The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume], March 21, 1860, Image 1

About The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861

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JAMES WV SOMERVILL.E, PROPRIETOR.
THE UNION-IT MUST BE PRESERVED.
OFFICE IN PHOENIX BLOCK THIRD STORY
RAVENNA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1860.
WHOLE NUMBER 624
NEW SERIES. YOL. 6", NO. 30
ELY
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)ofiual.
. Falling Stars.
rOH THE FRKNCH Of BRAIR.
Shepherd, thoo sayest one propor star
Contrail oar fate n 1 soloes afar.
Eren to, young man, bat night bat yelled
Iti radiant omens iu the skies.
Shepherd, they Bay yon dark blue fljld
Hat secret scripture for thine ejret: .
What it that star that dowu the spheres,
Still falls, and falls, and disappears J
My ton, a mortal's hours expire,
And sli ts the sympatbetio Are. ,
He quaffed and tang In revel deep,
Amid the banquet's merry throng: .
Happy he sinks to sudden slep, -:
Near the gay goblet whleli he tang,
Another star from yonder spheres,
That falls, and (alls, and disappears!
My son, how pare, and bright, and fair,
The star of Beauty passed In air I
A happy, loving girl, but now
To a long faithful heart was given;
Hoses are round her bridal brow
The altar's dreat ab ! pitying Heaven!
Still a ewtrt star In yonder spheros,
That falls, and falls, and disappears!
My son, that planet's rapid r,.y
Passed with a new born prince away.
Purple and gold were gorgeous e'er
His craule left deserted here;
And flatterers were prepared to pour
Thulr poisons in his infant ear.
Another star In yonder spheres.
That fills, and fulls, and disappears
It was a pale, ill-omened glare !
A favorite's star went rushing tbore !
He deemed his statesmanship was just,
When be had mocked our suffering cry;
Now, the) who served this god of dust,
Already fling his portrait by.
Another star in yonder spheres,
That falls, and falls, and disappears !
My son, what tears shall soon be shed!
A rich roan's noble soul is fled.
Want gleaned from ethers from his hand
She reaped a harvest and was blest ;
To-night, a poor, expectant band
Of beggars round bis gate hue pressed.
Another star in youdur spheres,
That falls, and falls, and disappears !
Behold a monarch's star depart !
Still keep, young man, tby simple heart,
Hot let thy planet indicate
A sparkling or ambitious way;
lest they should moralize too late,
Thy glittering, useless life, and say :
'Tls but a stir from out the spheres,
That falls, and falls, and disappears!
Ethan Allen in Captivity.
Onward.
Onward ie the language of creation.
The star whisper in their courses; the bps
one breathe as they succeed each oiher;
the night wind whistles; the waters of the
deep toars It up; the mountains li't up their
heads and tell it to the clouds and time,
the hoary headed potent-.te, proclaims it
with nn iron tongue. From clime to clime,
from ocean to i.eenn, from planet to planet,
from country to country all U onward.
From the smallest rivulet down to the
trnfathomnbie sea, everything is onward.
Cities hear its voice, and rise up in mugnifi
cence; notions hear it and sink Into th'
dust; monarcha learn it and tremble on their
thrones; continents feel it, and arecuuvuls
ed as with on earthquake.
Men, custom, fashions, tastes and preju
dices, are all oawaTd. States, counties,
towns, districts, cities and villages, are all
onward. That word never ceases to influ
ettce the destinies of men. Science cannot
arrest it, nor philosophy divert it from its
purpose. It fljws with the very blood in oar
veins, and every second of time chronicles
its progress.
From one singe of civilization to another;
from one towering landmark to another;
from one altitude 61 glory to another; will
still move upward and onward. Thus did
our forefathers escape the b'arbarfsni'ff of past
ages; thus do we conquer the errors of our
time, and draw nearer to the invisible. fco
must we move onward, with our armor
bright, our weapons keen, and our hearts
firm ee the "everlasting hills." bvery mus-
cle must be braced, every nerve strung.
every energy roused, and every though
watchful. "Onward" is the watchword.
jVictH from Home,
Jlistorlcal Facts The Division of
Parlies.
In 1790, at the Presidential election be
tween the Democracy who supported Thom
as Jefferson, and the Federalists who voted
for John Adams, the latter got every electo
ral vote in New England. Again, in 1800,
at the Presidential election the same can
date in the field the Federalist Adams
received the unanimous electoral vote of
New England. The whole North voted for
' ArUma on both occasions, save parts of
' Pennsvlvania and New York. The South
' was nearly or quite unanimous for Jefferson
5 In 1808 and 1812, when James Madison
was running for President on the Democrat
v ic ticket, every New England State voted
against him, save Vermont. ' All the South
' rn States voted for him, save Delaware.
In 1828, all New England went for John
t Quincy Adams, except one electoral vote in
' Maine. General Andrew Jackson was bea-
in in werv Eastern State. The South
Kent almost unanimously for Jackson.
i The New England States are now where
Jhey were in the days of Jefferson and Jack
' sen opposed to the Democratic party.
After all the mutations of politics and ol
lime, the divisions of parties Ve, geogrspti
"ically, about as they were in 1790 and 1800.
- fjir"If there is anybody under the cauls
r of Heaven that I State in. utter extree
cence," says Mrs. Partington," it is the elan
"'V going about like a boy constructor, in
dilating his calomile upon honest folks"
Among the episodes of the Revolutionary
war, none is more strange than that of the
queer genius, Ethan Allen. In England,
the event and the man being equally un
common, Allen seemed to have been a cu
rious combination of a Hercules, a Joe Mil
ler, a Bivard. and Tom Hver. He had a
person like the Belgian giant, mountain ma
sic like a Swig?, and a heart plump as Ceeur
de Lion. Though born in New England,
he exhibitd no traces of her character, ex
cept that his heart beat wildly for his coun
try's freedom. He was frank, bluff, com
panionable as s pagan, convivial as Rj
man, hearty as a harvest.
Fur the moat part, Allen's manner while
in England waa scornful and ferocious in
the last degree, although qualified at times
by a heroic sort of levity. Aside from that
inevitable egotism relatively pertaining to
pine trees, spires and giants, there were, per
haps, two special, incidental reasons for the
Til antic Vermonter's singular demeanor
abroad. Taken captive while heading a
forlorn hope before Montreal, he was treated
with inexcusable cruelty and indigitny. Im
mediately suffered to have been butchered
by the Indian allies in cold blood upon the
spot had he not with desperate intrepidity
availed himself of his enormous physical
strength by twitching British officer and
using him for a target, whirling him round
and round against the murderous tomahawks
of the savages. Shorily afterwards, led into
the town fenced about with bayonets of the
guard, the commander of the enemy, one1
Col. McCloud, flourished his cane over his
captive's hod with brutal insults, promising
him a rebel's halter at Tyburn. During his
passage to England in the same ship where
in went paassenger Col. Guy Johnson, the
implacable Tory, he was kept heavily ironed
in the hold, and in all respects waa treated
like a mutineer; or it may be, rather as a
lion of Asia, which, though caged, was too
dreadful to behold without fear and tremb
ling, and consequent cruelty. And, no
wonder, at least, for on one occasion, when
chained hand and foot, he was insulted by
an officer, with his teeth he twisted off the
nail that went through the mortice of his
hand-cuffs, and so having his arms at liberty,
challenged the insulter to mortal combat.
Often when at Pendennis Castle, when no
other revengement was at hand, he would
hurl on his foes such a howling tempest of
anathemas as fairly shook them into retreat.
Prompted by somewhat similar motives both
on shipboard and in England, he would of.
ten make Ihe most vociferous (illusions to
Ticonderoga, and the part he pliiyed in its
capture, well knowing that of all the Amer
ican names Tieond rogs was, at that period,
by far the m.'st famous and galling to Eng
lilimen.
Israel Potter, on f xile American while
strolling tround Pendennis Cuetle, where
Allen wns confined, chanced to hear him
in one of his outbursts of indignation aid
madness, of which the following is a epeci
men.
" Brag no more, old England; consider
that you are only an island! Older bark
your broken battalions, and repent in ashes 1
Long enough have you hired lories across
the sea, forgotten the Lord your God, and
bowed down to Howe and Knipbausen the
Hessian I Hands off, redskinned jackall !
Wearing the King's plate, as I do, (moau
ing, probably, certain manacles,) I have
treasures of wroth against you British."
Then came a clanking, s of chains, many
vengeful sounds, all confusedly together.
Then again ihe voice.
"Ye brought me out here from my dun
geon, to this green, fronting yon Sabbath
sun, to see how a rebel looks. But I'll
show you how a true gentleman and chris
tian can conduct in adversity. Back, dogs
respect a gentleman and a christian, though
he be in rags and smell of bilgewater. Yee,
shine on, glorious tun ! 'Tis the same that
warms the heart Of rny Green Mountain
boys, and lights up with its rays the golden
hills of Vermont !
Filled with astonishment at these words
which came from over a massive wall, in
eluding what seemed an open parade space,
Israel pressed forward, and soon came to a
black archway leading far within, under
neath, to a grassy tract, through a tower.
Like two boar tusks two sentries stood on
guard st either side of the open jaws of the
arch. Scrutinizing our adventurer a mo
ment, they signed him to enter.
Arriving st the end of the arched way,
where the sun shone, Israel stood transfixed
at the scene.
Like some baited bull in the ring crouch
ed the gigantic captive, handcuffed as be
fore; the grass of the green trampled snd
gored up all about him, both by his own
movement and those of the people around.
Except some soldiers snd sailors, these
seemed mostly town's people, collected here
cut of curiosity. 1 he stranger was outland
iehly arrayed in the sorry remains of a half-
Indian, half-Canadian sort of dress, consist
ing of a fawn skin jacket the fur outside
and hanging in rugged tufts a half rotten
bark like a belt of wampum; aged breeches
of angaihyi the darned worsted stockings
reaching to the knee; old moccasins, riddled
with holes, their metal tsgs yellow with salt
water rust ; faded red' woollen bonnet, not
unlike a Russian night cap, or a portentoua
ensanguined full moon, all Boiled and stuck
about with half rotten atraw; unshaven
beard, matted and profuse as a cornfield
beaten , down by hailstones. . Hissi whole
marred aspect was that of a wild beast, but
a royal sort, and unsubdued by the cage.
"Aye, stare X stare t thou but last night
dragged me out of a ship's bold like a am titty
tierce, and this morning out of your littered
barracks there like a murderer for all that,
you may well stare at Ethan Ticonderoga
Allen, the conquered soldier by ! You
Turks never saw a christian before. Stare
on I I am he who, when your Lord Howe
wanted to bribe a patriot to fall down and
worship bim by an offer of a major general
ship, and five thousand seres of land in old
Vermont ha ! three times three for glorious
old Vermont and the Green Mountain boye
hurri-h ! hurrah ! hurrah ! I am he, I say.
who answered your Lord Howe: You
vou offer our lend 1 You are like the devil
in Scripture, offering all the kingdoms in
the world, when the d d soul had not a
corner lot on earth I' Stare on, I say I'
"Look, you rebel you, you had best heed
how vou talk against General Lord Howe
here !" said s thin, wasp waisted, epauMted
officer of the castle, coming near snd flour
uhinrr hia sword about bim like a school
master's ferule.
"General Lord Howe 1 Heed how I talk
of that toad hearted kings lick spittle of a
poltroon ! the vilest wriggler in God's worm
home below. I tell you the hordes of red
haired devils are impatiently shouting to la
dle Lord Howe with his gang you included
into the seethingest syrups of Tophet's
hottest flames."
At this blast the wosp-waisted officer was
blown backward-, as from the suddenly
burst head ol a steam boiler. Staggering
away with a snapped spine, he muttered
something about its being beneath his dig
nity to bandy forth words with a low lived
rebel.
"Come, come, Col. Allen," here said a
mild looking man, in a Bort ol clerical un.
dress, "respect the day better than to talk
thus of what lies beyond. Were you to die
this hour, or w hat is most probable, be hung
next week at Tower wharf, you know not
what might become of yourself."
"Reverend sir," said Allen, with a mock
ing bow, "when no better employed than
braiding my beard, I have a little dabbled in
your theologies. And let mo tell you, rev
erend sir," lowering and intensifying hia
voice, "that as to the world of ppirits ol
which you hint, though I know nothing of
the mode or manner of that world, no more
than you do, yet I expect, when I arrive
there, to be treated as any other gentleman
of my merit. This is to say far better than
you British know how to treat an honest
man and a meek hearted christian captured
in honorable war, by ! Every one tells
me, os yourself just told me, us crossing t he
sea, every billow dinned in my ear that I,
Ethan Allen, am to be bung like a thief.
If I om, the great Jehovah and the Conti
lowed by a different scene. A perspiring
man in top boots, a riding whip in hand, snd
hiving the air of a prosperous farmer, brush
ed in like a stray bullock, among the rest,
for a peep at the giant having just entered
tbrovgh the arch as the ladies passed out.
"Hearing that the man who took Ticon-
daroga was here in Pendennis Castle, I've
ridden twenty-fivetmiles to see him, and to
morrow my brother will ride forty lor the
some purpose. So let me have the same
look. Sir," be continued, addressing the
.ntiu "will vou let me sk vou a lew
" r j
oueations. and be free with. you?
"Be free with me! With all my heart. I
love freedom obove all things; I'm ready
to die for Ireedom ; I expect to. So be as
free as you please. What is it!"
"Then, sir, premtt me to Bsk what is your
occupation in life! In time of peace, I
mean."
"You talk like a tax gatherer," replied
Allen squinting diabolically at him. "What
is my occupation in life! Why, in my
younger days, I studied divinity, but ut
present 1 toil conjurer by profession.
Hereupon every body Inugbed, as well
at the manner as the words, and the nettled
lariuer retorted.
"Conjurer! Well, you conjured wrong
that time you were tuken."
"Not so wrong, though, as you , British
did, the time 1 took Ticonderoga, my Iriend."
At this juncture Ihe servant came In with
a bowl of punch, which his master bade him
give to the captive
"No! give it to me, sir, with your own
hands, ond pledge me as a gentleman to a
gentleman."
"I cannot pledge a state prisoner, Colone
Atlen, but I will hand you ths punch with
mv own hand, since vou insist upon it
j ' -
"Spoke and done like a true gentleman ;
I am to you."
Then receiving the punch into his man
acled hands, the iron ringing against the
chair, ho put the bow! to his lips, saying,
"I hereby givif the British notion credit for
half a minute's good usage ;" and at one
draught he emptied it to the bottom.
"The rebel gulps it down like a swilling
hog at the trough," here scoffed a lusty
private ol the guard off duty.
"Shame on you," cried the giver of the
bowl.
"Nay, sir, hia red coat is a blush to him,
as it is to the whole British army." Then
looking derisively upon the private, "you
object to my WBy ol taking things do you!
I fear I shall never be able to please you.
You objected to the way, too, in which I
took Ticonderoga, and the way I meant to
take JVlontreul. Selah ! but pray, now I
look at vou. tire you not the hero I caught
The Mured or Empire.
nental Congress shall avenge me, while I, ! dodging nruund in his shirt, in the cattle
for my p irt, will show you. even on the tree, j pen inside the fort ! It was the break of
how a christian gentleman T!n on. mean
time, sir, if you are the clergyman you look,
act out your consolatory lunc.tion by getting
an unfortunate christian gentleman, about
to die, a gltas of punch."
The good notured etranger, not to have
hi religious courtesy appealed to in vain,
immediately dispatched his servnnt, who
stood by, to procure the beverage.
At this juncture a faint rustling sound, n
if the advancing of an army with banners,
WHS heard. Silks, scurls, and ribbons flut
tered in the background. Presently a bright
hqundron of fair Indies drew niirh, escorted
by certain outriding gullunts of fulmouth
"Ah," said a strange voice, "what a
strange sash, and furred vest, and what leop
ard like teeth, ond what flaxened hair, but
all mildewed ; is that he !"
"Yes. it is, lovely charmer," paid Allen,
like an Ottoman, bowing over his broad bo
vine and breathing the words like a lute;
"it is he Ethan Allen, the soldier ; now,
since ladies' eyes visit him, made trebly a
captive."
"Why, he talks like a beau in the parlor,
this wild mossed American from the wood,"
sighed another fair lady to her mate J "but
can this bo he we cune to see ! I must
have a lock of his hair."
"It is he, adorable Delilah ; and fear not,
though excited by the foe, by clipping my
lock to dwindle my strength. Give me your
sword, man," turning to an officer "ah I'm
fettered. Clip it yourself, lady."
"No, no I am."
"Afraid, would you say 1 Afraid of the
sword friend and champion of all the ladies,
all around the world! Nay, nay, come
hither."
The lady advanced ; end soon overcoming
her timidity, her white hand shone like whip
ped foam among the waves of flaxen hair.
"Ah, thia is like clipping tangled tags ol
gold lace," she cried : "but see, it is hall
straw."
"But the wearer is no man of straw, lady;
were I free, and you had ten thousand foes,
horse, foot and dragoons how like a friend
I could fight for you ! Come you have
robbed me of my hair ; let me rob the dainty
hand of Its price. What ! afraid again !
"No, not that, but ."
"I see, lady ; I may do it by your leave,
but not by your word the wonted way of all
ladies. There, it is done. Sweeter that
kiss than the bitter heart of the cherry;"
When at length this lady left, no small
talk was had by her with her companions
about some way of relieving the lot of eo
knightly an unfortunate, whereupon a wor
thy, judicious gentleman of middle age, in
attendance, suggested a bottle of wine every
day, and clean linen every week. And
these, the English women too polite and
too good to be fastidious did actually send
to Ethao Allen, ao long as he tarried a csp
live in their lsnd.
The withdrawal of this company was fol-
dy, remember."
"Cume, Yankee," here swore the incensed
privite "ceusG this, or 1 11 tan your oiu
lawn skin for ye with Hie ilat of this sword
lor u specimen j" laying it lusliwise but not
heavily across ihe captive's buck.
Turning like a tiger, the gUnt, catching
the steel between his teeth, wrencned it
Irom the private's gr.fip, ond striking it
with his manucles, sent it spinning like a
juggler's drtguer, into the air, snying, "Lay
yuur dirty coward's iron on a lied gentleman
again, and these," lilting his handcuffed
fists, "shuil be the beetle of mortality to
you."
The now furious soldier would have struck
him with all his force, but several men of
the town interposed, reminding him that it
w.is outrageous to attack a chained captive.
"Ah," said Allen, "I am accustomed to
that, and therefore I am beforehand with
you ; und the extremity of that I say ogninst
Britain is not meant for vou, kind friends.
but for my insurers present and to come."
Then recognizing among the interpoer
the giver ol the bowl, he turned with a
courteous bow, saying : 'Thank you again
and again, my good sir; you may not be the
worse for it; ours is an unstable world, so
that one gentleman never knows when it
may be his turn to be helped of another."
But the soldier et'll making a riot and the
commotion growing general, a superior nffi
cer stepped up who terminated the scene by
removing the prisoner to the cell, dismissing
the townspeople, with all strangers, Israel
among the rest, and closing the ta.tle gates.
A fllaxiai of Washington.
"Labor to keep olive in your breast the
little spark of celestial fire, conscience," was
one of a scries of maxims which Washing
ton framed or copied when a bo y . His rigid
adherence to principle.his steadfast discharge
ge of duty, hia utter abandonment of sel ,
his unreserved devotion to whatever interests
were committed to his care, attest the vigi
lance with which ho obeyed that maxim.
He kept alive that spark. He made it shine,
illuminating his whole life. No occasion was
so momentous, no circumstance so minute,
as to absolve him from following its guiding
ray. The marginal explanation in his ac
count-book, in regard to the expense of his
wife's annual visit to the camp during the
revolutionary war, with his pasting allusion
to the "self denial" which the exigencies of
his country had cost him, furnishes a charm
ing illustration of his habitual exactness.
The fact that every barrel of flour which
bore the brand of "George Washington,
Mount Vernon," was exempted from the
otherwise guarantee of the quality and quan
tity of any article to which it was sffixed
supplies a not less stikiog proof that his ex
actness was everywhere understood. :.
r-Fame is like an eel rather bard to
catch and a good deal harder to bold.
Asia la indebted to America for her grow
ing civilization and intelligence far more
than to Europe. Europe has made war upon
her with commerce and with cannon, slaugh
tering her peepte with opium and bullets,
with an occasional mingling of better things;
while the intercourse of America with that
interesting portion of the Old World has
thus for been of comity and good will. We
have assailed it only with our peaceful arts,
our ships, our missionaries, our teachers snd
our printing machines. The American
presses at Canton in the East, snd Beyrout
in the West, have shed more light over those
ancient plains than all the guns and bayo
nets of Europe. This is well. It is meet
that this oldest, most derrepid and degraded
portion of the Ancient World, after centuries
of hibernation, t bould receive a fresh draught
of youth from the New. It la well that the
old prophetic sentiment embodied in the
line, .
"Westwurd tUa star cf.empire takes its way."
should be tulfilled. America now approach-
es Asia most directly Irom the California
side, and thus the oracular girdle is comple
ted. Civilization, taking its start with'thc
race in Asia, has moved westward, until the
lust link is made across the Pacific, ond the
end is the place of beginning.
JtPAN.
By the opening of Jupan to the world,
through American enterprise, that ingenious
and interesting people will receive the steam
engine, the magnetic telegraph, end in fact,
ell our mechanical and agricultural improve'
merits. These, there is reason to believe,
will be rapidly appropriated by the Japan
ese. Owing probably to their long exclu
sion from other nations, they have not the
came prejudice against loreign things and
customs, as other Asiatic nations. A Chi
nese locks at a new plough, or a steamboat
without an attempt to comprehend it,
Japanese, on tiie contrary, examines a new
thing curiously, and in a short time masters
the mystery of its use.
Americans and European?, in their inter
course with tiio Japanese, greutly irritate
them by a foolieh disregard end contempt of
the habits of Japanese life. To say nothing
of the wild and lawless conduct of American
and European eailorson shore, educated and
intelligent foreigners tramplo cherished cus
toms under foot, ond lough at all remon
strance. For instance, the Japanese use
neither chairs nor tables. The malting with
which the floor of their houses are covered
answers (or tables, chairs and beds. They
sit, sleep and eat on them ; and as they are
a very cleanly people, they keep them u n
spotted always removing their shoes from
their feet at the door. The Emperor him
self, on entering tha house of his meanest
subject, would conform to this societary law.
And yet John Bull and Brother Jonathan
coolly diarejard it, and persist daily in soil
ing the fljors of the Japanese with muddy
boots. This, and a thousand other Eludied
infringements of Japanese convenience and
etiquette, it is asserted, are lost exciting a
hatred of foreigners among this interesting,
and in many respects noble peoplo.
Notwithstanding the Japanese police ie
acknowledged to be the best in the world,
the murderers of the Russian officer and sol
dier at Yokee Ha ma have not been discov.
ered. It is surmised that the government is
not in earnest in its attempts to ferret them
out. Now we see enother similar murder
has been perpetrated at the some place.
This time the victim was n servant belong
ing to one of the Pluropeen consulates. He
was cut down by a Japanese officer in one of
the principal streets cleft with a sabre,
which passed through a heavy sheepskin
overcoat made up with the wool on waist
coat and under garments, with a cut rs
smooth as a razr, and still had force enough
to destroy the wearer's life. The English,
by the advice of the British Consul, have
urmed themselves, and the Americans have
followed their example. Both now go about
town armed to the teeth, which must tend
still further to alienate the feelings of the
natives.
THE OTTOMAN POWBB.
This power in Europe and Asia is passing
under a cloud from which it is not likely
ever to emerge. Mahommcdan civilization
is founded upon Ihe Koran it cannot go
beyond it; it cannot cut loose from it; the
civil and rejigioiis law is all contained in
that, and there is no eecape from it, except
by opostacy and revolution. The secret
cause of the decay of Ihe Turks is to be
found in their consciousness every day be
coming potem and wide spread among them
that European or Christian civilization is
superior to their own. This result has been
produced by their growing intercourse with
other nations by the Greek war and its
consequencee.by the foreign ships thronging
their harbors, by the splendid foreign con
sulates maintained at Constantinople, by the
liberal education ol many of the Turkish
nentry, who have traveled abroad and seen
and compared for themselves, and by the
vitality they discover in the Christian part
of their population. Under the deadening
influence of this conviction it is, without
ny rejuvenating power in her own system
that the Ottoman Empire is struck with
paralysis, and is dying.
FALEBTINK.
The Holy Land, we are told, exhibits un
usual indications of activity in life. Owing,
in a great degree, to the influx of Russian
pilgrims, Jerusalem hss become, of iste, one
of the most bustling places of its size any
where to be found. Rents have doubled in
the space of a couple of years. Outside of
the citv walls, extenaive fortresses, under
ha direction of the Pschs, are going up for
protection against the Arabs. Hundreds of nected with a string, he raised it on the Bp
men are employed blasting those encient proach of s thunder-storm. A key was st-
rocks and loying them up in solid masonry.
Wide roada are also constructed, and several
small forts along the Jaffa road; so that the
country around the city presents as busy an
aspect as the city itself.
BRTBOUT.
This Syrian $ity, the port of Damascus,
seems likely enough in lime to become a
modern Tyre. It is already the seat of a
large commerce, and is rapidly introducing
the modes and facilites of western, and par
ticularly of American life. We have read
somewhere recently that our American om
nibus had found its way to its streets. The
population of Beyrout has doubled within
a few years, and it now numbers some thir-
tached to the lower end of the hempen string
holding the kite, and to thia" one end of a
silk ribbon wa"s tied, the other end betog
fastened to a post ; the kite was now inaara-'
ted, and the experimenter awaited for a coin1
siderable time the result with great solid-'
tude ; finally, indications of electricity began'
to sppaar on the siring rind on Franklin pre
senting his knuckles to the key, he raised
an electric spark ; the rain beginning to de1
scend wet the etring, increased its conduct-'
ing powers, and vivid r parks in great abund
ance flished from the key.
Why wis the kite insulated when Frank
tin Nstenrd the key to the post by the silk
ribbon ! Because the silk was a non-con
ty thousand inhabitants, about half of whom duetor, and would not arllow the electricity
are Christian. The American mission, with received upon the kite to pass off by meant
ita presses, is cmong its most influential of the string to the ground.
powers. Under its liberal guidance, with
the co-operation of British, French and in
telligent native residents, the ci'y his been
supplied with a real newspaper the only
one in the Turkish empire alter the Ameri
can pattern ; nnd with schools, lectures on
general subjects, and quite an amount of
native literature, including scientific works,
and even poems, of course, ia tha Arabic
language.
In Beyrout, as well as elsewhere in Syria
and Turkey, the Christian population is
steadily rising in relative importance over
the Mohammedan; and the business Interest-1
nnd influences are passing into their hands.
Two lines of electric telegraph are estab
lished, the one connecting the city with
Constantinople, and the ot!icr with Alex
andria. A macadambed road U being con
structed between it snd Damaecu. The
French-Ottoman Bank snd the Amerie&n
snd European consulates are important in
stitutions to the city. The Syrian Academy
of Science, founded by Dr. Thomas and
Dr. Eli Smith both American missionaries
is about to be revived. Last winter a
series of fourteen free lecteres were deliver
ed in the chajial of the American mission.
At the head of the committee of arrange
ments, as president and secretary, were the
English ond American consuls. The lec
tures alternated between th'3 English,
French and the Arabic tongues. The first
wns delivered by Dr. Van Dyck, of ths
American mission, on "Tlie Conucciion
between Science nni Ravealcd Religion,"
and the first Arabic lecture, cn "The Pres
ent Condition of Arabic Literature," by Bu
tros Biatar.i. The learned German, Prof.
Fleischer, in an oble paper bsfore the S-.x-on
Academy of Science, on the signs of in
tellectual advancement in Beyrout, says of
its people : "They are no longer 'Orien
tals' in tho narrow senee cf the term ; they
have imbibed the spirit of Western Europe
tho spirit which by regular steps nnd
gradual improvement shall in the end raise
the East from its degradation, and lead it to
a noble future." Ar. Y Post.
Chapter of Curiosities in Science.
The water which drowns us os a fluent
itream, can be walked upon B3 ice. The
bullet which, when fired from a musket,
carries deoth, will be harmless if ground to
dust before being fired. Tho crystalized
part of the oil of roses, so grateful in its fra
grance a solid at ordinary temperature,
though readily volatile is a compound sub
stance, containing exactly the same ele
mcnts, and in exactly the Fame proportions,
as the gas with which we light cur streets.
The tea which we daily drink with benefit
and pleasure, produces palpitations, nervous
tremblings, and even paralyeit, if taken to
excess ; yet the peculiar organic agent cn
ed theine, to which tea owes its qualities,
may be taken by iteeK, (is theine, not as
tea) without any appreciable effect. The
water which will n:by our burning thirst,
augments h wnen congenieu i.uu , dj
that Captain Ross declared the natives of
the Arctic regions preferred enduring t!ie
utmost extremity of thirst rather thon at
tempt to remove it by eating snow. But it
the S'.iow be melted it becomes crinKaoic
water. If melted before entering the mouth,
it EB.-iUsges thirst like water ; but when
melted in the mouth it has the opposite ef
fect. To render his paradox the more strik
ing, we have otily to remember that ice,
which melts more slowly than enow in the
mouth, is very efficient in allaying thirst.
There are many other wonderful paradox
es and curiosities in science ; a few more of
these we subjoin, in the form of questions
and answers :
How much quicker will seeds gorminate
under a blue glass than when exposed to the
full action of the light 1 Seeds which ordi
narily require ten or twelve days tor germi
nation, will germinate under a blue glass in
two or three.
Why will seeds germinate more readily
under a blue glass than in any other condi
tion 1 Becouse the blue glass permits the
chemical principle of light to pass freely,
and excludes io a degree the heat and light.
Why is it impossible to make seeds ger
minate under s yellow glass 1 Because a
yellow glass excludes all the chemical icflu
ence of the sun's rays.
How do plants acquire the carbon of which
their etructure is in a great measure com
posed 1 Tbey obtain it from carbonic acid
Waa this experiment one of great dangef
and rirk 1 It was, because the whole amount
of electricity contained io the thunder-cloud
wis liable to pae from it by means of the
string to the earth, notwithstanding the use
of the silk insulator.
What happened when the experiment was
repeated in France 1 Streams of electrio
lire, nine and ten feet in length and an inch
in thickness, darted spontaneously with loud
reports from the end of the string confining
the kite. During the succeeding year, Prof.
Jiichman, of St. Petersburg, in making ex
periments Fomewhat similar, and having hii
apparatus entirely insulated, was instantly
killed.
Is a building more or less liable to be)
struck when furnished with a good lightning1
conductor ? L'ghtning conductors do not,
as many suppose, conduct the lightning to
wards the building upon which they ere
placed ; they simply direct its course and fa
cilitate the passage of the fluid in the most
direct way to the earth, when only a dis
charge must inevitably occur; there is no
attraction, but lightning takes the road which
offers the least resistance.
Are lightning conductors protective when
even no visable discharge takes place 1
They are. They possess a very great pre
ventive power, ard gradually and silently
disarm the clouds by drawing the electric
fluid from them, and this process commence!
as soon as the clouds have approached a po
sition vertically over the rod. Prof. Faraday
recommends the location of lightning con
ductors inside raiher thn on the outside of
buildings, and sny a that the lower end should
be set into powdered charcoal.
What ia the cause of a red sunset ! Thtf
v pur ol the air not being actually condensed
i.ito clouds, but only on a point of being
condensed. In the same manner, if light be
transmitted through steam mingled with air,
and therefore on the verge of condensation,
it assumes a deep orange or red color.
What is the causa of a red sunrise ! Tn
vepor in the upper regions of the air is just
on the point of being condensed.
Why is a rod euneetan indication of a fins
day to morrow ? Because, although watery
vapor is in ths air, it is probably only on the)
verge of incipient condensation, and not auf
ficiently so to form rain clouds ; and this
slowly progressive transition of vast volume's
of the air through the tempersture of the
dew point, can only occur in serene weather
at sunset snd : not at sunrise.
Why is a red and lowering sky at sunrise
an indication of a wet day ! The red and
lowering appearance of the morning sky
which indicates foul weather probably indi
cates such ao ex icss of vapor being present
in the whole atmosphere, that clouds art
achnlly forming in the higher regione oi
upon the point of condensation which the)
ria ng sun cannot disperse.
"Winter E.ulcs."
which they abstract from the atmosphere
under the influence of light.
By whom was the identity of lightning and
electricity first established J by Ut. t rank
lin, st Philadelphia, in 1753. The manner
in which this fact was demonstrated was at
follows : Having made a kite of a large
silk handkerchief stretched upon a frame,
and placed opon it a pointed iron wire con,
"Winter Rules," rsre dine, after the man
ner of Dr. II ill's Journal ojHiollh, by the
Sandusky Register :
Never go to bed with cold or damp feet;
If you discover that your feet are cold and
d mp, and hive ni fi e to warm them by,
walk your roam until morning, play leap
frog with the ottoman, do anything to pass
awy the lime until the cook makes a fire
down st. lira, (always maintaining a cheerful
disposition,) but don't on any account, go to
bed with any one who his cold feet. Eith
er sit up yourself, or kick ths cold feet out
of bod.
Never go to s!eep at night with your head
lolling out of an opjn window- whh the
thermometer ut z:ro. Valuable lives have
been sicrifioed bsfore now to this effeminate
practice.
Arter being out several hours on a bitter
cold d y never si for more than five min
utes at a time, on the top of a red hot stove,
however tempted you may be to do it. The
sensation may be very agreeable we grant
you, but the consequences Bre dreadful.
Never begin a journey before breakfast,
unless you are unable to pay fof your lod
ging, in which case you would, perhaps, be
excusable for taking an early start without
putting the fsmily to the inconvenience of
getting you a warm meal, or otherwise dis
turbing them. .:.- ,at
After exercising violently at a bsll, never
go out in the cold ah-without, bundling ;np
well with a shawl or overcoat. If you hat
en't any overcoat, take the-first overcoat yoa
can find. If you could fiad a pair of ; fur
gloves or s mufllsr, you would lessen the
cbsnces of taking cold very materially,: i
If you are afflicted with hoarseness, talk
but little, unless you sre a female, in which
case, silence would be aure death, ao perhapi
you hadjaetter take the chances with th
hoarseness.
or.
V