Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 27 Jun 1877, p. 3

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tlfltfj ,Pt§tnrg flamtola | J. VAN SLYKR. Pcbushk% MeHENBY, - - ILLINOIS. rtttMTl UFHEAVAg j;, Jferticnlars of the Recent Earthquake o* |he Peruvian Coast-- Half-a-Dexen Cities AUnnst Completely Wiped Out--Newly One Thousand People Swept to Instant Do- .. Struct ion--The Property Loss Estimated at Orer ®20,000,000. From the Star and Herald, of Fttna- Ha, we glean the following details of the disasters and destruction caused on the South Pacific coast by the earthquake and tidal wave of May 9, brief mention of which has been heretofore made in these columns: The towns of Arioa, Iquique, Ponta de Labos, Pabello de Pica, Chanavaya, Huamalies, Teocapilla, Cobija, Megil- lones de Bolivia, Antafagaata and Gbnaralal are nearly all destroyed. About 600 lives were lost The destruc­ tion of property is estimated at $20,000,- 000, confined mostly to the coast of T^trapacft, twenty-three leagues inland, and the villages of Picamatilla and Can- ofiones far in the interior, are more or less ruined. The shipping of guano from the southern deposits will be in­ definitely suspended, as all facilities in the way of launches, shutes, wharves, wfcter-condensers, and buildings of all kinds have been swept awav. The de­ struction of and damage to shipping has been very great, and was attended by very serious loss of life. * At Mallendy the railway was torn up the sea 300 feet, and at Ho the rail- vfay was also injured. At Arica the people were preparing temporary fortifi­ cations to repel the threatened assault of the rebel ram Hauscar at the very moment when the roar of the earthquake was heard. The shocks were very numerous, and caused immense damage. The sea was suddenly perceived to recede from the beach and a wave from ten to fifteen feet high rolled upon the shore, carrying all before it. Eight times was repeated this assault of the ocean, and four miles of the embankment of the railway melted away like sand. Locomo- tivls, cars and rails were hurried about Spr the sea like so manv playthings, and tumbled mass of rubbish. The liited States steamer Wateree, stranded in 1808, was lifted bodily and floated two miles north of her old position. The cable' buoy was moved a quarter of a mile northwards. Merchandise from the Custom House and stores was carried five miles distant. «.The damage done was greater than tlit of the calamity of 1868. The earth- qlfoie had leveled the Custom House, railway station, submarine cable office, hotel, British Consulate, the steamship faency, and many private dwellings. The people passed the night on the hillB. Thieves began to rob, when the troops fired upon them, killing and wounding several. Iquique, built of wood 'and cane, tumbled down at the first onset. The lamps were broken, and the burning oil spreading over the debris started a gen­ eral conflagration. Three companies of firemen were instantly at their posts, al­ though it was difficult to maintain an mjjft-ight position, shock following shock Witt?, dreadful regularity. To procure water, the two best fire engines were sta­ tioned on the beach. Just then the cry arose, "The sea. the sea!" and the waves rushed in. The engines were car­ ried. out by the reflux, and the fire con­ tinued unopposed. Three elements of destruction were busy at one moment-- water, and the earthquake. The affrighted people left the city to its fate, flying to the neighboring eminences, tfhe fire destroyed a large portion of the town, the earthquake leveled nearly all the rest, and water covers the ruins which it took out in its reflux. The water-condensers along the shore are ed. This is an irreparable loss for as no potable water is found ere. Nearly 400,000 quintals of ni- ijjkl at Iquique and the adjacent ports Molie and Pisaqua were destroyed. A small loss of life took place, prob- ten in all. Coasting craft ana small boats in the harbor were broken to pieces. As in Arica, robbery of goods lying in the streets was attempt­ ed, but the guards of citizens took such q$vere measures that the robbers were speedily checked. * Away up on the pampas, eleven miles •ftom Iquique, the splendid nitrate estab­ lishment, "La Neuva Carolina," was j|ompletely destroyed. {The sufferings of the people of Iqui- qtie were intense. The absence of water and the destruction of their principal stores added to their hardships. It is animated that the damage done in Iqui- .qne will amount to nearly 4,000,000 soles. Chanavaya, a little town at the guano- Og deposit knowh as Pabello de lea, with 400 houses, has only two standing. Here the earthquake was fol­ lowed by fire. There were no fire- engines in the town, and the sea came in and extinguished the flames, but as it retired it carried off all that remained of the place. In one of the guano cuttings thirty laborers were buried by the fall­ ing earth. Among the shipping the havoc was terrible. The town of Tarapaca, two or three leagues inland, and the villages of Pica­ matilla and Canchones are more or less ruined. The loss of life is reported as not be ing great. '"liQ earthquake was especially seveie Ihtnavaya. The earth opened fifteen -rf in "depth, and the whole surface jig ground changed. At least 200 5 people were killed. Bodies were float­ ing ins the bay, and a pestilence was feared. At Huamalies, a guano-loading station, the damage inflicted was fearful fiie houses were destroyed. The •guano cuts have fallen in, and, as at Pa­ bello, all the loading must be suspended for at least two months. The wave which * Succeeded the earthquake, and completed ; tfce work of destruction, was nearly sixty * feet in height. Many vessels were lost here, together with several persons on •board. In short, everything excep at "few huts in the back part of the town has been destroyed, * ir At Megillones the tidal wave was sixty- iWe feet in height. Two-thirds of tne town are completely obliterated. The ;guano chutes, wharves, launches, boats, . /pater distilleries, railway station, loco- i .motives, cars, and furniture--(til swal­ lowed np. Six persons were drowned. At Teocapilla little or nothing remains in the town. The mine called " La Pena Blanea," four miles to the southward, sank in, smothering 200 workmen, of whom forty were Cornish miners. Cobija, the principal town on the Bo­ livian coast, has lost three-fourths of its houses. The wave, thirty-five feet high, swept along the main business street, and left it level as a desert. Wharves arm launches were all carried out to sea. |f.| -- -- : IV': A Case of CoDsdenn. " ' fSotfte years ago in a Maine village a young lawyer hung out his shingle. For convenience we may call his name Web­ ber. He was of a social turn, and his office speedily became a sort of head­ quarters for the good fellows of the neighborhood. About two miles up the river lived an old farmer who was com­ monly known as "Old Alfred," or "Uncle Alfred." He was a character with a well-developed taste for ardent spirits and a chronic indisposition to pay his bills. The young lawyer was popu­ lar, and the storekeepers of the village sent him the bills which they could not collect. Thus it happened that many little accounts against Old Alfred came into young Webber's hands for collec­ tion. The old man would never pay un­ til he was sued, and then would make vociferous complaints. He accused the young lawyer of grinding the face of the poor, and railed vigorously against being compelled to pay. His visits were spe­ cial occasions of delight to the wags who frequented the offiee, as a lively discis­ sion always ensued over payment of bill and costs. One day Webber had three bills against the old man, one of which he had sued, about one he had written a letter, and the third had just Come in. Uncle Alfred came to see about the one which had been sued, and, after a pro­ longed and animated debate, paid it. Then Webber suggested to him the pro­ priety of paying the one about which the letter had been sent, and thus saving the expense of a writ. The old man de murred for a while, but finally settled that, and then, remarking in a conclusive tone, "I hope I've got through with you now," prepared to go. " Well, no," said Webber, "I've got another little bill here which perhaps you'd like to look at before vou go. This was too much for the old man, and he broke into a torrent of objurgations. After he had become a little caun, Webber remarked in his blandest tone, " Uncle Alfred, I will make you a proposition. If you will for the next two hours go around the streets here, mingle in the groups of the people on the streets and in the stores and lead the conversation to such a point that you can remark to them that young Webber is a very clever fellow, I will discount to you $1.50 on this bill" Old Alfred almost lost his breath at this mod­ est proposal. He wanted the $1.50 bad, but when he realized what he was ex­ pected to do for it his heart sank. He said impressively: "Squire Webber, I'm a very old man and have done many wicked things in my life, but with my views of eternity I can't lie like that for money."--Portland (Me.) Press. How Farmers are Oppressed in Tnrkey. In the course of a report on the trade and industry of the Turkish empire, pre­ pared by Eugene Schuyler, Consul Gen­ eral at Constantinople, for embodiment in the forthcoming annual report of the Secretary of State on our commercial re­ lations, the following graphic description is given of one of the Turkish systems of obtaining revenue: " The taxes form the great obstacle to agricultural improvement in Turkey. Besides an impost of four per thousand on the value of real estate and 4peroent. on its revenue, the tithes are very oner­ ous. Nominally they are 10 per cent., except when an addional half or quarter is imposed; in reality they sometimes amount to 25 or 30 per ccnt., as they are usually collected by tithe farmers who greatly oppress the people. The peas­ ant, after having reaped his crop, must leave it on the ground until the tithe farmer comes and takes the large sheaf out of every ten. Theso sheaves the peasants must bring to the common threshing floor at their own expense and must then thresh then. In this way the carts and oxen and the threshing floor of a village are sometimes oocupied for all the good autumn weather, then the peas­ ants will be lucky if they be not com­ pelled themselves to carry the grain of the tax farmer to market. In many cases the grain rots on the field before the tax farmer arrives. By law the tithe farmers and their guards must pay their own expenses, but this is rarely done. The party live for weeks at the cost of the peasants, demanding a receipt that they have paid in full before they esti­ mate the harvest. The peasant submits in order to avoid greater loss. Add to this the taxes on cattle, the bad roads and the difficulties thrown in the way of introducing machines, and it is easy to understand the standstill of agriculture here." Caring for the Wounded. In no respect can the difference in the scale of civilization between Bussia and Turkey be perceived more clearly than in their respective arrangements for the care of the wounded. In the Turkish army--so states the Journal de Geneve --the medical staff does not exceed 1 per 1,000 strength, and the physicians are ill-trained. There is also a lack of medi­ cines, bedding, litters, ambulances, and surgical and medical necessaries of all kinds. The wounded Bussian will be far more tenderly cared for. Not only is there a large and excellent army medical staff, but there is also a vigorous volun­ tary organization similar in aims to the American Sanitary Commission which did such humane service during the civil war. Cities throughout the empire have con­ tributed to the funds of this organization, which is known as the Society for the Aid of the Sick and Wounded in the Army. During the six months which expired May 13, says the Bussian Messager Qfficiel, this society expended 4,034,600 roubles in the care of 16,000 sick and wounded soldiers. (The value of a rouble ranges from 75 to 86 cents, accord­ ing to the coinage.) The Bussian Bed Cross Society works in combination with the Government, and accordingly re­ ceives from the latter a large sum to pay for part of its support.--New York Tribune. THTODOM TILTON'S daughter Florence is with him in California. FLORIDA SERPENTS. Deadly XUttler-»te Habits aiid HI* i . | Enemies. ( jr [Florida Oor. New York Sua.] ̂ genuine rattlesnakes grow to a Tooh- strous size, and their colors are more brill­ iant than those of the riOiineru species. Thi'j' uorc iifccii iuiicu IBCOO IG6C iviig, and as large around as a stovepipe. Capt. Devall, of Palatka, avers thatne saw one, twenty-odd years ago, with forty-seven attles. Incredible as this may seem, CoL Pratt, of the Palatka Herald, de­ clares that he has seen one with fiftv- two. These serpents frequent high, sandy ridges, and occasionally lurk in the gardens and in plowed fields. They have even been, known to make their way into barns and houses. The larger rattlers are said to follow herds of cattle. Cow boys say that they smell the milk drop­ ping from the udders of the cows, and take up the trail, with a view to milking them. This is done while the cows are lying on the ground chewing their cuds. When the serpent takes the teat in its month, the cow stops chewing, and be comes as still as death. Thus she re­ mains until the scaly thief is satisfied. She seems to know that the least motion would be fatal One snake has been known to milk two oows successively. A remarkable story is that told con­ cerning the wife of Judge Connor, of Live Oak Hill. She is deaf; and this intensifies a natural dread of rattle­ snakes, as she cannot hear their notes of warning. Some time ago her husband and a neighbor were doctering a sick oolt. She was standing in the path, holding some camphor and a bottle of liniment. She felt something oold and scaly coiling around her leg. Drawing aside her dress and looking down, she saw a rattlesnake gazing|steadily in her face, slipping out its red tongue, and waving its head to and fro a® high as her hand. The blood rolled away from her heart. She screamed, and jumped aside so spasmodically that the snake lost its hold and was left on the ground. It is possible that the serpent was trying to fascinate her; but her deafness barred out its low musical sound. The enemies of the rattlesnake include the hog, the deer, and the eagle. The hog thrusts his fat chops into the snake's face, meekly receives its bite, seizes the reptile by the neck, places its hoofs on its body, and tears it asunder. No blood is drawn, the poison is harmless in the fat, and the porker gets a fair meal. A drove of hogs will clear the wildest country of rattlesnakes. When a buck sees a rattler, he spring!) upon it like lightning, bringing his feet together upon its head and body, thus cutting it to pieces; for the hoofs of a Floridian deer are as hard and sharp as a razor. An eagle kills the snake while it is sunning itself. The bird descends with the ve­ locity of an arrow, striking the reptile with such force as "to sever the vertebra?. But the deadliest foe of the rattler is the common black snake. He grows very long, and, unlike his Northern compeer, never assails a human being. The rattler fears and shuns him; and well he may, for the black snake is as agile and quick as the mainspring of a watch, and as full of fight as a bulldog. Meeting his an­ tagonist, he attacks without delay. After coiling and sounding an alarm, the rattler keenly watches its assailant. At first the black snake slowly glides around its spiral enemy, as though studying its weak points. .He frequently hisses and increases his speed with each cycle, ever keeping an. eye on the rattler. The latter twists its head with every revolution of its assailant. Swifter sweeps the black snake around the circle. At the full bent of his speed the rattler grows dizzy. In at winkling it is caught by the throat, and the ooils of the two snakes are inter­ mingled. The contest is decided by main strength. As they writhe in the grass the superior prowess of the black snake is manifest. The fattier is slowly strangled. Sometimes its body is swal­ lowed, but this does not always follow. The coach whip, a long, clean-cut snake, frequently assists the black snake, and nstanoes are given in which a dozen coach whips and blade snakes joined forces and killed a small regiment of rattlers; , • Vultures and buzzards, wltli all their appetite for carrion, will never touch anything bitten by a rattlesnake; but when his snakeship himself is killed, they devour him with the greatest relish. Fashion Notes. Walking dress-skirts clear the ground in Paris. Flounces gathered at wide intervals are very popular. Scarf-pins of dead or oxidized silver are much sought for. Linked sleeve-buttons are fairing the place of other kinds. Trained dresses are worn in the house only bv Parisians. Black silk and black cashmere Breton suits are coming in vogue. The Shepherdess is the newest bon­ net. It is intended for country wear. Bonnets composed entirely of flowers are worn by a few daring ladies. Wide collars and cuffs worn over, not inside, the sleeve, are coming in vogue. Cuffs have round or square corners, to match the collars with which they are worn. Turned down collais are not as deep as formerly, and have a wider space in front. The contest between short and trained street-dresses is decided in favor of the former. English shirt-collars have turned-over points, rolled very far back, leaving the throat bare. Sleeveless sacks, slightly loose and straight in effect, are worn with polo­ naises for the street. Ribbon lacings, fastening two parts of a garment, are among tlie novelties in dress-trimmings. Necklaces of lace will replace for the summer the bands of velvet worn with stylish costumes in the winter. Last season's silks are admirably fresh­ ened into new toilets by side-plaited flowers and ruffles of Swiss or tarlatan muslin. Stylish suits are frequently wn»d« with the Louis XVL, or Continental, basque, with its long, square waistcoat and square postilions, square collar and cuffs a la mousquetaire. The prettiest cheap jewelry in the market is of porcelain, made to resem­ ble enamel, representing all the flowers of the field and garden. Sets can be had to match every toilet. The newest style of evening dress is the "baby frock," made exactly as for an infant with all the fullness of the skirt thrown back, short waist, and wide sash belt closed with slashed loops' fall- ing aids. TORPEDOES. Hm* Boat an Amerioaa 111 mailt Hi --Zts Vn*> in the Late CITII War. _ [From the New York Tribune,] •MW torpedo boat is an American in­ stitution. Capt. David Buslinell, an engineer in the Revolutionary army, made the first practical application of a submarine mine to ordinary warfare. He constructed a submarine boat that would carry a torpedo charged with 150 pounds erf powder. The mechanism was very clumsy; the torpedo was to be attached by a wooden screw to the bottom of an enemy s vessel, and fired by a clockwork fuse. The first trial of this invention was made in New York harbor in 1776, when the boat, under the guidance of Sergeant Ezra Lee, was set under the bottom of the Eagle, a British sliin of war, carrying the flag of Lord Howe. The wooden screw would not work, and the sergeant had to cut the torpedo adrift. Diuing the following year Capt. Bushnell directed a percussion torpedo against the frigate Cerberus, lying off New London, but it drifted out of its course, and, striking a schooner moored alongside, sent her to the bottom. Twenty years afterward Robert Fulton constructed an improved torpedo--he in­ vented the name as well as the weapon-- and undertook to introduce it abroad. In 1805 he made an unsuooessful attempt to destroy the French fleet at Boulogne, but subsequently blew np a brig in Deal harbor by means of two drifting torpe does. Tne British Government rejected his system, and he returned to America to make further experiments in New York harbor. Another American, CoL Samuel Colt, was the first to apply elec­ tricity to the ignition of torpedoes. After blowing up several vessels at anchor, he destroyed, in 1843, a brig under full sail on the Potomac, operating by elec­ tricity from a Btation five miles distant. During the Ciimean war oontoct-mines and electrical apparatus were introduced on the Black sea, and explosions oc­ curred under two vessels, but no serious damage was done. The French en­ gineers, however, destroyed the docks at Sebastopol through the agency of sub­ marine explosions. During the civil war in America tor­ pedoes were used in the defense of Southern ports. The Confederate Con­ gress organized a torpedo service in Oc­ tober, 1862, and a bureau of engineers was established at Richmond. Two months afterward a Federal ironclad, the Cairo, was blown up on Yazoo river by a torpedo, and during the remainder of the war seven ironclads, eleven wooden vessels, and six transports were destroyed in a similar way. The Confederates lost the Albemarle, two steamers in Charles­ ton harbor, and a flag-of-truoe boat in the same way. The Russian engineers who recently fastened a torpedo under a Turkish ironclad did no more than Lieut, Cushing had done in the waters of the Roanoke. There were several officers in the^Confederate servioe who lost their lives in attempting to do what Cushing accomplished. A submarine torpedo- boat, requiring a crew of nine men, was launched in Charleston harbor for use against the blockading fleet. Three crews went to the bottom in this boat before she was directed against the enemy. Fnally a fourth crew, led by Lieut Dixon, volunteered to take her out, and attack the Housatonic. The Lieutenant steered his boat well; she struck the Housatonic fairly and blew her stern to atoms ; the concussion sent Dixon and his men to the bottom, and the torpedo-boat and the oorvette sank together. Wellington's Strategy® On a oertain occasion during Welling­ ton's campaign in the Pyrenees, that '? great Captain," being displeased with the dispositions Gen. Pictou had made for receiving the assault of Marshal Soult, who had menaced him in front, ordered the plan to be entirely changed. But the difficulty was to delay the attack of the French until the change could be 6J16C16U, DUG livu i/uikv complished in person in the following manner: Doffing his oocked hat, and waving it in the air, he rode furiously to the head of a regiment, as if to order a charge. Thereupon rose a tremen­ dous cheer from the men, which was taken up by corps after corps until it re-v verberated along the whole extent of Pictou's line. As the roar died away, Wellington was heard to remark, musingly, as if address­ ing himself, "Soult is a skillful but cautious commander, and will not attack in force until he has ascertained the meaning of these cheers. This will give time for the sixth division to come up, and we shall beat him." It turned out as anticipated. Soult naturally enough supposed those tremendous shouts to an­ nounce the arrival of large reinforce­ ments, and did not attack until too late. Had he struck at the right moment, he would have won an easy victory; as it was, he met with a bloody repulse. This was strategy. Not the strategy of books, but the strategy of genius, conceived and executed in the same moment. The idea was born of the occasion, and carried out on the instant. Hawks as Poultry Destroyers, Colorado has, by legislative enactment, given a bounty of 25 cents for each and every hawk scalp. At Denver city, since the hawk season commenced, the money paid for scalps for that county alone averages from $30 to $40 per day. These hawks are mostly killed in the vicinity of chicken ranches, and the bounty does not offset their ravages on the poultry. They not only carry off the young and half-grown chicks, but actually attack the full-grown fowls, which are often killed by the furious onslaught of the rapacious hawks. Meadow larks have almost been exterminated by the com­ mon enemy. --Nevada Territorial En­ terprise. • Genius and Rum. A San Francisco editor gives a brief but interesting sketch showing what has become of some of the men who have been prominent in the political history of California, He names eighteen, and of these eight became confirmed drunk­ ards. Among them was John McDougal, who was a United States Senator. All were brilliant men, the contemporaries of Broderick, who was killed in a duel, and of Baker, the Senator, who fell on the battle-field early in the war. THE FUTURE OF THE FAR WEMT. Th« Population It Can Su«tain-N« Nee* tor Many More New States There. [From the New York Tritrone.l A gentleman who has spent many ye«s is the Western Territories, ha# traveled e-ie--iyelY in all Gf them, and is thoroughly familiar with their topog­ raphy and resources, gives the following estimate of the maximum population they are likely to attain and support: Colorado 900,000 Wyoming ...100,000 Dakota ..175,000 Montana *0.000 Idaho 125,000 Utah... 200.000 New Mexico 175,009 Washing**..... 160,000 75.000 Nevada. Total... 1,400,000 He adds Nevada and Colorado to the list because they are States only in form of government, and resemble the Terri­ tories in the poverty of soil and inca­ pacity for much further development This estimate, if correct--and it is sus­ tained by the best information that comes from army officers and scientific travelers--has an important bearing upon many interesting public questions. The time is at hand when there will be no vast areas of fertile land tempting the emigrant to the West. Even now the limit of profitable agricultural settle­ ment in Western Nebraska and Kansas has been reached. Beyond stretch vast plains available for grassing purposes only where water can be obtained. Further west comes the region ol moun­ tains and table lands, where no rain falls, and where agriculture is only prac­ ticable along the banks of rivers, or in a few localities where water can be ob­ tained for irrigation from the streams formed by the melting snows on the mountains. These localities are rare, because the moiintnii* peaks and chains are, for the most part, bare of snow in summer. West of the Rocky mountains and their lateral ranges • the sage-brush desert, utterly worthless for culture, ex­ tends to the Sierras. Washington Ter­ ritory has different characteristics from the elevated rainless interior region, but timber is its chief resource, and farming is oonfined to a few valleys. The section of country described has an area greater than that of all the States east of the Mississippi river, but its population a century hence will proba­ bly not equal that of Massachusetts to­ day. Each Territory, by making the most of its mining ana farming re­ sources, may acquire population sufficient to entitle it to admission as a State, but not one is likely to ever have more than a single member of Congress. Except in the Senate the relative power of the East and the West will not therefore be much changed in the future. There will be few more new States erected in the present generation. Colorado aras only admitted after a long fight. Ne­ vada ought to be set back into a Ter­ ritorial condition. Her population is less than 50,000, and it is not to be ex­ pected that she will ever have as many inhabitants as in the old States are requisite to form a Congress district. The influence which the cessation of the movement of population West may have upon the social, industrial and po­ litical phases of our national life opens a wide field for thought and discussion. Looked at in one way it will be an evil day when there is no more virgin soil awaiting the plowshare of the farmer, no new towns springing up and inviting the enterprise of the young men of the East, no region for the restless and un­ fortunate to flee to with the hope of bet­ tering their condition. But there is an­ other view to take, and it will probably be the view taken by the social scientist It is that high civilization is inconsistent with sparse settlement, and that culture, wealth and happiness will rather increase than diminish when the population of the whole country is much more dense than at present, and the vacant spaces are filled up that have been skipped in the rush to the West. Remarkable Russian Increase Territory. At the beginning of the reign of Ivan III., the first autocratic ruler of Bussia, in the year 1462, the territory he gov­ erned comprised about 11,000 square miles. At his death, in 1505, the whole extent of his dominions included about 43,600 square miles. Under the Czar Ivan IV. ("The Terrible") a consider­ able quantity of territory was annexed, so thai at the time of his death, in 1584, the Bussian empire may be computed to have contained 75,000 square miles. Theodore I., who succeeded Ivan, ac­ quired territory from the Swedes, and also pushed his conquests beyond the Ural mountains; and at his death, in 1598, the Bussian sway extended over 130,000 square miles. On the accession of Michael I., in 1613, the extent ol the Bussian empire may be taken at 156,000 square miles. Peter L, by his numer­ ous conquests, materially increased its extent, and at his death, in 1725, it com­ prised 282,454 square miles. During the reigns of the Empresses Anna Ivanovyna, Elizabeth, and Catharine II., large an­ nexations were made, so. that on the death of the latter, in 1796, the Bussian dominions extended over 352,472 square miles. The Emperor Paul I.added Georgia to his dominions. Alexander I. conquered Finland and annexed other territories, increasing the extent of the Bussian em­ pire before he died, in 1825, to 366,582 square miles ; while Nicholas I., by the campaigns of 1828 and 1829, secured to Bussia the khanates of Erivan and Na- hitchevan, the district of Ordubab, and the pashalic of Achalzic, raising the total extent of the Bussian empire to 367,112 square miles. Thus since the reorganiz­ ation of the Bussian sovereignty under Ivan HE., some 400 years ago, the terri­ torial dominions of Bussia have increased to thirty-five times their original size. New Way to Pay air Old Debt* Two daughters of a farmer in St. Law­ rence county, New York, desired to pay the debt on their homestead, but they preferred not to do it by hard wort They hit upon an idea that suited their purpose, and have made enough money to remove the debt They had a large quantity of porous stone sawed into pmall pieces and thoroughly soaked in an odorous preparation, which imparted |> them a durable scent These they p 'ddled throughout the State, at 25 cents •ach, representing that they were cut from the rock of a wonderful perfume o we in South America. The girls are so demure and pretty, and tell their lie with such an appearance of simplicity, that the sales are very large. They have just put a fresh lot of stone in •oak, preppuratory to an extended West­ ern tour. • WOMEN AND WINK. Pop! went the gay oork firing, Sparkled the bright champagne; By the light of a day that was dying, He filled np the goblets again. " Let the last, best toast be woman, Woman. d«r woman," said he; ^, " Empty your glass, my 'darling, : *v 'Ylicu juu driii* to your MI with ' But she caught his etrong brown fingeM:' And held them tight as in fear, And through the gathering twilight ' * Her fond voice fell on his ear. , ' "Nay, ere you drink, I implore yon, *7 5 By all that you hold divine, Pledge a woman in tea-drops, f Rather by far than in wine. «aff iV"". „ " By the woes of the drunkard's ' By hin children who bog for tmml By the fate of her whose beloved one ' "" ^ Looks on the wine when 'tis red; ihe ki«ws changed to cursea, By the tears more bitter than By many a fond heart broken, Pledge no woman in wine. What has wine brought to woman t ' *' ̂ Nothing but tears and pain. "m It has torn from her arniB her lover „ * And proven her prayers in vain; .•£ A4, - . ••*£, - And her household gods, all shatterad,' ^ Lie tangled up ia the vine; Oh! I prithee, pledge no woman Si In Uk" i.iuw of so many, wine." PITH AJID P01KT. COOL, trat hot always oollected--Am F ' ice bili ̂ ̂ A crying evil--Taking the baby 14 - : ' »t' church. (S PATTNG the piper--Settling the plumb*, ' ̂ -i| e r ' s b i l l . ^ \ 5 ' TRYING times--Going to the dre<|? • maker's. ^ THK young man's first rasor--Httf ' father's boots, A FIERY-TEMPERED WOnUtn OUght tO marry a Persian. They just worship f ire . - / 'I-- " THK kurds" says an Asiatic dispatch > "are threatening the Khan." The millc- khan, probably. THE prize for obscure punning hap , been awarded to the man wno addressed his letters, " Chicago, Sick." A NEVADA newspaper says of a man who has sued it for libel that " he peti­ tions the courts to stitch a golden patch over his rent reputation." j** IT is said to be a sure sign that a £•*»,- mer learned his farming from bodpt when he tries to keep the rain off from » potato patch with an umbrella. IF Dr. Mary Walker continues to pant for fame why don't she go and join the Turks, a»d when the liusaians storm the Turkish stronghold she can throw Mpfe self into the breeches. ; ,s IT ia an assurance of success to find a horseshoe just as you are about to begin an important undertaking; but if yon , find two it makes horseahoeranoe dounlj ' sure. s SOMEBODY remarks that young ladies look upon a boy as a nuisance until he is past the age of 16, .when he generally doubles up in value each year until, like a colored meerschaum pipe, he is prioe- less. A NBWCASKUE man at aLondon rant had called for the bill, paid it, and was leaving, when the waiter suggested that the amount did not include the waiter. "Ah," said the man from th* north, " but aa didn't eat the waiter." CHARLES (playfully)--"How much, really, did that nat cost, Jennie ?" Jen* nie (archly)--"If vou really want to in­ spect the bills for my dry goods. Charles, there is a way to do it." Ana what else oould Charles de but propose on the spot. " I TELL you, sir." said Dr. one morning to the village apothecary, " I tell you, sir, the vox populi should not --must not be disregarded." '° What, doctor!" exclaimed the apothecary, rub­ bing his hands. "You don't say that's broken out in town, too, has it? Load help us I what unhealthy times these are!" " WELL, doctor," said a man with a bouncing toothache, who had been standing in a dentist's office for an hour and a half for his turn to come--" Well, doctor, you keep your patients waiting a good while, don't youf" " Oh, yes, replied the doctor, significantly jingling his forceps, " but then the old adage*. B»yn 1» putieni wailing' 10 ao loai^' know." SKI BOW am LOOKSD. - tH»d>tnlngte h»«iye»T Her cheeks were bright wills exercise, . Her lips like cherries. The failing snow in crystals flecked Her draw, and cloak aad. bonnet de<|fe|Sv With crimson berries. Her hair, the hue of molten gold, I? Around her head was simply rolled,. Hair soft and shiny. 1 marked, too, uk she lifted high ' Her drees, to keep her flounces dry, Her feet were tiny. OLD Ben Tappan, a once-noted Kefe* tucky politician, replied to a man who was denouncing him: " Sir, I will pay no attention to anything you have saiaL No remark that you can make will draw any response from me, sir. I have known you now for forty years, sir, and you were a d d dog when I iirst knejf you, and you have been a failin' e*jpj| since." Yaluable Inventien. The discovery of a cheap and complete process for keeping all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats fresh and sweet, is said to have been made by a Texas phy­ sician named Davenport, whose patent 10 on the application of the ingredients of a pickle which will arrest the process of decomposition and extinguish the germ of decay of all animal anil vegetable substances, without" impairing their flavor, or imparting to them any injuri­ ous effect. It is simply a pickle of the most inexpensive sort, costing less than brine or vinegar, in which any meat oc vegetable may be kept in open vessel% submerged for months, and when taken out will be found as pure and fresh as when the vegetables came from the gaj*»" den or the meat from the butcher's stall This pickle may be furnished and pre­ pared at a cost of 4 cents per barret An Astonished Barglar. A burglar broke into a Kansas City house in which Mrs. (Jay was alone, ana told her if she made any noise, or at­ tempted to get out of bed, he would kill her. She was frightened, and did n<4 speak or stir while he packed her silve#. ware and jewelry for removal. Then^ ®by way of emphasizing a parting in­ junction not to raise an alarm, he boxeC her ears. That made her so angry that she forgot her fear. She jumped oti| of bed, knocked the burglar down with a chair, stamped on him, and yelled afc the top of her voice. A police officer heard the racket, and a bndly-injare ̂ man was arrested. ̂ IL

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