Connecticut western news. [volume], February 28, 1873, Image 1

About Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970

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JJYEBY FRIDAY MOBNINQ.
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NULLA VESTIGIA RETKORSUM.
YOL. II.
SALISBUEY, C01O"., FllIDAY, FEBKUABY 28, 1873.
NO. 3.
After the Apple.
Behind me clang the golden doors'
No strength of mine may ope again ; .:
Before me stretch the wild, waste shores
These hands to harvest fields must train. -My
last look, turning to the skies.
Of Eden that I lose to-day, ""..-
Bees but the lightnings of your eyes,
Like flaming swords to bar the way.
Yon stand there, in your innocence,
Amazed, indignant at such end :
Judging a passion too intense
For unformed souls to comprehend.
From you within to me without
A distance as from sea to sea
Outbroadens the abyss of doubt
Twist dream and wake that needs must be.
Tet think not, howsoever wide,
That gulf shall not be spanned at last ;
Nor fancy shoreless deeps divide
The exiled future from the past.
The path my feet have trod before .; - t, r
Or soon or late you too shall tread : ' . - -
I may not walk your Eden more,
But you will come to me instead.
For, various of taste, I trow -
That, since our common mother's fall.
Some fruit upon that self-same bough
Hath ripened for the lips of all ;
And hang it loWor hang it high,
And be the flavor sour or sweet,
For you in turn the time draws nigh
To pluck the apple and to eat.
- ai i
Till then peachance 'tis well your, eyes fj( '
Should scathe me with their ignorant scorns
Go shelter in your Paradise, .
And leave me here among the thorns.
But when you too, without the gates,
Look, shuddering, o'er the desert bare,
Then tur and pardon one who waits . .
To make a pathway for you there.
CIGABS FOR TWO
L- i;
"Smokes, does he? The abominable
wretch 1" exclaimed Mrs. Volant to her
friend, Mrs. Washburn, the young -wife
who had just gone to housekeeping. , . r
" He smokes, but he is not an abom
inable -wretch I am sure he is no V
replied Mrs. Washburn, a little startled
by the hard name applied to her hus
band, -whom she both loved and es
teemed. "Not a wretch?"
" No, I am sure he is not." i " . s
"Yes, he is ; any husband, especially
one wh has been married only a year,
and -won't let off smoking when his wife
desires it must be a wretch.." i
"No ; you overstate the case. He is
everything a husband ought to be so
kind, so devoted, so indulgent. But,
then, I do wish he -would not smoke."
"You must break him of it the
cruel monster." " . '
"Nay, do not call him such hard
names, I love him -with all my heart, j
tnougn ne does smote.
" Well, I suppose you do ; young
-wives are apt to be foolish." -
"Foolish!"
. " Yes ; he sees, I dare say, that you
ove him, and so he takes advantage of
you.
" Why, Mrs. Volant, don't you love
your husband ?"
" Well, I suppose I do ; there is ne
need of telling him of it. I make him
think I don't carejanything about him.
Why I can manage him as easy as I
could a kitten."
"I don't like that; I think there
ought to be love and confidence between
man and wife."
"Pooh!" 7
" You cannot be happy with him."
"I should not be if I became his
slave."
" I am not hia slave."
" Don't you believe it ? When yen
have been married as long as I have you
will get rid of some of these sentimental
notions, which answer very well for the
first year or so, but become very incon
venient after that." : T
" For my part, I always mean to" love
my husband as much as I lo now, even
if it is sentimental."
" See if you do ! Husb nds must be
carefully managed or they will become
tyrants. Now, my husband smoked
the first year after marriage ; but then
he was a little careful about bringing his
cigar into the house, for I told him, up
and down I -wouldn't have it."-
"I should supposed he would have
rebelled."
" He did, but not at first. One night
about a year after we were married, he
brought home a whole bundle of cigars
and put them on the. mantelpieoe.-
Taxing one, ne coolly ngnted it. and
proceeded to read the evening news
paper." ...... ,
"That's the way my husband'does.
j. was aownrignc maa at nis impu
dence, but did not say a word. The
next day I bought a monstrous great
onun-Dox, ana nuea it lull of rappee,
In the evening he lighted his cigal
as before ; but no sooner had he done
so than I seated myself opposite to him.
and drawing out my snuff-box I took a
generous pinch, at the risk of sneezing
" How funny!"
My husband did not think so. He
looked at me with astonishment.
" You take snuff?" says he.
" I do ; at least I mean to learn," I re
plied.
" It is a filthy habit," said he.
" No worse than smokinar." said T.
We debated the matter a long time,
ana at last he gave no the paint, and
promised to throw away his cigars if I
wouia tnrow away my snufi.
" And he never smoked any more ?"
4 1 af "w-v i
ass:ea jars. wasnDurn.
" Yes ; he began once after : but
took to the snuff again, and he gave it
up
"Are you sure he don't smoke new?'
ii ne does ne never lets me see
him. My sitting room is not smoked
up as yours is. "
" It was a glorious trick."
" That it was and I advise you to try
it upon Mr. Washburn."
" I couldn't take a pinch of snuff any
more man icouia swallow an elephant.
" Smoke, then. There are some little
cigars sold at the apothecary's made on
purpose for ladies. They are so mild
that they wouldn't make you sick.
though even if they did you wouldn't
mind so they cured your husband of
omcuung. -
"It seems too bad to play such
tnck upon him ; he is always so kind;
and permits me to do just as I please,"
bcuu vus - tenaer-neartea JVlrs. Wasn
burn.
" What else could he do ?"
" It looks kind of mean to me."
"Not a bit."
" I don't know as it would succeed."
"Nonsense! I am sure it would,
He never would let you smoke, for these
husbands have an awful horror of any
imnronrietv in their wifes. 1" -
" Then he says he hatf always smoked
ana can t leave it off."
"Pshaw! The old story."
"I am almost tempted to try it."
" I would."
" It seems so unkind, though, that I
have hardly the heart to try it."
" You are notional, my dear Mrs.
Washburn. When you have been mar
ried" The remark was broken on by the
abrupt entrance of the " abominable
wretch " himself. Mrs. Washburn rose
as - he entered, and, in spite of the
abominable odor that his breath must
have exhaled, printed a kiss upon his
tobacco stained lips.
The lady "who had been married
several years" was disgusted, and after
a few remarks concerning the weather,
took her leave.
Mrs. Washburn was a pretty, affec
tionate, gentle-hearted wife. Her
whole existence was bound up in her
husband, as well it might be ; for never
was a husband more devoted to his wife
than he was. To our mind she was a
model wife, none of your stormy vix
ens, that set their hearts upon attaining
a 'point and will pull the house down
upon your head but .they will attain
it.
In her eye Mr. Washburn had only
one fault, and that was the villainous
habit of smoking, which all her elo
quence had been powerless to overcome.
She didn't "put her foot down," as her
friend, Mrs. Volant, had done ; for
poor, gentle-hearted creature she
coold not think of provoking a quarrel
with him, and had about concluded to
make the best of it and let him smoke
in peace.
But there was something so irresist
ibly, funny, about Mrs. ; Volant's plan
that jshe determined to try it, and ac
cordingly, on the afternoon of the next
day she sent the Irish girl to the apoth
eoary's shop for a bunch of " Bagdad
eigars." 'Disposing a few of them .in
her work-basket, ready for the momen
tous occasion, her mind pictured the
scene that would ensue when she should
light one of them. It was so funny
that she laughed out loud at the idea.
Wcldn't he be surprised to see her,
who had teased him so much to leave
off, smoking herself. Would not his
eyes stick out when he should see her
puffing a cigar at her sewing, as he did
when he read the evening paper.
Jae was so pleased with the plan tnat
slie could have put it into execution,
even if it had been only for the sport
it promised, independently of any good
result which might flow from it.
Wouldn't he be mortified, and would
she not win the day and glory pver his
defeat? Wouldn't he be glad to promise
her that he wouldn't smoke another ci
gar as long as he lived ? She was so
delighted that she could hardly contain
herself.
Mr. Washburn came home to tea, and.
as usual, when he entered the house he
gave her a kiss and tender greeting.
They were seated at the tea table ; Mrs.
Washburn was so full of mirth that she
came near scalding herself with the hot
tea when she poured it out. Her mer
ry, mischievous laugh rang pleasantly
in her husband's ears, who, poor fellow,
could have no idea of the terrible or
deal through which he was doomed to
pass.
When tea was over, tne astral lamp
transferred to the light-stand, and Mr.
Washburn had stretched himself into a
comfortable position in the large, easy
rocking-chair, with his legs lazily re
posing in another chair, the everlasting
cigar was produced, lighted, and began
to diffuse its fragrance through the
room.
Mrs. Washburn ceuld hardly con
trol her inclination to burst into a
laugh at the mere thought of what she
was about to do. beating Herself at
the side of the table, opposite her hus
band, she took from the work-basket,
with an air as grave and solemn as a
judge, one of the "Bagdads." Placing
the filthy roll between her ruby lips she
glanced at her husband.
" JSow. Mr. Smoker," thought she it
would have spoiled to have said it
." we will see waetneryou don t abandon
that nasty habit."
Mr. Wasn burn Happened to glance at
her, but, contrary to her expectation,
he manifested no suprise, and went on
reading the Transcript.
" So so, Mr. Smoker, thought she
again, "you tninK l' am joKing, do
you ? 1 will soon convince you ;" and
the lady took a paper and applied a
light to the cigar.
Mrs. Washburn was rather inexperi
rtmced in the. modus operandi of lighting
a cigar, and sue was unable to make it
go. She lighted another taper, and
puffed away with all her might ; but
the tfagdad was as resolute as the great
ealiph himself. She persevered till her
extraordinary exertions again attracted
the attention of Mr. Washburn.
"You are lighting the wrong end,
my ; dear, said He, with the utmost
nonchalance.
4 How provoking he is !" thought
Mrs. Washburn, "why don t he remon
strate?"
'You should bite the twisted end.
ana tnen put it in your montn. con
tinued the husband, turning to the
paper again.
Aided by. these directions the lady
took another cigar, which she succeed
ed in lighting. The first taste of the
tobacco smoke was horrible, but she
determined to be a martyr for her hus
band's sake, and taking her sewing, she
continued to puff away as she plied her
needle, till a certain nausea compelled
her to abandon the experiment for that
time. Casting the .Bagdad into the
grate, she began to wish she had not
listened to Mrs. Volant.
" What is the matter, my dear ?
Wasn't it a good cigar? Try mine ;
they are Monte Christos of the first
quality ;" and the imperturbable Mr.
Washburn offered her the choice from
his case.
" No, I thank you, my dear ; I will
not smoke anv more to-night."
" But whatTs the matter, Mary ? You
are as pale as a sheet?"
" I feel a little faint ; I shall be bet
ter in the morning." And Mrs. Wash
burn was obliged to leave the. room.
Poor woman ! She was sick all the
evening. But the next day Mrs Volant,
who had called to learn the success of
the experiment, advised her to try
again, assuring her that it would not
make her sick the second time.
Mr. Washburn had a couple of his
intimate friends at his house to play a
fame of whist the next evening, and the
evoted wife resolved to try the effect
of a smoke in their presence.
When the party were seated Mr.
Washburn handed around the
cigar
case.
"Won't you smoke, my dear?" asked
he, tending the cigars to his wife.
"I will ; but you know, Joseph, that
I never smoke your cigars, they do not
suit my taste." . .:.' v t;-.i '
; "Whew, that was cool.' ' ri '
Mrs. Washburn lit a Bagdad.
"Is it possible you smoke. Mrs.
Washburn ?" asked Mr. Barnes, aston
ished at the singular spectacle of a
woman puffing away at a cigar, for all
the world like a loafer in a barroom.
"Occasionally, just to please my hus
band," replied Mrs. Washburn, after
she had blown out a long breath of blue
smoke.
"Yes, Barnes," interposed Mr. Wash
burn, "it is more sociable you know, to
have company when one smokes. We
are generally alone in the evening and
she is so kind as to smoke with me.
Ah, .Barnes, teach your wife to. smoke,
it is so pleasant to smoke with one's
wife."
The lady was thunderstruck. Was it
possible ' that he had no more respect
for the proprieties of life than that?
She smoke ? She had already acquired
the reputation of being a smoker, with
out having produced any of the desired
gooaresults.
Mrs. Washburn threw the lighted
Bagdad into the stove. She had almost
cried with vexation.
"Not smoke, my dear ?" said her hus
band.
"I think you can be .sociable to-night
if I don't smoke."
"Do smoke, my dear ; it gives me so
much pleasure to see you enjoy a good
cigar.
"That's too bad, Joseph,
Mr. Washburn laughed outright, and,
throwing down his cards, explained
the event of the preceding evening.
"I will own up; I did it to break
him of the habit ; I give it up."
When the gentlemen had taken their
leave, Mrs. Washburn explained by
whose advice she had adopted the plan.
Mrs. Volant has the reputation of
being a perfect shrew. Her husband
is a laughing stock for all State street.
She is a bad adviser.
"How slick vou have turned the ioke
upon me," said Mrs. Washburn, laugh
ing heartily. '
"To tell the truth, 1 overheard some
of your conversation when the plot was
laid."
"Oh, ho, you did ; no wonder it fail
ed then."
"I did : but, Mary, are you so very
much against my smoking ? I love the
weed, but I love you more," and Mr.
Washburn kissed her tenderly.
".Nay, 1 will say no more about it.
Perhaps I was selfish. "-
"Not selfish. JL will leave it off, my
dear, for your sake.
"Jo, no ; l don t want you to do so.
If you are so very fond of smoking I
will never say another word about it."
And Mr. Washburn has smoked his
cigar in peace ever since.
A Dangerous Place.
A correspondent speaking of the
South African diamond mines, says :
Foreseeing the tremendous amount of
labor that would be concentrated in
and about the claims, the surveyors
made twelve roads through the kopje
to which each claim-holder gave seven
feet and a half. So between every two
lines of claims there was a road fifteen
feet wide. Of course this portion of
the ground was to remain untouched
until some future time, when, the rest
of the soil being worked, these alone
remained to dig into. But alas for
the anticipations of the authorities and
the intentions of the diggers ! the
roads were not left intact. They were
undermined, gouged, and encroached
on, until they became to cave in. Huge
slices would break away from the walls,
and with a dull thud, and surrounded
by a choking limy dust, would crash
into the pit below. Perhaps a faint cry
would be heard as the horrified digger,
looking . up, saw his end at hand ; or
perhaps more likely his back was bent,
and, eager to see the sparkling gem
turn out before his gaze, he was cut off
from tne living world without a mo
ment's warning. Another day a gaping
crack in the roadway is ominous of an
accident. ; The diggers look at it and
say, " It's no wider to-day than: yester
day ;" " Oh, it will stand ;" " We are
safe enough ;" and so they descended
the shaft, unmindful of their peril
Ten minutes alter a heavy loaded cart
crawls that way, its great wide ! wheels
cutting deep . into the ground. It
reaches this crack, a wheel enters the
seam, and a moment more the digger
below and the driver abovs meet in
eternity, while a crowd of Caffres make
a " hooray" over the affair as they pull
their mutilated bodies away from the
confused mass of wood, iron, and dirt.
Next dav the claim is sold, and teorle
forget the last accident in the still new
er horrors which accumulate. The dan
gerous condition of the mine has caused
many to sell oat and leave for as it is
at present worked (July 1872), no man
can descend into the claims without
peril to his life. In the end the only
plan to work it safely will be to form a
joint-stock company to work it out piece
meal, for four or five thousand con
flicting interests are unmanageable
when concentrated in the area of four
teen acres.
Transit of Venus.
In the astronomical world, the coming
event, although yet nearly two years
distant, is the transit of Venus. Ex
tensive preparations are making to
utilize to the utmost; for the advance
ment of astronomical science, this rare
and interesting phenomenon. The
transits of this planet take place at in
tervals of eight, one hundred and five
and one-half, and one hundred and
twenty-one and one-half years. The
last transit having occurea on the 3rd
of June. 1769. the next, after an inter
val of one hundred and five and a half
years, will greet the eyes of expectant
astronomers jon the 4th of December,
1874. Venulis the larger of the two
planets having their orbs within that
of the earth, and appears to terrestrial
beholders the most Drilliant and magni
ficent of all ; the star par excellence of
beauty, poetry and love. But not as a
matter of sentimental, romantic or 838
thetio interest, nor yet with, reference
to the fact that no human eye now ex
isting has ever witnessed this phenome
non ; nor as a matter of mere scientific
curiosity is the coming event bo much
discussed and so much prepared for.
Accurate observation of this phenome
non will 1 furnish data of the first im
portance to astronomical science, by
which the distances from the sun af the
earth and other planets, and their re
spective magnitudes may be precisely
calculated. r . . -;(-
If there is one thing we like more
than another, it is a simple, directs in
telligible statement of something we are
interested in. : .How, then, can i we be
sufficiently grateful to Professor Agas
siz for informing us that " trilobitesare
not any more closely related to the
phyllopods than to any other entomos
racse, or to the isopod."
Evans, the Child Murderer.
He Oonfene to Several Murders, Including the
Joyce Children in 1865.
Franklin B. Evans, who was tried,
convicted, and sentenced to be hung on
the third Tuesday of February, 1874, at
Exeter, N. H., for the murder of Geor-
giana JLovenng last October, has made
the startling confession that the last fif
teen years of his life has been almost
one scene of butchery, all his victims
being children. ;
In 1858 he says that he stole away and
killed a little niece in Derry, N. H.,
aged nve years. In lobl ne assaulted
and cut the throat of a girl fourteen
years of age in Augusta, Me., for which
anotner man died in prison ; while tne
most startling of his numerous crime!
is the murder of Isabella Joyce, aged
fourteen, and her brother John, a boy
of twelve, m uussey s Woods, near
Boston, in 1865. " These murders, it
will be remembered, created the great
est excitement all through New England
at the time. It was plain that the girl
had been outraged, and the whole coun
try was thoroughly searched for the
murderer. But at last the did saying
that murder will out is again realized.
It is also charged that on June 10, 1872,
Evans outraged a woman found dead in
the woods near Jatchburg, Mass., and
during the year he outraged, mutilated,
and murdered Georgiana Lovering, a
girl of twelve years, in Northwood, N.
H., for whose murder he is under sen
tence. His confession integard to all
the above crimes is brief and indefinite
except as to the Joyce children, which
was -made to Deputy Sheriff Henry A.
Drew, who arrested him and had him in
charge ten days before he revealed to
him the secret of the murder of Georgi
ana Lovering. Mr. Drew says that after
Evans had confessed the murder he
questioned him as to his whereabouts
for thex last fifteen years. '.'Finally,"
says Mr. Drew, " I traced him to Rhode
Island, and then to Boxbury, Massachu
setts. Mention of Hoxbury, and the
similarity of the two murders suggested
to me for the first time that he might
have perpetrated the murder of the
Joyce children, of which I had then but
a dim recollection, and of the circum
stances of . which, I . have now but
very little knowledge. X then in
terrogated him on the subject, and the
ouestions on mv part and the replies on
his were deemed by me of so much im
portance that I immediately reduced the
substance of the conversation to writ
ing. Tne following covers tne main
points of the confession elieited in re
gard to the Joyce children:
Question by Bherirl Drew Well, .
Frank what you tell me, you must tell
me now ; tell me all all about it ; were
you in Boxbury or were yom in Man
chester tell me just as it is 7
A. Mr, Drew, 1 was right there when
that boy and girl were killed. t
Q. was he stabbed or not?
A. Yes, he was, several times.
Q. Did the girl make much ado ?
A. Yes.
Q. More than the boy did ?
A. Yes.
Q. Why did she?
A. She was raped ; don't ask me any
more, I have now told you.
O. was the act committed before she
was killed? ; .
A. Yes, Mr. Drew ; I won't say any
more ; 1 have teld ail about it now.
Q. Well. Frank, I guess Vou have :
butonethingmore: Was the girl bruised
much ? . -
A.. Yes :.I won't answer another ques
tion. . '
Mr. Drew-rWell, I won't ask you any
more.
Mr. Drew states that Evans further
said that the house where the children
came from was on the left-hand side as
you went into . Boston from Boxbury,
And was a two-story house. -
Mr. Drew said to him, "Wow, Jb rank,
it was a little cottage-house on the
right-hand side as you go toward Bos
ton?" ;;
Evans replied: " It was; a two-story
house, on the left-hand side as you go
into Boston from Boxbury."
mi ! n v i . ' i
jLae iouowmg amuavit is corroouru
tive of Sheriff Drew's statement:
I, Azariah Waldron, of Stratford, in
the County of Stratford, State of New
Hampshire, depose and say that I was
keeper over Franklin B. Evans at Henry
A. Drew s house : that 1 had a conver
sation with Evans in regard to the Joyce
children ; Evans said to me, " I hope
they won't bring that up till I get
through with this ; if they do, what will
they do to me ?" I answered, " They
will hang you twice." Evans said,
" They cannot kill me but once.
AZARIA.II WAiDBON.
Sworn and subscribed to before me,
Henbx A. Dkew,
Justice of the Peace.
Tkemoes Caused bi Tobacco, The
trembling which is one of the usual
symptoms of acute, is also a common
result of chronic nicotism. A very dis
tinguished Parisian physician had hands
which shook so much that he could not
write. Whenever he remained without
tobacco for any length of time; these
tremblings disappeared. Another case.
mentioned by Blatin, is noteworthy: . A
man of forty-hve years consulted him
respecting violent and numerous attacks
of vertigo. When he felt one of them
approaching he was obliged to lie down
,wherever he might be, in order to avoid
falling. In the country, where he had
plenty of exercise, they were less fre
quent than in the town, where his occu
pation was sedentary. ! Cessation from
tobacco, and' a tonic regimen, quickly
restored him, A physician of fifty-two
was afflicted with similar disagreeable
symptoms, and was also cured by absti
nence. Habit had become so strong
that he could not resist, at times, the
temptation to slight indulgence. Find
ing that these returns to tobacco were
immediately followed by his old painful
anacKs, ne renouncea it iorever.
A Doctob's Stobt. A good, but we
know not how reliable story, is related
of a venerable doctor of the experiment
al and eclectic school of medicine. It
was one of his rules never to' have any
tiling wasted ? and therefore when any
Erescription remained After the patient
ad died or recovered, he, would C2Jty
it into a pottle kept ipr the purpose,
that became the receptacle of a hetero
geneous compound that ; seience ceuld
not analyze.- A younger member of the
faculty noted: this as a. very singular
iact, and ne asked of him; the reason
for It. The doctor hesitated a little and
then : replied that though in ordinary
cases he-knew well what, to do, there
were instances where all his medical skill
failed; - At such" times it was his custom
to resort to, the big bottle, and leave na
ture, and accident , to accomplish, the
cure, . "And will ,you believe it," said
he,"" sOme of ffiV most brilliant success
es have resulted from it.
The Public Kindergarten In Boston.
Here is a charming account from the
Boston Traveller of the manner in which
the Public Kindergarten in that city is
conducted: .
Twenty lovely little children were
playing in a ring at a lively play ; one
little tot was pussy, another a mouse ;
and, after singing together a pretty
couplet or two, the chase began. Some
of the children who took turns in the
running were more agile than others,
and one little fellow had the wit to turn
and meet the mouse who was running
round and round outside the ring when
he found he was a little too far behind
Jtier to make it probable he ever should
catch her. It was the occasion of some
pretty little stories about mice, which
wef told after they all returned to their
seayi to rest, and while they were taking
turns in a very orderly manner in taking
a drink of water for refreshment. The
play showed by the discipline attending
it that the children were well in hand
bv the teacher, whose verv sweet voice
was alone enough to diffuse harmony
among them. It was the day for mould
ing in clay, and they were all eager for
the lesson ; but by accident the register
had been left open all night, so that the
clay was too dry ; and the explanation
of the fact was accepted very pleasant
ly, and a block lesson substituted. The
personnel of the school is also somewhat
different from that of former years, and
this is due to the correct views of the
teacher, who did not think it right to
make a public school what is conven
tionally called select. She went into the
neighborhood herself, and induced the
artisans and tradespeople to send their
children. A prettier set, or one more
easily managed, could hardly be found.
and the moral and social training of the
kindergarten is eminently conduoive to
refinement and self-government. These
children have one advantage over those
of "a wealthier class, that their ante
school education has not been given by
nursery girls, but by mothers.
During the short stay I made in the
school the children learned the meaning
of some expressions used in building,
and illustrated them with the blocks in
their hands, so that they will doubtless
be remembered always. They also
learned some self-government, without
any sharp reprimanding. They were
not restrained from speaking, but were
allowed the proper, child-like freedom
of giving utterance to their impressions,
giving the teacher an opportunity to
correct their speech, and they were
readily brought to silence by her gentle
remark that it was not proper to speak
when the teacher was speaking. The
young lady's motherly, sympathetic
manner was quite charming to see, and
as I know she enters intelligently as
well as enthusiastically into the idea of
the soul culture that is to accompany
the pleasant tasks given to little fingers
and minds, I enjoyed my visit very
much, and was only astonished to see
empty seats that twenty more children
might occupy without crowding in this
large and pleasant room. It is to be
hoped that the exertions Miss Peabody
is now making to spread the genuine
schools of D roebel s system will enlight
en the apathy which has not yet been
overcome upon this important subject
of early education.
A Fortune Missed.
Colonel Michael P. Walsh died in the
Shasta county, CaL, hospital on the 31st
of December last. He was born at
Waterford, Ireland, '.and was within a
few days of seyenty-eight years old at
the time of his death. At the age of
twenty-two he came to the United States
and enlisted in the military servioe ot
his adopted country. In 1832 he went
to Chicago and purchased eighty acres
of land, for which he paid $200. This
he kept for one year, when, the new
town not coming up to his sanguine ex
pectations, and thinking it was not a
very healthful place, he sold the lot for
the amount he had paid for it and emi
grated to a place of more flattering pros
pects. He went to California twenty
years ago, and soon took up his abode
at Churntown, where he became en-,
gaged .in mining. He was almost a
helpless cripple for the last fifteen years
his right arm having been rendered use
less by a falling tree. When Colonel
Walsh went to Chicago it was but a
mere outpost upon the western border
of civilization, containing less than nve
hundred inhabitants. That eighty acre
lot is in the very heart and centre of
that opulent city of 300,000 inhabitants.
Had he kept that piece of property he
might have counted his wealth by tens
of millions. While he was running out
the sands of life in poverty in the Shasta
county hospital, the census of 1870
shows that tract ef land which he once
bought and for $200 represented more
wealth than all the broad acres of Cali
fornia from the mouth of Feather river
to the Oregon line.
The Teaching of Grammar not Allowed.
" I have been sendin' my darter Nancy
to skool, and last Friday I went over to
the skool to see how she was gettin'
along, and I seed things I didn't like by
no means. . The skool-master was lam
in her things entirely out of the line of
eddycation, and, as 1 think, improper,
I set a while in the skool-house, an'
heered one class say their lesson. The
lesson that Nancy sed was nuthin' but
the foolishest kind of talk'; the rediclist
word she sed was 'Hove. I looked
right at her for bein' so improper, but
she went right on and sed, Thou love
est, and he loves.' And I reckon you
never heered such rigmarole in your
life love, love, love and nothin' but
love. She sed one time. I did love,
Sez I, Who did you love ?' The skolars
laffed, but I wasn't to be put off, and
sed, Who did you love, Nancy ?' The
skool-master sed he would explain when
Xsancy had finished the lesson.- This
Borter pacyfied me, and Nancy went on
with her awful love talk. It got wus
and wus every word. She sed, I might,
could, or would love.' I stopped her
again, and sed I reckon I would see
about that, and told her to walk out of
that house. The skool-master tried to
interfere, but I would not let him say a
word. . He sed I was a fool, and I nokt
him down, and made him holler in short
order. I talkt the strate thing to him.
I told him I'd show how hede larn my
darter grammar. I got the nabors to
gether, and we sent him off in a hurry,
and I reckon tharl be no more grammar
teaciun jxx these parts soon.
: A Sad Disaster. In Richmond, Va.,
a span of a bridge fell. : At the time a
large number of workingmen were on
the bridge and went with it into the
water.- Ten of the workmen went down
with the span ; three of these were never
seen to rise again, and are supposed to
have been .crushed, by the falling tim
bers. Another drifted a 6hort distance
down the river and soon sunk forever.
Noted Poisoners.
Foreign Foiioning Mania Sir Thomas Orerbnry
Cssr Borgia'e Ring La Spara Aqua Tofana
-The Marchioness de BrinxUliers.
One of the most terrible crimes, ne
of the worst Borts of murder, is the de
struction of human life by secret poison.
There are shades of guilt recognized
even by the law, but the taking of life
by poisons, so slow in their operation
that the gradual ebbing away of exist
ence resembles the natural decay of
years, is usually unsuspected, and must
be persevered in for some time, until
the fatal result be produced.
In a fit of passion, or when under the
influence of anger, or any other tempor
ary feeling, human life may be sudden
ly taken ; but secret poisoning indicates
steady and reticent persistence in a de
liberate design such as, in fact,' noth
ing but continuous malignancy could
have even conceived. Happily, this
most terrible of crimes has declined
very much within the last two or three
hundred years. :
It is repeatedly mentioned in the
Greek and Latin writers, but did not
become a regular art until the seven
teenth century ; though in 1529,. in the
reign of Henry VM, the English Par
liament passed a law declaring the em
ployment of secret poisons, to be high
treason, and appropiating ' boiling to
death as its peculiar punishment. A
century later, in the reign of James L
some cases obtained an unnappy no
toriety in London . ' '
The wife of the Earl of Essex, a
woman of great beauty, lopse conduct
and bad heart, was offended , by some
reflections cast upon her by Sir Thomas
Overbury, an author and courtier, and
induced Bobert KenyLord Bochester,
who then was on far too intimate terms
with her, to remove him by secret poi
soning, which he did. Some time after
this, when Kerr lost his favor at court,
he was tried and convicted of the poi
soning, but received a pardon from the
king. It was believed that this was
done to prevent his making some crimi
nal disclosures against the king himself!
It was in Italy and 1 ranee, however,
that this crime was longest and most
effectually practiced. Throughout Ital
ian history, from the time of the middle
ages, secret poisoning casts a crimson
hue upon every page. : Men who shrank
irom assassination aia not nesiuiie to
employ poison to remove their enemies
or rivals. The Boman family of Borgia
used this so largely that their name re
mains associated with it. Caesar Borgia
had a ring from which started a sharp
point, charged with poison, which on
such slight pressure as shaking hands,
pressed itself into the flesh of the vic
tim, and however slightly the skin
might be abraded, leaving only a slight
mark as if a pin had scratched it, the
poison entered into the victim's system
and death was the result, without leav
ing a sign or mark of the cause.
It will be remembered that Lord Lyt--
ton (who is best known in this country
as Lytton-Bulwer, the novelist) intro
duced a ring of this kind into his ro
mance of "Lucretia; or, the Children
of Night," and by its use, the criminal
heroine, then not knowing his identity,
poisons her own son. It may be added
that Caesar Borgia's father, a . highly
distinguished and greatly wicked man,
who was helieved to have " removed "
many persons by foul means, imvited an
old friend to sup with him, intending
to poison him by poisoned confections.
The guest, however had a warning of
danger, and made a point of seeing his
host's carver, who confessed that it was
intended to destroy him, but consented,
for a bribe of ten thousand golden du
cats, so to arrange matters that'the box
of poisoned confections was placed be
fore the : master of the feast instead of
before the guest, and the deceiver being
thus deceived, the poisoner was poi
soned. ... :
In the middle of the seventeenth cen
tury, the large and increasing number
of young widows in Borne led to suspi
cion and inquiry, and it was discovered
that the husbands had died suddenly
that a secret society of young wives em
ployed an eld fortune-teller, named Spa
ra, to supply them with a poison, limpid,
tasteless, and clear, which would destroy
life slowly or suddenly, at will. The use
of this poison continued through several
years, until at last Spara and thirteen
of her fair clients were arrested, tried,
convicted, publicly whipped, and hung,
many others, of the highest rank in
Borne, being banished and fined.. -
Fifty years after this, it was ascer
tained that a similar system of crime
was carried on in Naples, the chief pro
moter of which was an old woman named
Toffania, who largely manufactured the
Spara poison, and sold it extensively,
even sending it to various parts of Italy,
under the name of " Manna of St. Niqo
la of Bari " (the title of a miraculous
oil said to cure rheumatism), but best
known, in our day, as the " Aqua To
fana." On analyzation, it is said to have
consisted of crystals of arsenic dissolved
in water. It produced its effects slowly,
by the gradual weakening of the appe
tite and the organs of respiration. After
six hundred persons had perished by
this poison, Toffania was arrested, tried,
convicted, and strangled, in 1719. From
that time, secret poisoning has hardly
been heard of in Italy.
In the reign of Lomis XIV. secret poi
soning was carried on to a large extent
in France, the criminals being married
women, and the victims being; in most
cases their husbands. The suspicions
of the Government being excited from
certain information, two Italians, named
Exili and Glaser, were sent to the Bas
tile, charged with having made and sold
the poisons. Glaser died in prison, but
Exili became acquainted there with
Seigneur de St. Croix, then a prisoner,
and taught him how to make the poi
sons. St. Croix was the lover of the Mar
chioness de Brinvilliers, a lovely and
wicked woman, and had been sent to the
Bastile at the jrequest of her father,
who was pained at his daughter's dis
grace, though, unfortunately, such oc
currences were very frequent, then and
there. : - ..
On his release, St. Croix told Brinvil
liers that he had learned how to make
poison, whereupon she resolved to de
stroy her father, but first eKperimented
with the death-dealing liquid on the sick
eoplpeinthe hospital of the Hotel Dieu.
She resolved not to be detected,: and
devoted eight months to the dosing-of
her father. No suspicion was aroused,
and therefore she removed her two
brothers and sisters by the same means.
Next she tried to poison -her husband,
but he escaped by taking antidotes, sup-:
1 "I 1 1 ' , C f I - 1 3 J 1
puea 10 nun uy ras. tiroix, wno uroaueu
thatheshould.be compelled, to marry
the widow.
St. Croix died, in 1672, while he was
preparing poison.- His mask fell Off,
and - he was. poisoned by the fumes.
Among his papers were documents in
culpating the marchioness. A domestic
servant, named Chaussee, who was in
their guilty secrets, was arrested, mado
a full confession, and was broken on the
wheel. The marchioness escaped to
England, but was eventually brought
back to Paris. On trial a "general con
fession," in her handwriting, found
among her papers, was brought against
her ; but she declared it had been writ
ten during the insanity caused by a
fever.
The torture, freely administered two
centuries back, forced a full confession
from her, and she was beheaded, on
July 16, 1676.
Louis XIV. established the " Cham
bre Ardente," to try poisoning cases.
Two WOmeh, named Lavoisin and La
vigoreux, who told fortunes to young
heirs and young wives, and secured
their fulfillment by providing them with
"succession powders," were detected,
and burned alive in Paris, in February,
1680, and from thirty to forty of their
accomplices were hanged in various
parts of France. But not until after
one hundred persons had died on the
gallows, or at the stake, was the crime
wholly suppressed. Dr. It. Shelton
Mackenzie.
Mining and Manufactures.
Tin mines are said to have been dis
covered in Utah.
There was recently discovered near
Staunton, Va. , a large deposit of red
hematite iron ore, probably thirty feet
wide and extending several miles.
- The durability ef asphalt as flooring
has been tested in the Northampton
(England) cattle market, and the decis
ion is against it. It was found that the
treading of the cattle soon wore it away,
and that it ! would speedily become
necessary to replace it. It was accord
ingly decided to lay the floor of the
market with brick in place of the as
phalt.1 v
A Boston architect has been in the
habit for many years of bedding his
roofing slates in hydraulic cement, in
stead of having them nailed on dry in
the usual way, which leaves them sub
ject to be rattled by the wind and to be
broken by any accidental pressure. The
cement soon sets and hardens, so that
the roof becomes like a solid wall. The
extra cost is ten or fifteen per cent., and
he thinks it good economy. It affords
great protection against fire.
The actual cost of a sewing machine
is from $5 to $7, or with table and all
complete from $10 to $30. At retail the
price is $60 to $175, the difference being
clear profit.
The National Oil Journal deseribes
a volcanic well-burner for increasing the
production of oil wells. The process
of using this volanic well-burner is as
follows: A slow-burning composition,
consisting of nitrate of soda, nitrate of
potash, and charcoal, placed in suitable
cases, is lowered to the bottom of the
well, and then ignited by electricity.
The parts of combustion which are not
carbonic gas are thrown out into the
well through proper vents, heating the
whole surface of eand rock, dissolving
the paraffine, and thoroughly restoring
the original porosity of the oil-bearing
rock, thus bringing the well back to
nearly its first production. This pro
cess is attended with no danger either
to person or property, as there is no ex
plosion. Water-pipes are now lined with glass.
A space between the metal and the
glass is filled with a layer of plaster of
Paris. The glass is thus protected from
breakage. -..--, '
: Sixty manufactories supply us with
corks. The value of the corks used in
this country annually is estimated at
$2,250,000. , ,
It is proposed to manufacture the pro
ducts of the gas wells in the western
part of this State,., Pennsylvania, and
Ohio into carbon black, and a patent has
just been issued for a process by which
this may be economically done. If all
the immense production of this natural
gas can by a cheap process be converted
iqto an article of extensive commercial
use, it will certainly be a large source
of profit to the oil regions.
A Bold Exploit.
The following is from the diary of the
late Mr. Adolphus, the barrister and
historian:
"May 8th, 1840. We had a dinner
party, among them Mrs. Mathews and
Curran, who told an amusing story of
an agent to a nobleman in Ireland. It
was known to some ruffians in the neigh
borhood that he had collected a large
sum for rents due to his employer. In
the middle of the night he heard thieves
breaking into his house. He jumped
out ef bed, and arming himself with a
carving-knife, stood behind the door,
and closed it, so that only ne could
enter at a time, which one would be
shown in the.' moonlight while he re
mained in the Bhade. Four of the
thieves entered and were despatched
one after another, those without not
knowing what happened. The fifth saw
a gleam of the blade in the moonlight,
seized the man, and a tremendous
scuffle ensued. The agent struck several
blows with his weapon, but made no im
pression. He was got down, and his
antagonist over him, when, feeling the
knife, he found the point was bent. He
had the presence . of mind to press it
strongly against the floor, so as to turn
it back, stabbed his adversary dead,
and, as he was alone in the house and
could have no assistance till the tnorn
ing, retired to bed. He was knighted
for the-exploit. Some one said to him,
' I wonder you could go to bed while
there were on the floor the corpses of
five persons whom you had killed ?' His
answer was, ' It did make me very un
easy ; I could : not get a wink of sleep
for nearly an hour!' "
Ivory. The various substances in
cluded under the term ivory are the tusk
of the elephant, the walrus, the narwhal
and the hippopotamus. To these we
must add the fossil ivory so often used
in ancient carvings. This was obtained
from Siberia, where the tusks of the
mammoths are found along the banks of
the large rivers. It is a curious fact
that the largest tusks of ivory now pro
cured would not furnish pieces as large
as those used in the Middle Ages.
There is every probability that the an
cients softened the ivory and could then
enlarge the pieces. A fifteen century
recipe in the British Museum directs
that the ivory should be placed in muri
atic acid, and, it will become soft as wax,
Bv being placed in white vinegar it
hardens again. The Greeks used ivory
to decorate their couches, and also their
shields and arms. Greek sculptors did
not think it beneath them to work in the
art. : : "- ' -
There is' great excitement in Salt Lake
City owing to the President s proclama
tion, and the Mormon leaders and press
exhibit considerable fear, while the
people are quietly awaiting results.
'No Friends, No Home, No Money.
A Heartless.Daughter-.Why Roger Meehan Out his
Throat His Troubles.
Boger Meehan. who was found at the
Grand Central Depot with his throat
cut, lies at Bellevue Hospital in a crit
ical condition. Mr. Meehan is over sixty
years of age, but is confined in one of
the cells. Though suffering from weak
ness, with much exertion he related his
story as follows to a reporter?
Mr. Meehan married his wife, who
was a Mrs. Elizabeth Burke? in Ireland,
23 years ago, and emigrated to this
country at that time. . Last November
Mr. Meehan was sick in Bellevue Hospi
tal. While there his wife called and
told him that her daughter, by a former
husband, had bought for her a house
and three acres of land in Woolford,
Carroll county, N. H., and that she was
going to take their three children and
go there. The oldest child was 14 and
the youngest 9 years old. They always
lived peaceably together. '
Mrs. Meehan asked her husband whem
he got well to follow her to Woolford.
Mr. Meehan, when he left the hospital,
went to work to earn money to enable
him to join his family. He says he
worked hard, but did not have money
enough until Tuesday, the 4th inst.;
then he had saved $10. With that sum,
on the night of the 4th inst., he left New
York to join his family. This he did
against the wisnes oi anotner step
daughter wh resides in this city. He
arrived at Woolford at 8 o'clock the fol
lowing evening. There he learned that
Mrs. Meehan lived two miles from the
village, and he decided to remain at the
hotel for the night and meet his wife
the next morning. On Thursday morn
ing he started for the home of his wife
before eating any breakfast, and walked
there through the deep snow. By some
means his step-daughter, a maiden of
31, whose name is Margaret Day, and
who is the servant of a wealthy gentle
man living near Woolford, heard of his
arrival, and got a man named Thomp
son to. take her to her mother's house.
She was there when Meehan arrived..
He knocked at the door and Margaret
opened it. When she saw who it was
she said:
" You can't come in here : this is my
house, and then slammed the door in his
face.
Meehan says he was amazed at such
treatment, as he could not imagine the
cause. So he sat down on the steps ana
cried. After Bitting there a few mo
ments he again rapped at the door and
asked his step-daughter if she would
please give him a glass of water. The
unfeeling girl replied to the entreaties
of the poor old man, saying, "You will
get no drink of water here ; go away,
and go back where you came from."
Meehan says it seemed as if there
was a fascination that held him to the
spot, and though he was thunder-struck
with her unnatural treatment, he could
not leave. Eighteen years ago he had
paid the passage money which brought
this step-daughter, her brother, and her
uncle from the old country, and as he
could not remember having ever given
her any cause for such treatment, ha
felt heartbroken. While he was indulg
ing in such reveries the man Thompson,
who had brought Margaret to the house,
approached Meehan and said, " Come,
I'll give you a ride back to the village
in my sleigh. What is the use of your
waiting here ?"
Meehan says he then felt, as he could
not see his wife and children, he did not
want to live any longer, and said within
himself, " I'm done. I'll never go back
to New York alive." He then drew
pocket knife and deliberately cut his
threat. The blood flowed freely from
the wound, ond he fell in the snow and
ice from exhaustion, at the threshold of
his step-daughter's house. Thompson,
when he saw what the old man had done.
approached and wound a handkerchie
around his throat, nearly choking him
to death. His wife eame out and cried
bitterly, her cries attracting the atten
tion of the neighbors, who began to
gather. The old man was still lying in
the snow and ice, and begging to be
taken into the house. The neighbors
standing near attempted to comply with
his appeal, but the heartless Margaret
Stood in tne aoor ana wouiu. nut uuw
him to enter the house. Finally the
people became indignant, and Meehan
was taken into a farmer's house, where
his wound was dressed by a doctor who
had been summoned.
Two of the farmers tried to induce
him to consent to go to the hospital in
the village, but he said as he could not
see his wife and children he did not wish
to remain in the town. He says that he
wanted to come to Bellevue Hospital,
where they knew him and would treat
him kindly. As it was found he had
severed a prominent artery in his neck,
a wealthy gentleman volunteered to de
fray his expenses, and take him to New
York. Meehan, with Mr. Barker, left
Woolford last Friday morning. Arriv
ing in Bostonf Mr. Barker took the old
man in a carnage to the New York de
pot. He gave him his supper; after
which, Meehan said he could go alone
the rest of the way. He says when he
arrived here, at 6 o'clock last Saturday
morning, he was so weak he became be
wildered, and knew nothing until he
found himself in Bellevue. He charges
that his step-daughter has influenced
his wife to desert him, and sobbing bit-
terly, said, " I'll never Bee my wife and
children again; I don't want to get
well."
At this moment Warden Brennan en
tered the cell and said, " How are you,
Meehan?"
Meehan God bless you, Warden ; I'm
very weak.
The poor old man then began to cry
and the reporter left him.
Warden Brennan says that Meehan
dwells upon his troubles so much that
at times ne is out of his head, and he is
closely watched all the time. He cut
his throat in a terrible manner, and it is
probable that inflammation will set in
and deprive him of life. New York
Paper.
How rr is Done. The man who an
swered an advertisement to the follow
ing effect says his curiosity is satisfied
now:
" If you would like to know how to
make home happy, send a postage stamp
and 25 cents to P. O. box No. , Cin
cinnati." He did send the necessary cash, and
soon received the answer:
" If you are as big a fool as we think
you must be for giving us your money,
you can make home happy by leaving
it and going West yourself." .
And yet that man is not happy.
The nailers' strike at Wheeling, West
Va., has ended, after several months
existence, and the nail mills of that oity
have resumed operations.