The true northerner. [volume], April 12, 1878, Image 3

About The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920

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FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1878.
T1IK LITTLE FOLKS.
My Little Commentator.
Gorgle, my 7-ye ar-old.
Wan reading, due day, to me.
That aweeU-at of utorlea ever told,
At he kUxxl beiildo my knee :
Th tory of Jacob's aon,
Of Joaeph, bis father' joy,
And all of the cruel, wicked ouea.
And the uioUierlea youngeat boy.
Aa he threaded the touching tale,
Hla wrath arort, and he aald :
" If I had ben there at Joneph' aale,
I'd 'a' punched In Iti-ubcu'a head S"
. Hla face, at It grew half dim
With the pathoa of thu tale.
Glanced on, and he ahouted, " Good for him I
Blmeou la goluK to Jail S"
When he read how they fonnd the cup
In Menjainin'a Rack, hi fair
Face flushed, and he doubled hla small flat up,
" The aueaka I they had hid it there J"
And when they confessed their ln,
Weeping, he tut-ered, " A-hera I
I wonder if Joaeph wa taken in
liy crocodile U-ara like them!3'
When he tead of th long array
f wagona to Jacob neiit,
Of the counsel to " fall not out by the way,"
I aked of him what that meant.
J saw, iu hla critic eye,
A filial attempt to force
Down a bit of disdain at the question : 41 Why,
Fall out of the wagon of count .'"
April H ide A wake.
Little Willy.
Do any of the Wide Awake boy stake
an interest in opossums?
During a protracted stay in Australia,
I bad many opportunities of observing
the frolicsome gambols of these woolly
elves of the forests. They were widely
removed from the 4 sluggish" or
4 stupid " little creatures they seem to
be in America.
I have seen one of our fields left in
the evening ready for the next day's
carting ; the rich, heavy sheaves nicely
set up and 44 cappt d " in compact shocks,
running from end to end of .a 4 4 pad
dock" of thirty acres ; and I have visit
ed the same field in the morning, to be
reluctantly convinced that my favorite
opossums were really the mischievous
imps all Australians consider them.
Scarcely a line of shocks remained as
it was ; but, instead, numbers lay pros
trate, the sheaves scattered, the bands
untied, and the heavy corn beaten and
trampled do wr, partly eaten, and scat
tered about in wof ul waste and disorder.
The chief scenes of the destruction
were within wide circles around several
very large dead gum-trees, which had
been singed and lelt to perish ; and up
and down these trees, and among their
great bare branches, and round about
the shocks of corn, it appeared that tho
maddest of the opossums' revels had
gone on,
I kept one of the common species,
tamed, in my house for some months,
and 1 learned their troublesome activity
too well.
One of our servants, when out at
night shooting them, killed two does
as the female opossums are called
each having a young one in her pouch.
And these he brought to me. They
were then about two-thirds the size of
an ordinary squirrel; grayish-brown,
soft-furred, sweet-faced little creatures,
and I was as delighted with my prize as
a child, and directly ordered a large
tea-chest to be made into a cage with
thin bars and a door on one side.
As the man went on preparing tho
new abode he observed quietlv :
44 Ah, miss ! I've known many a peo
ple as kep tame possums, but never
a one as wasn't clad to be quit of 'em
again I"
This, however, I treated as most un
worthy prejudice, and it diminished
nothing of my zeal for the comfort of
my poor little orphan pew.
I gave them a warm bed of wool and
fresh hay, in which they hid themselves
during the day, clasping each other
with their paws and tails into one round
ball I fed them with bread soaked
in milk and sweetened; but for the first
few evenings I had to give it to them
very carefully on account of their sharp
little teeth and claws. Afterward they
fed themselves, picking a piece out of
the saucer and holding it in their fore-
Eaws, which, as well as the hind feet,
ave the toes so long and slender as to
seem just like fingers; and in these little
creatures the texture and color of the
skin was soft and fair, quite a delicate
pink, like a baby's fingers.
They grew fast and played with each
other at night, and after a time began to
eat young corn, grass and parsley. One
day, when clipping the thyme in my
flower-beds, I unfortunately offered them
a small bit in blossom. One of them re
fused it; but the other ate a small sprig
and coiled itself up to sleep again. A
friend, dining with me that day, hearing
me mention having given some thyme to
the opossum, immediately said that it
would die.
At night; when the cage was, as usual,
arried in from the veranda to the hall,
saw that the one which had eaten the
hvme was ill and would not touch its
food. Its eyes were dim, its nose hot
and dry. My attempts t j relieve it were
all unavailing and it grew rapidly worse
not noticing the efforts of its little
companion to toubo it up to play as usual
ana in tne morning it was dead.
The survivor, little Willy, continued
growing and thriving well, and fcoon
learned to unfasten his cage and let him
self out luto the hall, and then such a
acamperiug and scrambling and leaping
and scuiiiing oegan as no decent house
hold who did not keep 44 tame 'possums'
vcr heard before.
Up the wall and along the row of hat
negs. knocking ou an the bats and para
tuAa to begin with ; then, before vou had
time to catch a glimpse of him, frisking
into the parlor, twisting his long tail over
the top of a chair and .swinging by it
gently to and fro, till, suddenly, he takf s
aim at the sideboard, springs upon that.
kicking off everything in his way, such as
a stray decanter or vaso of flowers : then
he riius around the back to the center
scroll work where he sits plotting new
mischief, tuougu seeming wholly oocu
tried combing his whiskers with a fore-
paw. If my open work-box were on the
table, he made it a role to spring up
hook his tail into it, and straightway
upset the whole apppratus, flying before
the scattered contents into a corner and
peeping out like a sly. spirited, half
shy, half-frightened child.
At last we made a rule never to admit
Willy of an evening until we were dis
posed to be idle. For to read, write or
work, with this spirit of mischief in the
room, was impossible ; and he was re
stricted to the hall with a fresh, young
wattlo-tree (perpetually renewed) set
upright in a stand for his special comfort.
Perhaps tho drollest thing was to see
him at supper after he hail attained the
siza of a cat, and was quite independent
in his. ways and manners. Willy's tree
stood close to the table where his cage
and saucer of bread and milk were
placed at night; and, as he hung like a
great live pendulum, swaying about
from a high branch, he wonld stretch
out one bund, and, taking" a piece of
bread, proceed very composedly to eat
it, with his head hanging down and his
hind feet uppermost. The sight of my
little playfellow swallowing his food in
this topsy-turvy style, was enough to
give any one a fit of indigestion.
Willy fully appreciated tho delights
of society, and used to make clamorous
demands to be let into the parlor long
before the appointed hour, by running
around the architrave of the door and
crying angrily from the top. One night,
to spite us, he contrived to slip into my
bedroom and remained peeping at me
over the cornice of the bed, until I
pulled on a pair of strong gloves and
dislodged him.
One evening, when the weather was
very sultry, with constant lightning and
distant thunder, Willy failed to appear (
ana i sougm mm in vain, lie nau
eaten his bread and milk and was gone.
Every place was examined and we had
given him up for lost, when I saw some
thing, long and dark, hanging out of one
of my father's hats against the wall.
This proved to be Possey's taiL I would
not have him disturbed and he did not
move till daylight. The tempest in
creased to a fearful height; the light
ning was, for seven or eight hours, liter
ally incessant, and the simultaneous
peals of thunder were deafening.
Willy, with animal instinct, had doubt
less known a storm was at hand, and as,
in tne forest, lie would have sought
shelter in a hollow tree, so now, though
well-housed, he sought a place of con
cealment. Latterly he often opened his cage be
fore the time when it was carried in
doors ; but I did not fear losing him, as
no always cantered into the house. But
one evening, on going to his cage, I
found it open as usual, and my 44 bird
was flown."
After this, wo heard almost nightly an
opossum on tho roof, and things left
outside were tossed about much in
Willy's scrambling style, so we believed
the house still to be visited bv its old
inmate. But, though tempted by bread
and milk, Willy never returned to his
cage; nor, I must candidly own, should
I have cared to recover nay pretty plague
could I have felt certain he was well and
happy; for I had sometimes acknowl
edged that keeping one 44 tame 'possum,'
or a pet Phalanger (for so the zoologi
cally learned term an opossum), had
given me a sufficient insight into their
manners and habits in a domestic state.
April Wide-Awake,
A Visit to a London Dog-Show.
The bloodhounds were the fiercest and
most sullen-looking of alL They did
not join in the general barking and up
roar, but kept their heads buried in the
straw. Onco, as we were watching
them, away oil in a remote end of the
building, an acrobat began his perform
ance of walking on a rope and jumping
through rings, high up in the air. Then
these hounds suddenly lifted themselves
erect, and, fixing their sharp eyes on that
little red and blue speck of a man sus
pended in the air, set up a loud, long.
unearthly howl, which all the other dogs
took up, and for a few minutes the sounds
shook the whole palace, like the roar of
all the wild beasts of the forest.
By and by 4 o'clock came, and the
owners of the dogs came in to take them
home. How glad they were to see them!
They jumped up, rolled about, licked
their keepers' hands and faces, whining
and yelping for joy. One dog, who had
not been sent for, was jealous to see his
neighbor petted, lie growled at every
loving caress, and sat snarling in his
corner, discontented and sour, till he
saw his own master, when he broke into
howl of intense delight and tugged
furiously at his chain.
W hen the big hampers were brought
to confine tho dangerous ones, and the
chains were being unfastened, what a
rollicking, rushing time it was I The
glad creatures jumped and galloped all
the way to the station.
The train was full of dogs they were
everywhere. Eiger to be off, they were
hurrying up and down the platform,
dancing about the ticket offices, racing
over trunks, for all the world like boys
let out of boarding-school going home
for the holidays.
We saw their impatient faces pushing
out of every car-window, their tails
wagging out of every door.
A gentleman in our carnage had two
little mites of terriers in his overcoat
poekets. One, he said, was a Skye and
the other a Yorkshire terrier. Little
Skye was tired and sleepy, and showed
lust tne tip oi ms nose and one ear
above the pocket, but little Yorkshire
was perfectly wild with fun. He had on
small brown blanket, bound with
scarlet braid, which his master said was
his new Ulster coat.
He began his pranks by putting his
nose in Charley's pockets, looking for a
shilling. Not finding one, the gentle
man sent him into his own coat pocket,
whence, after burrowing and tugging
for a while, out he came with a coin be
tween his teeth, which he held tight and
and would not give up. His master
said mat when the dog found a piece
of money he went alone to tho cake
shop, and the baker would give him
a cake, which he would run home
with and eat up immediately, being par
ticularly fond of sweets. He whs 2
years old, ten inches long, with yellow
ish hair, which hung in a fringe over his
mischievous black eyes. - He was elastic
m a ball of wool, and looked very much
like one.
But we had to part company with him
at King's Cross station, where his owner
put him in his pocket again and bade us
good-by. We could see the tip of the
little tail wagging till we lost sight of
Jiira in the distant crowd. Laura Skecl
i'omeroy, in of. JSichoiat Jor April.
HEALTH AND DISB1SE.
Toothache Drops, One ounce of
alcohol, two drachms of cayenne, one
ounce of kerosene oil ; let it stand twenty-four
hours after mixing. It cures the
worst case of toothache.
To Absorb tite Bad Air. In cases of
small-pox, scarlet fever? or other fever,
onions sliced and kept in the room will
absorb the bad air ; the fever will soon
disappear ; they must be changed very
often.
IIow to Cure Dyspepsia. Dr. Nich
ols, who has made a series of dietetic
experiments on himself, has arrived at
the conclusions that, if the stomach is
allowed to rest, any case of dyspepsia
may be cured ; that the diet question
was at tho root of nil diseases ; that pure
blood can only be made from pure food,
and that, if the drink of a nation were
pure and free from stimulating quali
ties, and the food was also pure, the re
sult would be pure health.
A Healthful Practice. Loosen the
clothing, and, standing erect, throw the
shoulders well back, then hands behind,
and the breast forward. In this position
draw slowly as deep an Inspiration as
possible and retain it by an increased
effort for a few seconds; the breathe it
gradually forth. After a few natural
breaths, repeat tho long inspiration.
Let this be done for ten or fifteen min
utes every day, and in six weeks' time a
very perceptible increase in the diame
ter of the chest and its prominence will
be evident.
Remedy for TrrnorD Fever. A new
remedy, proposed by Dr. Netter, of
Strasburg, to be used in typhoid fever,
has been published. Its salutary effects
are officially authenticated. It consists
of a decoction made of one litre barley
water, 100 grammes vinegar, and 120
grammes liquid honey, with which the
throat, mouth and nares are to be washed
out, in order to remove organio matters
which are secreted and deposited there,
and which decompose and are likely to
be swallowed, or reabsorbed with in
creased toxio effects.
Chilblains. It is a singular fact that,
in the case of an aflection of so common
occurrence and often so tormenting, but
few people know that the cheapest and
most effectual remedy is before their
eyes every day. It is fire. Although it
may seem a paradox to allay inflamma
tion with lire, yet it must be remem
bered that this form of it has a peculiar
character, and does not yield to common
antiphlogistic treatment. Hold the
parts afflicted as close to an open fire as
you can bear so close that it will pro
duce in them, owing to their morbidly-
sensitive condition, the sensation of
burning; continue this for from ten to
twenty minutes. That will give relief
to the intolerable itching and tingling at
once for that day. If they return, as
they probably will in a milder form next
day, repeat the treatment they will dis
appear in the course of three or four
days. They are generally produced
when the parts are suddenly exposed to
cold air in a moist or perspiring condi
tion. Put on dry socks before going out
into the cold.
PniLosornY of Lioirr Digestion.
In a dietetic point of view, it would be
well for weak stomachs to remember that
wild birds are more nutritious than their
domesticated cousins, and more digesti
ble. But the white breast or wing oi a
chicken is less heating than the flesh of
winged came. Other game, such as
venison, which is dark colored, and con
tains a large portion of febrin, produces
highly-stimulating chyle, and, conse
quently, the digestion is an easy and
rapid affair for the stomach. But,
though the whiter meats may be de
tained longer in the stomach, furnish
less stimulating chyle, and be suffered
to run into acetous fermentation, their
lesser stimulating quality may recom
mend them when the general system is
not in want of a spur. Meats are whole
some, or otherwise, lees with referonce
to themselves than to the consumer.
44 To assert a thing to be wholesome,'
says Van Swieten, 44 without a knowl
edge of the condition of the person for
whom it is intended, is like a sailor pro
nouncing the wind to bo fair, without
knowing to what port the vessel is
bound.
Cookery for the Sick. Water Gru
el. Into a quart of boiling water stir
two table-spoonfuls of Indian meal, pre
viously wet with a little cold water ; add
salt and boil at least one-half hour.
When served, pour a spoonful of thick,
sweet cream over each saucerfol. but do
not stir into the gruel. . ..Mice Gruel.
Into one pint and a half of water put a
large spoonful of unground rioe and let
boil until sort ; strain; add one pint of
new milk; and boil again for a few min
utes, li ground rice is used, mix a
spoonful of it with a little cold water and
stir into the water ; boil for five or six
minutes, stirring constantly; season with
sail. ana. n iu paueni cai bear it. a
piece of butter the size of a walnut
some season with sugar aud nutmeg. . . .
Raw Cuvlard. For diseases of the
stomach when very delicate food is re
quired, this custard is excellent. Beat
up an egg with sugar to taste; add a cup
of milk and whatover flavoring liked . .
Tapioca. Ikis is also very harmless.
Soak in cold water for two or three hours;
cook slowly; serve with croam. sugar
and flavoring. .. .Lgg Soup. Beat up
egg in a teacup, add salt, pepper, and
pour over it boiling water to cook it a
little; butter may be added if desired.
aiso toasioa oreaa or crackers. A va
riety of harmless dishes to suit the ca
pricious appetite of an invalid is some
times dulicuit to obtain.
Legal.
A discharge under the insolvent laws
of one State will not discharge the insol
vent from a contract made with a citizen
of another State.
Common carriers are not liable for ac
cidents or defendents arising from the
vi major, which human power and fore
cast couia not provide against.
uen a. consigns goods to li tQ sell
on commission, and B delivers them to
C in payment of his own antecedent
debts, A can recover their value.
At an auction or Sheriff's sale a bidder
may retract his bid at any time before
the property is knocked down to him, no
matter wnat the condition of the sale.
Permanent erections and fixtures, made
by a mortgager after the execution of
the mortgage upon the land conveyed by
it, becomes a part of the mortgaged
premises.
An agreement from the holder of a
note to give the principal debtor time
for payment without depriving himself
of the right to sue does not discharge
the surety.
Under the rule caveat emptor a seller
of goods, chattels or other property,
commits no fraud in law when he neg
lects to tell the purchaser of any flaws,
defects or unsoundness in tho same.
CHARLEY ROSS.
The
Htory ot Ilia Abduction. Told
by
Hla Father at Treinont Temple.
f Trom the Uoaton Herald.
About COO people assembled at Tre
mont Temple last night to hear Mr.
Christian K. Ross tell the story of the
abduction of his little boy from his
home at Germantown, a suburb of Phil
adelphia, on the 1st day of July, 1874.
There were on the platform Lieut. Gov.
Knight, several members of the Gov
ernor's Council, the Clerk of the Massa
chusetts Senate, and many other gentle
men well known in public and private
life. Mr. Ross was introduced by the
Hon. J. B. D. Cogswell, of Yarmouth.
The speaker stepped forward, and, after
the applause with which he was received
had somewhat subsided, said : 44 Ladies
and gentlemen, I don't presume to come
before you as a lecturer ; that is not my
forte ; my sole and only objoct is to state
plainly, simply and clearly to you the
leading facts of a case that is nearest to
my heart. There are certain events be
longing to persons and families that as
sume such an enlarged sphere and be
come of such deep interest as to excite
public attention, and the case of the
abduction of my boy was a case of this
kind. The letters exchanged between
the parties in this case," said he, 44 show
that tke business was to have been made
permanent had the attempt to extort
money from me been successful. I re
fused to compound the crime, and my
own home has been desolated. I think
my refusal to compound the crime by
paying the villains the sum of money
they demanded, $20,000. has made the
children of other people much safer than
they otherwise would have been ; for
the popular outcry that ensued, vhen
the fact of the abduction of my little
boy became known, showed the kidnap
pers that their lives would not be safe a
minute if they were arrested." Mr.
Ross then went on to relate the
facts connected with the abduc
tion, occasionally reading ex
tracts from letters received from
tho villains to show that the men really
had the child in their possession, and that
up to the time the reward of $20,000 was
offered by the citizens of Philadelphia,
for the return of tho boy and the arrest
of the abductors, they were, if not in the
city, very near it, and that the offering
of tho reward and the renewed activity
among the officers that immediately fol
lowed had the effect of driving them
from the city and out of the State. He
also read letters showing that the men
Mosher and Douglass, who were killed
at Bay Ridge, L. L, while attempting
to commit burglaryf were, without
doubt, the men who kidnapped the boy.
Their death ho regarded as an unfort
unate circumstance, because they would
have been very soon arrested, and then
they might have revealed the boy's
whereabouts. As the lecturer related
the many journeys made by him in the
vain attempt to recover the child, it was
very evident that he had the full sym
pathy of his auditors. He spoke, during
the lecture, of an attempt that was to
have been made by the same men to ab
duct a little grandson of Commodore
Vanderbilt, and then compel his par
ents to pay a large sum as a ransom.
Had the attempt been successful, he had
information from the men themselves
that his little boy would have been killed
in order to show the parents of other
little ones what to expect in case their
children were stolen and the ransom de
manded was not forthcoming. The in
sinuations that have been thrown out
regarding the disappearance to the ef
feet that he or his family knew where
the child was were referred to, and Jur.
Ross announced his determination to
prosecute the search as long as God
gave him strength so to do. In conclu
sion he announced that he would speak
in the same place on Friday night of
this week, upon the pleasing
incidents
his long
that have occurred during
search.
Statistics of the Russian Losses.
The Courtier den Etat Unit gives
some official statistics of the Turco-Ras
sian war. from which it appears that the
Russians slain or wounded, during the
conflict just ended, amount to 89,304
officers and soldiers. The number of
Generals represented in tnis sum is
twenty-one. A Prince of the imperial
family and thirty-four members of the
higher Russian nobility died on the
fields of battle. Of the wounded, 36, 824
are already completely cured, and 10,000
others will bo ablo to leave the hospitals
in a few weeks. There were 121 men
prisoners in tho hands of the Turks at
the time the armistice was concluded
Of all the Russians who fought in the
war, one-sixth were either killed or
wounded a rather large proportion. This
was, however, about tho proportion of
the killed and wounded in the Franco-
German war. In the battles of Worth
and of Spickeren, it was one-sixth
was one-eighth in the battles of Vion
ville and Mars-la-Tour, while at Gra
velotto it was only one-eleventh. Some
may le surprised to be told that, in some
of the great battles of the early part of
this century, the losses relatively to th
number of combatants were consider
ably greater. Of the Russian wounde
admitted to hospitals, one of every eleven
died of his injuries. In the course of the
whole war only two Russians were pun
ished by death, one for desertion and
one foi robbery with violonoe a remark
able showing.
Bankrupt Egypt.
A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Prean, writing from Alexandria, Egypt.
says everything is at a staiid-still in that
country. The government have neither
money nor credit, and are in great dis
tress. Discontent prevails among all
classes, and all suffer alike. The Khe
dive is at the end of his resources, and
the Mussulmans would be perfectly con
tent if Engltnd should take possession
of the country.
niciiium itehs.
Sojourner Truth is lecturing around
the State with her old-time rim.
The block belonging to John Oyer, in
Springport, burned last week. Loss
not stated; insurance, $12,000.
A Saginaw City man has traveled
about 180,000 miles on a street car. He
has been conductor on one for eight
years.
The number of saloons in Michigan
in 1870 was 4,867. but in 1877 the num
ber had decreased to 4,000.
A large number of horses are being
shipped north to work in the Michigan
mines and in the lumber regions.
C. W. Gauthieb's fish-freezer, at West
Bay City, was destroyed by fire the oth
er night. Lobs, $8,000 to $10,000 ; par
tially insured.
The Michigan State Agricultural So
ciety makes its formal announcement
that the State Fair will be held at De
troit, Sept. 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.
The valuation, on a cash basis, of the
city of Detroit is less this year, by $13,-
750,000, than last, when it was $4,000.-
000 lower than the preceding year.
New postoffices have been established
at Vogel Center, Missaukee county, and
Spring Grove, Allegan county. Clifford
Eostoffice, Lapeer, has been re-estab-shed.
The Village Board of Pewamo has re
solved that all saloonists of that village
must pay a corporation license of from
$100 to $500 yearly.
At the special election in Manistee,
the city voted to levy a special tax of
$4,000 and issue bonds of $20,000, thus
taking up the entire indebtedness of the
city.
Harry Aldrich, aged 9 years, wliile
at play, fell from a lumber pile into the
river at Bay City and was drowned.
Life was extinct when the body was re
covered. An Indian, named Fisher, was turned
out drunk from an Elk Rapids saloon
one night lately, lay all night in the
street, exposed to a cold storm, and was
found dead the next morning.
Elisha Mills, of Lexington, while
out hunting the other day with a valua
ble stallion, accidentally discharged his
gun and wounded the animal so senoue-
ly that it was necessary to kill him.
Mrs. Mart McCollum, a native of
Glasgow. Scotland, died in Buena Vista
township the other day, at the advanced
age of 100 years. Deceased has resided
many years in Saginaw county.
Dr. Henry M. Hcrd, assistant phy
sician at the Insane Asylum at Kalama
zoo, has been appointed by the new
Board of Commissioners Superintendent
of the Eastern Asylum, at Pontiac.
It is announced that Gov. Croswell
will appoint Frank A. Hooker, of Char
lotte, to be Judge of the rum judicial
Circuit, vice Judge Van Zile, resigned.
Tha term will last until Jan. 1,182.
Hf.nry Fisher escaped from prison at
Jackson recently. He had been trusted
too much as un outside man. He was
incarcerated two years ago for three
years, for grand larceny, and had always
behaved well.
Mrs. George H. Lawrence, of South
Boardman townsHp, Kalkaska county,
committed suicide, a few days since, by
drowning herself in a cistern. She was
detected trying to poison herself witn
strychnine the night before and pre
vented. She was supposed to be tern
porarily insane.
Toledo parties have stocked Aldrich
lake, near White Pigeon, with 5,000,000
vounc white fish, and hiinger lake wit:
50,000. They have secured certain rigms
of the adjoining land owners, and pro
pose to find out whether fish-farming can
bo made a success in inland lakes.
Matthew F. Gunion. of Dexter, a
young lawyer, has been admitted to bail
in the sum of $1,000 to await examina
tion upon the charge of arson. The
property burned was the barn of Sam
uel i; ay, a ocio larmer, wno claims ma
Gunion burned the barn to pay ou a
grudge he bore against him.
Tns following is a statement of the re
ceipts and disbursements at the Michi
gan State Treasurer's office for the month
ending March 30, 1878: Balance on
hand, Feb. 28, $895, 71 8.; lieceipts
for the month. S150.624.77: total, $205,
483.55; balance on hand, March JU,
$840,856.45.
TnE Land Office, which had been es
tablished at Ionia for forty-two years, is
now a thing of the past. By order of
the Government it wm removed to Reed
City on the 26th ult. It required one
car to contain the books, papers and fur
niture of the office. The officers who
hold over and eo to Reed City are James
Jennings, Receiver, E. Stephenson, Reg
ister, and G. W. Wilson, clerk.
Rev. E. Mcdge. of Maple Rapids,
mnvinc awav. left a vacancy in the
postoffice at that place. Accordingly,
a rmhlin meetmcr was held and a
vote taken for a successor. Mrs. Korr,
widow of Prof. S. C. Korr. a former
principal of the publio school, was the
fortunate candidate, receiving 140 votes
out of 180, the whole number cast.
Tns Commissioner of Insurance for
the State of Michigan reports that there
are twenty-six life companies doing busi
ness in Michigan, of which ten are pure
ly mutual. The number of policies in
fnree on the lives of citizens of Mich
io-nn in 20.760. insuring the sum of
$U1 .940.779. During the year the com
nation received an aggregate incomo of
ft1Q 895. 77. and disbursed the sum of
$096,679.77.
William Brothy, William McNebb,
and another man. whoso name is un
known, entered the saloon at the rail
road station in Wyandotte, kept by
William Walthers, the other evening,
and. after taking one or two drinks, be
gan to raise a disturbance. Walthers
tried to get them out, but they became
so abusive that he resorted to force, and
finally pulled out a knife and stabbed
Bronhv fatally in tho abdomen, and Mc
Nebb in the hip. Walthers was arrest
ed. He claims to have done the stab
bing in self-defense.
The members of the State Fish Com
mission, George B. Jerome. Eli R. Miller
and Dr. Joel C. Paiker, held an informal
meeting in Detroit last week, and visited
tho hatchery on At water street, where
they directed the shipment of 1,000,000
ouncr whiteflsh. These were distrib
uted as follows: 340 000 iu Saginaw bay,
100,000 at Grayling, 200,000 in the lakes
near Pontiao and Fenton, 100,000 in
Kalamazoo county and 200,000 in Lake
Michigan. It is expected that 500,000
more will be sent to Ludington aon to
be planted.
At the close of last month the State
debt of Michigan was reduced $91,000,
and is now only $1,012,000 interest
bearing and $28,150 non-interest-bearing.
State Treasurer McCreery has re
cently purchased, with the money in the
sinking fund, $5,000 of the renewal
loan bonds, due July 1, 1878, and
$38,000 of the two-million-loan bonds
due Jan. 1, 1883, each of these amounts
bearing 6 per cent interest. He has
also purchased $48,000 of war-bounty-loan
bonds due May 1, 1890, bearing 7
per cent, interest. This will make nn
annual saying of $5,640 interest on the
two last items, and a saving of about
$100 on the amount due next July.
The State Board of Fish Commission
ers have been at work for months to de
vise a plan for a fish chute that will meet
the requirements of the law. As the law
requires all chutes to be of the same pat
tern or model, they have been particu
larly careful to find one that will not
prove a failure. The Secretary says that,
after an examination of many models and
plans, the board has agreed upon one
I which it is thought will prove a success.
The model is in the hands of lithograph
ers in Chicago, and copies of it will soon
be ready for distribution. When com
pleted, a copy will be sent to every Town
Clerk in the State.
Tnn amount of specific taxes received
at the State Treasurer's office from fire
insurance companies doing business in
this State for the years 1876 and 1877 is
given in a recent report. The amount
of tax is 3 per cent, on the gross receipts
for premiums on property insured in
this State. The total amount of tax for
1877 was $10,578.95 less than for 1876.
or a falling off of about 161 per cent.
The amount of tax received in 1876 was
$54,152.36; in 1877, $52,534.52. Com
panies paying a tax of $8,961.11 in
1876 withdrew from the State after pay
ing the assessment of that year. The
amount of specific taxes received at tho
State Treasurer's office from life and ac
cident insurance companies doing busi
ness in this State for the years 1876 and
1877, was $25,513.73 in the former year,
and $22,627.41 in the latter, showing n
decrease of $2,886.32.
Sensations During Hanging.
A question has arisen which very few
living persons are in a position to an
swer, viz.. wnai are tne sensations ex
perienced during hanging ? Some of the
few who have been able to give any ac
count of their consciousness at so critical
a moment say that, after one instant of
pain, the chief sensation is that of a
mass of brilliant colors filling the eye
balls. The Quarterly Review (volume
lxxxv.) treating on this matter, says :
44 An acquaintance of Lord Bacon, who
meant to hang himself partially, lost his
footing, and was cut down at the last ex
tremity, having nearly paid for his curi
osity with his life. He declared that he
felt no pain, and his only sensations were
of fire before his eyes which changed
first to black and then to sky-blue.
These colors are even a source of pleas
ure. A Capt Montagnac, who was exe
cuted in France during the religious
wars, but was rescued from tne gibbet
at the intercession of Marshal Turenne,
cemplained that, having lost all pain in
an instant, he had been taken from a
light of which the charm defied des
cription. Another criminal, who es
caped through the breaking of the hal
ter, said that, after a second or two of
suffering, a light appeared, and across it
a most beautiful avenue of trees. All
agree that the uneasiness is quite mo
mentary, that a pleasurable feeling im
mediately succeeds, that colors of vari
ous hues start up before the eyes, and
that these having been gazed at for a lim
ited space, the rest is oblivion. The
mind, averted from the reality of the sit
uation, is engaged in scenes the most re
mote from that which fills the eye of
the spectator. All the Year Round.
The Railways of the World.
According to some statistics published
by the Economiste Francais, the total
length of railways in the world at the
end oi 10 o was iri,Knrz miies, oi wnicu
Europe possessed 89,430 miles ; Amer
ica, 83,420 miles; Asia, 7,689 miles;
Australia, 1,924 miles, and Africa, 1,519
miles. The United States had 74,095
miles; Germany, 17,181 miles; Great
Britain, 16,794 miles; France, 13,492
miles; Russia, 11,555 miles; Austria.
10.852 miles; Italy, 4,815 miles, and
Turkey, 960 miles. The railway system
in India was 6,527 miles in length, while
Canada had 4,200 miles ; the Argentine
republic, 990 miles ; Peru, 970 miles ;
Egypt, 975 miles, and israzu, two miles.
The Economise Francais calculates
that at the end of 1876 the capital in
vested in the European railways amount
ed to 2,077,200,000, and in those of
America, Australia, Asia and Africa,
l,185,f 00,000, making a total for the
railways of the whole world of 3,262,
700,000. The European railways were
credited with the possession of 42,000
locomotives, 90,000 passenger carriages
and 900,000 luggage trucks, in which
were conveyed, during 1876, 1,140,000,
000 passengers and 5,400,000,000 tons of
goods. Pall Mall Gazette.
Senator Coukling and the President.
Senator Conkling indignantly repels
all intimations that he is actuated by a
spirit of factiousness in his treatment
of nominations that are referred to his
committee, and that he is only too de
sirous to be supplied with a peg upon
which to hang an objection in order to
antagonize llayes' nominations, and if
possible defeat a favorable report. He
admits tnat ne was personally interesteu
in the defeat oi tne nominations oi
Roosevelt and Prince for Collector and
Surveyor of New York respectively, but
that was a question of life and death
with him; and besides, he considered
those nominations as inspired by a feel
ing of personal hostility to him, and
ith the design of so weakening his in
fluence and the influence of his follow
ers as to ruin his prospects for re-election
to the Senate. Aside from these
personal matters. Conkling says he has
no other desire than to deal fairly with
the President's nominations. Washing
ton telegram.
An exchange asks : 44 Can we drink
with impunity ?" Certainly you can, if
Impunity invites you.
t