The Opelousas courier. [volume], October 05, 1872, English, Image 2

About The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910

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THE COURIER.
OPELOUSAS, LA.
THE COMET.
Alas for Earth and earthly things!
'Tis said a horrid comet
Darts hitherward on rushing wings,
With vengeance blazing from it.
It comes-alas our cherished cares,
And woe to worldly livers!
To switch its tail among the stars,
And dash the globe to shivers.
Alack-a-day! the end Is near
Of all sub-lunar glory,
Nor shall one soul survive the fear,
To tell the tragic story!
The dreadful moment draws anear;
Look sharp, and stand from under,
For soon thns monster will appear,
In blaze and smoke and thunder;
But should you feel all hope is fled
E'en from the hearts of preachers,
Don't let him strike you on the head,:
And spoil your classic features;
For there is nouht beside looks worse,
Though dreadftl things were srrted,
Than some unlucky mortal's corse
With liniaments distorted!
And yet this fiend, so bellicose,
So grim, so unprepossessing,
With fire a-blazing from his nose,
May provea sort of blessing;
He'll scare the devil out of some,
Their idols dash to shivers,
Strike down the devotees of Rum,
And burst their shrines in slivers ;
He'll make an end of cruel wars,
He'll quell the base ambitions,
And " run a muck" of all the cares
That occupy the vicious!
Then haste, fierce Spirit of the Great
Unmeasured Fire Ocean!
Let vengeance still accelerate
Thy rushing, headlong motion!
Earth's leprosy of sin, so foul,
Befits her for desiruction;
Then haste, and make the wretches howl
Who've lone disdained instruction.
But if, when all the world turns pale,
You burst your head asunder,
And 'midst Earth's ruins wreck your tail,
The stars may shout-No wonder!
THE LAST MISTRESS OF TULLY
MORE.
I.
It was almost nine o'clock on a gray,
stormy morning, towards the end of June,
1767, and the great house at Tullymore,
the second best house °n the county Don
egal. seemed as though it were never go
ing to wake up for the day, for the blinds
were down, and a hush rested on the
place.
Not so the humble dwellings near it.
The clusters of mud cabins, grandly de
nominated " towns," which were dotted
here and there over the mountain sides,
had been scenes of activity #nce a very
early hour.
Very insummer-like was the cold, dark
morning, and the dress in which Miss
Alice O'Hara at last appeared might have
been called unseasonable. But the wearer
looked charming enough, as she glided
down the steep, narrow staircase, to be
above criticism.
She wore her visiting costume, a gown
of sky-blue silk, made with the long waist
so much in vogue at that period; it was
cut low In the neck, and a handkerchief of
white net covered her snowy shoulders.
Her hair was powdered,. and drawn up
from here forehead over a high cushion,
whereon was pinned a coiffure of black
lace, somethingbetween a cap and a man
tilla, making her look like the ladies in the
pictures of Sir ThomasMore's family.
Her nec'tlace, an heirloom, was formed
by a triple row of magnificent pearls.
So much for Miss Alice's attire. In
person she was a little slender lady, with
a fiir, gentle face, and enaive expression,
but very stately withal. There was much
thoughtfulness in her deep blue eyes. as
well as in her rosy but somewhat thin I
lips. I
She opened the drawing-room door on t
coming down stairs, and went over to her
own especial corner df the room, where
the deep window commanded a view of
Lough Barra, laid at the feet of giant s
mountains, with all the green islands on V
its breast.
Her new spinning-wheel from London d
was in that corner, and so was her li rary.
-her copies of Shakspeare and Spenser r
and "Rasselas," her "Lives of the Poets," n
and her "Johnson's Dictionary," besides v
Innumerable heavy-looking tomes of the
ology, which last were much her favorite ,
study, and had probably something to do t1
with making her so thoughtful.
She was more than thoughtful. She
was sad that June morning, and looked as h
though her tiny hands were spinning the oj
web of fate. Yet there was nothing In h,
her external circumstances to make her h,
sad; a beauty and an heiress, and engaged di
tobe masried to Mr. Young, of Drimrath, H
one of the best matches in the county,
and, best of all, the man of her choice. at
She had not been many minutes alone di
before her lover entered. He went up to fe
her briskly, exclaiming,- u
"(ood morning, Alice. You rise w
nn DOB IV to anin -.i ,nd un,. h,..arad hnM
up early to spin, ind your hands hold
the distaff like- old Solomon's virtuous
woman. I wish I had you at Drimrath,
to clothe my household with scarlet."
"'Re spoke nervously, as if not quite sure
of his wvelcome. Alice smiled gravely,
and stagered him to kiss her cheek.
"Wby were you so severe to me last
night, Alice?" proceeded he; "no kiss,
no kind word! It was hard upon a poor
fellow who loves you so well."
He was close to her chair, with his hand
onber shoulder, and his bright dark eyes
ied Imploringly n her face. He
ha fljadly lto peewith his gay
hares, and florid complex
andeatoff by hisrpwdered
~hrbut beautifully-formed
igue d to such advantage in the
ý oduniform which he wore as
at, Vyeomanry.
u se argettome, Alice?"
" + know the reason, Robert," re
Vbq9mffin spite of herself, as
Is eves.
"W . i was a -ittle merry
WIe~ up psltais; but I might have
Mm muhen1j worse.. I reilased - taste
,or y'olr father's old
. port on tolease you. Your
that was very hard on
meat' asgop did."
" You buly do as others do, Robert.
! howl tets revels such aapa had
:,,> .atm ight; and they are nos consid
ered d VA to a gentleman's house
century. Did you hear
oure home from a great dinner at
-i "- g other night? We hold
Ibeghtbl~ght, you know;
umlar occasion thie &a
and we left to;ether and
Ulvns the sualI
took to rame,
"ps e . It s asiau
ur .eiaets the ex
t
!,[ anthis,
thee II
'?SR' c?,IIIF; a ý'7i ý *
a
dow. "Look, if ye please, at the thun
dering big gooseberry his honor's after
finding. Mickey Gallagher's the boy
that knows how to mak the bushes in
we'er garden grow fruit like thon."
Alice nodded to old Ryan and turned
from the window.
"We are kind to the people, dear Rob
ert." whispered she; "butwe do not set
them a good example or try to teach
them what is right. 'Papa and mamma
laugh at me, and so do you. I fear I am
in advance of my age," concluded she.
with a sigh.
"When will you come to set us a good
example at Drimrath, fair Alice? You
shall make what reforms there you please.
But, Alice," and he looked at her more
attentively, "you have pardoned me for
my misdemeanor of last night, but you
are still grave. What is the matter with
you?"
"Such a foolish thilg, Robert,-a pre
sentiment of evil, which I cannot shake
off. I have had it for we ks, but to-day
it is ten-fold stronger than ever. There
is surely some misfortune hanging over
us. I wvish I could keep mamma and you
in sight all day."
"Oh, you silly Alice! Which of us does
it threaten?"
"My fears point most to you. Stay
with me, dear."
"I should not need twice asking if it
were not for the cursed drill at Tarna.
That reminds me, I must be off at once."
"How do you go?"
"I drive black Jenny in the gig. She's
a lady that appreciates Tullymore hospi
tality highly; and it's likely enough she'll
be in the plight I was in last night : your
father treats us both too well. Eh!"
Alice laughed, as she was expected to
do, at his very innocent little joke, al
though she had heard it about twenty
times before. Black Jenny always left
Tullymore in wonderful heart, and had
once thrown her rider in sight of his lady
love's window. "Put me out of your
head, but take care ofyourself," continued
Robert, when he had done chuckling.
"You frightened me a minute ago, you
looked so scared."
"I was thinking of my dream. I
dr eamed there was a coffin brought in
and laid upon the hall table, and my sister
Ann and I were standing one at its head
and the other at its foot. The coffin was
open. and we could see the corpse within;
but the face was always changing. First
it was yours, then mamma's, then yours
again; an I awoke weeping for you both.
I felt all the time that the calamitywas in
some unexpected way connected With the
drunken revels of the night. It was a
sad dream, and makes me long to keep
you near me. If you could but cross the
ferry with us, to visit the Murrays : we
are going immediately; man ma is dress
ing now. Al ! here she is, in the famous
green brocade."
"The finest woman but one in the north
of Irelai l," cried her son-in-law elect,
gallantly kissing Mrs. O'Hara's hand.
The old lady did small credit tohis taste
as far as beauty went; but she had all the
briskness and vigor that her daughter
seemed to want, and evidently enjoyed
her existence thoroughly.
"Alice thinks something dreadful is
going to happen to one of us to-day, mad
am," said Mr. Young. "I have given her
my word to keep a tight rein on Jenny;
and she need not have any fears on your
account, I fincy; you look as if you might
outlive us all."
" I'll dance at your wedding, I promise
you, Bob. I never felt less like death in
my life. You must not heeAlice, Isr
I she's a perfect nest of fancies. But we
should be off, and I cannotget Mr. O'Hara
to dress; there he is, ragingand storming
about the house. The servants exceeded
I last night, it seems, and he cannot find a
man to harness the horse. or drive us to
the ferry."
"Our exam ple," murmured Alice, so
low that Mr. Young alone heard her.
A curious scene was taking place down t
stairs; and the master's stentorian voice,
pitched in a high, wrathful key, was
borne up through the drawing room win
dows.
" What! not one of these confounded a
rascals fit to do a hand's turn this mor- a
ning? You, Biddy, cook, can you tell me
where Hucy M'Brlde's hiding?"
"Och, yer honor! sure the poor boy
was overtook after the party. It was just
the wee drop he got did it. Sorry an' sad e
wad he be to affront you."
" Don't you dare to make excuses for w
him!" cried the master, in a paroxysm
of indignation. "A nice, creditable sweet- b
heart you've picked up, Biddy Boyle ! but
he shall pack out of Tullymore this very
day, as sure as my name's Andrew O - tl
Hara. Ah ! there you are ;" and the old
gentleman made a sudden rush into the
stable after a retreating figure, and
dragged forth Huey, who was making aa
feeble attempt to e about his work as
usual, and look as nothing were wrong
with him.
"You're drunk, sir!" said his master, i
shaking him violently.
"Drunk, yer honor? Is it me?" asked 91
Huey in a tone of innocent and virtuous cl
su rise " I'm not drunk, sir. Sorry
I'd be to anger vou and offend you that k
way. It's a poor thing you'd even sich a lo
thing to a decent boy fra' the county w
D old your tongue, sir, and go harness w
the gray, if you can. If I had any one
else todrive me to the ferry, you should E
leave my service this Instant." or
"Dear papa," called Alice from the in
window, "don't go to-day ; please don't
"My oer, whata shocking coward you d
are," said her mother: "I wonder you bi
are not ashamed to goon so before Robert. he
If youare afraid,I suppose you may stay
at home.'?w
"No! no! If there be any danger in c
our path to-day, mother, you shall not go we
into It without me." h
n, on
Hi
e Alice's re monstrances were o1 errilled ;
e and the party left the hall-door at Tully
d more a short time afterwards, under
r Huey's guidance, on their ill-fated expe
a dition. Mr. Young droVe off in his gig at
the same moment- Mrs. O'Hara, in high
spirits calling aAer him to renew her
I promiseofdancing athis wedding.
The old gentleman was keeping stern 9
e watch over Huey, who was becoming i
r talkative and defiant; and Alice, whose ,
t pale face wasturned away from her lover, I
I was gazing at the heavy clouds hanging
over TuUl~'more, and tiincylng them likei
a afuneral pail.
I Mr. Young turned to look after the ear; I
but black Jeay soon rqie all his at
tendion, and he forgot the sligt meurdal hsativ.
i wlth which he bad taken leaveo cd
Mrs. O'Hara and Alice were seated on
the side of the car facing Harra.
Perhaps thereis not a more b-eao
fal drive in all Ireland than that winding,
hilly rcad, witha bathes -overed moun- I
tainsrin in bold ranges on the one r
e:and clear lake on the other. t
Mr. O'Hara'e fielde sloped down to the
water's edge, where the herons stood fish- a
fag; his s and cattle were grazing on
thie Islands; be was able to look on the ft
whole scene with the pleasant intsr st 8
whte h oinltry aboutn
&Ua ,fie, as this, Alice," sald aj
eas re- fe
~f~hake nctsr '~ it yet. Why SC
;,isi~eand~ lc
dear, at
, go to visit you, to
' ewas an
wt `baut ti
~~Le arma RýW aid
u wk a
accomplished, thanks to Mr. O'Hara; foi
Huey had driven so furiously down the
first hill that his master had snatched the
reins from him.
He was rather a hindran ce than i heli
to the ferryman and his son in the bus
ness of unharnessing the gray, and get
ting hlE and the car on board the ferry
bo$ ut it was done at last, and the3
were off.
" It's a good five mile of a drive to Mr
Murray's, your hon r," observed Net
Daly, the ferryman, settling himself fora
gossip with his passengers as he took th(
oar. "Mr. James Murray's aye coming
down to the shore to see if I ha' Miss
Alice wi' me. Sure, it's no to see ouki
Ned he comes sae constant."
"He needna, then, Ned," interposed tli
graceless Huey, in a confidential tone
Miss Alice wouldna look at him at all
at all!"
"Hold your tongue, you rascal !" shout,
ed Mr. O'Hara, incensed afresh at the culi
prit's audacity; "if you dare to speal
again I'll pitch you into the lough."
Mrs. O'Hara entreated her husband t(
take no notice, as he might see that Hui'3
was not himself, and she was really afraiC
of an accident. The least movemeni
might upset the boat; so she began tc
talk to Ned, in hopes of diverting Mr
O'Hara's attention.
"I dare say you have hears
that Miss Alice is about to leav(
us, Ned, and this is probably the
last time you will row her over the lough,
she is going to be married to Mr. Young
of Drimrath."
" God bless her, wherever she goes! It
wad be a nice gentleman, indeed, that wad
be deserving o' we'er ain Miss Alice.
What kind is Mr. Young, ma'am?"
"Well, Ned, he is greatly liked in his
own country. I belive, and"
"Hoot, hoot, man!" interrupted HIIey.
with a provoking laugh, " never mind the
mistress. I'll tell ye what sort he is.
He's a little bit o' man an unsignified wet
crathure, that's just what lie is."
"Take that, you impudent rascal!"
cried Mr. O'Hara, goaded to fury, raising
the whip to strike him. The blow fell
short of Huey, and struck the horse in
stead.
The animal began to kick and plunge;
and, almost before they hal time to per
ceive their danger, the boat was over
turned, and the whole party struggling
in the water.
It was a horrible moment. One wild
shriek of terror, and all was still. The
old ferryman had fallen under the boat;
his son, a young lad unable to swim, was
clinging to the oars; iHuey was making
his way to the shore, from which they
were about three hundred yards distant;
and Mr. O'Hara was waiting (a dread
waiting) until his wife and daughter
should rise.
They rose to the surface the same mo
ment. Mrs. O'Hara's green dress floated
pear him; he wag almost touching it. He
had already caught her in one arm, when
lie saw his daughter's white face turning
towards him, her hands stretched out to
him. His beautiful Alice, the pride and
joy of his declining years, the hope of an
other ancient line.-must she perish? But
his dear wife, the faithful sharer of all his
joys and cares? Coul I lie save both? No.
no! he knew well it would be impossible.
Only an instant to choose between them;
but in that fieeting instant the unfortunate
old man suffereS anguish such as thou
sands live and die without experiencing.
The awful choice was made. He drew
the slender figure of his daughter to
wards him, and swam with her to shore.
Alice was safe upon the bank, and her
father, faint and exhausted, was breasting
the treacherous waves.
In vain, in vain, was the search ! No
trace of the poor lady was to be discov
ered; she had sunk to rise no more. Mr.
O'Hara swam round and round the spot
where he had seen her last; but at length
the instinct of self-preservation made him
turn towards the shore.
as turn towards tne snore.
ý' Huey, the cause of all. had by this time
a called assistance. Alice was car:ied to
n the nearest cabin, and all the poor people
could do was done for her. Her restor
d ation to consciousness was terrible.
'r- "Mamma !" she cried : "where, where
le is mamma?"
"My Alice," replied the wretched old
7 man, " there was no help but mine, and I
st could not save you both."
"You should have saved her papa! Oh,
why did not you let me sink? I wish I
>r were dead! Mamma, mamma, mamma!"
m and she was almost choked by a frantic
burst of tears.
The great kitchen at Tullymore was
crowded with poor people, come to show
their respect to the dead lady. and their
d sympathy with the sorrowing family. A
1e barrel of whisky was on tap for the re
d freshment of all comers, bundles of pipes,
a and heaped-up plates of cut tobacco were
a provided, andl the wide, old-fashioned
kitchen-grate was piled with turf.
A motley assembly gathered round it,
men in long frieze coats, and brogues, and
d gray worsted stockings, and women in
their homespun petticoats and scarlet
s cloaks.
y To do them justice, there was much
Lt kind, and even delicate feeling shown. No
a loud voices reached that part of the house
Y where " the master" and " Miss Alice "
were prostrated by their terrible grief.
Of course the tragedy was well dis
cussed. Alice's inquiry for her mother,
on recovering from her swoon, and Mr.
O'Hara's answer, were commented upon
In awe-stricken whispers.
The general opinion was, that Mr.
O'Hara, had been right in saving his
u daughter, who had, in all htman proba
bility, a lon and prosperous life before
her, rather than the mother, whose course
was nearly run; but they pitied him ex
2 ceedingly, and prophesied that he would
never get over it, as the servants, who
went up stairs from time to time brought
them zco unts of how he was " taking
on." He and his daughters (for Mrs.
Humphr es had arrived) were trying to
comfort one another in the room next
that in which Mrs. O'ttara lay so quiet;
and thus the days wore round to that be
fore the funeral. t
The daughters had seen their mother
laid in hercoffin, and were alone with her, r
gazing their last at her calm face, when v
Mr. Young entered. ''here were no facil
ities for communicating with those at a ij
distance, such as we have in these days,
and he had not been able to reach his poor
bride any sooner.
He was rushing towards her; when the u
remembrances of her dream, thus fearfhlly n
fulfilled. struck a chill through him; and e.
he stood still, staring at the coffin, with d
the two motionless figures at either end.
"O Robert, Robert I" cried Alice, C
throwing herself Into-his arms, " it Is my is
dream come true." ai
No more revels took place In the old t<
house at Tullymore. Soon after the fu
neral, Mr. O'Hara and his daughter turned al
thsir backs upon it forever. The old man le
lived with Alice and her husbandatDrim- p1
rath. and, dying at a very advanced age, tb
was buried with the Youngs.
He is described by ume tew old people f
who now remember him, as having been
"a cheery, pleasant old gentleman, very o
fond of Mr. and Mrs. Young's children." p
So we may hope he forgot his grief in a
great mearure. One thing Is certain;
neither he nor Alice ever saw Tullymore th
again. Alice led a long and useful life at m
Drimrath. Her tombstone tells how she 's
fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, at
and died regretted by all. I read the in
aeriion some years ago; Itis now hardly (C
; but, If it spoke truth, to
her name ls inscribed in certain imperish- ut
able records, of which time is powerless th
to obliterate a letter.
Robert presented his Alice, soon after
their marriage with a locket or medallion, in.
containiag her mother's hair at one side, mI
ad on tie other a painting representing mi
the oon on a table, with Alice and her t
fiter Ann standing at either end. Round (fU
1ti d are the words. "Though lost to
ttoeiydear." Ju
lý quaint old- relc often graces the fee
seek, o a g veat ith-grand-daughter of fee
&llce O'Hara, ea.
A party of the old lady's descendants
went to visit the property at Tullymore
last year, and were rowed across Morose
Ferry by a son of the lad who was saved
by clinging to the oars. He had no idea
who we were when he told us the story,
pointing out the spot where Mrs. O'Hara
sank. I was rallied by the rest of the party
for my gravity; for Ned Daly had told
the tale so graphically, that a kind of
gloom, like Lough-Barra mist, seemed to
wrap me round. Yet it was a foolish
thing to let one's self be saddened by the
sorrows of those who have been at rest so
lono. What care they now for the grief
sufered a hundred years ago? As little
as our present oriefs will trouble us a
hundred years Bence. - Colburn's New
Monthly.
11 GENERAL PARAGRAPHS.
at- Incidents and Accidents,
ii- -A few days ago, Albert Leoper was
ik dangerously sldt by the careless handling
of a gun, near Buffalo, Iowa.
to -The storm that passed over Southeast
ern Kansas. a few days since, is said to
it have caused great damage to the growing
to crops.
[r. -Bernard Aregno, a well known New
Orleans broker, was found dead in his
rd bed a few days ago. Supposed heart dis
ve ease.
he -Rev. Thomas Tracy, a Unitarian cler
Ii. gyman, 01 years of age, died recently at
it Newburyport, Mass. Hle graduatedl at
Harvard in 1806.
It -A boy gitraged and drowned a young
ad girl at Ho1p ville, Utah, one day last
e. week. Hle has paid the penalty of his
crime before this.
is -The body of Firman Mack, an old
and wealthy resident of Joliet. Ill., was
Y, found in the Chicago river a day or two
Ie since. Hle had been murdered for $100.
. -J. W. Beason, mate of the ship Sacra
ee mento, was washed overboard and
drowned during a recent trip between
New York and Sacramento, California.
-Chicago, always prolific of fires, has
just been visited with a small conflagra
tion. The Star and Crescent mills of that
ci y were damaged, a few days ago, to the
r extent of $18,000.
,r -A small child fell into an open cistern
, in St. Louis, Mo., a few days ago. during
the temporary absence of its mother. 'fhle
id body was recovered about two hours af
1e terward. The moral is obvious.
t; -Spotted Tail and his party of braves
is during their recent visit to St.'Louis, Mo.,
g consumed 115 beefsteaks at a single break
fast, or five and a half steaks to each miem
ber of the party.
S -,J. II. Plack, late proprietor of an eat
r ing house at Cincinnati, Ohio, hung hinm
self in the cellar of his establishment, a
- few (lays ago. He was formerly a one
d legged veteran of the 34th Ohio volun
[e teers.
n -James Karnie was arrested in Wil
g liamsburg, New York, recently. for the
o murder of his wife by throwing a kero
( sene lamp at her, which exploded: cutting
I her fearfully and setting tire to her cloth
it ing.
-A precocious child. daughter of a citi
zen of St. Louis, Mo., recently ate the
glittering spangles and glass ornaments
Swhich rendered her mother's bonnet so
attractive. The physician says she ean
not recover.
S -The steamer Market loy, while pass
ind a leaded flat boat, at Wheeling. West
Va., recently, swamped it with the swells
r she caused. Seventeen persons were
, thrown mnto the water, and five were
drowned.
o -A severe western gale of wind passed
over the city of Memphis, Tenri., recently.
and before its violence subsided, houses,
t trees and fences were leveled to the
It ground. The superstitious negroes in
n that region were immensely frightened.
-Edward Streetberger was drowned
e about a week ago. at Columbus. Ohio.
> His death caused his wife to be pros
e tratedi with grief. A few days after that J
event, she gave an ailing child a large dose
of the wrong medicine, which killed it in I
0 an hour.
-Mrs. Sylvester Brown, of Saybrook,
Ohio, was found dead in a barn, terribly
I bruised, a few days ago. Her husbanld
said her death was caused by falling from
a scaffold, but the coroners' jury thought
otherwise, and the husband now pines in
jail, charged with her murder.
-RecentlyLouisa Hayden.housekeeper
for J. W. Cooley, of Des Moines, Iowa.
died and was buried. Subsequently
the body was exhumed, and it was founil d
that she come to her death from the effects a
of abortion. Cooley has been arrested. "
amd the affair will be investigated. V
-Thy failure of a switch tender on thi c
North Missouri railroad, a few (lays ago,
to close a switch after an express train
had passed, caused the following passen- a
ger train to behiurled from the track. The e
fireman was literally cooked to death by g
the steam from the boile-. tI
-A young married lady, Mrs. John
Jones, residing on Hamlin street, Alle- cl
gheny City, attempted to light a tire a few, i
mornings ago, with kerosene oil. The t1
can, containg two gallons of oil, exploded,
throwingit all over her and setting her on ,
fire. She was burned to a crisp and died o0
within four hours. at
-Clinton R. Winslow, son of Admiral tip
Winslow, United States navy, suicided by I
shooting himself through the head, at the hi
Occidental Hotel, San Francisco, in the
same room in which Dr. Koone, of New R
York, recently suicided. Cause, intem- s
perance. m
-Not long since, at St. Louis, Mo., a
child four years old, was playing about the hi
yard, whoei his iiothier was boiling cat- 0
sup in a large kettle. The little fellowv, in a
the momieiitary absence of his mother, dii
upset ftle keittc and was so badly scaldled p
by the liquiii that he died, b
Scientific and Industrial.
e- -Nickel-plated flat-irons are coming in
to general use.
er -A bank of excellent meerschaum clay
r, has been discovered in Southern Califor
.n nia.
I -San Francisco has forty foundries and
a iron.workina establishments, with capital
s, invested to t'e amottnt of $1.484,506.
-Metallic roofs are rapidly coming into
1e use as the best safeguards against light
y ning, as the roof instantly distributes the
d electric fluid over its surface, aid by so
h doing prevents all danger.
--The number of Cashmere goats in
3, California, from one-quarter to full-bloods,
y is estimated at about 40,000. The fleece,
according to grade, is worth from 25 cents
d to $1 25 a pound.
-Alkali lands, heretotore considered
d almost worthless are found to be excel
lent for cotton. in California, the cotton
planted on alksli soil is a month ahead of
that planted on the adobe lands.
-There were, in 1870, nearly 7,000
D farms in the United States of three acres
or less, on which at least $500 worth of
produce had been raised for sale in the
year.
-It has been found in New York that
the present fashion of building with white
marble, or ainting iron buildings white,
is very injurious to the sight, from the
strong reflection radiated by the white.
-The managers of the Santa Clara
(Cal.) Agricultural Society have an eye
to business when they advertise a premi
um of $40 to the damsel who "prepares
the best plain dinner at a cost not to ex
ceed $4."
-A French speculator is said to be mak
ing much money by manufacturing mum
mies from the raw material of the Paris- I
ian dissectin -rooms and exporting them r
toIE ypt toesold to collectors of anti
-The progress of the Hoosac tunnel in t
July was as ibliows : At the east end, 129
feet; west end, 145 feet; central shaft, 100 a
feet. Total length opened to August 1- c
east end, 10,685 feet; central shaft, east, I a
1Q feet; west, 339 feet; length remain
ing to be opened-east end, 1133 feet; be
tween the west end and the central shaft,
3792 feet; total, 4925 feet.
-By the proposed ship canal across the
peninsula at Florida,650 miles will be saved
on the voyage between the Mississippi
and the Atlantic ports. As the trade of the
past year between the ports on the Gulf
and those on the Atlantic coast amounted
to 800,000 tons, it is believed that a hand
some revenue would be derived from the
proposed canal.
-New type-settinr and distributing
machines are on exf'ibition in London,
and in use in the London Times office.
The composing machine is worked by two
boys, who can compose as liast as three
highly skilled compositors, and the dis
tributing machine, worked by one lad,
can distribute rather faster than a highly
skilled compositor.
-An establishment in Pittsburg has a
process for treating paper which makes it
much harder and tougher than leather,
and so elastic as to resist almost any blow
without perceptible compression, while it
can be worked very easily and cheaply.
A French inventor has a similar process,
and he is now in this country making ar
rangements for an exhaustive trial of the
material for ship armor. It has beeti ap
proved of by several naval officers who
have seen it, and who express an opinion
that most valuable service may be ren
dered by it.
at Personal and Literary.
-Mr. J. Bancroft Davis has bought a
residence near Lake Geneva.
is -Dore's last work are illustrations of
Rebelais' "Gartgatna and Tantagruel."
1d -Olive Logan's new lecture is on "Se
S cessful People," of whom she counts her
ro self.
-MMadame Nilsson-Rouzaud ha; written
to a friend in New York to say that she
1( will return to America at the earliest pos
n sible moment.
-Huinor says that the editorial chair of
Is d W u ords, left vacant by the death of
Dr. Norman McLeod. will be offered to
it the Rev. Charley Kingsley.
(e -Christian Sharpe, inventor of the th
mous rifle that hears his name, is engaged
.n in the peaceful business of breeding trout,
at Vernon. Conn.
º. -George Eliot is suffering from nervou s
f- prostration. She is oppressed with the
thought that the fourth part of " Middle
march" does not reach her standard of
excellence.
- Mrs. Victoria C. Woodhull has gone
-iabroad (it i' reported). bent upon convert
ing the British mind to her peculiar views
t- on nmir rij'g and the relations of the sex
es. She expects to be absent a year.
- A new Spanish dictionary, intended
to be complete. devotes to the word Qjo.
1- eye, fifteen royal octavo pages, giving 4i
tations from eighty-eight authors. f'lio
wouldn't write a dictionary?
1e -A hook has recently been published
ifi England by a very able ex-temperance
advocate, strongly condemnatory of time
attempts now being madetaintroduce the
Maine liquor law into England.
-The learned Prof. Parsons had a great
i, horror of the east wini]; and Tom Sher
idan is said to have once kept him a pris.
a oner in the house for a fortnight by fix
i (ng the weathercoek in that direction.
-Thomas 11111. the Boston artist, will
reside in California for some time tocome.
;t le is working with might and main upon
Sa large new picture from California
e scenery.
e -The editor of the Virginia Enteprise
has interviewed Williams, the origin.ldis
i coverer of the Arizona diamond fields,
and is well satisfied from his statements
that th re are no diamonds in that region
worth the hunting.
-There is talk in Berlin about the or
ganization of a large stock-company for
the publication of a new daily paper. des
tined to be the largest in the worhl, and to
- be managed on the plan of the Americazi
t journals.
-It is a singular fact that, though
Longfellow's '* Hiawatha." was published
in 1s53, the gifted poet never saw even a
photograph ef the "Laughing Water.'
which his poem immortalized, until late
in December of that year.
-The death of Mr. S. W. Fullom, for
many years editor of the United Service
Monthly. and author of "The Marvels of
Science." "The Great highway," "The
Last Days of Jerusalem," and other
works, is announced.
-Miss Annie Butler, an American lady,
has met with great success abroad in the I
opera of " Faust." She is engaged in
Milan for the coming winter. where she
will make her debut as Inez, in "L'Afri
caine."
-Ruskin doesn't like Venice. Progress I
is apparent even in that antiquated city.
and lie was very angry to find that a steam- a
er now carries passengers across the la- f
goon from the city to the Lido, instead of e
the romantic gondola.
-Whymper, the distinguished Alpine
climber, has just had two canoes built for
use in Greenland explorations. One of
them is driven by a screw propeller at an
average speed of three knots, and a max- n
imunm speed of five and a quarter, weighs 0
only SO pounds, including her machinery, 0
and affords good sleeping accommoda- ti
tions, though only 14 feet long.
-Pere Hlyacinthe has in his possession
the manuscript of a work by the late Count Ii
Montalembert, entitled "Spain and the
Revolution," which he intends to publish
shortly, though the Countess Montalem- ta
bert objects, on account of the assaults it,
makes on Papacy and the Inquisition.
-Dr.Houard proposes to tell the tale o. '
his sufferings to the American people. of
Over twenty "lecture committees" have le
already solicited the privilege of intro- w
ducing him. We shouldn't be at all sur- of
prised if the fact that the tyrant's heel has T
been upon his native American neck were as
the means of putting some ten, fifteen or C4
twenty thousand dollars in the Doctor's fo
pocket. "1
School and Church.
-There are about forty Episcopal cler
gymen in the city of New York, with no
regular parochial charge.
-It has been proposed to have an hour
each week set apart for Christians
throughout the world to unite in prayer.
-The Protestant Episcopal Church in
the United States reports an actual acces
sion to its communion last year of 24,114.
-The Rev. Samuel Harrison, a colored
Congregational clergyman, at Pittsfield,
Mass., has preached twenty-three years,
and never been sick a day.
-Dr. Jessup. writing from Beirut, Syr
ia, expresses the opinion that the entire
Creek Church in that place will sometime
go over en masse to Protestantism.
-Elder Schick, of " The Church of
Christ" (Campbellite), and "Rev. Mr.
Godby," of the Methodist Church, have
had a debate in Kentucky on baptism.
-The California Christian Advocate says
praise-meetings have been introduced Into 1
the First Congregational Church of San
Francisco. A brass band renders an im
portant part of the service.
-A free religious society has just been
organized in St. Louis, composed of sev
enty-:hree members, the sole condition of
mimbership being the rejection of the I
Bible and Christianity.
-Bishop Mellvaine, of Ohio, has cross
ed the Atlantic nineteen times. He is now t
in London for the purpose of rest, and I
with the hope of regaining somewhat his I
health. 1
-A movement is on foot in England, in
which Lord Shattsbury is a prominent
leader, to have the reading of the Atha- s
nasian Creed in the Church of England g
service made optional.
-The twenty-fourth annual session of t
the Louisiana Baptist Convention,recently a
held at Mt. Lehanon, La., represented %
about fifteen thnnsand members. The a
colored Baptists of the Stateire estioiated V
at fifty thousand. 0
-The Preshytery of Arkansas, which
has a membership of 1,000, has entirely
supported her own two candidates, and
has sent three hundred dollars additional
to the treasury of the Committee of Edit
cation at llichmond.
-The Examiner and Chronicle philoso
phizes thus: "Reunions are rare events.
Unitarians who become orthodox are far
more apt to become Episcopalians than
Orthodox Congregationalists. It is hu
man nature to shun a square wtreat."
-A pilgi image to the Church of the
Cure d'Ars is being arranged throughout
France for the deliverance of the Holy
See and conversion of infidel-l. Over 40,
000 persons have already dcl: ed theiri:
intentioi to join it.
-A society is in contemplatio in Eng
land, to be called the Innbeneticed Cu
rates' Society. Its objects are the in
crease of the stipends of curates, and the
attainment of more certain and regular
promotion. So, Methodists are not the
only ministers whose pay is sometimes
uncertain.
-Ecclesiastical questions are troubling
the political atmosphere at Constantino
ple. The Porte has requested Monseig
ner Hiassoun. theex-patriarch of the Ar
mnenians, to quit the territory of the em
pire, as his presence tends to prevent a
reconciliation of the parties into which
that community is divided, and thus com
promises public or ler. Mgr. Hlassoun de
dares that he will only yield to force. The
French Embassador is doing his best to
mediate.
Foreign Items.
f -A professor of magnetism, in Paris.
advertises that he will make fat people
lean in fourteen seconds.
- -The King of Sweden, traveling under
the name of his grandfather. Bernadotte.
has gone to Pau.
t -A statue of Dr. von Graefe, the great
- Germaum oculist. will be erected. next au
tumn, in Berlin.
f -The Marquis of Lorne's health has
I ,cen such as to cause him to seek leave of
i absence from his parliamentary duties.
-The elect of the French Academy
- this year for the Monthvon i Prize of Vii
1 tue" is a ballet girl of the Havre Theatre.
-The Duke of Montpensier has taken a
hot 1 in Paris. and is now living on the
avenue formerly named after the em
pnress.
- -There are in the lunatic asylums of
I Austria, one hundred and two persons.
each of whom believes that he is the late
Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.
-The English government has under
consideration the project of purchasing all
- the railroads in Ireland, for the sum of
a hundred and fifty million dollars.
-It is stated from Home that the Pope. if
he lives so long, will raise several prelates
to the dignity of (Ordinal. on the Feast of
All Saints, the last of November.
-The London undertakers' assistants
I threaten a strike. The only way we can
bring themn to terms,' says a journalist.
si not to die for the next sit months."
-The last volume of the "secret corres
pondence found at the Tuilleries," estab
lishes beyond a dou't that Marshal B1
zaine intentionally sacriticed Maxi
iiiilian. a
-'Te oldest artesian well in Europe, i<
at Lilliers. in the Pas de Calais, Fran'e.
and from its month water has flown unin
terruptedly for seven hundred and tilty
six years.
-Miss Faithfull. according to a London
journal, is shortly to leave for America.
having promised to lecture there on liter
ary and social subjects. She will proba
bly be absent for one year.
-Archduke C'harles Louis. brother of
the emperor of Austria, is to be married
in the autmun to Princess Maria Immac.
ulata Louisa. youngest daughter of King
Ferdinand II. The Princess is only 17
years old.
---The IDuke d'Aumale has a famous col
lection of copper coins. to which lie con
stantly makes additions. Every after
noon lie examimes the copper sons at the
various newspaper kiosks in Paris, and he
often pays a gold-piece for a rare son.
-M. Igino Cocehi. of Florence. has in
forumed his colleagues of the discovery of
two fossil monkeys in Tuscany. 1'hs
continual digging up of the remains of
our relatives is disrespectful. to say the
least.
-ITmnnense dissatisfaction exists in the i
English civil services' on account of the
lowness of tates of pay. This is a matter t
which Mr. Gladstone has got to look into I
very shortly. and the one which will cause
him some anxiety, the London newspa
pers say.
-Among the papers of the swindler t
Reitter, who sold forged M. 1). diplomas. t
purporting to have been issued by the I
University of New York, and who is now c
a convict in it Prussian state-prison, were
found four thousand new blank diplomas
of the University of Penr'isylvania.
Lady Lecturers.
Among the many odd results which have
sprung from what has been called the
modern revolt, we may count the sudden
outburst of lady lecturers as one of the
oddest. With our views of what is called
the woman question, we cannot say that
we regard the race of ladv lecturers as a
divinely-appointed order. Their ariu
ments are generally superficial, and their
line of reasoning narrow; their partisan
ship is one-sided; they are incapable of
doing an opponent anything like justice;
they deal largely with assumptions, and
spin out logical conclusions from utterly
unproved premises; committing the fault
common with the dialectically intrained
of stating sentiments as facts, and chal
lenging categorical disproof of assertions
which are essentially figments of their
own brains, and never existed out of them.
They tilt at wrongs that are about as real
as the giants slain by Jack the valiant
Cornishman; and when you press them
for their authority, they are grandly,
"Everybody knows ;" or, "A gentleman
of high respectability told me so." When
they stand up and boldly maintain a fool
ish theory against all that statistics, com
missioners'reports,and the like can bring
against it, when they make sweeping as
sertions which your knowledge of human
nature and the workings of society tells
you are utterly false, what can you say?
Arguments, figures, indisputable proofs
whatever you like to bring as the besoms
wherewith to sweep away the cobwebs o1
lady lecturers-are wholly inoperative,and
your words fall as stones in the water,
and with no more abiding result. If you
think that your counter-argument will
induce the lady lecturer to reconsider her
telling points, you are mistaken. We are
not too hard in saying that, as a rule,she ,
lectures for partisanship, not for truth; I
she studies effect, not accuracy-at least i
when she is not primarily influenced by i
the prosaic aspect of the money question.
There is almost always the desire of dis
play dominating every other; and if we
had to name the generic quality of the
tribe it would be vanity. The very dress
and appearance of the lady lecturer, nine t
times out of ten, mark her purpose.
Whatever the line they take, what they I
are and how they look, is that which
chiefly interests them; and the kind of per
sonality they display is not second in im
portance to the character of the doe- ,
trine they advocate. In this personal c
self-consciousness lies the secret of a
woman's weakness as a lecturer, and
the main difference between her and
man. No one thinks twice of what the
lecturing man is like; how he wears his c
hair, and whether his shirt-fronts are a
plain or worked; we think only of what
he says, and, as.a matter of art how he tl
says it. But more than half the effect Nv
produced by women is due to their man
ner and appearance, their special physicad
type, and, above all, their taste in milli
nery. Every now and then some notable
woman has come before the world and
made her public mark-some Ilypatia
with her learned following, or, may he,
only some half-crazed Joanna Sdouthcote
with her equally-erazed supporters; but
as a rule, the more beneficent the action
of women, the more modest and seclurled
is its method, the more frothy and mis.
chievious, the more public and blatant.
No one wishes to see the powers of
womnan nullified, or their lives rendered
meagre and miserable for the sake ofa
prejudice, but neither rdo we care to see
wasted on barren objects inpulses and en.
deavors which have within them such
large potentialities of good, if rightly ap.
plied, and for which there are so many
ehanrels if only women would care to see
them. If the passion for lecturing pos.
sesses them, in Heaven's name let them
lecture; but let them lecture to women on
leminine -ubjects, teaching the ignorant
what is well for them to know, and doing
their work with that noble simnplicity
which of itself excirles both vanity and
self consciorrsness, and which seeks its
reward in the gird effieted, not the ap.
ilause gained or the admiration offered,
Saturuday Rrreiew.
KILLED nvY . FALSEHOOD.-"He is
dead," said a friend of ours the other day
in answer to an inquiry after the health of
a mutual acquaintance. IDead! vot
don't say so. Of what did he die?" '.Of
Credtflity," was the reply ; "he believed
in a patent medicine of which the chief in
gredient was forty-rod rum, and it proved
the death of him." This was true; the
unfortunate man had taken, for liver corn.
plaint, a compound of fiery alcohol and
root juice, and it had killed him. Now,
did that misguided invalid require a tonic?
He did, but not a spirituous excitant.
The writer of this brief statement, is con
fident, from his own experience,1hat if
the Martyr to lruggerl Alcohol had re.
sorted to DI.. WALKER'S VINEGAR BIT.
TIrus. instead of to the posni with a ur d
icarl )inme which proved fatal to him, he
woull to-d ay be in the land of the living.
The ju-tly popular vegetable specific con
tains no destructive clement. It is a tonic
that doe- not excite. a cathartic that does
not weaken, an antiseptic that neutralizes
the seerds of disease in the blood and
other luids of the body, and a weneral al.
terative which arrests diseaseI action in
the secretive organs, and restores the
functional regularity inidimpensable to
health and vigor. We are no friend of in
dihuriinite praise, and believe that many
patent medicines are merely poison,(but
experienre of thouiands has proved the
VINEOA1u BIT°rEns to be all they claim.
A 1Disease with a Thousand Symptoms.
I )vspepsia is the most perplexing of all
lihuan ailments. Its symptoms are al
r most infinite in their variety, and.the for
t lorn and despondent victims of the dis
f ease often fanucy themselve? the prey, in
turn, of every known malady. This is
f due. in part, to the close sympathy which
exists between the stomach and the brain,
f and in part. also, to the fact that anydis
turbance of the digestive function nieces.
sarily disorders the liver, the bowels,
and the nervous system. and affects,
to some extent. the quality of the blood.
A nedicine that, likllHostetter's Bitters,
not only tones the stomach but at the
-ame time controls the liver, produces a
regular habit of body, braces the nerves,
purities the fluids and --ministers to a
mind diseazed," is therefore the true and
only specific for chronic indigestion. Such
is the operation of this famous vegetable
restorative. It not only cures dyspepsia,
but also all concoir itants and consequen
ees. Moreover, it is invaluable as a pre
ventive of indigestion. No one who
chooses to take half a wineglassful of this
agreeable appetizer and stomachic habitu
ally three times a clay will ever be troubled
with oppression after eating. nausea, or
sour cructions, or any other indications of
a want of,vigor in tile digestive and as
similating organs. The debility and lan
guor superioduced ": hot weather are im
mediately and permanently relieved by
the Bitters, and persons who are consti
tuti nally inclined to look upon life "as
through a glass. darkly." will be apt to
take a brighter and more hopeful view of
the siiation under the genial influence of
thi- wholesome medicinal stimulant.
rihe People of the Mississippi Valley
are Satisfied of One Thing,
And that is. the wonderful curative proper
ites of 3 tarire's enue Plant in all aitee
tions of the bowels, whether vonuir or old,
sununer complaint, cholera infantum. dysen
tery. cholera uuorhus. Asiatic cholera in its
incipiency-all yielding to its benign influ
ence. For thirty years it has maintained a
triumphant prestige over all competitive
preparations for the same di'ease. You
hay but to ask the planters in the epidemic
r-ions-steamboatmen, who use it as their
onl' specinc-and the people generally. who
feel indebted to it for the preservation of
their lives, when pestilence filled the land in
timen ps-t-and the universal verdict is, "A
perfect medicine." Procure 3t1uaire's Cir
cular. showing its remarkable effects as a
specifiv when cholera ravaged the countryin
its periodical visitatiois since 1849 You can
not reject the overwhelmint testimony that
besneaks its notene-.-SL Tnuii. GLt7.
JosH BILLINGS says: " When we clm
to think that there aint on the face of the
earth even one bat too much, and there
haint been, since the daze of Adam, a sin.
gle surplus muskeeter's ego laid by acksi
dent. we kan form sum kind ov an idee
how little we know. and what a poor job
we should make ov it. runnin the machin
ery ov kreashun. Man is a phool enny
how, and the best ov the joke is, he don't
seem tew know it. Bats have a destiny
to till, and I will bet 4 dollars they fill It
better than we do ours."
-A ist of the convents seized and oc
cupied by the Government and Munici
pality in Rome shows that thirty-seven
convvnits of monks and twenty-two of
nuns have been taken. Of these. twelve
are used as public schools, one as a poor
house, six for hospitals, one for royal
stables and twenty for barracks for the
military and police. 'rTe rest are convert
ed into prisons and Government otlices.
-Among the other interesting ohaerva
tions already made by I)r. lladen's ex
pedition, was the occurrence of inverte
brate animal life in great abundance in the
Great Salt Lake. The fact is not eniirely
new, as the existence of dipterous lar
vae in these waters has alrea dv been re
corded by Captain Stansbury anid others.
-The comic journals in France are, in
the eyes of the Journal des Debrits, becom
ing so serious in supplying scandal instead
of fun, as to cause that paper to suggest
the propriety of suppression, if not of the
papers, at least of their power of circida
ting calumny.
A careful analysis, by Prof. Chandler,
of Columbia College, New York, madeby
request of the Postmaster General. sets at
rest the current story that there is any
thing poisonous or hurtful in the several
ingredients or processes used in the paper,
printing, or gumming of postage stamps.
PERRY DAVIS' PAIN KILLER.-Thirty
years have elapsed since the introduction of
L)avis' Pain Killer to the public, and yet at
he present time it is more popular and coa
nands a larger sale than ever before. Its
)opularit is not confined to this country
done; a over the world its beneficial effects
a curing the "ills that flesh is heir to" are
ucknowledged and appreciated, and as a Pain
filler its fame is limited to no country, sect
ir race,has never been equalled by any " edi
ine in Europe or America. It is sol by
ruedicine dealers.
The Elmwood Collar with its iue cloth s-
ace and folded edges. is daily making new
onverts from among those whose prejudices
,ainst paper collars have heretofore been in
incible. The Elmwood is a comfort andde
rrvedly the most popular collar among fen
emen. Ask your furnisher for the lm
rood.
THE CHARTER OAK.-We hazard notlhig,
re think, in saying that, all in all, it has no
rjunl. Its size, its shape, atfording the rriat
4t convenience, and its numerous a:nd dr
Itle vessels, entitle it to the preference over
Iv stove of which We have ani knolv'b *