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m •(MAM STANZAS* vaat *to Aj&x strives some lock's • ^ >^j> j!irow, •Jfcw-rt Steven's lut thunder shakes the world below, ' " v ^ilFe find a little isle--this life of man, when yon must--be candid when you'can. apTon '-dtager. who weaves at her own door, ' -.'TPTIMII ^ he loud thunders rock the sounding alKKtj - T*PWM» rout®, inglorious Milton here mi} wit,^ f*M never is, but always to be blest. •f- dread! and darkness how profound! . Cstit the ourtain--wheel the sofa round-- « ioUri the knell of parting day, her slipper--filled it with Tokay. Djptiii 1 I joy tojneet thee thus alone, Jk ytmta to fortune and to fame unknown, * "Wto«irpTer I roam, whatever lands to sm, H?or (.n the lawn, or by the brook was he. <t& ! Jwsppy peasant! Oh! unhappy Bard! 'Jfihwr. toll me not that woman's lot is hard; jSf r daughter--once the comfort of my age-- "W«tb 3-he dear love 1 bear to fair Ann Page. "*£*.?, flippant, pert and fu'l of play, fttve vhils you live, the epicure would say. Onf t<-itk is clear, whatever is is right. Setter, quoth he. to be half choked than quite. . Auburn ! loveliest village of the plain 1 •fe shrieked and scrambled, but 'twas all ID vain feaymen have leave to dance when parsons play Wftfi »«ipon boughs, and Sowers, and fennel gay. < tfce Borrows of a poor old man! la «very clime, from Lapland to Japan. JP!! i«*ve this wicked world and climb a tree! Kit ma iden meditation fancy free. US« pleasant through the loopholes of retreat Axtluragh, thank heaven, I never bofl my meat)' fts oue spark of l»eauteous heavenly ray, Xsi Hf«-rcule« himself do what he may. J few associates, and not wishing more. feet those laugh now that never laughed before. Ttt* good we seldom miss we rarely prise, WW* peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise. Tk« 'waves o'ertake them in their serious play, fhr me the solar walk, or milky way. "Tie distance lands enchantment to the View, T6B teue, tie pity, an' pity 'tis, 'tis true. Sjc* ! the poor Indian ' whose untutored mind-- JTnKt as the twig is bent the tree's inclined. :--•«. needless Alexandrine ends the song, ?Mt, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGES. Hie discussion on the powers and du- itkm of Congress in the matter of count­ ing the electoral votes for President and "•ice President may be in some degree ^lightened by an account of -what has i*een.done heretofore, beginning'at the •commencement of our Government un­ ifier the existing constitution, 1789. The anaiiaer of electing President and Vice "President engaged the attention of the •convention that framed the constitu­ tion, and the system of electors now in SMSC was proposed by James Wilson, on© •of the delegiTtes from Pennsylvania. Other plans were proposed, although matte of them oontemplated an election by direct vote of the people, and Wil­ son's plan was adopted and became a pert of the organic law. That plan was defective in two important particulars ; it fixed no time for the choice of electots, and made no distinction between votes for President and Vice President, sim­ ply providing that the person having the .greatest number of votes, if a majority of all the electors, should be declared President, and the person having the next highest should therefore be Vioe President. Another oversight was in •fiie method of opening and counting the votc-.s. That important work was to be -done, as now, by Congress in joint ses­ sion, and the "President of the Sen­ ate" was to be the custodian and the opener of the votes, and he was to de­ clare the result. The manifest impro­ priety of delegating this power to one who would naturally be a candidate for the highest office was quickly perceived in the first Congress, for that body had aot been four weeks in session, and the electoral votes given in 1788 had not been opened when the Senate (April 6, 1789) proceeded to ballot for the choice ot a President "for the sole purpose of opening and counting the votes for President of the United States." John Lacgdon, of New Hampshire, was unan­ imously elected, and a message sent to the House " that a quorum of the Sen­ ate re formed; that a President is elected for the sole purpose of opening the cer­ tificates and counting the votes of the «• aketora of the several States in the - slKfeee of a President and Vice President ">f trie United States; that the Senate is aow t<?ady, in the Senate Chamber, to proeeei, in the presence of the House, " to the discharge of that duty, and that the Senate has appointed one of its : members to sit at the Clerk's table to raafee a list of the votes as they Rhn.11 be tirclared, Submitting it to the wisdom of £b&- House to appoint one or more of ^•xvr members f "»r the J^rc propose." FIRST COUNTING OF ELECTORAL VOTES. Immediately upon receiving thin in­ formation the members of the House, preceded by the Speaker (Frederick A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania), went to the Senate Chamber. Mr. Langdon took his place and declared the purpose of the meeting. He then opened and read tlifc certificates from the States, and the tellers made the record. When completed, the presiding officer de­ bated that George Washington had been unanimously elected President of ifhe United States for the term ending T with the 3d day of March, 1793 ; and that John Adams, having the next high­ est vote, and a majority of all the elect­ ors, was elected Vice President for a lik*> fesm. There were sixty-nine votes ««eft in from ten States, New York, Kliode IsJand, and North Carolina not •acting, because they had not ratified the constitution in time to do so. About the vote foi Vice President there seems to be some confusion. If there were •ixty-nine votes cast, as recorded in the « History of Congress," then Mr. Ad- SWBS did not have a clear majority. L&n- uufs " Dictionary of Congress," how- «ver, gives only sixty-seven votes, ig- *oriupr the two votes from Georgia set -down in the " History" as given for a Mr. Milton. Lanman may be presumed to be right, as there was no question raised about Adams' election, and yet fjoa could not have had a majority of all fSbe sixty-nine electors. Everybody agreed upon Washington ; but the full vote for the second place is interesting ehowiug that party divisions were al­ ready beginning among our people, Adams had but two States complete-- Sfew Hampshire and Massachusetts; he "bad live votes from Connecticut, one from New Jersey, eight from Pfennsvl crania, and five from Virginia ; John Jay 'had Delaware, five of New Jersey's six, and one from Virginia ; Robert H. Har­ bison had Maryland; John Rutledge tad six of South Carolina's seven ; John Haucock* had two from Pennsylvania, one frum Virginia, and one from South •Carolina; George Clinton had three rirom Virginia; Samuel Huntington had two from Connecticut, and Edward Tel Jair and Benjamin Lincoln each on^i from Georgia. If N«w York had voted she would have named Clinton, and there wonld havg been no choice for Vice-President BBGUXiATING TBjt SKLftOnON OF KLEOT- ORS, To reduoe, the business of choosing electors to something like order, the act of March 1, 1792, was passed and is still in force. It provided that the electors should be chosen within thiity-four days immediately preceding the first Wednes­ day in December of each year preceding the end of a Presidential term; that the electors should meet and vote by ballot on the first Wednesday in December, and sign three certificates of the result, one to be sent to the President of the Senate by mail, #ne to be sent to him by a messenger, and one to^be deposited with the United States Juugo Gi tue par­ ticular distriot. The second section pro­ vides that Congress shall be in session on the second Wednesday in February succeeding every meeting of electors " for the purpose of counting and de­ claring the vote." Should there be no President of the Senate, the votes are to be in care of the Secretary of State, The same a^t made provision that in case of vacancy of both President and Vioe Pres­ ident the President of the Senate pro tempore should act as President; and if there should be no such officer chosen by the Senate, then the Speaker of the House should act. In 1792 Washington was unanimously re-elected, all the old thirteen and the new States of Vermont, Georgia and Kentucky voting. On this occasion a joint committee was raised to determine upon the forms to be observed in count­ ing the votes, and that practice yet con­ tinues. This committee reported, and it was ordered that the two houses should meet in the Senate chamber at noon of the day fixed by the act of Congress; that the Senate should previously appoint one and the House two tellers to set down the votes as declared; that they should deliver the result to the President of the Senate, who should announce the state of the vote and declare the persons elected to both houses then assembled, " which shall be deemed a declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President," which declaration, together with the list of votes, should be entered on the journals of the two houses. There was nothing worthy of note in the counting on the second Wednesday of February, 1793; Washington had the entire 132 votes; Adams bad 77, Clinton 50, Jefferson 4, and Aaron Burr 1. In 1796 John Adams was chosen President, having all the votes of the New England States, with New York, New Jersey and Delaware, and ten scat­ tering from other States. He had barely enough--seventy-one out 140 votes, only one majority. Jefferson, having the next highest, was the Vice President. There was a peculiar inci­ dent about the announcement of this re­ sult that is worth noticing. The Presi­ dent of the Senate was Muhlenberg, the same who presided in 1789. After de claring the result, and proclaiming that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were duly elected, etc., etc., for the term of four years, he added : " And may the Sovereign of the Universe, the Ordainer of civil government on earth for the preservation of liberty, justice and peace among men enable both to discharge the duties of their offices conformably to the constitution of the United States, with conscientious diligence, punctuality and perseverence." The first action suggesting that Con­ gress ought to have anything to say about the casting or the receiving of the electoral votes, beyond the purely minis­ terial act of counting and declaring, was in the Senate, in January, 1800, when a committee was raised to report what regulations should be made for deciding disputed elections of Presidents and for determining the legality or illegality of votes for President and Vice President in the different States. A bill was re­ ported in February, when Charles Pinck- ney strenuously opposed it, taking the ground that neither house ought by the slightest suspicion of an act to exercise control or even revisal over the franchisee The bill passed, 16 to 14, but did not go through the House, and appears to have been dropped altogether. THB FIRST SERIOUS DIFFICULTY--AM KLKC- TORAL HE. About the close of the year 1800 it 'ras known that there -was likely to be & tie vote for President between Jefferson and Burr. So, about a week before the day for opening the returns, the usual joint committee brought in a role, which, was adopted, that if no person should have a constitutional majority of the electoral votes, the Speaker and the members of the House should at once return to their chamber and immedi­ ately proceed, without debate, to vote for President, and should not adjourn until they had made a selection. The counting, on the 11th of February, resulted as anticipated -- Jefferson and Burr had each seventy-three votes. As soon as the presiding officer made the announcement, the House re­ turned to their chamber and began to vote by States; Jefferson got eight States, Burr got six, and two (Vermont and Maryland) were divided. This was the result of the thirty-seven ballots, taken during a session extending from noon of the 11th to noon of the 17th of the month. Intense solicitude was felt throughout the country, more particu­ larly because of the reputation of Burr, who had suddenly eprang into promi­ nence as a bold and unscrupulous leader. The dead-lock was broken on the thirty- eighth ballot, when Jefferson got Ver­ mont, New York, New Jersey, Penn­ sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Ten­ nessee--ten States. Burr got New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Kbode Isl­ and and Connecticut--four States. Delaware and South Carolina voted blank. This contest made vividly ap­ parent the necessity of some law or rule requiring the electors to state the office as wella& the man for whom they voted, so that the tellers might knew which was for President and which for Vice. Therefore, as soon as Congress met in December, 1803, the Twelfth amend­ ment to the constitution was proposed, requhing separate votes, so certified, for the two offices. The amendment was ratified and proclaimed Sept. 25, 1804, in time for the Presidential elec­ tion of that year. The election of 1804 was almoat informal. Of 176 votes Jef­ ferson had 162, and George Clinton for Vipe President the same. The other fourteen were for Charles Coatesworth Pinckney and Rufus King. There was nothing of eonsaquenoc about the count­ ing, the President of the Senate, how­ ever, for the first time, did not read the certificates, but broke the seals and handed them to one of the tellers, who read the contents. On this occasion the geographical order of the States was officially recognized. On commencing the presiding officer said : "Perceiv­ ing no cause for preference in the order of opening the returns, I will pursue a geographical arrangement and begin with the Northern States." He began with New Hampshire, and this form of calling the States was the rale until quite eoently, when the alphabetical form came into use. In 1808 Madison came in as heir-apparent without serious op­ position, having 122 out of 175 votes, iiow, for lliu luiti time, the distinction was made by the electors of President and Vioe President, and George Clinton was chosen to the latter place by 113 votes to 47 for Rufus King. Charles C. Pinckney had 47 votes for President. At the counting, F«b. 8, 1809, the Sen­ ate for the first time went to the hall of the House of Representatives, Madi­ son's re-eleotion in 1812 was also a mat­ ter of course. He had 138, and DeWitt Clinton 89 votes. El bridge Gerry had 131 and Samuel Ingersoll 86 for Vice President. Monroe's first election, in 1816, was all one-sided. He had 183 votes, and Rufus King 34; Daniel D. Tompkins had 183 votes for Vice Presi­ dent, FIRST OBJECTION TO THB VOTE OP STATU. When the above votes were counted, Feb. 12,1817, Mr. Taylor, of New York, interrupted at "Indiana." The Senate immediately retired, and Mr. Taylor stated that his objection to the vote of Indiana was that the electoral vote had been cast before Indiana, had been admitted to the Union. The decla­ ration of admission was made Deo. 16, 1116, and the vote had been given by the Indiana Electoral College a few days before/ As the vote of the State could not in the slightest manner affect the result, neither house took any definite action, and the point, if there was any, was not accepted. The Senate returned, and the count was completed and announced in the usual form. At the count in February, 1821, a similar objection was made to the vote of Mis­ souri ; but as every vote in the Union (except a single one from New Hamp­ shire) had been east for James Monroe, and as there was no actual, opposition to Tompkins fqr Vice President, the objec­ tion was not pressed. Missouri had chosen electors for President some months before she was fully admitted as a State. ADAMS, JACKSON, CLAY, ORAWFOBB. In 1824, there was no choice of Presi­ dent by the people,, and the excitement abouf the result in the House, increased by all sorts of rumors of bargains and bribery, was intense. The usual joint resolution was passed, and the bouses met Feb. 10 for counting, John Gaillard, of South Carolina, presiding. On this occasion the presiding officer opened two packets from each State, the one sent by mail and the one brought by messenger. One of them was read by Mr. Gazewell, the teller for the Senate, while the other copy was followed by Mr. Taylor, of New York, and the fig­ ures written down by Philip P. Barbour, the teller on the part of the House. The figures were also taken down by the Clerks of the two houses. When tne re­ port was finished it was read in detail by Mr. Gaillard--Adams, 84; Jackson, 99 ; Crawford, 41; Clay, 37. He then an­ nounced tbat no person had received a majority of the votes given for President; that Andrew Jackson, John Quiucy Adams and William H. Crawford were the three persons having the highest number of votes, and that the remaining duties in the choice of a President of the United States devolved upon the House of Representatives. He then de­ clared that John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, had received a majority of the votes of all the electors for Vioe Presi­ dent, and was duly elected. The Senate then retired, and the House at once pro­ ceeded to vote. Thirteen States voted for Adam?, seven for Jackson and four for Crawford, and the speaker (Henry Clay) announced that John Quincy Adams had been duly chosen President for four yean from the 3d of March, 1825. The e^ogc of 1S29 and 1830 that elected Jackson moved along in the beaten track without incident worthy of mote. NO CHOICE OF VICE PRESIDENT, In the count in 1837, when Van Buren was elected President, there was no choice for the second office. *~or Presi­ dent the vote was: Van Buren, 170; Har­ rison, 73; White, 26; Webster, 14, and Mangum, 11. For Vice President Rich­ ard M. Johnson had 147, just one-half the whole number. The President of the Senate (John Bell) declared Van Buren elected, and added: " As no per­ son has a majority of the whole vote for Vice President there is no choice. Richard M. Johnson and Francis Gran­ ger have the highest vote, and it is for the Senate to elect." In such case the vote is not taken by States, but each Senator votes as he pleases. The result was: Full Senate, 52; majority, 27; legal quorum, 35; present, 49; for John- son, 33; for Granger, 16, and the pre­ siding officer declared Johnson duly elected Vioe President. There was a little question about the reception of the vote of Michigan, the latest addition to Uncle Sam's family, but as her three votes made ne possible difference the objection w*s dropped. PUTTING ON OFFICIAL DIGNITY. Heretofore there had been no especial formalities observed in the meeting of the two houses, except that the House members went to the Senate or the Sena­ tors to the House, all at once. But when the time for meeting, m February, 1841, arrived, the Senate formed, with their Sergeant-at-Arms at the head, then the Vice President, with the Secretary of the Senate on his left, then the Chief Clerk bearing the electoral votes, and then the Senators, two by two. The procession was met in the rotunda by the House Sergeant-at-Arms, who led it down the broad aisle. The Speaker re­ ceived the Vice President cn the steps of his stand and conducted him to tne chair as President of the joint session, the Speaker seating himself on the left. The Secretary of the Senate took a seat at one end of the Clerk's table and the Clerk of the House at the other. The tellers were stationed in front of the presiding officer, the Senate teller in the middle and the House tellers on each side. The members of the House re­ mained standing while the Senate came in. The galleries were filled with ladies, and the scene was very impressive. The presiding officer announced the purpose •f the joint session, and took up the package containing the vote of Maine. He broke the seal, and, handing it down, said: "I deliver to you, gentlemen tellers, the votes of the electors of the State of Maine for President and Vice President of the United States, that the same may be coumted." When the counting of the States was finished the presiding officer declared the result, and said: " Ido declare that William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, having a majority of the whole votes for electors for Presi­ dent, is d*ly elected President of the United States for the term of four years, commencing with the 4th day of March, in the year 1841." The same declara­ tion was made in the case of John Tyler for Vice President, and then the Senate retired in formal order. The counts in 1845, 1849 and 1853 were conducted in the same way, and nothing occurred beyond the ordinary routine. In 1857 a great deal of time was wasted in discussing whether the vote of Wisconsin should or should not be counted. The objection was raised by Mr. Mason, the presiding officer of the joint session, and was on account of irregularity, the Wisconsin electors hav­ ing met the day after and not on the day fixed by law. No decision was made, and the matter was dropped after two days of debate. In February, 1861, while we were on the very eve of war, the proceedings of the joint session were brief and entirely quiet. The same old formalities were observed, except that theie was no dignified parading,, REJECTING THB VOTES OF STATES. The first move toward positively re­ jecting the vote of any State was made in the House, Dec, 19, 1864, when Mr. Wilson offered a joint resolution declar­ ing oertain States (those in rebellion) not entitled to representation in the elec­ toral colleges, and that no votes from them should be reoeived or count­ ed. This was adopted, and votes from only twenjby-five of the thirty-seven States were counted. No votes were offered from the States in rebellion. In 1869, the question of the regularity or legality of oounting the vote of Georgia was brought up by Senator Edmunds, who, on the 6 th of February offered a concurrent resolution, reciting that whereas the question is now pend­ ing whether the State of Georgia is entitled to representation in Congress, because not yet reorganized: Resolved, That, if the votes of Georgia shall not essentially change the result, they should be reported thus: "Were the votes of Georgia to be counted the result would be for for President, votes; if not counted, for fer President, votes; but in either case is elected President of the United States." The Senate passed this resolution. 34 to 21. Subsequently, Senator Trumbull moved to reject the votes of Louisiana, but the motion was lost. There was much confusion and wrangling, but finally the count was completed, and the tellers announced 294 votes, inoluding Georgia, of which 148 would be a ma­ jority; but excluding Georgia, there were 285 .votes, and 143 was a majority. As Grant had 214 votes and Seymour only 71, or 80 with Georgia, the result was fixed beyond cavil, and the presiding offioer declared Ulysses S. Grant duly elected. THE LAST MEETING--THE TWENTY- SECOND RUIiE. The last joint session for counting the electoral votes was on the 12 th of Feb­ ruary, 1873. Again there was difference over the the votes of the reconstructed States, although their reception or re­ jection could not have made the slight­ est difference. On this occasion the somewhat famous twenty-second rule (passed Feb. 6,1865) was used to stop debate and questioning while in joint session,, The substanoe of this rule is as follows: If upon the reading of any aaoh certificate by the tellers any question uhall arise in regard to the counting of the votes therein certified, the same having been Btated by the presiding officer, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and said question shall be submitted to that body for its decision ; and the Speaker of the House shall, in like manner, submit the said qucmiou to Iloune for its decision ; and no questioB shall be decided affirmatively and no vote objected to shell be counted except by the conoorrcnt votea cf tho two houses, which being obtained the two houses shall reassem­ ble, and the presiding officer shall then an­ nounce the decision of the question submitted; and upon such question there »ha>i be BO de­ bate m either house; and any other question to this objeot, for which the two houses are assembled, may be submitted and determined in like manner. The two houses met on the 12th of February to count the vote. When Georgia was reached Mr. Hoar objected to the three votes for Horace Greeley, because they were given after his de­ cease, and tne electors could not lawful­ ly vote for a dead man. The point was waived for the time, and the count went on till Mississippi was read. Mr. Trum­ bull objected to the vote because the statement did not say it was done by ballot. Both objections were put in writing, and the Senate retired. In that body it was voted--44 yeas and 19 nays --to count the votes for Greeley. Dur­ ing the debate Mr. Oonkling and others undertook to get through a declaration that the functions of the joint session were purely ministerial, and that the re­ cording of the votes of the States was done independent;'of and without regard to the effect of such votes ; but the mo­ tion failed--yeas 8, nays 32. In the mean­ time the House voted not to count votes for Greeley, but both houses decided to count Mississippi. They met again at half-past 3 p.m., and, as the houses dis­ agreed on the Greeley votes, they were not counted. Still another trouble was found in Georgia. There were two votes for Charles J. Jenkins, of that State, for President, and five votes for A. H. Col­ quitt, also of that State, for Vice Presi­ dent. The constitution says that the President and Vice President must be citizens of different States. There was also a similar mistake made by the Mis­ souri electors. Then Mr. Trumbull ob­ jected to the vote of Texas for certain irregularities, chiefly clerical; and with this budget of troubles the Senate again retired. On reassembling, beth houses had agreed to count Texas, and six or seven States were gone through with when Louisiana appeared with two re­ turns. Again the Senate walked out, and a longwarof words followed in both houses. Finally the joint session was resumed and the count completed at about 8 o'clock in the evening. The Vice President then stated that there were 366 electoral votes, of which 349 had been counted for President and 352 for Vice President; that for President, Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, had re­ oeived 286; B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, 18; Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 42; Charles J. Jenkins,^of Georgia, 2; and David Davis, of Illinois, 1 vote. That for Vice President, Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, had 286, etc., and he declared U. S. Grant and Henry Wilson duly elected. (The 17 votes rejected wet A Georgia, 6 of Arkansas, and 8 of uisiana.) CONCIiTTSIOSr. It does not appear that the houses, in joint session, can pass upon anything beyond the result as shown by the count Their duties are merely clerical; they have no power to decide upon what to receive or what to reject. The cases where such power has been exercised (not in joint session, but in each house for itself) are all since the rebellion. In 1865 there were no votes offered from the States not counted; in 1869 Georgia was practically counted, and only in 1873, at the very last election, was there a positive throwing out of a State, and on that occasion the omission of their votes made no difference, for Gen. Grant was almost unanimously re-elected. What might be done if the vote of a single State should be enough to change from one candidate to another is a ques­ tion yet to be reached. Cost of Railroads. Nothing has been more effective in developing the resources of nations than railroads, and through no other means has the percentage of loss of capital been so great. We gather some facts in this connection from a recent number of JPrazer'a Magazine, which facts, in their magnitude and character, can scarcely fail to astonish even educated readers. The rapidity with which money has been borrowed on railway enterprises is most astonishing, and, notwithstand­ ing revulsions, renewed outbursts of zeal in new projects have followed in quiok succession. As recently as 1845 the total capital sunk in railways throughout the world was only about 8570,000,000, of which Great Britain had spent some $320,000,000,and Ameri­ ca $90,000,000. At the present time the railways of Great Britain alone repre­ sent a nominal outlay of nearly $3,280,- 000,000, and those of the United States 83,800,000,000. Besides these sums France has spent about $2,000,000,000, Germany about $1,100,000,000, and Rus­ sia about $1,250,000,000. Many other foreign countries have thus pledged the national credit for, nominally at least, the same kind of "works of public util­ ity" to an enormous extent, and hence the national debts of Turkey, Austria and Hungary. Egypt, Italy, Spain, and of various petty semi-barbarous South American republics, of the empires of Brazil and Chili, have been swollen prodigiously. What the total pledges of credit in the world may amount to, •r what amount of savings may have been locked up in corporate enterprises, it would be almost impossible to say, just as it is impossible to reckon how far the aggregate figures represent money spent and how far mere paper ; but the national debts of the world are now swollen almost as much as the credit of separate enterprises and corpo­ rations. The principal countries of Europe owe about $17,500,000,000, ex­ clusive of the unsecured paper curren­ cies and home debts, and all other national debts ' which • come within the cognizanoe of civilization may be valued at about $5,000,000,000= Those huge and rabidly accumulating obligations are not, it is true, due by any means ex­ clusively to the spread of industrial enterprise, Austria, Spain, Italy, Franoe, the United States and Bussia having contracted large national debts in the prosecution of ware and conquests, but for the purpose of the stock-broker it is much the same whether the "securi­ ties" he deals in are based on industrial undertakings or commerce, or are mere loans neoesstated by a national bank­ ruptcy or an ambitious war. His busi­ ness is to buy and sell and get gaiuM out of these bits of paper, and it of the essonce of that Business that quantity should have weight with him, not qual­ ity. And of quantity it cannot be de­ nied that the modem stock-broker lias enough.--Philadelphia Ledger, A Colorado Avalanche--A Striking Spectacle. At an early hour on Friday morning last the denizens of Alpine street, which runs parallel with Republican moun­ tain, were aroused by the ominous rumbling of rock far up the mountain side, and ere the first echoes had dies away a fearful sight met the gaze of the terri­ fied crowd who stood riveted, as it were, to the ground in speechless awe, not knowing which way to turn. A tremen­ dous mass of rook weighing some 2,500 pounds came leaping and rolling down the rugged sides of Republican moun­ tain at a rapid rate. Every eye was strained in a painful anxiety as it came nearer and faster, and seemed to be bent on destroying everything in its path. It barely missed the residence of Mr. Glaze, which is" situated just on the side of this mountain, and was only stopped by coming in contact with Mr. Forrest's stable, which, but a moment before, had contained a large number of horses and pack animals. It made a hole in the stable large enough for ten persons to go through. Mr. Forrest's loss is not very great. Owing to the early hour of the morning the lives of many little children were saved who would, later, most probably, have been in the path­ way of *hia havoc-making rock.--Denver Tribune. Oke of the many characters of Ban Francisco is "Jack the Grabber." Jack moors his boat close to ships discharging cargo at the wharves. His boat contains hooks and grapples, specially devised for bringing up substances from the bottom. If a vessel be discharging coal, Jack's hook9 will fish up all the lumps that drop into the water while in trans­ itu from the ship to the wharf. If an angler drops his pocket-book in the water, Jack is the man to find it for him. He is said to make a good living. AN Illinois clergyman, finding man­ kind spiritually incurable, has turned cancer doctor. EH* OlD HOSriiRR'S XXPERIKMd • BT IBWIK BUMBXX. up besh--like good <A' Fan* OwsdCentto de MahsVs call-- * To tell my 'eperunoe, tell It all"! If ** Ol' Shame'« put up; An51's led Glory out de stalL ' To win de cap. ttto, all you sinnah*. cllar de track }' lv mounted on ol' Glory's • _ Her huf« in gwfno ts-cUsk-t»-olaft? Dat's how dey's ft wine! An' Satan's rmttHn', shacklin' ha<* IB lef' behin\ lit Ah, Christuns; in my foolish days. , J rid de debbil's blooded bays; Parsumpchus Pride an' Warily WfejM, An' made 'em lop®; Bat now I's turned 'em oat to graze Widout a rope. Yah ! Yah! OA / how I used to . .. : &6 'ticaittiB *uuui I1U UM) to tell, Bat oncet I rid de road to hell Widnarabit, " A!' went two-forty on the ahAll Toward de pit. Like Balaam, when he rid de aaa, I 'iiated on a-trnblin' fas'-- Bat twuz a pace 'at o'u'dnt 1M', An' I got th'owed. I cotoh Religion trottin' pas', An' buck I goed. An' now I simply 'vines yon You dabbliah boys I'a talkiiv' to-- Don't nebber hab a thing to do ^id Satan'b bosses; Dey'll buck an' fling yon in de tioq, Fus' one you crosses. Bat fflt Religion well In han', An'ride her like a little man-- Dere ain't no hogs in all de Ian' Kin run agin lier-- An' jou'll come by de jedges' Btcn' A easy winner. Brid-a-BraeSeribner for November, Pith and Point. DOG laws are puplexing. AN evil checked--A convict clothed in zebra garb/ DOESN'T a man contract a ddbfc when he pays part ef it?--Lowell Cfcwurw. " HKKE goes for a swim," exclaimed a Galveston alcoholist maniac, as he plunged out of a fourth-story window. SAYS Figaro : 44 Distrust fair-oom- plexioned women with wide mouths." That is to say, if you trust them you will get bit. ON a pretty girl's saying to , " I am very sad, you see, Hunt, plied, " Oh! no; other Jewish sect, see." Leigh he re- you belong to the You are very fair, I TH"EY had wood-sawyers as long ago as the Roman oocupation of Judea. Because, if somebody didn't saw and split the wood, how could Pontius Pilate ? KIND-HEARTED Old Gent--"Whatis the matter, my little man?" Little Man--"Boo-hoo I Dad promised me a dollar if I'd have my tooth out, an* I want the dollar, an' don't want my tooth out. Boo-hoo 1 " A MAN rushes into a stamp-office, " Q u i o k ; a p o s t a g e s t a m p I ' " O f what denomination, sir ?" " The cheap­ est you have." " But where is the let­ ter to go to ?" " It isn't for any letter ; I've cut my finger." "LADIES and gentleman," said an Irish manager to his audience of three, "as there is nobody here, I'll dismiss you all i the performance of this night will not be performed, but will be repeated to-morrow evening." A NEW JERSEY pedagogue justifies the corporeal punishment of pupils on Biblical grounds. He says that when the Queen of Slieba came so far to learn of Solomon, it is manifest she must have been struok with a ruler. •COMPOSER--" Did you stay late at Lady Tittup's? " Friend--" Yes. Heard Miss Bang play again. I was delighted with her execution." Composer--" Her execution ! That would have pleased me; she deserved it for having brutally murdered a piece of mine." "WHY don't you trade with me?" said a close-fisted tradesman to a publisher the other day. " Because, " was the char­ acteristic answer, " you have never asked me, sir, I have looked all through the papers for an invitation in the shape ef an advertisement, but in vain; I never go where I am not invited." X's MOTHER-IN-IIAW is very sick, and X. oonsnlts a friend as to what doctor he hould call. " Shall I try a homeopath or an allopath?" "My dear fellow, it is six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. The allopath kills his patients : the homeopath lets his die." " Then I. will call an allopath--the poor woman will suffer less." TRIALS never oome singly. It was only last week that we learned that the coal supply would be exhausted in a little over nine million years, and now i?.ews comes that the planet Vulcan is lost. We can hardly think any one would be mean enough to steal Vulcan, but the nights have been dark lately and (here are a good many tramps about.--Nor­ wich Bulletin. A SILLY young man in Bethel, N. Y., thought he would shoot a dog with a piece of gas-pipe loaded with- powder and lead, and a plug in the end t® serve as a breech-pin. When everything was in readiness, the young man tired at the dog and shot himself in the hand, with the plug, which was just what everybody but himself would have expected. The dog, with a surprised look, trotted away down the street, and his would-be exter­ minator went and had his woopds dressed. SLANG PHRASES. " Brace up and have some style about yon," And " How til that for high ? " "Shoot that," or " Cheese it," Then tell them to " Mind your eye." " He's a sick pill of misery," And " Don't you forget it," " They've gone up spout," '• You'd better Mil out," And " Give ne a rest on it." " I'll put a tin ear on you," " You know how it is yourself;" " Wipe off your chin," and " Pull down jam vest,' " Not if I know myself." " That's what's the matter with Hannah," " Or any other man," " That's too. thin," " Bully for you 1" And " Beat that if you can." " You'd better sell out," and " Go West," Or " I'll put a head on yeu," " I ain't that kind of a hairpin," ^ And these are only a few. Murdered for Two Dollars. In Granlsburg, Burnett county, Wis., Ole Hanson and Barney Tholliffeon quar­ reled over an indebtedness of $2. After the quarrel Tholliffson went home, a mile and a half distant, Hanson dogging his footsteps, and shooting him through the window while he was eating supper, two women and an old man sitting at the table with him. The shot took ef­ fect in Tholliffson's breast, and he died on Tuesday morning.--St. Paul Dis­ patch. /