ tion must have been at least fifty or sixty feet from the ground, and he had no doubt grown up with it from infancy, being probably hundreds of years old. The animal was quite flat, and nearly as large as a man's hand. He was perfect­ ly blind, but when taken from his bed he made use of his limbs to crawl away. The tree was perfectly sound, with the exception of a decayed spot of about a foot in length below the hollow plaoe in which he was imbedded. How did he get there, and what did he live on? Toronto Globe. THE heaven-born and other poets will be glad to know that a new rhyming dictionary is projected, and that it is to be on an enlarged and improved plan. It is to be very comprehensive, includ­ ing all the outre rhymes of Browning and Byron, and many more which have never before appeared. The effect of this! volume will be to reduce still fur­ ther the price of the divine afflatus, so that only the basest of mankind can af­ ford to DO without it Wild Cat Tip. Here it is: The precious blossom rook of the Far West. If worked into the mosaics of a new literature, it will catch the eye of the English critic as a thing of beauty, fresh, unique and un­ conventional. A miner, with a revolver in each boot-leg. and a gallon of Cali­ fornia whisky under his hat, was loung­ ing in the streets of Deadwood City, in the Black Hills, when suddenly a stran­ ger happened to brush against him. Out came the pistol from the right boot, and up went the right arm with a flour­ ish. " Now, look yer, everybody in this yer gulch ; look at me and crawl! I'm Wild Cat Tip from Bear Gulch. Git out here, a half-dozen of yer, and form a line of battle, 'cause I can't hold onto this yer hammer much longer; so trot 'em out." Some ono in the crowd fired a pistol in the air, and simultaneously a rotten egg struck Tip between the eyes. "I'm murdered," he yelled, dropping his revolver and falling heavily to the ground. In a moment he came to him­ self, and, straightening up, remarked plaintively: " Boys, let me see the caliber of the gun what shoots eggs."-- New York Tribune. An Engineer's Quick Wit. A few days since,as an excursion train of eighteen heavily-loaded cars on the Vermont division of the Portland and Ogdensburg railroad had commenced the descent of a heavy grade between St. Johnsbury and the Connecticut river, the engineer suddenly descried three cattle upon the track just in advance of him. To drive or frighten them from the track, or to seasonably stop the train, was impossible. Instantly he de cided upon his course* He sent his fireman to disconnect his engine and tender from the train, whistled "down brakes," and, with full steam on, plunged forward alone, and, with the fearful impetus thus gained, threw the cattle from the track. He then quietly allowed the train to overtake him again, connected it, and continued on, his pas-, sengers knowing nothing of the fearful danger they had escaped by his bravery, his quick wit, and his fidelity to duty.-- Burlington ( Vt.) Free Press. A Tough Antagonist. The Sitting Bull of East Africa is the King of Abyssinia. Against this rude General and his hordes the Khedive of Egypt has been directing his best mili­ tary strength for a year past, only to be repulsed and outmaneuvered at every turn. More than this, the Abyssinian has shown no quarter whatever to any who have fallen into his clutches--Amer­ ican officers, home ability, allies of Egypt, and any others under the banner of the Khedive having been sacrificed, I until hardly a relic remains of the three expeditions sent out against' the Abys- sinians within a few months. An enemy may be rude, untrained in modern mili­ tary tactics and possessed of a light army, and yet be capable of giving good battle on his native soil, as the King of Abyssinia has proved to ±igypt, the patriots of Cuba to Spain, and the Mo- docs and Sioux of the plains to the United States. Something Sew in Mexico. From Mexico we learn that Porflrio Diaz, the rival of President Lerdo, has done something so novel as to deserve at least passing notice. He negotiated a loan of $50,000 in Oaxaca, which was to be paid in installments of 25 per cent Of course the lenders never expected to see their money ugain ; for a Mexican merchant counts forced loans to revolu­ tionary bandits among the losses to be looked for in a business career. The surprise of the lenders may there­ fore be imagined when, instead of the first installment, they received the whole amount in liquidation. The ene­ mies of Diaz intimate that the repay­ ment was a trick to enable him to secure a larger loafi* hereafter. But, in any All Sorts. ECOXHXB has sued a Parte paper for saying she is illegitimate. The Philadelphia Bulletin says the Russian Generals have "hay fever names." GBKBCB is' to cut a slice ing day. A BOSTON policeman is under i for perjury. In order to oonvict a thief he swore to too much. A MAN-EATING shark, measuring twelvo ^ in length, was captured at San Rafael, Gal., recently. A PHILADELPHIA jeweler h«i» been de­ tected substituting imitation diamonds for real ones left with him for setting. THE Boston Pilot exhorts the Irish not to buy farms in New Vnpinr.,1 which is decadent, but to go South and West THE late Queen Dowager Josephine of Sweden left a fortune of £1,120,000. The Princess of Wales is one of her principal heirs. I F*7NBBAiizHD the Rev. Mr.-Phil­ lips yesterdayj," says a reverend writer in the Methodist. He should have beea ' oontent without butchering Webster next day. ISAAC ROBERTS, ol Abington, Mont­ gomery county. Pa., and his family w*»re recently poisoned by eating toadstool* instead of mushrooms. Two of his chil­ dren died. WE have always said be careful about cucumbers. A man at Beloit, Wis., stepped on a ripe one last week, slipped, fell, and injured himself so seriously that he died in a few minutes. IN 1790, not 100 years ago, at the sack of Ismail, the Russians were as atrocious toward the Turks as the latter are toward the Servians ; and Snwarrow put 3,000 persons to death, as a lesson to his soldiers in the art of massacre. THE 'last high-toned Boston family left Swampscot on Monday. Said mamma: ' '1 carn't stand the cold weather, and I shorn't be back until next, June.,** Said papa : " By Jove, but it's dismal, ye know, and I'm off for home, egad, !1*' A STUDENT, after passing three years in the "Latin quarter," wrote to his father as follows: "1 have made up my mind to set to work, dear father; there­ fore, I should like to know whether it was law. or medicine that I came to Paris to study ?" Two ENGIJSHTOWN (N. J.) boys, fired with the spirit of many sensational tales, stole an oyster boat at Keyport and put out to sea in search of an iwUnfl whereon to play Crusoe and Friday. Two or three days later an inward-bound vessel picked them up, nearly dead from exposure and hunger. THE Russian Government is endeav­ oring to give the nation one tongue. A recent ukase prohibits the publication or sale of books printed in the dialect of Little Russia, as well as dramatic pe*> formances or lectures in it This ukaas is very distasteful to the 14,000,000 Lit­ tle Russians or Ruthenians. THE latest, simplest and most effect­ ual mouse-trap yet thought of is an earthen wash-bowl nearly half-filled with water, covered over with me-al* and placed on the pantry shell, A Pu­ laski, N. Y., woman recently caugBt half-a-dozen of the mischief-makers in one night by this method. IN the midst of a colloquy between Booth and McCullough, as lago and Othello, in San Francisco, a huge water­ melon rolled out from the wings to the center of the stage, then down the slight incline to the footlights, struck Booth's legs, and finally fell into the orchestra with a thud and a spatter. AND now shall tin brains of the good people of Connecticut be strengthened axsordingly. A school of mackerel a mile long and the fourth of a mile wide was struck not long ago by the fishing smacks.of New London, and at a single draw of the nets 300,000 fish were taken, hich r their ti-"T* ret'o-l i&J'V?,. 000 cash. M ATtp.TTAT. BAZAXXE with his wife and children are residing with a friend in the little village of Lloines. The for­ tune of both Bazaine and his wife was absorbed by the expenses of his trial, which the French Government rigor­ ously exacted, even to the extent of seizing a pair of the Marshal's panta­ loons and the family clock, the loss of which probably made him think it was time to retire. TO A BIBD. When maiden daisies deck the ground, And violets in the lanes are found, When warmer BUUS in heaven glow, And milder winds o'er meadows blow ; Tliosi com'st, sweet bird 1 at that blest time To glad with songs our northern elima. How mellow is each warbled note That gushes from thy mottled throat! • Such music sweet is seldom heard As here thou givest, happy bird t For, listening with a pleased fOipilee, The fewest seems a paradise. Such happy notes tell of a laud By gentle zephyrs ever ; Where summer reigns throughout the And raging tempests come not near. When winter strips these woods again, May thou and I that Eden gain. '--Serijner for November. THE Chinese have an idea that the moon does not show her nose at midday for nothing. Late in August groups of natives gathered at noonday in the streets of Shanghai and gazed intently at the sky. There was the moon--no mistake ; a faint but well defined curve, dodging in and out of fiend ; and to the southwest was a bright star--Venus. It meant something, and an old Chinese merchant wagged his head very sagely as if he understood it. " I saw the same thing once before," said he, "and that was thirty years ago ; and not so very long afterward the English took Chiisan f Subsequently, too, they took Nanking." Thiers. Every one will learn with regret that the health of M. Thiers is slowly, but surely, declin'ug. Until the last year he was vig no us for his age, always walking distances which would deter most vene able men. Now his physical system is decaying so fast that he rides. There will b ? heavy lamentation, even among the French, when their greatest statesman leaves them forever. He is justly entitled to be caVed in history " The Savior ol France."

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