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jt - ir ^ . - ~ n 1 « ^ J/* " &"*& A»"4jy^V u^a 4^1^ n <J» i** ^ *> U^k-s -fiKi '*' e1 ' " 1 ^ xllvr w*\ Siffte JRtgtnri |bmdfa!n J. YAH SLYSR. frpBLIgHK^ - J * ILLINOIS JHENKY, CROSSING THE DANUBE. * --'igy»«»*•*•?• Ascsassft -si tuS TPsfifiaj£fr TnT 4fc6- jBrer by the Russian Center--A Brfll- Jknt Exploit--Bravery and Admirable Ibisclpllne of the Troops. % t , [War Cor. of the New York Herald.} On Wednesday the first move in the '•>r,WBeent into Bulgaria was made at Kal- ftrash. The bombardment of Widin, Nikopolis, Sistova, Rustchuk, Turtokai, and Silistria continued in a most furious manner. The scenes of desti action re­ ported from Rustchuk repeated them­ selves in every Turkish town assailed. The crossing at Nikopolis from Tunu- Magurelli was witnessed by the Czar, who sat on horseback on the summit of Mount Gropavi The Turks made a des­ perate resistance with every available faun they could muster. Opposing the landing were ten Turkish battalions and eighteen field cannon. Savage fighting took place on the banks, and, in a little time, the corpses were thickly strewn there. Still the Russianas ame on. For every man killed ten were ready to take his place. The Eighth Russian Corps, under command of Gen. Radetsky, embarked behind the island of Yardin, opposite the mouth of the Jantra, some distance below the town of Simnitza. The Four­ teenth Division covered the embarkation with field artillery and sharpshoot­ ers. The Turkish force opposing thia movement was soon rein­ forced from the neighboring towns of Bjela, Batin, Nowigrad, and other points, but they did not arrive in time to crush the first parties of Russians that landed, and were met on the shore bv an overwhelming force, which drove tliem back by a tremendous musketry fire. The attempts at crossing made by the Russians at Rustchuk and Turtokai were unsuccessful. These movements were evidently feints to occupy the attention of the Rustchuk, Turtokai and Silistria garrisons. The Russian Eighth Corps crossed at Sistova. Preparations for the crossing at that point began in the swampy meadows below Simnitza, where the troops were assembled on Tuesday evening at dusk. Silently and steadily battalion after battalion and battery after battery moved into its assigned position, the greatest possible care being taken to avoid attracting attention. The most perfect order and discipline prevailed, and every man acted as if the issue of the war depended on the manner in which he executed his individual duty. The point selected for the landing on the Bulgarian side was about two miles be­ low Sistova, where it had been previous­ ly ascertained by efficient Russian spies that the circumstances were favorable. The men slept little that night, the ground being damp, and the morning was awaited with feverish anxiety. Not a sound was heard but the tramp of men as they moved into their places, or the dull noise made by wagon or artillery wheels. The orders were given in subdued tones, and as few lights as possible were used. It was a night of deep suspense, and of eager hope for the soldiers who h on the morrow were to be face to face with the hated Moslem. At dawn on Wednesday morning the order to move was given. Every man fell into his place, and the work of crossing the river in the face of the enemy was begun. A number of boats had been collected, and into these the first detachment stepped after a few encouraging words from their officers. The boats were pulled briskly out into the stream, and made straight for the Bulgarian shore, followed by the eager eyes of their comrades. The troops oomposing this advance were all picked men, and a finer or more soldierly set of fellows could not be seen. Their move­ ment was observed from the Bulgarian side, and a heavy fire was opened on the boats from the Turkish artillery. The boats pushed gallantly on, however, arid, as they neared the other shore, the Turkish infantry commenced a vig­ orous fusilade. Detachment after detachment followed from the Russian side in boats. and. as they ran in towards the enemy's position, they re­ turned the musketry fire with good effect. Tlie Russian batteries, meanwhile, kept up a terrific cannonade to cover the land­ ing. As the boats dashed into the bank the men leaped ashore with a ringing cheer, and immediately formed a strong skirmish line to protect the landing. Boat after boat pushed in, and company after company disembarked, and soon a sufficient force was assembled to justify an attack on the nearest Turkish posi­ tion. The Turkish infantry were vigor­ ously charged, and, after a brief but desperate struggle, were driven from the landing-place at the point of the bayonet. By 7 o'clock a whole brigade was across, and the movement was kept up without a moment's interruption or delay. Every­ thing had been provided for with won­ derful foresight, and the orders of the commanders were executed with the greatest promptness and precision. At noon a whole division was over, and an­ other division ready to start at a mo­ ment's notice on the Roumanian shore. A body of Turkish infantry, 3,000 strong, was pushed forward and com­ menced an attack on the troops that had been landed. A short fight ensued, but the Turks were in a short time driven back. The Russians, following up their first victory, soon after took possession of the heights near Sistova and estab­ lished themselves firmly there, so as to protect the landing of the troops which followed them. So successful has the movement across the river been at this point that the Turkish resistance has been completely overcome, Mid the Russians occupied Sistova on Thursday. As soon as that operation was completed, a bridge was thrown across the Danube, and thp whole Eighth Corps moved over to the Bulgarian side. The Russians fought splendidly, and no one who had an opportunity of wit­ nessing their magnificent work that day, when face to face with the Turks, could for a moment doubt their superiority. The loss was comparatively light. A Very Sound Opinion. Language from Mr. Sherman S. Jew- ett, President of the American Stove Makers' Association: "The newspaper is universally the best medium open to our trade. The most liberal and ex­ pert advertisers testify to its value, and m the employment of its columns w would find means of escape from waste ful, undignified, and ineffective methods to which so many now resort in their eager desire to secure attention and pat­ ronage. "--Cincinnati Times. A ScSSSraasro vSb^i Oneoi the most singular cases in the annals of criminal law has just been decided by Judge Bingham of the Com­ mon Pleas Court of Columbus, Ohio. Some years ago Mrs. Sarah M. Victor was convicted in the Court of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, of murder in the first de­ gree, having poisoned her brother, and was sentenced to be hanged. The sen­ tence was commuted by the Governor to imprisonment for life. Since that time Mrs. Victor has been confined in the Ohio penitentiary. The prisoner grew tired of life under such circumstances, and spent the hours, many of them in solitary confinement, in constant weep- iug. In January, 1876, she made an ap­ plication to the courts to have the origi­ nal sentence carried out, on the ground that she had not consented to the com­ mutation. The case was without paral­ lel in history, and presented itself to the court in the shape of a very knotty prob­ lem. Judge Bingham, after having the matter under advisement for eighteen months, rendered an opinion, holding that Mrs. Victor is, in law, an escaped prisoner after conviction, and issued an order to the Sheriff for her delivery to the authorities of Cuyahoga county to await action by the court of said county. Attorney General Little, a legal ad­ viser of the Warden of the penitentiary, subsequently made an application to the Supreme Court for leave to file a petition in error, which was granted, and a stay of vacation of Judge Bingham's decision was ordered until the case can be finally heard. Mrs. Victor will accordingly re­ main in the penitentiary for the present. The opinion of high legal talent is to the effect that Judge Bingham's order will not be sustained by the Supreme Court. The case excites great interest in Ohio. TREAStBE OF ISLAM. Treatment of a Hor.se. Three weeks ago a gentleman of this city purchased a fine high-bred mare in Boston, and, as she was being led to the depot in that city, she became frightened and started at full speed, coming in con­ tact first with a horse car and next with a doctor's chaise, and fell with great violence upon the pavement, receiving a severe bruise upon the top of the head, which would not heal. A Prussian phy­ sician, well known for his love of the equine race, was consulted. Upon mak­ ing a careful examination of the wound he was satisfied that some foreign sub­ stance was keeping the wound open, and, in order to remove it, it was necessary to make a large incision. The foreign sub­ stance was found to be a part of the skull fractured and driven in upon the brain, the piece being about as large as the first joint of a man's thumb. This was removed by a strong pair of dental forceps, and it was found necessary to chip off with a small chisel and mallet other small points of injured bone, and also to remove, with a large file, the rough edges of the wound in order that it might readily heal. When the larger piece of the bone was removed a small part of the brain came put also. What appears the most remarkable in this case, the animal made not the slight­ est resistance, but kept perfectly quiet, except a slight nod of the head when the chisel was struck. It appeared as if she thoroughly comprehended what was be­ ing done for her relief. The animal is now recovering.--Providence Journal, Obituary--Robert Dale Owen. Robert Dale Owen, of New Harmony, Ind., whose death occurred a few days ago, has been known for many years as an American author, but was, in fact, born in Glasgow, Scotland, being the son of Robert Owen, an English Social Reformer, whose place of nativity was North Wales. Robert Dale came to America in 1823, accompanied by his father, .and first became known as a writer while editing a weekly news­ paper, the Free Enquirer, started in New York by him, in 1828, and which lived three years. Since that time his home has been in New Harmony, from which place he was sent to the Indinna Legislature as a Representative three terms, and twice to Congress, as a Dem­ ocrat, serving from 1813 until 1817. Af­ ter this he devoted himself to writing, and ibsued numerous works, mostly upon subjects of reform, national and social. Becoming a believer in the phenomena of Spiritualism, Mr. Owen devoted the closing years of his life to that subject up to two or three years since, when he became insane, and was sent to a private asylum. Recovering after several months of confinement, he again returned home, but abstained as much as possible from dwelling upon the subject which is supposed to have caused Ms mental malady. His health broken, death soon followed. Terrible Hatred. A horrible story of man's inhuman ha­ tred for a fellow-creature comes from Maysville, Ky. Levi Ball had furnished the'family of James C. Owens with sup­ plies to the amount of $200, and, finding it impossible to collect, brought a suit. Recovering a verdict, he levied on Owens' property, which was released on a claimant's bond, and on that Ball also secured a judgment. These various proceedings aroused Owens to a pitch of madness, and he swore to kill Ball. Every insult he could devise he cast upon his prospective victim to win some provocation, and finally he solemnly as­ serted his intention of pouring the con­ tents of his shotgun, which he had charged with forty slugs, into Ball's sys­ tem. A few days ago he met Ball and commenced his abuse again, whereupon Ball fired four shots, mortally wounding his vindictive enemy. On his death-bed Owens went into convulsions at the sug­ gestion that he must die before killing the object of his hatred, and when he recovered lie exacted with his dying breath a solemn oath from his 17-year- old son that he would never rest until he had sent Ball to his grave. Upon the trial of Ball for the shooting, ne was promptly acquitted. A YOUNG lady had coquetted until the victim was completely exhausted. He rose to go away. She whispered, as she accompanied liim to the door, " I shall be at home next Sunday evening." "So shall I," he replied. A Chest Which Has Not Been Opened tar Four Hundred and Fifty Years. Mr. Delaplaine, the Charge d' Affaires of the United States at Vienna, furnishes to the Department of State the following interesting information concerning a re­ markable war resouroe of Turkey--the so-called "Treasure of Islam:" " The Sheik-ul-Islam has recently sent a delegation of doctors of tiie law to the Slierif of Mecca, a direct descendant of the Prophet, for the purpose of demand­ ing funds to be applied in defense of the Islam faith. It is customary on these solemn occasions for the Sherif to assem­ ble the College of the Elders charged with the guard of the Prophet's tomb, which will decide upon the appropriate sum to be furnished to the Sultan from the treasure oi islam in order to aid him in the war against Russia. This treas­ ure is formed from those annual offer­ ings of the pilgrims which are accumu­ lated in the Kasbah of Mecca. These sepulchers, which serve as offertory chests, are placed within the court of the mosque. Each pilgrim daily caste into one of these a coin as an offering, which constitutes the aim* prescribed by the Koran as one of the essential elements of the merit of the pilgrimage, which every Mussulman should make, at least once in his lifetime, to the tomb of the Prophet. Accordingly every year about 100,000 pilgrims come to Mecca, who so­ journ there a month; consequently a sum of at least 3,000,000 francs are annu­ ally received in the offertory chests. Every pilgrim deposits in fact an offer­ ing varying in amount according to his means, but which in the average may be estimated as equivalent to 5 francs at least for every day, considering that there are rich Mussulmans whose offer­ ings attain the amount of 100,000france during their pilgrimage. It results here­ by that the chief of Mecca receives on the average the value of 15,000,000 francs in annual offerings. One of the offertory chests was opened during the period of the Russo-Turkish war in 1828. Several large sums were withdrawn, but it was afterward again closed. A second chest was again opened in 1854 during the Crimean war, but the third has not been opened since 1415, during a period of now 462 years. Inasmuch as the annual concourse of pilgrims has rarely fallen below 100,000, it is conjectured that with most liberal allowances the accumu­ lation of money in the last-named offer­ tory chest cannot be less than 250,000,000 francs, and it is fully believed that the total amount of the treasure of Islam will exceed 600,000,000 francs, and even attain a much higher sum." An Extraordinary Death. William Ogden Jones, a wealthy gen­ tleman residing with his wife and two children at the corner of Broadway and Fifty-second street, died on Wednesday morning under extraordinary circum­ stances. Mr. Jones was 30 years of age, and was the nephew of William B. Og­ den. He was engaged in no business, but had an income of $U),000 a year. Mr. Jones has for two years been addicted to an excessive use of liquors. Last Tues­ day morning, while intoxicated, he went into the bath-room, locked the door, and turned on the hot water after lying down in the bath-tub. He had been in the room about ten minutes when his family heard cries for assistance. They broke open the door and found him submerged in the water, having been unable to get out of the tub or turn off the stream of boiling water. He was rescued from his perilous situation, and lingered in great agony until the next day, when he ex­ pired. His family were very anxious to be spared the annoyance which would ensue if the manner of his taking-off were made public. They, therefore, gave out that ne died of congestion of the lungs. Some rumors of the real fact, however, reached the Coroner, and he insisted upon an investigation and elicited these facts. It has been ru­ mored that the deceased, in a drunken freak, resolved to commit suicide in this manner, but the fact undoubtedly is that he was too overcome with the stupor of drink to help himself, and so boiled to death.--New York World. One Man's Life. Mr. Morgan, an Englishman of 1§7 years of age, celebrated his last birthday 'at the St • i aiiJi Guzicr, Richmoiiil, sur­ rounded by sixty-seven of his posterity, which numbers 102 in all. Mr. Morgan was 5 years old when Burke delivered his speech on "Conciliation with Amer­ ica." He was 17 vhen Gibbon was pen­ ning the last page of " The Decline and Fall " at Lausanne. Four generations of statesmen have, during his life, succes­ sively come and disappeared. He was 8 Sears old when Chatham fell fainting at is post. He was a boy when " The Rivals " was hissed off the stage, and was 18 when Sheridan dashed off from a tav­ ern to deliver his speech on the " Oude charge." He can remember the time when Napoleon was serving under Du- gommier, and he was 24 when the bloody head of Danton rolled on the sawdust. During a mere episode in this long life Byron blazed out his brief career--Shel­ ley, Keats, Coleridge, Southey, Words­ worth, Canning, Pitt, Fox, and others whose names will " fire men's ears like music till the round world's race be run," passed away. Internal-Revenue Receipts. The receipts of internal revenue for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, reach $119,000,000. Last year they were $117,000,000. The increase of $2,000,000 is largely owing to the break­ ing up of illicit distilling and to the more vigorous collection of the whisky tax. The estimate of receipts for the present year was $120,000,000. This sum, the Commissioner thinks, would have been exceeded by about $2,000,000 if it had not beep for the unoertainty oc­ casioned by the proposition of Congress to reduce the tax on spirits. The manu­ facturers cm-tailed their production and withdrew from bond only such quanti­ ties as were actually required by the de­ mand. This policv, pursued for two or three months, resulted in serious loss to the revenue. -- Washington Cor. New York Tribune. Hard Times. "Why, my dear Mrs. Smith, how can you afford to dress so extravagantly in these hard times ?" " Hard times ! Why, your husband must have remained in business, didn't he ?" "Certainly; he has kept going as usu­ al, and worked hard, as he says, to keep his head above tide; but, I am sorry to say, he has not made much money late­ ly." "I thought so." There is where he made a great mistake. Now, my hus­ band, as soon as he saw the financial breakers ahead, went into bankruptcy and retired from business fer- wftit fey KAHai* fjmAo " M«B >" ^ Description of Clirtet. This was found in an ancient manu­ script, sent by Publius Lentulus, Presi­ dent of Judea, to the Senate of Rome: "There lives at this time in Judea a man of singular character, whose name is Jesus Christ. The barbarians esteem him as a prophet, but his followers adore him as the immediate offspring of the living God. He is endowed with such unparalleled virtue as to call back the dead from their graves, and to heal every sort of disease with a word or touch. His person is tall and elegantly shaped, his aspect amiable and reverend. His hair flows in those beautiful shades which no united colors can match, fall­ ing in graceful curls below the ears, agreeably couching on his shoulders, and parting on the crown of his head, like tiie head-dress of the sect of the Nazarites, His forehead is smooth, and his cheeks without a spot, save that of a lovely red. His nose and mouth are formed with an exquisite symmetry, his beard is thick and suitable to the hair of his head, reaching a little below his nhin, and parted in the middle like a fork. His eyes are bright, clear and serene. He rebukes with majesty, counsels with persuasive language; his whole address, whether in word or deed, being elegant, grave, and strictly characteristic of so exalted a being. No man has ever seeu him laugh, but the whole world has fre­ quently beheld him weep, and, so per­ suasive are Ins tears, that the multitude cannot withhold theirs from joining with linn. He is very modest, temperate and wise. In short, whatever this phenome­ non may be in the end, he seems to pre ­ sent a man of excellent beauty and di­ vine perfection, every way surpassing the children of men." The Anti-Turkish Beach. This is the image in Mr. Gladstone's speech at Birmingham which the Lon­ don Spectator says is finer than any known in modern history. He is speak ing of the Armenians, the Bulgarians the Servians, and the Greeks who re sisted and broke the force of the Turk­ ish innndation which centuries ago threatened to overflow Europe, and says: " They were like a shelving beach which restrained the ocean. That beach, it is true, is beaten by the waves; it is laid desolate ; it produces nothing; it be­ comes, perhaps, nothing but a mass oi shingle, of rock, of almost useless sea­ weed ; but it is a fence behind which the cultivated earth can spread and es­ cape the incoming tide ; and such was, against the Turk, the resistance of Bul­ garians, of Servians, of Greeks--a re­ sistance in which one by one they suc­ cumbed, with the single exoeption of the ever-glorious mountaineers of Montene­ gro, who have never succumbed. It was that resistance which left Europe able to claim the enjoyment of her own liberty, and to develop her institutions and her laws." An Aged Journalist. men live in the past My past was connected with the press. My life from 1811 to 1868 was passed as an ap­ prentice, journeyman, publisher, and editor in printing offices. These occu­ pations were eminently congenial. Sixty- six years of constant labor were cheered by aspirations which were gradually but ultimately realized. Industry and fidelity were, under the guidance of a kind Provi­ dence, abundantly rewarded. And now in the evening of life, my chief employ­ ment consists in remembrances of the Btirring events with which I have been connected, and of the army of patriots and devoted friends of whom I cherish agreeable recollections -- recollections saddened only by the reflection that most of them have passed away. When I published my first newspaper at Nor­ wich, Chenango county, there were about sixty journals m tiic State. Of their proprietors my friend Lewis H- Red-: field, of Syracuse, is the only survivor." So wrote Tliurlow Weed to the New York Press Association Convention. % Sice Pets. Two black eagles were recently caught in the mountains north of Santa Barbara, Cal. The sportsman waited until he saw the parent birds sailing down the valley, and then robbed the nest, which was thirty feet above ground, and was built of sticks as thick as a man's wriBt. Witn some difficulty he secured the young birds, then about three weeks old, and of the size of large chickens. He got down before the old birds returned. When the captives were six weeks old they could dispose of a jack-rabbit at a meal without indigestion. A coyote visited the house and destroyed all the chickens. The eagles were then placed in the chicken-pen, and on the next morn­ ing the coyote returned to get some more chicken. One of the eagles en­ gaged him in combat, and held him with its talons until the sportsman heard the outcries and shot the thief. The full-grown birds of this rare species measure eight feet from wing to wing, and are four feet high. St. Petersburg and Moscow. Between St. Petersburg and Moscow there exists an antagonism of long stand­ ing. Ever since its foundation St. Pe­ tersburg has striven to be a European city, and to adopt all the products of West European civilization. Moscow, on the contrary, strives to be distinctive­ ly Russian, and affects to look down on her younger rival as a half-caste parvenu. Abandoned by the imperial family and the administration, she glories in her an­ cient monuments and her ancient spirit and boasts that she stiil holds thefirst place in the veneration and love of the Rus­ sian people. All Muscovites are more or less imbued with this Platonic hostility to the capital on the Neva, and love to reproach its inhabitants--the Ministers and other official dignitaries not excepted --with gross ignorance of Russia and the true Russian character; but when they cojne to discuss the present and future of their country, they are by no means """•"jlffi"""--London Examiner. GRASSHOPPERS. Billions of Them in the Yellowstoa« C«un- fay--An Old Vet's Story of What He Saw. , [From the Chicago Times.] Arthur Tempieton, an emaciated, de­ bilitated, worn-out soldier, who has been tramping around after Indians for several years past, arrived in Chicago Saturday . evening from Tonjrae river, with lii« dis­ charge papers in his pocket Tempieton says he was reluctant to give up soldier­ ing, which possessed a peculiar fasci­ nation for him; but he was so broken down in health that his services were no longer of any account to Uncle Sam, and his discharge followed as a matter ot course. He was in the field all through the campaign of last year, but partici­ pated ill no fighting of any account, though he was at the scene of the Custer massacre after its occurrence, and saw the fresh trenches in which the victims were laid by Reno's command. Mr. Tempieton tells a grasshopper story which smacks, at first blush, of the incredible, but which must nevertheless be true, since a man who had served his country well, and been honorably dis­ charged, could hardly have acquired the habit of lying so soon after quitting the army. According to his account, the country south of the Yellowstone river is literally black with young 'hoppers. Off on the eastern slope of the Big Horn mountains is where they swarm the thickest. A detachment of cavalry belong­ ing to Gen, Miles' command recently traveled for three days through the ser­ ried ranks of the infesting army of in­ sects. The whole surface cf the country looked like one huge grasshopper, so'in­ numerable were the pests. They covered all the rocks; every tree, from the roots to the topmost branches, was black with them, clinging and hanging together in solid masses; rivulets were choked and dammed by the writhing, struggling, half-drowned millions, while the air as high up as the eye could discern was swarming with them. Once in a while a brisk gust of wind would set them in motion, and, rising from the ground en masse, they would dash into the faces of horses and riders, completely blinding them for the time being. These sudden uprisings frightened the animals, and frequently set them dashing and cavort­ ing about in the wildest manner. Once the grasshoppers arose in such blinding and oppressive swarms that the horses plunged, kicked, laid down and rolled over, and several riders were unseated from their saddles and went groping about in the animated darkness, but fort­ unately escaped contact with the flying hoofs of the scared and bewildered Dob­ bins. At night the soldiers slept on soft, crawling, downy-like beds of grasshop­ pers, with a thick, warm covering of the same, in place of the yermin-infesteh army blankets. Strange to say, these grasshoppers had not devoured every­ thing in the shape of vegetation, but dad spared much of the grass and foliage. They seemed to be fasting, or waiting for the crops to mature in the States east of the Missouri. They were head­ ing fqr the Missouri river, though their progress was slow, and they seemed rather to be maintaining a masterly inac­ tivity, moving only when obliged to. It is the opinion of the officers in command of the detachment that, later in the season, this throng of insects will take to wing and devastate the maturing crops in the Northwestern States. They must have something to subsist on, and there is not enough vegetation in the Yellowstone region to afford them one good meal, if they should all get hungry at once. - _____ How the Chinese and Philippine Islanders Exterminate the Peats--Stretching Nets, Burning Rubbish, Etc. [From the Chicago xribune.] In March last a letter was dispatched from the Tribune office to a gentleman in Hong Kong asking him for informa­ tion concerning the Chinese methods of destroying locusts. His answer, pub­ lished below, gives an outline of the means employed, which may be operated efficaciously in the destruction of the grasshoppers with which the Western countrv has been for years afflicted. So far the only remedy devised has involved time and tedious labor, and it is doubt­ ful if hauling a tarred iron drag over a Held of "LMMIIHTH wiii ever become gen­ eral so as to rid the country of ilie pc&i. Air. Souza has kindly foi warded sonic chilly seeds, which the Tribune holds in trust for farmers, who will be supplied on demand, as far as they will go : HONG KONG, China, May 23,1877. I am in receipt of your letter of the 28th of March ultimo, requesting me to supply you with information regarding the method adopt­ ed by the Chinese for the extermination of lo­ custs. I am glad to be able to inform you that the Chinese, from time immemorial, have al­ ways successfully destroyed these cursed ver­ min by means of nets thrown across their rice- fields. They also make large pyramids, at a distance of one li (a quarter of a mile) between each other, composed of all sorts of inflamma­ ble rubbish, with a quantity of dry chillies sulphur, and some tar. On the approach of a cloud of locusts the pyramids are all at once set on fire, and the dense smoke issuing therefrom soon makes the locusts alter their course, and very often, after a short pause in the air, turn backward and disappear, even against the car- rent of the wind, if not too strong. In the Philippines, where the plague is very prevalent, the natives have constantly a regu­ lar deposit of rubbish, dry leaves, etc., round their plantations, ready for the first alarm of the approaching danger. They also fire rock­ ets at the cloud of locusts with good effect, and discharge fire-arms loaded with paddy. All locusts found in the fields are eagerly collected, cured and devoured by the natives, who con- aider them as one of the best delicacies. Under the name of langosta they are Bold in all mar­ ket towns in the Philippines. The law forbidding the destruction of birds, and the periodical importation of large quan­ tities of Chinese martins, which subsist entirely on young locusts, have contributed a great deal to the destruction of the insect in the Philip­ pines. Dry chillies may be obtained in any quantity from India at about 20 rupees a picul of 133>^ pounds. I send you herewith some seeds, which, if planted in the beginning of summer, will bear fruit in three months. The smoke of the chilly will kill any insect. As you will see in the accompanying number of the China Mail, I have ventilated the sub­ ject, and any further information obtained will be at once imparted to you. Thanking you for the opportunity granted to me to be useful to you, $nd with kind regards to our mutual friend, Mr. Lassen, I am, youra faithfully, 7 J. Boou. An Honorable Seutor. The late ex-Senator Pratt was, while in Congress, the most punctilious of politicians. Two ladies whom he chari­ tably assisted to posts in one of the de­ partments combined to make and present to him a dressing-gown as an expression of their gratitude. When they came to bringing thft completed garment, he took down from its shelf a vohUMI containing a law forbidding a Congress* man to receive gifts under such circum­ stances. The donors of the dressing- gown were abashed; but the Senator took the gorgeous garment and delicately intimated that, if they would allow him to pay for it, the matter would be ad­ justed, and he would be all the --rrtt very much obliged. f •v#, J*' ALL SORTS* •>• Ttn&rare cure hog cholei% THE .average length of life is 31 years; SACRAMENTO has established a chai**- ' * gang- NEW HAVEN sells its 5 per cent, bond#* at 105*. HOUSE rents in Brooklyn never so low as now. , " •<*|C WHEBEVER American goods get a £oo£ «' h> hold they stick. • * THE public library of Boston contain^ <>5t 314,265 volumes. A BUST of Charles Francis Adam* - been made by his son, John Adams. ' ^ m->>t ATWTCI? to too many people How *- make home happy--leave it.--Puneh. WALES, the heir to the throne, ooste* . •> «« England $200,000 a year, and still he it , *•*** < THE Bunker Hill Monument Associ*^ . tion has elected Dom Pedro an honorary •' member. • THE King of Italy gets $2,850,000 Ir ̂ year, and, like Wales, ne, too, is in debt' and misery. «•* HARVARD gives warning that after tfcSs * » L year her boat crew will row against . i)& ; :<M other college crew than Yale's. BALTIMORE received a 435 pound tui«t^ tie from North Carolina, and calls it the „ , biggest one ever brought to that m&rket. THE lower lip of a baby starts in first * < and gets through with its part of thef i cry before the upper lip can get upite* S motion. 1 i AN Irishman has defined nothing to to .js "a footless stocking without legs." A .,< $ description by another Emeralder: , _ " WhaUs nothing?" he , your eyies and you'll see it* s COUNSEL. M' _ I;' * 1 Others will kiss you while your moi>& is mL Beauty is brief. Of all ttc gueste who come . j;t While the Iarup shines on flowern.and wine,and bread* " In time of famine who will spare a crumb f < % j * id Therefore, oh, next to God, I pray you keep ^ Yourself as your own friend, the tried, the true* ' • Sit your own watch--others will surely sleep. Weep your own tears. Aak none to die with ygK * --Appletoiu'for Jul#. di :o« MR. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL'S aooept*> ance of the Spanish mission will not >j permitted to sever his connection with ; n Harvard University. The Trustees have ^ refused to accept his resignation, pre^ " *'>4 ferring to fill the vacancy during his ah* ' :;f sence. It is understood that the Tnicwmn was offered to Prof . Lowell in an aUttM*T graph letter by President Hayes. JM,'! DURING the dividend periods of sis •'?'! months each, ending March 1 and Sept. ,| 1, 1876, 806 national banks located in , •>, the States and principal cities of the .* Union charged off as losses the sum of $19,719,026.42, of which 06,879,759 oe* * curred in New York city banks, $895,SOS $ in Chicago banks, $1,598,872 in Boston. ,' banks, $876,207 in Baltimore banks, an^ „ % $ 6 1 9 , 7 0 1 i n N e w O r l e a n s b a n k s , t ̂ i j f THE first submarine cable was that - laid across the Strait, of Dover, twenty-, ^ seven years a§o. It parted next day, End the first working cable was laid, in 1851, * on the same route. The network of cttble has now extended so far that, when Aa» * is united to America by cabling the P*»;:K/fc cific, the electric girdle around the world;, 9 will be complete from east to west, as it now is between the north and soutn. WHEN Frederick Douglass went to see . his former master, Capt. Auld, the other ' day, Auld's son-in-law addressed the vfllh 1 ** itor as "Marshal Douglass." "No, rt no," expostulated the Marshal, "I am i-j Marshal Douglass in Washington; ton* > >,, t let me be Fred Douglass again." He ; said that he left Mr. Auld forty-one 1 Jrears ago, not because he loved Caesar ' * ess, but because he loved Rome more. • * THE value of boneB imported annually| into England to be used for fertilizing1 * the land is computed to be $10,* MI; 000,000. They are obtained from Rus- ^ sia, Germany, South America, and th^ United States. Throughout Brifc fA,. am hones are collected from every pofi-" sible source of supply. So valuable axe" bones considered in Germany that ; proverb there reads: " One ton o&boiiftft , dust saves the importation of ten tons ' German corn." ^ M DEAD dogs are really an odd kind merchan d i s e ; y e t t h e r e i s a f i r m i n S ^ v , . Francisco which purchases at 50 cents each the dogs slaughtered at the city * pound. The skins are removed and sold 3, to the tanners, the hair is disposed of ton > the plasterers, and then the carcasses;; are thrown into a great boiler, and there , kept until the bones are separated from the flesh, and these are sold to the sugar 1 refiners. The grease that rises to the surface is made into cod-liver oil--at least so it is stated. | FISHERHEN in China are called fish catchers, and they make a living by drapr ; ing fish with their hands from the richly >J. stocked lakes and rivers in the north of the kingdom. The fish catcher wadeB l i! or swims in water only deep enough to 1 enable him to touch Ms feet at will. • He * > strikes the surface violently with his * hands, soaring the fish to the bottom, w then by keeping his feet moving he feels them in the ""id and dives and Jbtiiigs"1 tffrijds piey. iur* IRREVOCABLE. UJIAJT Because it did not yield me shade enoughj 1 Because the time seemed long till fruit abo<l!d,lMk>(.- 1 smote at root my flowering ripple-tree ; ! '* * • It was the fairest tree in my scant grove, And fell with little sound. I watched above And viewed it where it lay, content to KM My 1 earful handiwork, aad angrily , I shook its boughs, and plucked the leaves Poor leaves that never a deep shadow made, # Yet were so fair! I dropped them, one by one; And then I wept, for what I cannot say, •! Unless my heart conjectured of eome day When I should stand alone, and no such Hhade Should interpose between me and the sun. --Philip Bourke Marston, in Scribiurfor Julfr s ENGLISH shippers and underwriters am „ becoming nervous over the frequent loss of vessels by spontaneous combustion of ' coal. Every year large numbers of oool- ' * laden vessels are posted at Lloyds m. - missing, with all hands, and it is diihciilk > to avoid the conclusion that they have : ̂ been burned in mid-ocean, and not av;5 human being preserved to relate the * j causes. The figures show that 1,13®"* J lives have been lost, and a tonnage of 1 30,000, representing 87.000 tonB of ooaL J has been destrojred, through the spo^" * 1 taneous combustion of ̂ t 1