Essex County herald. [volume], January 22, 1876, Image 1

About Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964

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DEVOTED TO LOCAL, POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS, AND THE INTERESTS OP ESSEX COUNTY.
IN ADVANCE, .
YOL. IV.
GUILDHALL, VERMONT, SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1876.
We Too.
It's we two, it'a we two, it'i we two for aye.
All the world And we two, and Heaveu be our
stay;
Like a laverock io the lift, eiDg, " Ob, bonny
bride 1"
All the world m Adam onoe, with Eve by bis
eide.
What's the world, my lass, my love ! what can
it do?
I am thine and thoa art mine ; life la sweet
and new.
If the world has missed the mark let it stand
by,
For we two have gotten leave, and onoe more
will try.
Like a laverook in the lift, sing, "Oh, bonny
bride !" v '
It's we two, it's we two, happy side by side.
Take a kiss from me, thy man ; now the song
begins
"All is made afresh for as, and the brave
heart wins."
When the darker days come and na son will
shine,
Thou shalt dry my tears, lass, and Til dry
thine.
It's we two, it's we two, while the world's
away,
Bitting by the golden sheaves on our wedding
day. Jean Ingelow,
The Little Tmtarine Girl.
Earl and Bettine were playing before
one of the houses in the square. Earl's
hand-organ was a very old fashioned
one, which his father had brought from
Germany ; and in the front of it there
were grotesque little figures that moved
on wires. A pert little lady, in a red
skirt and blue bodice, danced a horn-
pipe with a dashing young soldier in a
scarlet uniform, with a white cockade
on his bat ; and a prim looking old lady
pat iu her arm chair, constantly taking
pinches of snuff from a painted box in
her hand. Then there was a sprightly
little dairymaid, who tripped up and
down with a pail of milk poised on her
head, and a basket of eggs on her arm ;
and an old grenadier, in a blue coat and
yellow breeches, who came nimbly up,
and held out his cocked hat to passers
by for ponnies.
It was a very pretty sight to see them
moving all together, and whenever Karl
and Bettine stopped to play a crowd of
children were sure to collect around
them. But they put very few pennies
into the old grenadier's hat, and when
' KafTand Bettine counted .their money
at night they rarely found enough to get
their supper, without thinking of having
any breakfast or dinner next day, ex
cept what some kind person at whose
house they played might give thorn.
Then, every week they had to put aside
some money to pay the rent for the lit
tle, dark, cheerless bit of a room they
had in the very dirtiest part of the city,
and they were so afraid of being turned
out of that that they very often went
without their supper, when they had
gained very little money in a day, to
save that little for their landlord.
Now, for more than a week, Karl had
been ill ; this was the first day he had
been out, and they had been obliged to
spend all the money they had for food,
and the rent was due on the next day,
and not a penny to pay it with I Poor
little Bettine's heart was almost burst
ing With grief, as she looked at Karl, so
pale and thin, and thought what would
become of him when they were turned
out of their miserable little room, with
no shelter and with no one to care for
them in all the great city.
They had always been poor; but be
fore their father and mother died the
poverty had not been so hard to bear,
for they did not feel so lonely and deso
late then, and their father had been so
hopeful and courageous, cheering them
always with predictions of- happier
times.
All at. once Karl began to play " Homo,
sweet home." The organ was very old
and out of tune; but for all that the air
was very sweet and touching, and, though
Bettine had heard it so often, the great
tears began to roll down her cheeks, and
blinded her eyes so she could riot see
her tambourine nor the group of childish
faces tliat surrounded her. She had no
recollection of any home, save the dreary
little attio where they stayed at night;
she could not ' remember the "Vater
land " for which 'her mother had wept
and piued her life away; but that tune
always made her sad made her think
how terrible it was to'have not even tho
memory of ah. mo.
Suddenly the door of the great houso
opened, and a richly dressed young lady
came out. She was evidently in haste,
for she did not even glance at the little
tambourine girl, nor at the figures in
Karl's wonderful organ, but swept hur
riedly down the steps, to the elegant
carriage, with glittering trappings and
sleek bay horses, that awaited her.
But, as she passed, something fell
from her arm, at Bettine's feet, drop
ping with a metallio ring on the pave
ment. Bettine stooped and picked it
up a gold bracelet, set around with
stones that glittered and flashed in the
sunshine so that they almost blinded
her eyes. She turned quickly to look
for the lady, but already the livered
coachman had sprung to his seat, and
the carriage was whirling down the
street far ont of reach of her voice.
Then she glanced at the group gath
ered arouud the organ. All the eyes
were fixed intently on the moving fig
ures, and no one had seen her pick it
up. Here was relief from all their
troubles. She knew the bracelet was
valuable ; it would pay the rent, and buy
for Karl poor, sick, patient Karl the
strengthening food and medicine, and
freedom from care which he so much
needed. For one moment a fierce temp
tation raged in poor Bettine's heart;
but she thought of her mother, and put
it proudly back. No, she could die of
hunger worse than that, could see Karl
suffer for food and shelter but she
could not keep what was not hers. Just
then a rosy-cheeked maid put her head
out of a basement window of the great
house to see the hand-organ. Bettine
stepped towards her with a fast-beating
heart.
" Will you please tell me the name of
that lady who just went away from here,
and where she lives?" she asked, timid
ly. The girl started at her in astonish
ment. " That is General Faulkner's daughter,
and she lives out at . Norwood. But
what do you ask about her for!" she said.
Bettine didn't stop to answer her, but
ran back to Karl, who had collected all
the pennies he eould, and was strapping
his organ again to his back.
"What were you asking about this
lady for ?" he said, as she walked along
by his side.
I found her bracelet, Karl," she an
swered ; and she took the bracelet from
her pocket, and showed it to him.
He uttered a quick exclamation of
surprise, and a flush lighted up his sal
low cheek.
"Bettine, those are diamonds 1" he
said. " They are worth a mint of
money. We can pay the rent, and have
enough for food and clothes. You need
never be hungry again, my poor little
Bettine."
"But it isn't ours, Earl," said Bet
tine. "Yes, it is ours," he answered, stout
ly. " Nobody saw you pick it up, and
what is it to those rich people ? Only an
ornament, whose loss they will forget in
an hour, while to us it is life itself."
"What would mother have said,
Karl ?" said Bettine, reproachfully.
The flush faded away from his cheek,
and he was silent for a moment.
" But you don't know where the
lady lives," he said, hesitatingly, at
last.
"She lives at Norwood, the girl told
me. You know where that is, for we
have often been there; . and when we
get there we can inquire wfiere General
Faulkner lives."
"Well, perhaps you are right. At
any rate, wo might as well starve first as
last; there's nothing else for us," said
Karl, gloomily.
Sobs almost choked Bettine's utter
ance, but she crushed them bravely
back, and said, hopefully: "Perhaps
the lady will be kind to us, Karl; per
haps sho will give us something."
" Give us something I" muttered Karl.
"It's much more likely that she will
accuse us of having stolen the bracelet."
" Well, whatever happens, we shall
be 6ure wo have done right. And do lot
us hurry, Karl; for, if we don't, I am
afraid I can't help keeping it, when I
see you so ill, and pale, and discour
aged." And Bettine threw her arms arouud
his nock, and her tears wet his pale
cheeks.
In a short time they were out of the
town, walking along the open country,
towards Norwood, and the very first per
son of whom they inquired told them
readily where General Faulkner lived.
It was a very nice house, with a winding
carriageway, and graceful serpentine
walks leading up to it ; and in front of
the house were beds of gay colored tu
lips, and a broad green lawn, with a
fountain in the middle, Bonding up mist
like spray.
As they stood on the steps, Bettine
waiting for courage to ring the bell, a
servant camo out.
" Go away 1" he said, angrily, before
Bettine had time to tell what she want
ed. "We don't want any stragglers
or organ grinders here." .
" But wo are not going to play," said
Bettine, meekly. "I want to see Miss
Faulkner."
"See Miss Faulkner, indeed!" said
the man, sneeringly. ' ' Did she tell you
to come and see her ?"
" No," said Bettine ; "but I want to
see her for something very important.
I've found something that she lost."
" Oh, that's it, is it?" said the man.
" Well, you can give it to mo just as
well."
" No," answered Bettine sturdily; "I
Bhall give it to Miss Faulkner, and I
shan't give it to any one else."
' Bjtter let her go in, James," said a
maid, appearing in the door. "Miss
Faulkner lost a bracelet this morning,
and she's making a great fuss about it,
because 'twas a present to her. May be
this girl has found it, "
Then the man let her in, but very re
luctantly, and scowling fiercely at Karl,
who remained outside.
Bettine hod to wait a few minutes be
fore Miss Faulkner appeared. It was
the very fame lady she had seen driven
away in the carriage, and sho came to
wards her with such a kind smile that
Bettine had not the least fear that she
would accuse her of stealing the brace
let. "I've found your bracelet, ma'am,"
she said. " You dropped it when you
got into the carriage;" and sho drew
the bracelet from her pocket and put it
into the lady's hand, and was moving
away towards the door, but Miss Faulk
ner detained her.
" I want you to tell me all about your
self," she said, "and how you knew
where to bring the braoelet."
Then Bettine told her her little storj
as meekly and uncomplainingly as pos
sible. She did not mean to tell any of
their troubles, but some way Miss
Faulkner asked her so many questions
and was so kind and sympathising that
she could not help it. And when she told
about Karl the tears would come into
her eyes, and she felt very much asham
ed until she looked at Miss Faulkner
and saw her eyes full of tears, too.
Then the lady left the room, and came
back in a few minutes with - a gentleman
a benevolent looking old gentleman
and Bettine had to tell her story over
again to him. Then they sent for Karl
to come in, and then, after the gentle
man had talked a long time with him,
they were taken into another room and
had the nicest dinner they had either of
them ever eaten in their lives. After
wards General Faulkner sent them home
in a carriage, telling them he would
come and see them the next dayr
Bettine had to rub her eyes every two
or three minutes after she had got home,
to be sure she wasn't dreaming, and by
the next morning she had got to feel
quite sure that it could have been noth
ing but a dream, woen she saw that
same elegant carriage rolling into the
little dirty narrow street where they
lived; and then such a store of good
fortune looked in upon them, that Bet
tine began to fancy, rather, that the old,
dreary days had been a dream, and her
present happiness the only reality.
General Faulkner got Karl a situation
in a warehouse, where he earns what
seems to Bettine an unheard-of sum of
money, and hired for them three of the
cosiest little rooms you ever saw, in a
cottage, a little way out of town, where
a good German woman lives, who seems
ever so much like Bettine's mother; and
Bettine has nothing to do but to keep
house for herself and Earl; and you may
be sure that she is the nicest, tidiest lit
tle housekeeper imaginable.
The hand-organ is put up in a corner
of the little kitchen, with Bettine's tam
bourine hung over it; and sometimes
when Earl comes home at night he takes
the organ out of the corner, and plays
" Home, sweet home, on it; and,
though the old grenadier's joints have
grown a little stiff by age and inaction,
he hobbles up and holds out his cocked
hat still, and the gay lady and the'ioT-
dier begin their hornpipe, and the
dairymaid carries her eggs and milk to
market, and the snuff-taking old lady is
as persevering as ever; and though some
of the tones are harsh aiid out of tune,
the melody is still very sweet aud plain
tive, and brings tears to Bettine's eyes.
But they are happy tears, now that she
knows. what " sweet home" is.
Amusing a Prince.
During the visit of the Prince of
Wales to India he was introduced to the
amusements of that heathen land, con
sisting of elephant, bull and wild beast
fiffhts. One of the seennn in tlinn do.
scribed : An elephant, a huge Sun
hided roguo, is brought in nt one por
tal, while through the other there cara
coles gayly a smart horseman, on a
handsome gray horse, powerfully bitted,
and well back on his haunches. The
horseman rides very short, and the
stylo of equitation reminds ono forcibly
of the French manege, although his
seat is freer and suppler than obtains
there. He, circling and capering, ap
proaches the elephant, which, after fac
ing him for a time, makes a sudden
rush, ami his trunk is on the horse's
croup, and all but clutches tho rider,
before the speed of the Arab tells and
carries horse and man out of reach.
Quick as lightning the horseman is
round again, capering teasingly around
the elephant, whose rushes in quick suc
cession, and what certainly seems a suc
cession of hair-breadth escapes on the
part of the rider, keep on the strain tho
interest of the spectators. The courage
of both rider and horse are undeniable ;
the former is a finished horseman both
as to hand and seat, and the latter obeys
with beautiful alacrity of dexterity the
slightest hint from wrist or leg. Over
and over again tho rider's life seems
not worth a second's purchase, as the
elephant's trunk brushes his shoulder,
but supple dexterity pulls him
through, and the foiled elephant at
length lapses into sullen apathy.
A Chance for Manufacturers.
The proprietor of the White House
(N. J.) Casket does not believe in
chromos and other trifles when he makes
an offer. Here is one of his premiums,
which we clip from a hte issue of his
journal:
"A Very Liberal Offer. Any re
spectable and reliable manufacturing
company who will come to White
House, N. J., on Central railroad, forty
five miles from New York city, and es
tablish a business that will employ from
one hundred and fifty to two hundred
operatives, can have fifteen acres of land
and ample water privilege free. For
further particulars call on or address
editor of Casket, at that place. "
The National Republican convention
of 185G was held at Philadelphia; that
that of 18G0, at Chicago; that of 1864,
at Baltimore; that of 1868, at Gnioago,
and that of 1872 at Philadelphia. The
West asks for the next one.
BREAKING ALCOHOL'S GRIP.
The NacceMfal Treat me. t .f Inebriate Fa.
tlrnta A Hone ia which the Care (
W.mea as well a Men la Attempted.
The New York Sun tells us of a visit
paid to an inebriates' home and what
was seen there : " When a man comes
here," said the superintendent, " suffer
ing from acute alcoholism and in danger
of falling into delirium tremens, I put
him in here," and he threw open a heavy
door, with a small panel opening in it,
and showed a fair sized room, comfort
ably but by no means lavishly furnished.
The window was protected by a heavy
wire grating, admitting abundance of
air and light, but effectually providing
against the patient breaking tha glass,
or throwing himself out in his delirium.
The door was padded with felt, and
when it was closed the chamber was per
fectly sound proof. "Men on the verge
of delirium tremens are very sensitive to
noise. When I get them in bed I sit
and talk with them till they fall asleep;
then I close the door and watch the
patient through the panel."
There are sevoral cells constructed for
the treatment of delirium tremens
patients., In these there is little furni
ture beyond the bed, and the windows
are doubly guarded; otherwise they are
not like the rooms already described.
Cases of death are said to be exceedingly
rare in the institution, only occurring
when the patients are brought in so en
feebled as to leave no chance for re
covery. For the most part the paying patients
are wealthy men, including lawyers,
doctors, mercbants,and artiste. Many
of them have, by their own consent,
been committed by their wives, and
more by. themselves. There are, be
sides, a great number of young unmar
ried men, clerks, students, and rich
men's sons, who have voluntarily gone
to the inebriates' home. Married men
very ordinarily are nursed by thoir
wives, who remain with them in the
home, which provides quite ts good ac
commodation as a first-class hotel. But
there are other women in the institution
besides those who go there voluntarily
to attend upon their husbands. .Many
of the bcs.t and most luxuriously fur
nished apartments are occupied by
ladies, whose friends suppose them to
be traveling for the benefit of their
health, or visiting relations in tho couu
try. " I don't at all like female pa
tients, " said the superintendent; "one
itjem causes more trouble and anxiety
than a dozen men. Even those who oc
cupy the best rooms in the front of the
house, and pay large prices for their ac
commodation, seem to have little or no
sense of propriety. I have to watch
constantly to prevent them from stand
ing at the windows, waving their hand
kerchiefs, and flirting with the male in
mates walking below. Occasionally I
have been obliged to punish them for
doing this by removing them to the
back of the house and placing them
among tho female non-paying patients.
But my influence among them is very
slight, and I seldom have an opportu
nity to effect a cure. Their husbands
bring them here in carriages, and com
mit them for six months or so, they giv
ing their consent freely, because they
know there would be no use in refusing
it. But iu a few clays their husbands
come to see them, and they tell them
they are perfectly cured. After two or
three visits the gentlemen usually yield
and take them home, not unfrequently
to bring them back again in four or five
months." "
The Turkish Rebellion.
The rebellion against the Turkish
government in the province of Herze
govina was incited by the exceedingly
oppressive manner in which the Turkish
government has collected its taxes from
the people. It has been the custom
with the government to sell the tax list
to private individuals for a stipulated
price, allowing them to collect them,
thus saving tho government the trouble,
time and expense of making the collec
tion. By the laws of the empire, no
farmer, for instance, could store his orop
of grain uutil it had been inspected and
its value -appraised by a government
official, and as this was dono late in the
year it has not unfrequently been the
case that tho entire harvestsor the
whole territory was destroyed by rains
befofe the official made his inspection,
and thus the labor of tho entire year was
lost, while the burdens of a weak,
despotic, bankrupt government remain
ed the same. This has continued so
long and borne so heavily and disas
trously upon the people that, about six
months ago, the people rebelled against
t he government. No religious questions
are involved, the struggle being against
the tyrannical methods of executing
despotic laws.
Longevity.
An agent received an application for a
policy on the life of a man in Lancaster,
New Hampshire, which furnished the
following remarkable record of long
evity on both sides of his ancestors:
Grandparents On father's sido: grand
father, 110 years; grandmother, ninety
five years. On mother's side: grand
father, onehundredyears; grandmother,
ninety-eight years. His mother is still
living, agod 105 years, and the father
died at 103 years. He has eight broth
ers and sisters living, at the following
ages: Sovonty, sixty-eight, sixty six,
sixty-four, sixty-two, sixty, fifty-eight,
and forty-five years respectively. Five
children died in infancy.
A Ifew Cure for Paralysis.
A Virginia City butcher tells the fol
lowing story : I had been iu the slaugh
ter house but a short time when one af
ternoon about two o'clock our time to
begin killing a carriage drove up. Two
ladies alighted; one known to me as the
wife of the superintendent of one of the
leading Comstock mines, and the other
a young lady from San Francisco, as I
afterward learned. I saw, almost as
soon as the. ladies arrived, that the
younger one had no use of her right
arm. It was so completely paralyzed
that she was obliged to move it about
with her left hand. I observed that
when she wanted to put her dead hand
into her muff she was obliged to reach
through with her left, get hold of the
hand and then draw it to where she
wanted it, just as though it had been a
skein of yarn. Well, it appears there
had been some understanding about the
young lady coming there, but what she
did not a little surprised some of us the
first day she came. . The ladies stood
looking on the while we hauled up a
bullock and knocked him on the head.
No sooner had the knife been with
drawn from the animal's throat than the
young lady threw off the large mantle
that she wore, and, rushing forward,
sat down upon the floor just at the bul
lock's neck, where a torrent of blood
was gushing. She then bared her right
arm and thrust it to the shoulder into
the gaping and blood-spouting throat of
the animal, holding it there until the
blood had ceased to flow. We were
then killing about thirty animals every
afternoon, and every afternoon the girl
came and thrust her dead hand into tho
bleeding throat of one or more of the
animals. The girl hail great courage,
and when the bullock fell, and the knife
had done its work, she at once ran up
and seated herself on the floor as re
gardless of the blood as if it had been
so much water. There she would hang
across the neck of the beast until it
ceased to bleed. . She was so brave that
we were all glad when she got well. I
remember how happy she was when she
came one day and showed us that she
could begin to open and close her fin
gers. From that time forward she im
proved rapidly. Soon she could move
her arm, and finally could grasp and
lift things with her hand. I think she
came for about three weeks before she
was cured. The last day she came she
was quite bright and merry, more so
than. I had ever seen liev. - After putting
on her mantle she thanked us all for our
kindness to her and shook hands with
us, giving us the cured hand, which, as
she laughingly said, we had " some
right to." After the young lady went
away we thought we should seo mauy
persons there to try the blood bath, but
none have ever oorue. That girl was tho
only one, and I never saw anything like
it before or since.
A School Ship Burned.
An exciting tinio was that on the oc
casion of tho burning of the school ship
Goliah with four hundred boys on board,
in the rivor Thames. It is said that a
lamp was accidentally dropped by a lad,
and the petroleum ignited and spread
in liquid fire all over the deck. The
alarm was instantly given, but so rapid
was the spread of tho fire that when
Captain Bourchier, royal navy, the
officer in command, was called from his
cabin, tho whole deck was in flames. A
terrible scene ensued. The horrified
children rushed up from below through
the various hatchways, which were with
difficulty kept from being choked up by
the crush and struggle, and as fast as
they got on deck they hurried to the
side of the ship nearest land as thejpoint
of escape. Unfortunately it was tho
most dangerous side of the ship, for a
strong southwesterly wind was blowing
full upon her broadside and rolled the
smoke and flame over in the direction of
the shore. Tho poor lads, however,
climbed over tho bulwarks and hung in
the chains and wherever they could get
hold for hand or foot, and the boat3 of
the ship bdu(; instantly at hand, pro
ceeded to take them off as fast as possi
ble. One or more were swamped, and
as mauy of the lads clinging to the ship
were compelled to drop one after an
other into the water there was ample oc
cupation for the other boats which came
to the rescue to piok up those who were
swimming or drowning. The ship lay
only about a hundred yards from shore,
and a good many leaped overboard and
swam to land, amongst whom were two
young ladies, tho daughters of Captain
Bourchier. The boats of the training
ships, lying at Greenhithe, came down,
and wore instrumental in saving many
lives. Captain Bourchier was the last
to leave the burning ship, and it was
his belief that all the lads were saved,
but there is too much reason to know
that he was mistaken, for two bodies
have already been washed ashore, and
the schoolmaster is said to be missing.
" Dear ! Dear 1" Ancient Maiden
" What is the price of beef to-day, Mr.
Frost?" Butcher " Fifteen pence a
pound, miss !" Ancient Maiden
" Fifteen pence a pound ! Why, you
are a dear butcher 1" Butchyr " Why
eh yes thank you, miss; that's just
what Mrs. Frost used to say before I
married her I"
A Eentucky girl, twelve years old,
has recovered $500 damages in a libel
suit, -.i "! - . - ' '
THE BREMERHAVEN EXPLOSION.
. . ,r i- ,, .
rjew the Infernal Machine was Made A
Painfully Interestlnc Description el It.
The Berlin correspondent of the
London Times, writing about' the plot
of .Thomas to destroy the.Mosel, says:
The clockmaker Fuchs, of Bernburg,
duchy of Anhalt, has come forward of
his own accord. . . He states that early in
1873, when at the Leipsic fair, a friend
told him he had mentioned his name to
an American , gentleman who wanted
some peculiar machinery made. ' Fuchs
accordingly went to Np. 2 August street
where he found a handsome man, about
thirty years of age, hardly able to ex
press himself in German. . , Thomas, for
this was he, at once gave him an order
for an eight-day olook, to work noiseless
ly, and, at the end of a week, to lift a
hammer thirty pounds in weight. But
Fuchs declined to take the order, as
Thomas had not sufficient command of
German to explain necessary details.
On the ninth of March in the same year
Thomas unexpectedly entered Fuchs'
shop at Bernburg. Expressing himself
much more fluently this time, like one
who had learned his lesson by heart, he
explained the sort of machinery here
quired, and, in reply to Mr. Fuchs'
questions, said that he wanted the
meohanism for a silk manufactory in
America, and that the hammer was to be
powerful enough to tear off one thou
sand threads at a stroke. Fuchs, who
seems to possess skill and reputation,
this time engaged to carry out the order,
agreeing to deliver the clock on the
twentieth of April at the Hotel de
Pologne, in- Leipsic. On the appointed
day he went to Leipsic and met Thomas,
who, ascertaining that the instrument was
correct, declared himself fully satisfied,
and, in consideration of certain extra ex
penses, paid Fuchs one hundred and
twenty-five thalers, instead of the one
hundred thalers originally agreed upon.
Subsequently, Thomas ordered twenty
more machines of the same sort, none of
which, however, have been as yet de
livered. Fuchs has in his possession a
model Thomas gave him as an exact
specimen of what he wanted. The
machinery is the same as that of a large
clock, but with peculiarities, which
Fuchs thought were intended to be sup
plemented by seme invention or other
of Thomas' own. According to what
Fuchs says, the machinery would have
acted with unfailing certainty, and
would have exploded in tho vessel ex
actly ton days after being deposited on
board. Bat for the cold, which crystal
lized the dynamite and mado it explode
when the chest was violently thrown on
to the quay, tho Moael could not have
escaped an untimely end. Had this
happened, two successive steamers of
tho same oompany would have beep lost
within a fortnight. - As Thomas brought
the dynamite all the way from America,
he seems to have been well acquainted
with the precautions to be used in its
transport. It was only owing to the
assassin causing the chest to be sent on
board at the very last moment that the
frozen liquid, being thrown from the
wagon and receiving a violent concus
sion, prematurely displayed its mur
derous capacity. The number of those
destroyed is nearly as great as if the
explosion had occurred at sea, but tho
ship is but little damaged, and the in
juries she has sustained can be easily
repaired.
A Western Millionaire,
: Alexander Mitchell, of Milwaukee, is
said to bo tho wealthiest man in the
Northwest, worth about 10,000,000.
He is the individual owner of the Wost
orn Union railroad, which runs from
Racine, on- Lake Michigan, to Bock
Island, on the Mississippi, 197 miles,
and is the controlling spirit in the Mil
waukee and St. Paul railroad. He is a
Scotohman, who went to Milwaukee
when it was a muddy village on the
bluffs of Lake Michigan as the agent of
a Chicago banker. He established a
bank of issuo on the basis of a marine
and fire insurance oompany, and almost
monopolized the currency of Wisconsin
and the Northwest, until the formation
of the national banks. When he first sot
out in life ho slept in his little banking
office, swept it out himself and was pro
prietor and clerk. At one time his bank
had a circulation of over $5,000,000, all
issued without security and all redeem
ed. He was elected to Congress two
terms and refused a renomination. Had
he remained in Congress he would now
have been chairman of the banking aud
currency committee.
Wanted to be Heroes.
Not long since one of the English
school ships for boys was burned and a
tremendous excitement was the result
among the 400 boys on board. One lit
tle fellow acted the hero on the oooasion
to so great an extent that everybody was
lavish of praise for his daring and brave
ry, and a cabinet minister presented the
hero with a gold watch and chain. The
result of all this was that the boys on
another ship, the Warspite, grew jeal
ous and desired an opportunity to make
heroes of themselves, and so they set
their ship on fire. It was burned to the
water's edge, but fortunately no lives
were lost, as was the case with the Go
liah, the first named ship, when sevoral
of the boys were smothered to death.
The " heroes " of the Warspite will re
ceive a different reward from that ten
dered the Goliah hero. : : '!
i j';
He who has health is a ; rich man, and
does not know it, ,;,.; j v
' There are 11,333 blind men and 8,977 .
blind women in the United States.
The worst thing about January is that
it is the most bilious month in the year.
The hotels of Washington are crowded
with the baggage of disappointed office
seekers who didn't have enough money
left to pay their bills. .
A letter was received at the Norwioh -(Conn.)
post-office several days before
Christmas, addressed, in a child's hand,
to . " Santa.. Claus." It was . held, for .
postage. , . ; .,t'i7t '. :
An auditor being asked how he liked
the performance of a-certain dramatic
club, replied that -he should "hardly
like to call it a club, but rather a collec
tion of 'sticks'." ' ' !
Kentucky has a law that all money
won in betting on elections shall be con
fiscated to the school fund, and the
grand jury at Louisville are rolling up a
fearful list of indictments.
Now is the time when a man will
write "1875," then" rub the .5" ont
with his fore finger, suck the finger clean,
tear up the sheet of paper, kick the cat
out of tho office, and begin anew."
Minnesota is to have a State inebriate
asylum for whioh the liquor sellers will
have to pay, as the supreme court has ,
sustained the constitutionality . of the .
law imposing a tax for this purpose, .
As old Mr. heaved the last scut
tle of four tons of coal into his cellar, he
was heard to remark: " If they had
been boys instead of girls, it wouldn't
have been thus. One ton would last all
winter." . . . '
Washington Irving's early disappoint
ment in love was necessary to his suo
oess in after life. Had he not perform
ed the part of " spoony" and been jilted
he never would have become such a
famous author. '. .
"Why don't men swear .when they
are alone?" asks Talmage. ,. '.'Did Mr.
Talmage," says the Independent, " ever
lay around the fence corners and see a
lone farmer pick up a bumble bee ?
What did that farmer say ?',' ,
Joseph Smith, son of tho Mormon
prophet, and president of the organiza
tion called the True Latter-Day Saints,
says the new institution comprises about
15,000 members scattered throughout
the United States, -, Ejirojpe and the
Sandwich islands.
A rural editor, wishing to be severe
upon an exchange, remarks: "The
subscriber of the in this place tried,
a few days ago, to carry home some lard
in a copy of that paper ; but, on reach
ing home, found that the concentrated
lie had changed it to soap."
It is affirmed by a statistican, of whose
competency thus to affirm we know
nothing, that of the 1,200,000,000 in
habitants of the globe more than 1,000,
000,000 use tobacco iu one shape or an
other. Aud 300 years ago nobody but tho
American Indians knew anything about
it.
. A lad named Jamo3 McCulIar was
tossing up a penny piece and catching
it in his mouth, ;at Wolverhampton,
in England, the other, day, when the
coin slipped down his throat. He was
taken to the hospital, and after linger
ing for two nights the lad died in great
pom.- ,! ' ' ' - ! "' '
"Men are like hymns,", remarks an
exchange, r " There are short-meter
men, sharp, blunt, and hasty; there are
long-meter men, slow, weighty, and
dignified; there are hallelujah-meter
men, mercurial, fervent, and inspiring;
and there are eights-aud-sevens men,
gentle, genial, and delightful. There
are also some ' peculiar meters.".'
It was in Poland, of an evening.
Three of them were killing a cat. (' One
of them held a lantern, another held
the cat, and the third jammed a pistol
into the cat's ear and fired it, shooting
the man who was holding the animal in
the hand and wounding the party with
the lantern in the arm. -a The cat left as '
soon as it saw how matters stood, and
that ill-feeling was being engendered.
The stock of breadstuffs in Philadel
phia, Dec. 30, 1875, was 123,000 barrels
flour, against 119,000 for 1874 ; 452,600
bushels of wheat, against 225,000 bush
els for 1874; 347,000 bushels of corn,
against 225,800 bushels for 1874; 219,
800 bushels of oats, against 222,860
bushels for 1874. The stock of wheat in
the millers'- hands is 42,000 bushels,
against 45,800 bushels for 1874. ' .,
Gathering Dried Blackberries.
Over 100,000 pounds of dried black
berries were sold in Nashville, Tenn.,"
last year, all of whioh were gathered in
the vicinity. The berries are gathered
and dried in the sunshine. The process
requires about three days or longer, ao-'
cording to the temperature. . As soon as '
the berries become shrivoled, they are
placed in sacks and sent to market. The
prices paid this year ranged from six to
ten and one-half cents, generally advanc
ing half a cent at a time. At ten cents
per pound, tho sum of $10,000 was real
ized from berries which to many appear
useless after having passed the age of
juiciness. Over $1,100 was paid to one
man this year by one dealer, for 11,362
pounds of berries gathered for him.
When carefully dried, blackberries are
paid to retain their original taste better
than any other fruit. it .
Facta aud Fancies,