Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 28 Mar 1877, p. 6

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€ TWENTY YKARS AGO. «3 , JPvo wandered in the village, Tofl, *' I've sat beneath th'~ tw t;' Vfflpon the schiwl-hims^ plaj'-grottid. v \nrieh sheltered you and me. • _ none, were there to greet me, Tom, ; And few were left to know A T'Vi»t played with us upon the gram, Some twenty years ago. 1!he green i» just m green, Totn-- • :% - / Barefooted boys at play ^ _ i# V*fpPre Bporttog, Junt as we did thta, * With spirits just as gay; . 3ut the mantei sleeps upon the fc Which. ooaU d o'er with snow, , Afforded us a eliding-place, ' .Tnut twenty years ago. • 'The old school-house is altered now, . t The benches are replaced By uew ones, very like the same Our pen-knife had defaced ; t %ut the same old bricks are in the walls. The bell swings to and fro, ; It's music just the same, dear Tom, As twenty years ago. The that bubbled 'neatli the Mil, Close by the spreading beech. Is very low--twas once so high. That we could almost reach; And kneeling down to get a drink, Dear Tom, I started so, To see how much that I had changed, Since twenty years ago. Sear by the spring, upon the elm, You know I cut your name-- Your sweetheart's just beneath it, Torn, And you did mine the same. Some heartless wretch hath peeled the bark, T v\ iw dying, sure, but slow. Just as the one whose none we cot, Died twenty years ago. My eyelids had been dry, Tom, But tears came in my eyes; I thought of her I loved so well* Thr*e early, broken ties-- I visited the old churchyard, \ And took some flowars to strew Upon the graves of those we loved, Some twenty years ago. Some are in the churchyard laid, Some sleep beneath the sea-- But few are left of our old class Excepting yo* and me ; And when our time shall come, Tom, And we are called to go, I hope they'll lav us where we played. Just twenty years ago. "James," said she, solemnly, "Ihave found that girl out in a tlieft "Who? Amanda?" " Pshaw! no. Your superior girl, Ann. She has helped herself to $20 of mine." "Good gracious!" cried Mr. Garret, pausing in the act of carving the turkey. " Yes; it was a $20 note which--fthem --happened to fall out of my desk on the floor this forenoon. I was busy with Horace and so--ahem--forgot to pick it up before I left the room. When I came down to dinner I instantly missed it, and the abandoned creature actually said she might have swept it into the dustpan and burnt it. Fortunately I have the number of it, and after dinner you must go immediately and fetch a police­ man." Bewildered, though far from con­ vinced by the proof of Ann's guilt which his spouse cited, Mr. Garret suf­ fered himself to be sent off on his errand of justice, and soon returned with a de­ tective, armed with a warrant, and Ann was imperatively rung up, while Amanda was ordered to remain, that she might take a warning from the event to take place. ' „ "Ann," said her master, feeling very small, " Mrs. Garret misses some money, and this man has come to----" " Find it, my dear," rejoined the of­ ficer, who had'been regarding her with undisguised interest. "So if you'll hand over the keys of your kit well pro­ ceed to business instanter." "And," said Mrs. Garret, sternly, "if the stolen property ̂ is found in your possession, you will go to prison, miss-- that you shall." p Ann 's white face slowly kindled with a scorching red ; her large dark eyes dilated with a deep horror; her Bps turned pale ; her breath seemed to leave her in a gasp. " You accuse--me of theft? " she fal­ tered. Mr, Garret silently put her into a chair. She looked as if the shock would strike her dead. " Do you deny," demanded Mrs. Gar­ ret, none the less spitefully for this at­ tention, " that you picked up that $20 bill that was dropped on the carpet, just on this spot, this afternoon ? Haven't you got it in your pocket, or trunk, or hidden about your bedroom at this moment ? Go on with the search, Mr. Officer; she's determined not to confess. It was a national bank bill for $20, numbered 109,933." " Seems to me I've seen your face be­ fore tliis, my gal," muttered the officer, confidentially. "You'll please fork over the key of your kit, young woman." With trembling hands Ann waved him off, and untied a ribbon from about her neck, on which a small key was sus­ pended. As she gave it to him a sort of sob shook her, and large tears rushed in' a torrent down her cheeks. " I'll show the way," said the mistress of the house, sure by these signs of sor­ row that the note was about to be dis­ covered. '-James, keep your eye on the unprincipled wretch, for there's no knowing what she may do." Arriving at Ann's miserable bedroom the officer coolly rifled the pockets of all the dresses to be found hanging up, and not finding what he sought dragged the single trunk out under the skylight, and unlocked it. Very neatly arranged were poor Ann Walker's simple belongings. Some daintily frilled underclothing, smelling of lavender, her modest Sunday apparel folded by itself in silver paper, a box of plain linen collars and cuffs, one or two books of such unexpected titles as "Longfellow's Hyperion," "The Holy Grnil,' by Tennyson, and some of Madaine Michelet's in the original French and a beautiful mother-of-pearl desk in the veiy bottom, with the silver initials "A. "W. A." in a silver mono­ gram on the top. " Now I'm blest if this ain't a pretty kit for a servant girl," remarked the de­ tective, trying to pry it open with a pen­ knife. "A wholesale robber," groaned Mrs. Garret, clasping her hands; "and to think that I have harbored--" "Hullo," cried the detective, opening the lid, and taking out a silver photo­ graph case, richly chased, and garnished with an elaborate monogram, "Who's this." Then the pair had a fine surprise. Opening the case,, tlioy saw two cartes Must wash the steps i --°ne of a majestic-looking military man, -at 5 in the morning, forsooth, lest folks apparently about 60, and the other of a mee her at it. I'll take that out of her !" young girl clad in silk and richest lace, In a few minutes Ann came up to clear | '"'hose face boye the exact similitude of the dishes off. She was tall and well-j Ann Walker's vignette. proportioned, about 20 years of age, " By the hooky!" ejaculated the of- her face pale, refined in features, not' ficer, a light breaking all over his face, handsome, but singularly intelligent and earnest in its expression, THE LOST BASK NOTE. "James," said Mrs. Garret, while sitting at breakfast one morning, " I don't like that new girl. I have my sus­ picions about her." " About Ann !" returned Mr. Garret, in surprise. " Why, it's only a few days ago that I heard you boasting to Mrs. Brenmer you had the best cook in New York." "So she is a good cook. I don't ex­ pect to get such another for twice the •wages. It is not about the work--she does all that well--but I've no trust in her." " What has she done ?" " Wlia! has she done ?" echoed the lady, somewhat sharply. " Nothing, of course, or I'd send her packing ! But she's sly and secret, and won't tell me anything about herself ; and has ridiculous airs about sleeping alone, and won't even allow Amanda inside her bedroom door. There's something wrong, depend upon it. If there wasn't a screw loose some­ where she would not be here for such low wages." " If that's a fault against her you can raise them," suggested Mr. Garret. " There, James, you may as well go to your office, if that's all you have to say," cried the lady of the house. " But mark my words before you go, I'll find Ann ! W'alker out before long." ' Mr. Garret sighed as hq rose to depart, j He well knew that remonstrance would j avail nothing, for Mrs. Garret's preju- | dices were as the laws of the Medes and j Persians that changetli not, so he took | himself off without another word. j " Amanda !" cried the lady, when left alone, " bring Horace up." | In response to this summons a large, slatternly girl of 11 or 12 made her ap­ pearance from the basement, with a little [ boy in her arms, who made a snatch at j an egg-stand and knocked it on the floor j in passing the table. i " You awkward, careless gypsy !" cried j Mrs. Garret, with 'great spirit; "that's ! the second thing you've broken this j morning. Who do you think is going j to pay for all you destroy ? Come here, Horace, love, and have a nice piece of .toast. What is Ann doing, Amanda'{" "She's dressing the turkey, mum." Did she scour the front steps thin -vmocning?" " Yes, mum; she got up at 5 o'clock to •doit." "Go and tell her I expect her to •ash the drawing-room windows before dinner." " Upon my word," muttered Mrs. Gar­ ret, resentfully, as Amanda retired to carry her message, " I'll pull her ^iide down for her a bit. and astonishment preventing further ar­ ticulation. She looked a little anxious and troubled as she noiselessly arranged the room, and when she was ready to go she said, in a very soft voice : " May I ask A favor, ma'am, that the cleaning of the front windows be put off till early in the morning ?" "No," answered the mistress, curtly, *' I want them done now." " I don't wish to be seen bv passers- *»y," she urged, almost pleadingly. " It is of importance for me not to be seen bj--by some one who might know me." " You will obey my orders, girl, or leaSre the house !" returned Mrs. Garret, beginning to quiver with temper. The servant curtesied and withdrew. -. In a few minutes she was at the win­ dows, but in a close sunbonnet, to Mrs. Garret's unspeakable disgust. "I think I can see through my ladf," Wis her inward comment. " She's some jailbird'tiie detectives are after. I'll lay ' a trap for her, and if she's not caught in 1 ~ it my penetration isn't much." 1 -1: Basing from h«r sewing machine, which j she had been busily plying in Master ! A Horace's behalf, while her brain busily j ™" revolved, she unlocked her desk took from it a $20 note, carefully marked the number, and dropped it. as if bv acci­ dent, under the edge of the table." Then die cut and basted some more work, mak- . ing rubbish enough about the floor to in­ sure the servant having to use her dust- pen before dinner, By the time this was accomplished she discovered little Hor­ ace and the machine in such danger of Aowmifr grief together that, first driv­ ing that innocent to the other side of the loom, and then picking up the scattered shuttles and reels, she called Ann up Stairs to put the parlor-to rights, and lefit file room, taking Horace with her. When Mr. Garret camfe home to dinner Ike saw by his wife's portentous face that something dreadful had occurred. Taking a greasy pocket-book out ®f his pocket he opened it, and drew forth a photograph, which was Ann Walker's vignette. " Them two's the same gal?" asked he, eagerly. "Yes," answered the lady with a glance. " I thought I had spotted that gal the moment I set eyes on her," cried the man, exultingly ; "and to think of me finding her after all, and three of us a- huntin' for her these six months. I'm a made man. Won't the Gineral plank down the thousand pounds reward? Hoorar! " "What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Garret. She began to believe she had been sheltering a very great criminal in­ deed. " What do I mean ? " grinned the de­ tective. " Why, that you have made the orkardest mistake, missis, you ever made in your life. You've heard of Gen. Ar- nim as lives in the marble palace up the Hudson?" " Of course I have--indeed have some acquaintance with him." "Or would give the universe to scrape one," she might with truth have added. '"Diat's unlucky for you," observed the omcer, with an obvious lack of sym­ pathy ; "for you see, this here cook as you have accus ?d of stealing, is his only daughter and heiress "-- "What?" Mrs. Garret sat down on a broken- backed chair, with a face as pale as a ghost. To think that her penetration should have served her so ill as to sufR?r her to insult this lady--this daughter of one of the grandest ma (mates of society. " How in heaven's name can I apolo­ gize for my mistake ?" she gasped. '« I'll die of shame outright!" " Meanwhile, we haven't found the bank note," observed the officer with malace prepense. " Shall I go on with the s'arcli ?' " No, no! gracious sake, leave me ! Let me think!", groaned our friend in real anguish of mind. So the officer went down stairs with a very different manner from that in which he had ascended. Meanwhile the following interview had taken place between the master of the I house and the accused : | " Sir," said the latter, as soon m they j were alone. " I think you hav* j feelings of a gentleman. * Further oow- j cealment is useless, and before I }*N»W j this house I owe you an explanation.v> Mr. Garret thought this was the W- ginning of a oonfession of guilt, and ; said: : " Yes, Ann," very sadly, but kindly. " I am not what I seem," pursued Mi** , Arnim, in an agitated manner " You may have heard of, six months i ago, Gen. Arnim's daughter, who disap­ peared." i " Heavens," muttered Mr. Garret, who feared poor Ann was insane. j " My father," slowly continued MVM : Arnim, " wished me to marry a gentU*-! man who was in every way repugnant to me, I having already given my heart to j another whose want of fortune was his only fault. I would not disobey my | f a t h e r b y f o l l o w i n g t h e d i c t a t e s o f m v , heart, yet how could I go through ; daily sorrow of thwarting his express wishes ! I resolved to escape from both [ temptations at a time, and I could think j of no way in which I could more secure- j ly hide myself than by going into service ! for awhile. I confided my story to the j good manageress of the 4 Domestic Train­ ing Institution,' who was a friend of mine, find through her influence I came here with the determination of doing my duty as conscientiously as it wns pos­ sible. You have seen the result, Mr. Garret." She burst into tears, though her eyes flashed through them with proud indig­ nation. By this time the earnestness of her manner and the calm refinement of her language had carried the conviction of truth to her listener's heart. He gazed at her in amazement and distress, while a flood of shame dyed his brow. The detective now entered, and, with a deeply respectful obeisance to the woman he had treated so insolently ten lninutes ago, said: "Please accept my humble service, Miss Arnim, and to pardon my mistake. What can I do for you, miss ?" "Bring a cab, if you please," said Miss Arnim. Then turning to her former master, she said, pleadingly: " Let me ask as a particular favor, sir, that I may be permitted to go without meeting Mrs. Garret again. I can im­ agine now," she added, with a trembling voice, "what innocent and friendless girls feel when they are suspected wrong­ fully. " Little more remains to be said. The young lady had her wish, and returned to her father's house without another en­ counter with the amiable mistress; and so overjoyed was the General to receive back her whom he had bitterly mourned as lost by his own cruelty that her en­ gagement to Mr. Merville, a rising young lawyer, was immediately afterward ar­ ranged with much rejoicing. Little Master Horace proved, some weeks afterward, to be the real cause of that bank note's disappearance. It was found stuffed into the cavity under the shuttle of his mamma's sewing machine. A Screw in the Lungs. We came into possession a few days since of some facts illustrating a most wonderful and remarkable case, and one that has few if any parallels in tliis re­ gion of the State, and which we give to our readers, vouching for its correctness. In the Smith's Grove region there lives the family of Mr. W. J. Dickerson, a gentleman well and favorably known in che county. In the family there is a bright little boy 9 years old, named James. Last August he and his mother were paring apples for drying purposes with an ordinary machine used for that purpose. A three-eighths inch screw dropped from the machine, and James, child-like, put the screw in his mouth and accidentally sucked it down his wind­ pipe. Violent coughing followed with­ out ejecting the screw. On Sept. 1 the little boy AYES taken to his bed, first with chills and fever. This was followed by intermittent fever, which in turn was succeeded by pneumonia, and constant ooughing, with expectoration from the right lung. The sufferer continued to grow worse, until in spite of the best medical treatment and appliances he wasted away to almost a skeleton fr Dm what he had been. Death seemed i ev- itable and near at hand. Suddenlyt lere ensued a violent jerking cough, and the iron screw was ejected from the right lung, where it had been since he swal­ lowed it, over five months ago. Proper restoratives were given, and the little fellow has been steadily improving and growing rapidly. He is now well, and fat as a pig, and keeps the screw as a memento, while his father and mother are the happiest two people about. The circumstance is certainly a very singular one, and is substantially as we have re­ lated it.--Rowling Green (Ky.) Panto­ graph. Bismarck's Troubles. Bismarck is having an unhappy ex­ perience as Chancellor of the German empire, and he complains that his health is suffering under the worry and trouble that he is subjected to by his political adversaries, and also in conse­ quence of the lukewarm support he re­ ceives from some of the Cabinet Minis­ ters. In a recent speech in the Reich­ stag he cited the case of Gen. Von Stosch, Chief of Admiralty, who forced upon the Premier a vast amount of labor in pre­ paring the correspondence to show the necessity of the re uction in the Admir­ alty estimates which Bismarck advocated, and then, when the matter came up for discussion in the Reichstag, Von Stosch at once consented to the desired reduc­ tion upon the demand being made by the Liberals. What he would not do for the Chancellor he would do for the enemies of the latter, and when Bismarck nar­ rated the circumstances in his speech Von Stosch at once tendered his resigna­ tion. The Emperor, however, declines to accept it, and the unfriendly Miniater remains to harass his chief. THE new Church Property Tax law of Maine exempts from taxation church property worth not more than $5,000. SOMNAMBULISTIC CAPERS. Remarkable Acrobatic Performance of a Detroit Young Lady in Her Sleep. [From the Detroit Free Presa.) One of the most remarkable exhibitions of somnambulism ever given in this city took place about 1 o'clock Saturday morning near the comer of High ana Sixth streets. The principal actor in the seru>-oou«e drama was an 18-year-old miaa. named Annie Barton, and she was first diaoovenxl by C. W. Hedges. He was on his wav home when his attention was attracted "by a queer-looking object upon the top of a grapevine arbor mat wr the fence. Stopping, Mr. Uvvked at the figure until he saw it mow, when he spoke to it, but re- answer. At tliis juncture,^ 0, i\ Starkweather, of the Trum­ bull \vv*>ne IVlioe Station, came along o>»» his way home. He was t\v Mr. Heilges, who pointed ouS iw onivr rt^uiv, and they were not lowjc iw as to the nature of the amwitioAv, It'* a woman," said Capt. and "ahe mint oe aaKv|*'" ovvuSwwvd Mr. Hedges, Arriv­ ing wAtfolnsuxn, the men opened the waking to the arbor, lv> ife* girl, but received no SSauri weather then began cluubi*.^t wjp Vlw jurKxr, at which the girl start*\l (.vu a im'i* run, and, going the whale (iilf like arl>or roof, made a jump, * apace of about eight tW roof of a woodshed. This u'.iuu-uv** astonished the men, who awaketusi Mr. Thompson'and his family and told them that there was a sleep-walker upon their woodshed. Soon Mr. Thompson, his wife and son joined Mr. Hedges and the Captain in the chase. What was their surprise to find Miss Barton had elaml>ered from the shed to the wing, and thence to the apex of the roof of the main building, where she stood quietly leaning against the chimney. Finally a ladder was procured and young Thompson climbed to the side of the roof, but, getting there, found it so covered with snow and ice that it was impossible for him to reach the girl. So down he came, and the ladder was carried to the front of the house, where it was put in position, with one end against the roof peak. This time Capt. Starkweather took off his boots and climbed up. The girl stood quietly un­ til he was within a few feet of her, when she ran toward the wing, and sliding went from one roof to the other ; thence she jumped baok to the grape anJbor, and, before any of the men could get to her, jumped to the ground, and, dashing through a back gate, ran up High street. The chase was continued to the Crawford Street Park, where she was captured. Then it was found that she was com­ pletely dressed, with the exception of a hat and shawl, and that during all of her hazardous midnight ramble she had not received the slightest injury. She was taken to the Trumbull Street Police Station until her relatives, being noti­ fied, put in an appearance and took her in charge. This is the second escapade, her friends assert, of the kind in which Miss Barton has taken part. Heavy Jewel Bobberies in England. Another heavy robbery of jewelry is reported from England. A number of valuable jewels belonging to the Duchess of Cleyeland, the mother of the Earl of Rosebery, were stolen from Battle Abbey, on$ of the Duke of Cleveland's seats. The value of the jewels is esti­ mated at from £5,000 to £10,000. The articles stolen were chiefly presents, one of them, a necklace of diamonds, rubies and emeralds, being the gift of the Queen to the Duchess, who was a brides­ maid at Her Majesty's wedding. No trace has been discovered of the thieves, and a reward of £20t has been offered for their discovery. rrhe latest previous parallel to tliis brilliant bit of roguery was the stealing of the Countess of Dud­ ley's dressing-bag, containing about £5,000 worth of jewels, while her maid stood near it at a railway station. Re­ cently two American ladies have been victimized in London--one, Mrs. Stevens, of New Yprk, by a French maid, and the other, Mrs. Ives, now iady Harcourt, a daughter of Mr. Mot- ley, by a bold rogue who climbed up into the window of Mr. Motley's house in Arlington^ street, while the Minister and family were at dinner below. The jewels had been laid out on a dressing- table, as the ladies were going to a ball the same evening. In the case of the Duchess of Cleveland, the financial loss, even at the highest figure assigned to it, will hardly be so much felt as the senti­ mental loss, for the Duke is one of the wealthiest men in England and has no direct heirs. His dukedom dies with him, and his estates will go with the barony of Bernard to a distant kinsman, Morgan Vane, of Huntingdonshire. The Earl of Rosebery is a son of the Duchess of Cleveland by her first marriage with Lord Dalmeay. From the Slave Pen to the Council of State. When Edham Pacha, the present Grand Vizier, was a boy he was sold as a slave to the Turkish statesman Khosrev, who, upon discovering his extraordinary abilities, gave him Ins liberty and sent him to Paris to be educated^ He was born in* 1823 at Chio, his parents being Circassian. After remaining at Paris three years his patron induced him to study mining engineering, and for four years he followed this pursuit in France, Germany, and Switzerland. Returning to Constantinople in 1869, he was ap­ pointed a Captain on the general staff, and ten years later was made an aid-de­ camp to the Sultan, subsequently attain- ng the ranks of General, Chamberlain of the Palace, and member of the Council of State. He has alrfb been Minister of Foreign Affairs and Turkish Ambassador to various European courts. His politi­ cal affiliation is with the Young Turkish party. The (Grasshopper of Missouri. Prof. C. V. Riley sayft of the grass­ hopper prospect for Missouri, that the counties of Platte, Clay, Jackson, Lafay­ ette, Cass, Johnson, Bates, Henry, Pettis and Benton will be practically free from the plague ; but that in cer-. tain districts there is every reason to fear a return of the hoppers. These locali­ ties are mopped out by the Professor as follows : First, Atcluson and Holt and the western part of Nodbiway and An­ drew, in the extreme northwestern cor­ ner. Second, McDoneid, Barry, Jasper, Lawrence, Barton, D\*de, Cedar, Vernon --more particularly in the southwest half; Polk in the northwest third, Hioksryin the southwest third, and St. Clair in scattering places. FOREST TREES. Mftei on Their Growth. Milo Barnard, in the Prairie Farmer, gives the following as the measurement of certain trees recently cut down by him. It will be interesting to parties planting trees to note the growth of each variety in a given number of years: Lombardy Poplar--14 years old; 54 feet in height; 22* inches in diameter at the base. Cottonwood--17 years old; 50 feet in height; 18 inches in diameter. Golden Willow--13 years old; 41 feet 6 inches in height; 16£ inches in diame­ ter. • White Willow--13 years old; 46 feet in height; 11$ inches in diameter. Silver Poplar--15 years old; 42 feet in height; 22 inches in diameter. Soft Maple--13 years old ; 31 feet in height; 9 inches in diameter. Balm of Gilead--17 years old ; 31 feet in height; 10 inches in diameter; tree unhealthy; utterly worthless for the prairie. Aspen--13 years eld; 31 feet high ; 7 inches in diameter. Ashleaved Maple--9 years old; 28 feet in height; 6£ inches in diameter. Sycamore--13 years old; 34 feet in height; 11 inches in diameter. Butternut--13 years old; 31 feet high ; 71 inches iii diameter. A rapid grow­ ing, healthy, and ornamental tree, val­ uable for timber and nuts. Should be in every collection. Black Walnut--17 years old; 41 feet 8 inches in height; 7j inches in diam­ eter. A healthy, long-lived tree of fair growth. White Ash--15 years old ; 27 feet 6 inches in height; 10 inches in diameter. Last season's top growth, 2 feet 7 inches. A healthy, clean, beautiful tree; excellent for door-yard or lawn; and, for a hard-wood tree, a rapid grower, easy to transplant. Red Oak--12 years old from the acorn ; 25 feet 7 inches in height j 6$ inches in diameter. Healthy, hardy trees, and indispensable on account of the great value of the timber. Red Cedar--18 years old; 20 feet 5 inches in height; 9 inches in diameter. Valuable as an ornamental tree, for hedges, screens, and wind-breaks. The most lasting post timber we have. Scotch Pine--16 years old; .28 feet in height; 12£ inches in diameter. A ro­ bust, hardy tree of foreign birth, but naturalieed to our climate. Considered indispensable in every collection. White Pine--14 years old; 30 feet 6 inches in height; 11$ inches in diame­ ter. This most valuable tree furnishes nine-tenths of all the timber used in North America, and millions of feet an­ nually for the eastern continent. There is no other soft-wood tree that bears any comparison with it, and* like the walnut, its rapidity of growth seems to increase with age. The above are trees that were cut down. The following are the measure­ ments of trees that were not cut, and are given in order to make the list more complete : Norway Spruce--20 years old ; 28 feet in height; 14$ inches in diameter. Balsam Fir--20 years old; 32 feet 6 inches in height; 14 inches in diameter. American Larch--18 years old; 34 feet in height; 10 inches in diameter. Hard Maple--13 years planted; 34 feet in height; 10 inches in diameter. Red Elm--13 years planted; 33 feet in height; 13 inches in diameter. -J Mall Contracts. On the evening of March 9 the busi­ ness of letting the spring mail oontracts throughout the United States was closed at the Postoffice Department. Some idea of this work may be formed as fol­ lows : Maine has 221 routes, and 2,800 bids ; New Hampshire, 111 routes and 1,400 bids; Vermont, 120 routes and 1,700 bids; Massachusetts, 104 routes and 1,250 bids ; Rhode Island, 23 routes and 300 bids ; Connecticut, 63 routes and 1,000 bids; New York, 483 routes and 6,500 bids; New Jersey, 1,000 routes and 1,200 bids; Delaware, 22 routes and 300 bids; Pennsylvania, 648 routes and 9,000 bids; Maryland, 133 routes and 2,000 bids; Virginia, 383 routes and 6,000 bids; West Virginia, 205 routes and 3,700 bids. The total number of routes is 2,622, and of bids over 37,000, being nearly 7,000 bids over the num­ ber last year. Foreigners in the Cabinet. So far as we know only three citizens of foreign birth have ever held Cabinet positions, and these three have justified their appointment by their ability and fidelity. Alexander Hamilton, Secre­ tary of the Treasury under Washington, and the father of American finance, was born in the West Indies of a Scotch father and a French mother, and was educated in England and France, and his mind fully formed before he came to America. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Jefferson and Madi­ son, and holding the office from 1802 to 1814, was born in Geneva, Switzerland. William J. Duane, Secretary of the Treasury under Jackson, who appointed him in 1833 and removed him the same year, because he refused to change the deposits from the United States Bank, was born an Irishman, but came to this country while yet a child. --JExchange. Young Statesmen. The members of the State Government of Illinois are all comparatively young men Their nativity and ages are as fol­ lows : Shelby M- Cullom, Governor, born in Wayne county, Ky., in 1829, is 48 years old. Andrew Shuman. Lieuten­ ant Governor, born in Lancaster county, Pa., in 1830, is 47. George H. Harlow, ( Secretary of State, born in Sackett's | Harbor, N. Y., in 1830, is 47. Edward Ruiz, State Treasurer, bom in Baden, Germany, in 1828, is 49. Thomas B. Needles, Auditor, born in Monroe county, 111., in 1885, is 42 ; J. K. Edsall, Attor­ ney General, born in Windham, Green county, N. Y., in 1831, is 46. How much may be accomplished by untiring industry is shown by the ex­ ample of a yotmg man of San Francisco. He went to Virginia City, represented that he was a clergyman, made the ac­ quaintance of thirty persons, borrowed money from each to the aggregate of $1,700, and ran away, sail within a week, MARCH. Death tn Kin* Winter, the oold-blooded tyrant That held UH so long In his iron-bound rule J We crowned him at Christmas, feasted him New Year, w AndYule-k *° ^ the great log of But now we hare done v«lth our alaviah --r- • _ J»*iden haa risen who conquers faia might. ' £«?Ur darUn8» 411 roey with Hweetnecw, To smile at the tyrant and put him U> iligftt. But see how he blnsters in impotent fury. While earth, though rebellious, still yield* to hla claim! Like an insolent bully he swaggers and -- fair maiden. Old Orayt̂ rd, for Load are your trumpets and sharp are smmr wea­ pons 4 What do you know of a fair woman's wilea. The might of her cunning, the strength e( hw Or the mischief that lurks In her little smiles ? Hearken, O Winter! No prophet is nmdnfl Shem conquer you first, then she'll weep o'er your Her tear-drops in falling will bring forth the rosea. And the world will forget that you ever were here Ay! riot and rage, tor your downfall is ootniiur • A word in your ear, O my blustering Your beard tella your sex, but sweet <. . woman, „ And the world knows full well how slick conflicts all end. --Harper's Weekly. PITH AND ponn. A CONNECTICUT man will break a clove in two to make weight. A XiiTTXiE boy's first pair of trousers al­ ways fit Jf the pockets are deep enough. A PABROT is said to live 200 years. Barbers do not live to be **"4 age, but they talk more. THE Chicago baby-show waa not an utter failure. It succeeded in i ' ' 700 mothers mad at all mankind. NOBODY knows to this day what a tim» Noah had of it in the ark with the antedi­ luvian ancestor of the present Kentucky mule. WE Can generally tell what a man's going to do next when he puts the lighted end of a cigar into his mouth by mistake. f CALIFORNIA panthers now crawl into hollow logs to escape the pursuit of California girls. Where can California men go ? LITTLE JOHNNIE is quite sure the pict­ ure of a Spitz dog he drew on the par­ lor wall was good, because it made his father mad. "You call that a trunk, d« jou?" growled a dejected hotel porter. "It only needs a lightning-conductor to make it look like a boarding-house." AN exchange says it is thought that the time will yet come when members of the choir will be expected to behave during divine service just as well as other folks. IT is with gloomy views of the future that the young Boston man, after laying out 75 cents in caramels for his sweet­ heart, learns from her own lips that kiss­ ing is aliunde. A PAIR of deaf mutes were married in Monroe, Ga., a few weeks ago, and now it is more fun than a circus to see them quarrel and make faces at each other with their fingers. AN Oslikosh lady, who was reading to some friends, encountered the words, " Nibelungelied tetalogy,"and oautious- ly removed her teeth before attempting to pronounce them. HEBE, fix up the constitution so that a man will have the privilege of shoot­ ing the fellow who asks for a light from his 25-cent Havana, and hand? back the stub of a penny-grab. "x THE Leavenworth Times sums up a late breach-of-promise suit in two head­ lines, thus: "An injured woman sues her deoeiver for $50,000, and she runs 49,950 behind the ticket." FOR once in the world a New York policeman was on hand the other day when a robbery was committed, but, says the Telegram, he was the robber's victim, and had to be there. A NEW YOBK policeman shot at a mad dog and hit a man in the neck. When you see a policeman pointing his pistol at yon, stand still and smile. If yon duck or dodge the result is uncertain. THB coffee roasters of Indianapolis charge each other nith using peas, beans, cdrn, rye, oats, gum-arabic, leather scraps, and other things in get­ ting up their " strictly pure" brands. A OENTLEMAN, who rather suspected some one was peeping through the keyhole of his office door, investi­ gated with a syringe full of pepper sauce, and went home to find his wife had been cutting wood, and a chip had hit her in the eye. WAYS A3ID WILLST Two worshipful cronies, both William hgrname, Each courted, in union, an o'erwilling dame; But her huHband, arriving one day unannonnoed, With a right lusty kick both the Don Juans " bounced," , And I heard him exclaim, " Something wrong, it is clear !" Then he turned to Madame with, " Now, hark you, iny clear ; Tboug^i I cannot approve of your wajre, and your 7 shall never be slow, mind, in footing jrowr Bills." A War Incident. How it happens that President Hayes is now in possession of two arms is thus related in an Ohio journal: "Gen. Hayes was wounded in the arm at South Mountain. The surgeons said it must come off, and made all necessary pre­ parations for amputation. The General was at Middletown, Md., at the residence of a gentleman well known here, and this gentleman begged him to allow his family physician--Dr. Bare, of Middle- town, also well known here--to take charge of him. He consented; and, al­ though the army surgeons were dis­ pleased, the doctor assumed the oare of the General, and managed the case so skillfully that amputation was rendered unnecessary." A Reading People. Mr. Bailey, editor erf the Danbury News, has been traveling in the West, and writes home that the inhabitants of this Western country impress him as being here on a visit; they come from somewhere else, and he rarely found a man who was born out here. He wa struck with the absence of factories, and the amazing abundance of newspapers, and says the people of the West are more liberal, and read more, than those of the East; nearly every passenger on a West­ ern railway train buys a daily paper, 14 and in the hotels, at breakfast, the ar­ ray and rustle of newspapers is simply wonderful." THE Italian lottery system brings in not less than $12,000,000 a year to the national exchequer.

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