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Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, November 20, 1873, Image 1

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Eaton
Weekly
EMOCRAT.
L O. GOULD, Publisher- Devoted to the Interests of the Democratic Party, and the Collection of Local and General News. Two Dollars per Annum, in Adrance,
VOL. VII.-NO. 5. EATON, OHIO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1873. WHOLE NUMBER 3437
OLD BACHELOR JOHN.
BY SAUL POTTS.
.Taint often that I apeak out, for there aint bat
few folk care
To bear me lettin' on about myself and my affairs ;
I never was a talker, and I'm most too old a bird
To be l'arnln' of new tricks, but 1 take ye at your
word.
That ye'd really like to hear me tell the story of my
life;
A ad why na gettin old and grizzled, n never had
no wife. -
Wal there aint much story to it, and I dont pre
tend to be
Mo more v a hero, than what you'd 'a bin, If you'd
bin me.
Folks that's married sometimes has a way of lookin'
with contempt
On them that's single, though perhaps they never
so much as dreamt
That there might be good reasons for their livin' ss
they do ; .
It seems to me ha'sh judgment and kind'T onfeel
ln too.
They sometimes call me crabbed, and a " dried-up,
cross old bach."
It kind'T grates upon me, like a ereakin', rusty
latch
Tor H makes me think of younger, happier days
that I have seen ;
K if things hadnt bin just ss they was, what I too
might a bin,
IPS nigh on flm and thirty year, since first I come
ont West,
I thought I'd strike out for myself, it seemed to me
the bast;
My young heart was chock-full o' hope, and there
was one for whom
I could have cot my pathway through the thickest
backwooda gloom.
Our family was large t' borne, and the old folks
handa was full ;
Bo me n my youngest brother thought we'd give
their boat a pull.
I mean by that, we felt that if we lightened up their
load,
life wouldn't seem to them, perhaps, such a dread-
ful up-hill road,
1 never had much schoolin', as youll know to hear
I've kinder picked up what I know perhaps know
"cheese from chalk ;" -BookJ'arain'
aint my strong pint, but of pioneerin'
ways
I've seen as much as most folks has, that's goin'
nowadays.
.The first time I come West, I come through York
State, by canal
The railroad waaut runnin' yet, and tallygraphs
T you'd told folks that in thirty years, news'd be
dean round the airth, they'd call ye .one o the big
gest kind o' liars.
B I said, we pioneered along a good deal o the
way
The country was a settlin up even at that early
day
We stopped first in Ohio, then we looked at Michi
gan, But we thought that goin' further West would be a
better plan.
So we "entered land at Govlnent price, in Southern
niinov.
My brother's was adjlnin' mine he's dead, V his
oldest boy .
Is married, carries on the farm, V lives up on the
hill
And carry mine one on too bntl'm unmarried
. T3 I said before, I left behind me when 1 come out
West,
One whom I loved, God knows how much, and she
too, loved me beet.
It was agreed that I'd go back and take her for my
wile
H a year or two, oris Boon's I fairly got a start in
. lire.
I used to hear from Hetty pretty often. She could
write
A first-rate kind o letter, better'n mine a mighty
. aigmv
Mine was always blotched and bungled, but for all
that.: Hetty knew .
Every word inside eome from my heart, and that to
oar vavmA.
It took a month or so for letters to reach us in them
days
And when mails went by stage-coach it did seem a
ore'df o ways ;
But It's time makes distance seem so long, even in
these davs of steam :
And to them that's separated wide, it's about's it
1 to
Wal, IM got some forty acres cleared I built a log
house too,
And got things fixed as comftable's I could where
- all was new -
TP I calclated the next spring to go back to Ver
mont, And marry Hetty, "n bring her borne, our minds
was maae up ona.
That whites was a pretty hard one, all the country
through ;-
Blob a one, for heavy snows and thaws, I think a
never knew.
Our mails wss all behind-hand, for the roads was
powerful bad;
And a single line from Hetty was the only word I
It was written weeks before, and in a shaky kind o'
nana.
As If she'd bad a very heavy fit o' sickness, and
All it said was, " Joan, dear, I'm not well,
could vou not eome home T "
When I read it I was's if a clap o' thunder'd struck
, me auniD. .
"OouldloomeT" I'd like to seethe alrthly power
could hold me back.
It didn't take me very long my clothes and traps to
pack.
I traveled night and day, as fast aa stagin' would
allow.
And ten days wss a quicker trip than two or three
is now. .
And at the end of ten long days, I reached my na
tive town.
- One bright spring afternoon, just aa the sun wss
going aowD,-
-1 hurried past folks that I knew, and them that
knew me well,
When all at onee't I heerd the toll of the solemn
passu' bell.'
IT I anew that somebody was dead what T Mo! it
oonldnt be
' My Hetty i that's Just her age, the bell struck twenty-
I hurried faster, almost run, till I reached the old
Mown ffAta.
H' then I knew, without bein' told, that I'd come
home too late I . . .
' X then there eome a blackness, and I cant remem
ber mora.
But they say for days and weeks I lay, Just hoverin'
Till finally, by God's help, and by nursin' of the best,
I got up on my feat again, and started back out
- - .
And now yeve heered my story, u' why I never had
no wife.
Po you wonder any longer that I live this kind o
life?
Do ye wonder that my love went out like a candle in
- the wind -
When Hetty died TV in Tin' bo d'ye think I've
. VBUUMM17
Perns pa t may be so wal ay Ood forgive me if I
'- nave.
But my heart for thirty years has laid with Hetty in
her grave.
And I carry on my farm alone, and I'm waltin' for
thedav
When the good Lord will call me, n 111 be ready
Christian Union.
A GRIZZLY PRIZE FIGHT.
Gen. James S. Brisbin gives the f ol
' lowing sketch of the exploits of a noted
lated to the General by Mr. Belden, the
famous hunter, trapper, and guide of
the plains :
I was one bf the first men in 1858 to
arrive at Pike's Peak. I came up from
-. the Missouri with a friend of my father's,
and we t topped at Denver, or rather,
should say, where Denver now is, for
the city was men. composeaoi a lew
grog shops and shanties. In one of the
- mining camps I became acquainted with
a queer fellow they called Bruiser Sam.
He was a powerful man, and sometimes
drank a good deal, but was always good-.-
tempered and kind-hearted. The miners
' were a rough set in those days, and de
lighted in the most brutal sports. Prize
fighting was one of their pastimes, and
at this Bruiser Sam excelled no man
in all the camps being able to stand np
long before him. His feats of strength
were prodigious. Often would he take
a barrel of liquor by the chimes, and,
knocking out the bung, lift it up and
drink from the hole, as easily as if it
were a small keg. Then he would stand
on a box twelve inches high and lift one
hundred and eighty .pounds with his
teeth. He could pick up a three-bushel
bag of flour with his mouth, and carry
it a rod. One day a saloon-keeper of
fended Sam, and to have revenge he
went out into the street, and, shoulder
ing a large work-horse, carried it into
the saloon, leaving the enraged bar
keeper to get it out and down the steps
as best he could. At another time be
carried a rock into the store and dropped
it through the floor.
Bam s skin was as white and smooth
as a girl s ; but all over his arms,
shoulders and broad chest were bunches
of knotty muscles as large as one's fist.
lie was a well-built and hne looking man,
his waist being remarkably small, his
hips broad, the legs well set, and feet
small. Once his face was handsome,
but whisky had bleared the eyes, and
the nose was pimpled and red; still,
Sam was a good-looking man, and, when
dressed up in a new buckskin suit with
yellow fringe, and his long brown hair
combed out in curls about ms necK, ne
iS a picture of an athletic frontiers
man.
However. Sam was fast degenerating
into a loafer ; he had left off work and
gone to living by his strength, just as
thousands of men live by their wits in
the great cities. Any one would pay
Sam's liquor to see him lift a barrel by
the ends and drink from the bung-hole ;
and occasionally, by way of variety, he
would shoulder a horse or a mule for a
glass of rum.
Dissipation told rapidly on "The
Man of Steel," as he was called, and
when I saw him in the spring he had
delirium tremens, and it took five men
to hold him. His frame was wasted
awav. the knots of sinews were crone, his
chest drawn in, and the skin of his body
soft
It was about this time an old English
man named Jones arrived at the mines,
and hearing of Sam, expressed a desire
to see him. Old Jones was a well
known prize fighter, but of late years
had given up the ring himself and
turned trainer. Sam's fame excited the
envy of old Jones, and he no sooner saw
him than he offered to fight Sam. The
miners were astonished and tried to
dissuade Jones from his purpose, but
nothing would do but he must have a
, i . "i ,
Dour, wim oam. so we aay was Bet.
Sam was sick on the morning of the
fight and. looked badly enough, but bets
ran two to one on "The Man of steel
against the englishman. Time . was
called, and the Englishman bounded
into the ring, while Sam came up slowly,
and looked languid and feeble ; but at
the very first pass he hit John Bull be
tween the eyes, and no amount of
sponging and bathing could induce him
to stand upon his legs again that day.
It was feared that Sam had broken the
Englishman's skull, but he got about in
a day r two, and soon afterward both
he and Ham disappeared from the sa
loons. The barkeepers were astonished.
Sam did not come around any more for
his grog, and no one could imagine
where he had gone, or what he was at.
Foul play was beginning to be suspect
ed, when it leaked out that Sam was in
training, and that the Englishman was his
trainer. After old Jones got that awful
lick from Sam s brawny hat, he gave
him no peace until he agreed to go into
training and accompany the Englishman
to England, there to fight the giants of
the prize ring. Jones had not much
money, but at his instigation a man
named Dunham came over with plenty
of cash, and as soon as Dunham arrived
old Jones quit, and the new English
man became Htm s regular trainer.
I saw Sam once while he was in train
ing, and he looked well, the knots were
on his arm again, and the great chest
round and firm. - ie bad been at his
dumb-bells, sand-bags, and gum-balls
about six weeks when, one morning he
?ot mad about something, knocked both
nnham and old Jones down, and made
his escape from the keepers into the
street. . Stopping at the saloons and
taking several drinks, he did not forget
it was his hourfor training, and amused
himaplf bv knocking down everv stout
fellow he met. Finally, after the Sheriff
and half the town -bad been wmppea,
Sam was captured and put in jail ; but
here a new ddhctuty presented itself.
for the jail was not a strong one, and
Sam Bwore he would instantly tear it
down if they did not let him go. On
promising that he would go straight to
his lodgings, the door was opened and
Sam kept his word, for he went directly
home and went to bed. This outbreak
was so unlike Sam's natural disposition
that every one was at a loss to account
for it; and, soon afterward, another
ebullition of passion occurring, the
Man of Steel's trainers abandoned him
in disgust, and took themselves off
East, each carrying with him, as a part
ing gift from Sam, a pair of black eyes
and a swollen nose.
Sam, now left to himself, fell to drink-
ing again, went about the saloons as of
old, lifting barrels, pitching stones, and
shouldering horses for liquor. It was
soon observed that ne was growing
weak ; he lifted the barrels with difficul
ty, and preferred to drink from a glass
instead of a bunghole. He grew thin
in flesh, his muscles disappeared, and
he became the shadow of his former
self.
At this time a number of shoulder.
hitters and desperadoes arrived at the
mines, and gave Sam some trouble ; but
he finally conquered them all, and as
the last fellow got licked he exclaimed
"WelLif you - can lick me. you can'
lick a grizzly bear 1" Sam swore he
could lick a grizzly bear, and that single-handed,
alone, he would fight one,
There was a grizzly in the camp that
had been caught by the miners when
cub, and raised by them. - The bear was
now nearly full grown, and although a
great, powerful brute, was quite tame
and harmless. It was not long before
some wretches had arranged a fight be
tween the dumb beast and Bruiser Sam.
and the day was set. The bear was to
be chained to a tree by the neck, and
Sam was to fight him one hour with his
naked fists. Sam again went into train
ing, with Jim Peyton for his trainer,
and long before the day of the fight
.Peyton reported that his pupil was in
splendid condition, and ' would as soon
fight as go a-fishing."
The day came, and with it a great
crowd. The bets were three to one on
Sam, and many really believed he
would whip the bear. Poor Bruin a
great shaggy-coated fellow was tied to
a stake by a chain twelve feet long, and
was as good-tempered as he could be,
standing on his hind legs, and scamper
ing about with delight at the sight of so
many people. Perhaps there was as
little of the real beast in Bruin as there
was in many of the two-legged animals
who came to see him fight. The keepers
of the bear began teasing and poking
him with sharp poles and irons, and
although he took it quite coolly at first,
he after a while growled fiercely and
tugged at his chain. Sam now appeared
with his keeper, Peyton, and was re
ceived with loud cheers by the human
animals who wished to see a man and a
beast fight.
Stepping into the ring Sam appeared
for battle, stripping off all his clothing,
except his boots, pants and drawers. Mia
broad chest contrasted strangely with
the shaggy coat of the beast, as the two
combatants stood glaring at each other.
The intelligent animal seemed to under
stand the situation in a moment, and,
raising on his legs, walked toward Sam,
who tried to hit him, between the eyes,
hoping to break his skull ; but, failing
in this, he stepped to one side, and giv
ing the bear a powerful blow, knocked
him down. Cheer after cheer greeted
Sam as he stepped from the ring, and
the men who had bet on the bear really
began to fear they would lose their
money. Five minutes were allowed be
tween the rounds, and the baiters poked
the beast vigorously all the time, so
that when oam came up again ne was in
a towering passion.
The moment Sam crossed the ring the
bear recognized him and bounded the
full length of the chain, Ho great was
the rage of the beast that the people
drew back m horror, and even Ham grew
nale. Again the bear leaped forward.
and taking ms cnain in nis paws at
tempted to break it. For a time it re
sisted all his efforts, but at length snapped
in twain, and the affrighted people
fled terror-stricken from the plain.
The bear dashed upon Ham, who
bravely stood his ground, and actually
succeeded in felling the bear to the
earth, but in doing so he lost his bal
ance, and before he could escape the
bear caught him with one claw, and hit-
1 ' . it. M TAV. 1.1. 1-1
Llllg 1 1 1 iii on uie tauu wtuu uio ubiiei;,
broke the poor fellow's jaw. Still Sam
fought on with his jaw hanging on his
breast ana Diooa spirting irom a aozen
wounds. It was terrible : but, of course,
the bear won, knocked Sam down finally
and tearing open his chest with his
sharp claws. By this time the people had
got guns and returned .to the field,
where they fired volley after volley into
poor Bruin until he lay quite still : and
Sam was dead too, and they took up
his body and the carcass of the bear and
buried them botn. And tnus enae
Bruiser Sam and his grizzly bear fight,
which was perhaps the only-bear prize
ngnt ever longnt in me woria.
The Meanest Man in the World.
There has always been a spirited com.
petition for the proud eminence of the
meanest man in the world, and no de
cision has ever been reached. , When
ene aspirant has made a noble effort
that seemed to command the rjahn of
victory, another would enter the lists.
and wither Jus laurels by a transcending
achievement. But until the Times has
further returns, it will champion the
pretensions of a man residing at JNew-
buryport,' Mass. A short time ago this
man s lather, an estimable old gentle
man of 80 years, went to visit him. The
old gentleman took with him a small
dog, which had been his pet and com
panion in his declining years. The son
objected to this dog because it cost him
nearly a cent a day to feed during his
father s visit. I. Hereupon tne noble and
affectionate son went to the authorities
and made complaint against, his father
for that he had an unlicensed dog. The
old man was arrested and fined $20
and having no money, he was taken to
jail, where he remained at the last ac
counts, while the Bon goes proudly on
the even tenor of his way.
Later And now, as if to confirm the
proposition with which this topic com-
menoed, the Times finds a competitor
for the honor which it had all but
awarded to the Newburyport man. The
hero in this case is an Iowa farmer.
"whose infant daughter was attacked by
a snake. A woman who was present
seized a spade and killed the reptile.
In doing so she broke the nandie of tne
spade, which belonged to the lather,
And that noble-spirited man made the
poor woman pay the price of the broken
, ' i . ii mi :n
implement, do me xnims win never
again attempt to decide who is the
Chicago
Times.
Pat Donan Still Lives.
A statement has been going around to
the effect that Pat Donan, who disturbs
the tranq uuhtylof the infernal regions
from his chair in the office of the Lex
ington Caucasian, was dead, but
glance at the broadside of that paper
will satisfy the most casual observer
that he still lives. For instance, this
paragraph : " Bile (meaning Woodson
the Governor of Missouri) "has got
back to Jefferson, from the squash and
dondey show, where he shone pre-emi
nent, as the hugest dead-beat and
lonsrest-eared Balaam's saddle-oonv
all the vast vegetable and animal collec
tion." Or this : ' The Conservatives
Richmond, Va.. have nominated Judgi
Robert Ould to represent them in their
coming white man's assembly. The
South is at last learning wisdom. Any
ragamuffin will do for Congress ; but
fill our State Legislatures with our
ablest, purest, noblest men. The black
est and kinkiest, gizzard-hoofed-est and
stinkiest Guinea nigger is good enough
for a .Federal Senator ; but let states-
men and patriots, the true sons of the
southland, do our home law-grmdingi
Miscellaneous Paragraphs.
Ohio will be 71 years old on Novem
ber 29.
Mobile claims to be the healthiest city
in the Union.
A Hartford boy 6 years old sets half
column of type per day.
Poor, demented Japan is going to
establish national banks.
Pennsylvania makes more bricks than
any other State in the Union.
Kentucky is celebrating the comple-
pletion of her fourth Insane Asylum.
The oricrinal of Brooklyn is Broek-
klein, Little Broek, a suburb of Amster
dam. An economical negro in Wilmington,
Delaware, says he picks up on an aver
age 7,300 pins .in a year.
A lady wishes to know why, since the
invention of the needle-gun. women
can't fight as well as men.
A Wisconsin man has had to have his
lip amputated on account of a cancer
produced by excessive smoking.
There were cast 20,518 votes at the
late election in Colorado, which indicates
a population of from 75,000 to 100,000.
One county of Oregon this year will
produce 1,500,000 bushels of wheat,
300,000 bushels of flax seed, and 500,
000 bushels of oats.
It has been calculated that since the
death of the Prince Consort not fewer
than 500.000 persons have died in En
gland from typhoid fever.
Thb Philadelphia Press furnishes a
list of possible Presidental candidates
for 1876, containing the names of Mor
ton, Blaine, Sumner, Boutwell, and Gen.
bherman.
A kan in Sharon, Pa., dropped his
pocketbook, containing $200, in the
manger while feeding his horse, the
other night. In the morning he found
a few scraps of papr.
The Irish Agricultural Laborers' Un
ion, in event of the Uovernment failing
to settle the question of waste lands in
Ireland, have decided to emigrate to. the
United States en masse.
Fob a long time in the South, and
now particularly, railroad tickets have
been and are used as currency. Two
hundred thousand dollars' worth of these
are in circulation in Georgia. :
The exportation of gold from Aus
tralia this year, up to the 31st of August,
amounted in value to $31,078,245, an in
crease of more than one-third over the
value of the exports in 1872.
As an instance of the increasing value
of walnut lumber, we note that the
standing walnut trees on a half section
of land on Eel river, Miami county, Ind.,
was recently sold to a lumber dealer for
$17,000.
Thb French being convinced that their
failure in the late- war was in a great
measure due to the inferiority of their
muzzle-loading field guns,' are now dis
posed to discard all cannon of that
class and adopt breech-loaders exclu
sively. Reports from Alabama state that great
destitution exists in some counties of the
State in consequence of the destruction
of crops by heavy rains and the cotton-
worm. Many persons will die from starv
ation during the winter, unless relief is
extended. -
Thb wars between the houses of York
and Lancaster lasted 30 years and cost
the lives of 2 kings, 1 prince, 1U dukes,
3 marquises, 21 earls, 27 lords, 2 vis
counts, 1 lord prior, 1 judge, 139 knights,
411 esquires, and above' 100,000 private
men, in iz oatuea.
A doomsday book of the Grasshoppers
has recently been compiled by one of the
United States officers engaged in the
geographical survey of the Territories,
and issued from the public printing
office at Washington. It chronicles every
known kind of grasshopper, including
45 erenera and 227 species, of which 33
genera and 137 species are natives of
America.
An inquiry into the kind and quantity
of destruction caused by lightning Has
recently been made in the interest of the
insurance companies of Saxony. As
might have been anticipated, the result
of the investigations establishes the fact
that houses roofed with slate or iron are
very much less liable to be fired by light
ning than houses covered witn sningle
or thatched roofs.
An editor of an Indiana paper indig
nantly denies the report that he has
committed suicide. A paper published
in a neitrhborine: town says the report
may not be true, but if it isn t it onght
to be ; and as the denial is only pub
lished in a single country paper, while
the contrary is asserted by at least a
dozen dailies, the weight of evidence is
against him. .
Thb following advertisement was
printed not long ago in an English
newspaper: "Wanted, for a family
who have bad health, a sober, steady
person in the capacity of doctor, sur
treon, apothecary, and man midwife.
He must occasionally act as butler, and
dress hair and wigs. He will sometimes
be required to read prayers, and to
preach a sermon every Sunday. A good
salary will be given.
in
of
Don t Count the Steps; It is, per
haps, well for us -that we do not count
up in early life the number of steps,
many of them weary ones, we shall have
to take in treading the long road that
reaches from the cradle to the grave. It
is well for the young housewife that she
does not estimate the number of million
of dishes she will be required to wash
during a period of housekeeping forty
years long ; in each of which years the
table must be cleared and the dishes
washed over . a thousand times. It is
well that the poor seamstress does not
calculate the number of miles of " seam
and gusset and band, band and gusset
and seam her tired nngers must form,
till the lamp of life, like the table lamp,
gives out. ' It is wise and well, that she.
who sits from one year to another in the
Bame little room, does not realize thather
hand moves, m forming stitches, more
miles than a steamship travels in cross
ing tne Atlantic
ANECDOTES OF GREAT AMERICANS.
With One Little American Thrown In to
Fill Chinks.
[From Lippnicott's Monthly Gossip.]
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
juvenile George cut down Bushrod's fa
vorite cherry tree with a hatchet. His
purpose was to cut and run.
But the old gentleman came sailing
round the corner of the barn just as the
future father of his country had started
on the retreat
"Look here, sonny," thundered the
stern old Virginian, " who cut that tree
down i
George reflected a moment. There
wasn't another boy or another hatchet
within fifteen miles. Besides, it oc
curred to him that to be virtuous is to be
happy: Just as Washington senior
turned to go in and get his horsewhip,
our little hero burst into tears, and
nestling among his father's coat-tails,
exclaimed, " I cannot tell a lie. It must
have been a frost."
1 My son, my son," stammered the
fond parent as he made a pass for his
v . . 1 v 1 1 - 1 f
onspnng, - wnen you get to do nrst in
war and first in peace, just caver your
back-pay into the treasury, and the
newspaper press will respect you !"
ALONZO SAVAGE, THE SABBATH SCHOOL
GENIUS.
This time it was the pupil who put
the question. The Sabbath school
teacher encouraged her children to bring
each a Scripture question to be pro
pounded to the class. Alonzo Savage
said he would like to be told why St.
Stephen was like a thanksgiving raisin?
He allowed it was because they stoned
him.
The boy has grown up and entered
upon a career of usefulness, Jtle gets
steady wages as a railroad Draftsman,
and last week he celebrated his golden
wedding. All because Alonzo was faith
ful at Sabbath school.
PANXEIi WEBSTER.
The following anecdote of the great
Massachusetts statesman has never be
fore appeared iu print :
One day. (JJay. Webster, and uainoun
met upon the steps of the UapitoL. Mr,
Clay ventured to remark, iu his most
affable style, that it looked like rain.
Calhoun looked wise, but said nothing.
Evidently he took in the whole situation
at a glance, it was a crisis for Web
ster. Carefully laying his thumb be
hind the third brass button of his blue
coat, he gazed from out of these cavern
ous eyes and grandly uttered tnese
prophetio words : " No, gentlemen,
the American people will never forsake
the Constitution. We shall have fair
weather."
And so it proved.
a poet's sense.
Mr. Emerson, the poet, was in Rome
last winter, and visited the studio of
Mr. Til ton, the American artist, whose
smallest bits of canvas bring an almost
incredible price. Mr. Tilton, wishing
art to pay a tribute to poetry, took from
its hanging a picture handsomely
framed and presented it to his guest.
The next day Mr. Emerson, overtaken
by a stinging of conscience, came again
and in his hand was the empty frame,
which he handed to Mr. Tilton with
this remark : " Mr. Tilton, I accept
gladly your painting, but I must return
the frame, for I cannot keep anything of
so great pecuniary value.
The Great St. Louis Bridge.
[St. Louis Letter to Chicago Tribune.]
-
inor and mechanical folly and profligacy.
It has cost millions of dollars more than
it need, and has been three times as
long in building as it ought or need to
have been. It is built of huge steel
tubes, each "of which is about fifteen
feet long and sixteen inches in diameter.
These tubes are made of steel staves,
somewhat like a barrel, six of which
form the tube, being bound together
with a steel hoop, solid the full length.
Each tube weighs about two tons. The
bridge consists of three double-track
spans across the river, which are sup
ported by two piers in the center of the
stream. The foot of the arch springs
only thirty-five feet from the center of
the river at low water, and the crown is
only seventy feet above low water. As
the variations bf the stream are upward
of forty feet, it is certain that very few
boats will ever pass under it at any
staore of water.
But a portion of one of the spans is
completed, and it hangs low-browed and
sullen, a vast mass ol metal, apparently
getting ready to drop to the bottom of
the nver. The weignt in tnis span is
truly enormous, and the conundrum
with engineers is whether the piers can
support the tnrust of all this mountain
of steel as it expands and contracts with
the variations of temperature. Tne en
gineers on the work pretend to be very
positive that the crown of the arch will
rise or fall as it gets not or ooid ; dui
others are equally positive that the
mass of metal is entirely too great for
this to be done, and that the force of
the thrust must come against the piers,
which sooner or later will give way under
such an enormous flank or lateral pres
sure. The extreme difference of length
of each of these spans, from the frosts
of winter to summer heats, is estimated
to be about eight minutes.
When the first span was ready to
completed, the length of the tubes had
been computed at a temperature of 50
degrees, and one morning last month
(September), the weather was just
right to insert the last length. Be
fore the workmen gathered it had got
too warm, so the tube was too long, and
could not be -pounded or forced in
all. A few days after, Iory-nve tons
ice was tied on the arch, in gunny-sacks,
and the span was at last contracted two
inches and a quarter, enougn to aomit
the last length.
The work is now progressing on
the sDans. and their' completion
named as occurring in January.
A parent writes that he is annoyed
and pained by his young son staying
ont at nicrht. and asks a remedy for this
rapidly growing evil. There are several
remedies. The most effectual is to com
pel him to wear patched clothing.
SivnK the 1st of January over 10.000
hooks have been copyrighted in this
country.
The Present Government of the Bank
of England.
I remember once, in London, to have
seen a young man with locks parted in
the middle and abundant watch chain. 1
and to have been greatly surprised when
told that he was a Director of the Bank
of England. I had supposed that a
directorship of the bank was a dignity
attained only by men of age, of great
experience, and of grave and somber ex
terior. But the reverse is the cade.
Directors of the bank are always very
young when elected. The reason is
that, in time, the Director will be the
Deputy-Governor and then the Gov
ernor. It is important that such a man
shall be in the full vigor of life, and yet
that he shall have had ample experi
ence. So it is that the Directors from
whom the Governor is chosen must be
elected young. A certain portion of the
directors go out annually, and remain
out for a year. But they are nearly
always re-elected. When a vacancy
occurs by death or resignation, the
Board looks about among the old-established
firms of the " city" and fix
upon that young man whom they think
will make the best Director. There is
very little favor shown ; the best man,
. . , i - , .
or wno seems tne Dest man, is nearly
always selected, and the position is
greatly coveted.
it takes about twenty years ior a
Director, after his election, to reach the
Governor's chair. The oldest of them
who has not been in office is made Dep
uty-Governor, and on the retirement of
the tiovernor he takes his place. Tne
Governor serves two years. The mem
bers who retire annually are always
the voung ones, or those who have not
reached the "chair." Those who have
held the office of Governor always remain
and, besides retaining their Director
ship, are constituted into what is
termed the " Committee of the Treas
ury." The functions of the committee
are not very well defined, but it wields
a sort of advisory power.
There is one very cunous provision of
the Bank of England. No banker or
Director in any joint stock bank can be
a Director of the Bank of England. One
of the Rothschilds is on the Board, but
the Rothschilds are not bankers in the
English sense. The English limit the
term to those individuals or companies
with whom you can deposit a small sum
payable on demand, and from whom
you can draw it ont m cnecus oi any
amount you cnoose. Tne iMtnsoniids
do not do this : so they are not " bank
ers" in the English Bense. The original
reason of the restriction, which is now
fenerally regarded as foolish and out of
ate. was that it was supposed that all
banks would be in opposition to each
other : they would compete just as
houses in the same business compete.
Therefore it was thought that no man
should be on the Board of the .Bank of
England who was interested in any other
bank. The reason, if it was ever good,
has certainly now ceased to be of any
value. The entire banking reserve of
London and all England indeed is held
by tho banks. The other banks in Lon
don must, of course, keep a reserve,
and they prefer that the Bank of En
gland should have the custody of it.
Their interests are therefore identical
with those of the bank, for if the bank
goes under they must go under too.
There are twenty-iour inrectors be
sides the Governor and Deputy-Governor.
This Board is thought to be too
large. It meets but once a week, and
can then sit but for a short time. Peo
ple get uneasy as soon as its session -is
prolonged beyond an hour so. A four
hours' session, it has been said, world
bring on a panic Anxious persons
gather about the door outside, and await
the close of the conference. It would
seem that some better- arrangement
might be made. The knowledge of the
effect of the lengthy deliberations of
the Board upon the public must pro
duce haste and excitement within.
The Latest Fish Story.
On Sunday last there appeared sud
denly on the Burface of the Columbia
nver. in front ot tnis port, . countless
millions of a species of the Mediter
ranean herring family, about tne size oi
sardines, but the picture and size of the
anchovy. None were seen alive, but
dead, and floating upon the water. The
school spread across the bay from our
docks to Cementvule. a distance of 7
miles, and Capt. Pool, of the ship Mary
H., informs us tnat ne strucK tne noat-
ing field about 4 miles below here sail
ing through the mass for a distance of 3
miles, on his route irom HKipanon.
They seemed eacn to nave a rupture
just below the gills, which produced
death, and if not killed by some erup
tion in nature akin to an eartnquaKe,
must have come in from the sea and
over-exerted themselves swimming
against the fresh current of the Colum
bia, which is not .their native element.
This same species of fish are found in
abundance about the bays and coasts of
British Columbia, where the natives and
others procure and use them as a sub
stitute for candles. Tne mass about
here on Tuesday would have been suffi
cient to supply torches lor a procession
reaching from here to New Ycrk.
Oregon Astorian.
A Love-Letter.
at
oi
all
is
a negro
literature, in the shape of a love-letter
from a colored school-master to nis
sweetheart : " Dear Eliza : I take the
liberty of mvself to inform you this few
few lines noping you may not onenu as
often is. I had often seen you in my
hearts. Their are myriads of loveliness
in my hearts toward you. My loving
intentions were reaiiv unto anouier io-
male, but now the love between I and
she are very out now entirely. Ana
now his the excepted time I find to ex
plain to mv lovely appearance" (pre
sumably apparent love), " but whether
if their be any love in your hearts
mind, towards me it is hard for I
know, but his 1 take this liberty
inform vou this kind, loving and aneo-
tionate letter. . . . Tour affectionate
lover affraied. P. S. Dear Eliza,
wether if vou are willing or not. Please
to send me an ansure dock, xjq my
dear."
- The potato
failure.
crop
an
Ireland is
IMPROVISATION.
BY BAYARD TAYLOR.
Pill, for we drink to Labor,
Labor, von know, is Prayer:
I'll be as grand as my neighbor
ADroad, and at borne aa Dare ;
Debt and bother and harry I
Others are burdened ao ;
Here's to the goddess Worry,
And here's to the goddess Show t
Beckless of what comes after,
ttiient ox wnence we come ;
Splendor and feast and laughter
JoaKe the questioner odd.
Debt, and bother, and hurry I
Nobody needs to know ;
Here's to the goddess Worry,
And here's to the goddess Show !
Fame is what yon have taken,
Character's what yon give ;
When to this truth yon waken,
men yon oegin to uve i
Debt, and bother, and hurry 1
Others have risen so ;
Here's to the goddess Worry,
And here's to the goddess Show t .
Honoris a thing for derision,
Knowledge a thing reviled ; .
Love is a vanishing vision,
Faith is the toy of a child !
Debt, and bother, and hurry !
Honesty's old scd slow ;
Here's to the goddess Worry,
And here's to the goddess Show I
Humorous.
singly. .
Is "stealing a march" worse than
Young ladies' economy Never throw
away a good match.
Most men like. to see themselves in
print. Ladies like to see themselves in
silks and velvet. :
Dresses woven from' bamboo fibers .
are the latest things for belles to do
their bamboozling in.
RmicuLOUSLT enough, a two-hundred-
pound poetess is writing ' about what '
she would do "if sue were a sun
beam." jumping grasshopper, the brown-colored
grasshopper, the cussed old grasshopper
is here. .
A. UU1CAUO D&Wr BftTB U18.b lb IB WUH' -
derful how quick the blind beggars of
that city can tell the difference between
ten cents and a quarter.
During an examination, a medical
student, being asked, "When does mor
tification ensue ?" replied : " When
yiu pop the question and are answered
Don't a Quaker ever take off his
... at,. .x --r
nat to any one, mamma r ao, my
dear." " If he don't take off his hat to
a barber, how does he have his hair
cut?" . -
In struggling to make a dull-brained
boy understand what conscience is, a
teacher finally asked : " What makes
you feel uncomfortable after you have
done wrong xne big learner strap,
feelingly replied the boy.
A Granges ditty : -
I want to be a granger, . -
And with the grangers stand
A horny-headed farmer, ;
With a hay-stsck in my hand. ' '
Beneath the tall tomato tree
I'll swing the glittering hoe ", "
And smite the wild potato bug .
As he skips o'er the soow.
A vvrrrv-D in A. rftilwftv Cflr . T'aAAATI- -
ger to a man at his side : " If there is .
anybody I hate in this world it is . ,"
referring to a prominentpublic charac
ter. Other man : " Uo you Know
him ?" ." Oh, yes ; have known the
scoundrel from boyhodd. . Do you ?"
" Oh, yes, very well, for x Happen to
be that very scoundrel."
A pew days since a seedy person ap
plied to a wealthy citizen for help, and
received the . small sum of five cents.
The giver remarked as he handed him .
the pittance : " Take it ; you are wel
come ; our ears are always open to the
distressed." "That may be," replied
the recipient, " but never before in my.
life have I seen.so small an opening for
such large ears.
A horse belonging to Marshall's coal-
yard ran away on West street Tuesday .
afternoon. A man wno witnessed me
affair ran out in the street, and, catch
ing hold of the tail-board of the cart,
succeeded in getting in. It was his in
tention to grasp the reins which were
attached to the dash-board, but as soon
as he struck on his feet, he began to
realize that a coal-cart had no springs
nor other appliances for helping it over
rougn places, ms iace, wmcn nau ia
the beginning an expression of mild
ferocity, suddenly changed to a series
of extraordinary grimaces -and most
gotesque and bewildering pulsations,
e made a grab at the reins, but, owing
to the awful uncertainty of the cart's
motion, came down on his knees m-
stead, and nearly bumpea nis neaa on
on the side-board. . Then he bounded
up on his feet again, and at once
jumped out of the rear end of the cart
and landed square on the back of bis
heels, and immediately turned three
. . , i
back-somersaults oeiore ne coniu recov
Danbury
News.
Poison in Candy.
to
to
The colors of candy often excite re
mark. Some are supposed to be poi-
Bonous, and on this subject the Afanuac-
turer and nwuter remarks : launuB,
indigo, and aniline blue are harmless
blue colors, while chlorophyl, or the
green coloring matter oi leaves, is a
harmless green ; aniline green may also
be used. The idea that aniline colors
are poisonous is erroneous. It is true
that the aniline oil itself (a colorless
fluid from which the aniline colors are
made) is a poison ; but the antidote is
to add something to change it into an
aniline color, when it becomes compara
tively harmless. The aniline colors are
- . . i & : 1
also so very powenui a coionug nirii. .
that only a very minute qnantity is
needed to color very large amounts of
candy ; so that even if somewnat pois
onous or injurious, it would be necessary
to consume several hundred pounds of
candy at once in order to produce any
poisonous effects of the coloring matter.
This will interest young children and
school-girls, who would gladly run the
risk of danger could they banquet on
such a liberal scale. Another good
authority, however, maintains that all
aniline dyes are at least suspicions, and
a should be avoided for all culinary pur
poses.

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