The Superior times. [volume], January 28, 1871, Image 2

About The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912

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THE HOUSEHOLD ANGEL.
Her name shines not in bannered field,
Where right and wrong so boldly war ;
Nor rings her voice in any cause
Which men and women battle for ; 1
Yet in her presence, subtle, sweet,
You long to kneel and kiss her feet.
No wondrous romance wreathes her life ;
Nor hath she led a martyr train ;
Nor beautiful nor rich is she.
But poor, and—some would call her plain;
Yet in her two dear eyes you see
A beauty shining constantly.
No silken robe enfolds her form;
Nor dainty leisure has her hands ;
Her jewels are a simple ring;
A ribbon binds her hair’s smooth bands ;
Yet in her garments’ simple grace
Her soul’s regality you trace.
No gift she has to shake and thrill
A thankless world with warbled songs.
And art that wakes the ivory keys
To other hands than hers belong;
Yet in her words o' tender cheer
A richer music charms the ear.
She walks in humble ways of life.
That lead oftimes thro’ gloom and shade;
And cares and crosses, not a few.
Are bn her patient shoulders laid;
Yet smiles and drinks each bitter cup,
And keeps her brave eyes lifted up,
And homely ways she wreathes with grace.
Harsh duty turns to loving zest;
And cheery hope and steadfast will
Are at her side, in work and rest;
Yet never dreams she you can spy
The angel looking from here eye.
MISS WARREN.
“My last hope rests in you, May.”
“ In me, father ?”
May Warren made answer in a tone
of surprise, raising her sad, anxious
eyes to her father’s face.
As if her gaze discomposed him, Mr.
Warren turned his head, and his glance
wandered restlessly around the apart
ment. He was an old man, with a tall,
spare figure, thin, gray hair, and was
sitting in an arm-ehair, by a stable cov
ered with papers, while his pretty
daughter May sat beside him on an ot
toman. She repeated her words ;
“In me, father ?” %
“ Yes,” he replied, starting from a
moment’s abstraction. “Do you re
member Col. Leighton, my dear!”
“ Col, Leighton ? An old man with
a heavy beard, partly gray, and pleas
ant blue eyes. He dined with us a few
weeks ago. Yes, I remember him, fa
ther. ”
“Not so very old May,—not so old,
as I am,—and one of the finest men liv
ing. He is wealthy,—very wealthy,
too.”
He met his daughter’s questioning
gaze fully now, as if he had wished her
to read something in his face. She
kept her dark eyes fixed searchingly
upon his countenance, the ebb and flow
of the soft color upon her cheeks be
traying the quick pulsations of her
heart.
“What do you mean, father?” she
asked, at length.
“I saw him last night. He offered
to help me—save me, if ”
“ If what, father?”
“ If I would give you to him.”
The words came hurriedly from Mr.
Warren’s lips, as if he feared that if he
deliberated he should not be able to
utter them at all. As they fell on his
daughter’s ear she started* to her feet,
pushing hex’ hair back from her pale
face, in a bewildered sort of way, as if
she were half-stunned.
“ Marry me, father? Col. Leighton?”
she cried in a low voice.
Mr. Warren took her hand, and drew
her down to her seat again.
“ May, Col. Leighton will be a good
husband to you I have known him
from boyhood, and understand perfect
ly well his character and principles.
He loves you—will be kind to you, and
strive in every way to make yon happy.
And more—and more May, he will save
me from beggary. ”
He paused, but his child, with her
face bowed upon her hands, made no
reply, nor stirred. The mute distress
that her attitude betokened was notun
noticed by him.
“ I do not force you to this, May, re
member ; the matter is left to your own
choice. But you know what my own
wish is—what the alternative will be if
you do not accept the offer.”
She knew only too well. Fully she
realized now how absolutely necessarv
the luxuries to which her'father had
been accustomed were to him. Absol
ute less of possession did not seem the
most dreadful tiling in the world to her,
but she knew what a wreck it would
make of him. In her. youth and
strength the future would still be bright
and full of hope to her; but how could
he, with his aged frame and burden of
sixty years commence life anew? The
hopeful thought that she could work
for him and supply him with his ac
customed oomforta, afforded her but a
moment’s comfort. To him, with his
stubborn, aristocratic ideas, this would
be the most severe trial of all—his de
licately reared, petted child laboring
for his support. He would never be
reconciled to it. That was no alterna
tive she saw at a glance. Then with a
desperate effort to think calmly, she
recalled the form of Col. Leighton. She
remembered his bowed head and sil
vered beard, his dark, deeply-furrowed
face, and fifty years. She could get
no further. A younger face, with mer
ry azure eyes, and tossing, sunny hair
sprang up in strong contrast. Stretch
ing out her hands to her father, as if
for pity, she cried out, “I cannot!—
oh. father, I cannot!”
The old man sank back with a groan.
“ Fost—then I am lost !” he cried
shuddering. There were no reproach
es, only those bitter words and that de
spairing attitude. White and tearless
she sat at his feet, the agony of her
heart written on her face. The wild,
desperate thought that the sacrifice was
possible, occurred to her.
“ Father, dear father !”
He raised his head, whitened with
the frosts of sixty winters, and looked
at her with a gleam of hope in his
sunken eyes. She crept into his arms
as she had done when a child, and laid
her soft cheek against his wrinkled
brow.
“ Ton know that I love you, father,’
she said. I can never remember you
but as kind, tender, and forbearing
with me. Tour heart has been my
home all ray life. I will work, beg,
sutler for you,—oh, how willingly, if
need be ! But that—oh, father, you do
not know what it is that you ask !”
lie did not speak, but a moan broke
uncontrollably from his lips, as he rent
ed his head upon her shoulder. The
struggle in her heart sent dark, shadowy
waves across her face. Could
could she ?”
" Father," she whispered hurriedly,
• let me go, now. I will see you again*
—answer you to-morrow.” And she
left left him.
He could not see her face in the
gathering darkness, only a glimpse of
something white, but be felt the qui
vering of her bps as she bent to kiss
him, and leached out his arms to em
brace, her but she was gone.
“ Heaven pity me 1" The'words came
like a wall from her lips. She was
alone in the chamber. Hung prostrate
upon a low couch, with her face hid in
the cushions The sound of the rust
ling foliage of vhe garden, and the ,
chirping of the birds, came in through
the open window with the damp eve
ning breeze, and the pale light of the
rising moon filled the room with its
soft radiance, but she was unconscious
of everthing but misery. The house
was so quiet that the sound of a foot
step crossing the hall below fell upon
her ear, and aroused her to a momen
tary interest. She heard a door open
—the library door, and then a voice
uttered a few words of common-place
greeting. She remembered it well, and
sprang to her feet with a desperate, in
sane thought of flight. But the door
closed, the house was still again, and
she was calmer.
She crossed theroom listlessly, and
drew back the curtain of the window.
The scene without was beautiful. The
moonlight lay broadly on the garden,
turning to silver the tops of the trees
and making the little lake bqyond look
like a great white pearl. Gazing earn
estly downward she saw a tall, shadowy
figure standing beneath the shade of
the old elm. With a low cry she sprang
from the room, and, a moment after,
stood beside her lover.
; “ Come, at last, my treasure,” cried
1 Mark Winchester, folding her in his
| arms. She remained leaning passively
; against his breast, while he pressed
' passionate kisses upon her forehead,
cheeks, and lips.
“ Why have you made me wait so
long, darling ?” he said softly, and, tak
ing both her slender hands in one of
his, he pressed them to his lips. “Why,
how cold you are ! How you tremble !”
he continued, as she clung to him.—
“ What is the matter, May ?”
“ I waited because I dreaded to meet
you, Mark.”
“ Why ? What do yon mean ?”
And, brokenly through her tears and
sobs, she told him all. He did not
speak of star while she was talking ;
and when she had finished there was a
long silence. She lacked courage to
say more.—he would not ask. She re
peated the last words : “ And to mor
row I must give him my answer.” Still
he did not speak.
She looked up at him. In the dim
light she could see his rigid, agonized
face, white lipi, and gleaming eyes.—
She stole her arras about his neck, and
drew his forehead down to her lips.
“ Speak to me, Mark; say that yon
do not blame me. ” •
He knew then that she had decided,
and what that decision was.
“ And you will leave me, May, and
marry that old man ?”
“ Heaven pity me, Mark, for I must.
I will become his wife, and I will be
I true and faithful to him, for he will be
kind to me. You will hear of me thus,
. and when you do, remember my words,
j Mark, that you have my heart.”
“ I will remember, May. God help
us both, for I shall never forget you.
They shall bury me with this upon my
heart. ” And he drew a tress "of soft
brown hair from his bosom.
For a moment more—one little pre
i cious moment—he held her against his
I heart, and then kissed her, put her gen
| tly from him, and was gone.
, For a moment she stood alone under
; the trees, with clasped hands and face
; upraised to the quiet sky, and then she
turned and walked silently toward the
house. A light from thelibrary win
dow streamed down on her, and" as she
looked up, she saw the shadow of a
bowed figure fall across the curtain.
“ Father, you are saved !” she mur
mured.
A hand was laid suddenly on her arm
■ and she started with a low cry.
1 “ Good evening, Miss May,” said
; Colonel Leighton. “ I have been seek
! ing yon.”
She bowed, and stood silently before
him with a calm, downcast face.
“ I have been talking with your fath
er,” he continued, carelessly pulling a
rose from a bush near them.* “ He tells
me that you have promised to think of
my proposal, and let us know what your
decision is to-morrow. Is there any
thing I can say which will influence
you to form that conclusion in mv fa
vor ?”
“ You cannot say anything which
will influence me in the least, Colonel
Leighton. As my father has said, you
shall have my answer t -morrow.”
He glanced at the ponng face, so sad
to its calm dignity, and looked down
at his fingers again, which were bruising
iu tearing to pieces the blossom he held,
and allowing the crimson petals to fall
at his feet, as if they were fragment of
the heart he was breaking. In the long
silence that followed sne glanced up at
him once with the thought of flinging
; herself upon his mercy by giving him
her confidence ; but the "stern expres
sion of his face repelled her.
“ Miss May Warren,” he said sud
denly, “ you are averse to this mar
j riage
His tone aided in rendering his words
an assertion. She was startled, but re
-1 plied quietly, “ Do you think so ?”
“ I must be blind if I could think
j otherwise,” he continued, with sudden
i energy. “ May Warren, you know that
| you hate me—that you would die rath
i er than to become my wife, were it not
for your father’s sake.”
Before she realized what she was do
| ing, the monosyllable “ Yes” slipped
from her lips.
“ And in doing this, do you realize
how you would wrong us both ?”
She was silent.
“It shall never be. I will never call
you my wife, knowing that you do not
love me—that your heart is not in my
keeping. I will not tell yeu of mv
hopes, how I have dreamed that my last
days -would be m\ happiest ones—it
would not interest you. Now I have
only to say that you are free as if I had
never seen your sweet face. ”
He paused for a reply, but she
made none. Bewildered by her position I
she did not know what to " say.
“ I know that I have my self re- 1
proach,” he went on. “My "motive in
offering your fatMbr my assistance was
purely a selfieh one. The consequences
are only what I deserve. I had no
thought of the long years during which
he had been my true and faithful
friend, but cruelly took advantage of
his position to gain my own ends. Yes,
I am properly punished.”
There was a bitterness in his tone, a
despondency in his attitude, that great
ly changed his accustomed dignified
composure of manner. Half uncon
scious of what :he did, only sensible of
the pity she felt for him, the young girl
put her hand upon his arm, and said
softly, “ Forgive me.”
“ Forgive me, rather, mv child,” he
said, gently, taking the little hand in
one of his, “ misery I have caused you. I
I should have known that our paths in
life could never be one. But good
night, I will not detain you.”
She did not shrink from him as he
bent down to kiss her forehead, with
bis last words. He stepped aside to
allow her free passage to the house,
but she did not move.”
“ You are thinking of yonr father,”
he said. “Do not be distressed on bis
account. Remember me in your pray
ers to-night, and sleep sweetlv. It is
all I ask.”
He did not wait to hear her fervent
“God bless you !” or witness her burst
of joyful tears, but quickly left her.
The morning sunshine streamed bold
ly Into the apartment of old Mr. Warren,
where he lav in the heavy sleep of phvs
ical and mental exhaustion. The*fore
noon was far advanced when a servant
roused him, informing him that Col.
Leighton waited in the library. Mak
ing a hasty toilet, the old man left his 1
chamber and went to join his friend.
The gentlemen met cordially, and CoL
Leighton immediately requested that
May might be sent for. They waited
but a few minutes before the door
swung noiselessly open, and, wearing a
white morning robe, the young girl en
tered. At a motion from her father she
sat down upon a low seat at his ieet,
and then glanced up with a confiding
smile at Col. Leighton, who stood lean
ing against the mantlepieee, with an
expression of face half-sad, half-ad
miring.
“We are waiting for your answer,
May,” said Mr. Warren, quietly.
“ I will leave the matter entirely in
Col. Leighton’s hands,” she replied.
The old man glanced perplexedly from
her to his old friend. Col. Leighton
stepped forward.
“My old friend, James Warren,” he
said, “I met your daughter last night,
and talked with her. I discovered with
what feelings she regarded a marriage
with me, and cannot allow the sacrifice
she would make for your sake. I wall
never marry her; she is free. And
now I have to ask your pardon for the
unmanly way in which I have taken ad
vantage of your embarrassment, and
have come so near to destroying’ the
happiness of your child. Every power
of mine shall be exerted to its utmost
to relieve you, and all the reward I ask
is, the knowledge that you and May do
not despise me. Nay, nay, no thanks.
I desire rather to be scorned for the
part I have acted. But I have one favor
to ask, old friend. Will you allow me
to choose a husband for your daugh
ter?”
“You have my full and free permis
sion,” replied Mr. Warren, smiling
through his tears.
“But I hope you will be more suc
cessful in your choice than I have
been.”
“Never fear,” said the colonel, with a
glance at May. Flinging open a door
that led to another anartment, he call
ed, “Now, my boy!” and Mark Win
chester sprang into the room.
“Behold your future son-in-law,”
said Col. Leighton; and ere the old
man could comprehend the scene, the
young couple knelt for his blessing. At
a motion from his friend he gave it
willingly; and never was there a hap
pier party.
Through the interposition of his
friend, Mr. Warren was saved from
ruin, and his daughter made happy.
When May that morning asked for a
solution of the problem of -Col. Leigh
ton’s knowledge of Mark, he replied,
“ I did not wait a half hour in the gar
den to no purpose, little one.” And
she understood that he had overheard
the conversation with her lover.
Through his influence Mark’s talent as
an artist became known to the world,
and a few years afterward he became
a popular painter and a wealthy man ;
and out of gratitude to his benefactor
he christened his first-born son Edwin
Leighton Winchester.
The Lyons papers tell a good story
The bed chambers of two wealthy gen
tlemen are adjacent, and thin parti
tions divide them. One tenant spends
his nights at his club house, never re
turning home before half-past five in
the morning. His neighbor rises at
six, and sits down at once to his piano,
which he does not quit until dinner.—
The former complained to the Com
missary of Police, who laughed in his
face, and told him to keep better hours.
As he had a lease for six years,he could
not change his apartment. He thought
of sending a challenge to his neighbor;
his neighbor was paralyzed in his low
er limbs. He iiad his walla fined with
thick mattrasses: still “sharps” pene
trated into his room. He made his
servants take a hammer and rap against
the wall. His neighbor waited until
he was tired, and then began to play.
IHe then bought a large hand-organ,
which was sadly out of tune, and had a
turnspit, which would turn eight days
without being wound up, fitted to the
organ. The turnspit was put in motion
after it, and the organ had been placed
next the chamber wall. The piano
player bore the organ for nineteen
I years, at the end of that time he sent a
letter of truce. He was told the club
hunter had gone out of town and
wouldn’t be back in a * week. The pi
anist sold his lease. The organ is still
going- _
The cultivation of cranberries is just
now attracting considerable attention
throughout Maryland. The Cumber
land Civilian of last week has the fol
lowing on the subject: “The cultiva
tion of cranberries in several localities
of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey
has proven a great pecuniary success,
yielding large profits for the labor ex
pended in their culture, beside render
ing valuable a character of lands hith
erto of but little or no worth. Now in
the Glades region, of this county, are
thousands of acres of the best land
adapted to the growth of the cranberry
to be found in the United States. These
lands are even now productive of cran
berries in their wild state, seeming to
point out to our blinded farmers their
fitness and adaptability, and convinc
ing at once that to cultivate the berry
would be no experiment, but a positive
success.
A friend of Koopmanschap says that
the'Chinese prefer railroad work to any
other; indeed, dislike plantation work.
There are about one thousand planta
tion hands in the South, at work in the
States of Arkansas, Louisiana and
Texas. Of these, but three hundred
signed contracts in China ; the remain
der are from San Francisco. Besides
these there are, perhaps, two thousand
five hundred men at work in Tennes
see, Alabama and Texas, none of whom
contracted in China. There are about
four hundred Chinamen in the South
who have escaped from coolie servitude
in Cuba; and Mr. Koopmanschap has
a contract, to be filled early the coming
year, for one thousand men to go to
Kansas.
Blitz Outdone. —in California, when
the diggings were paying well, Signor
Blitz, visited a gulch, and, before a
large audience, exhibited his legerde
main. - During the performance, he
took out his handkerchief, threw it into
the air, caught it again, when he took
a twenty dollar piece out of it, asking
the boys if they could do that. Old
Pete, a “forty-niner,” who had never
changed his mining shirt., since he came
into the diggings, immediately went
upon the platform, took off his" shirt,
dipped the tail of it into a bucket of
of water, held it up, and rung out
$39,50 in gold dust, including 15 pounds
of subsoil. Blitz took the next mule
train.
Protection of the Water Pipes.—
Dr. Schwarz, of Breslau, gives a sim
ple method whereby water may be run
through lead pipes without becoming
poisoned. The pipes are filled with
warm, concentrated solution of sulphide
of potassium or sodium, and left for
about fifteen minutes, when an insolu
ble sulphide of lead will be formed
within, and line the pipe. The hint
may be worth something.
THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
\V li a t German In lon la Costing and
How It Is Viewed In Germany.
• World’s Berlin Letter
It remains for me to explain in what
light the German nation views the
King’s elevation to the imperial throne.
I find that out of Germany the King of
Bavaria’s offer is regarded as an expres
sion of loyalty and homage, and an in
tended reward for an approved under
taking, and that the nation is in the
same manner supposed to rejoice at
seeing King William thus crowned with
honors for his popular campaign. This
is erroneous. A great party there is,
of course, regarding the King's eleva
tion as his personal triumph; and there
are some who welcome the event as se
curing to Prussia the long-desired rule
over Germany. But on the whole the
matter lies very different. The sover
eigns of German States are anxious
that King William should assume the
imperial title, not as homage to him,
but as an excuse for paying him hom
age. As King of Prussia he is their
equal, to whom it is Inimiliating for
them to submit. As Emperor he re
vives a constitutional superiority, and,
by the offer coming from his fellow
princes, even the old form of quasi
election is preserved. The former
Emperors we're considered as above the
Princes; and the traditions of the Em
pire are still too well remembered to
make submission irksome. The last
Emperor abdicated in 1806. and since
then many attempts have been made to
revive the dignity and office—the latest
in 1848, when an Archduke of Austria
was elected Regent. As elected Em
peror, the ihosv powerless Prince took
precedence of his former superiors and
equals; the in truth vanquished sover
eigns will now pay homage
to the King, not as of force,
but of choice. The nation, on
the other hand, rejoices not so
much in the elevation ol King Wi-liam
to the higher rank as in the revival of
an office that seems at least, and pos
sibly promises, to establish a common
and general country, the supposed
eroundwoik for internal development.
It is not the victory of Prussia but the
regeneration of Germany that elicits
such marks of joy as are exhibited.
But, to say the truth, there are very
few. Disgust at the frustrated hopes
of Ihe South German treaties, and weari
less of the horrors of war, damp this
joy considerably. The empire still
looks more a thing of show than of
matter, and perhaps disappointment,
at the blessings of unification falling
short of what they promised to be, now
that union is established, contributes to
the discontent. On the other hand,
■while hundreds of thousands are wa
ging' war in France, each of whom
may fall a prey to fisrht or
illness any day; after thousands
and tens of thousands have been killed
| and mutilated, and sadness andmoum
img have found their way into almost
'every German family; while business
suffers, agriculture i$ at a stand still,
taxes threaten to increase, and no
promise of an end is as yet to be dis
covered—there is but one event which
would produce real, heartfelt and gen
eral joy, and that is peace. Newspapers
keep up a show of limbtheartedness. but
private life and business plainly betray
the symptoms of impatience arid weari
ness of a war, the first and laudable
object of which vanishes more and
more out of sight the further the Ger
man battalions advance, and that, thus
| deprived of its legitimate excuse, and
1 as much of German union being estab
lished as can at present be hoped for.
appears to be conducted for no end but
conquest, which is not worth having in
exchange for all the sacrifices it costs.
The Coniraander-in-rhlef of the French
Army of the North.
Louis Leon Cresnr Faidherbe, now
Commander-in-Chief of the French
i Armv of the North, was born at Lille
on the 3d of June, 1818. He was ed
i ucated at the eollece in that place, en
| tered the polytechnic school in 1838,
I then went on to the military school at
I Metz, which he left in 1842 with a lien-
I tenant's commission in the Ist regiment
iof engineers. He served first in Al
j Qferia, where lie remained throughout
! 1844 and 1845. Having obtained the
rank of captain, he sailed, in 1848, for
La Guadaloupe, where he acquired
much colonial experience, and became
inured to life in the tropics. Having
failed in obtaining an appointment
at Senegal, he returned to Algeria
lin 1850, where he constructed the
| outlving fort of Bou-Saada, took part
■in the campaign of Kabylia, under
| Gen. Saint-Arnaud, and also in the ex
pedition of Gen. Bosquet to the Alger
ian highlands. The services he per
formed at the time of the disaster
which then occurred were rewarded by
the Cross of the Legion of Honor. At
the end of that year—lßs2—he was, at
his reiterated request, sent to Senegal.
Here he soon gave proofs ot remarkable
administrative ability, and, after two
years’ residence, showed srch knowl
edge of the needs, the dangers, the
economy, and the practical policy of
the colony that in 1854 he was made
Governor of the French possessions in
Senegal. M. Faidherbe now devoted
himself to the fulfillment of the task
he had so long wished to take in hand—
the thorough renovation of the colony.
He carried on a successful warfare with
the Moors of Furza, but his principal
warlike achievement was the struggle
he carried on for some time, and over a
great extent of territory, with
the prophet El-Hadji-Omar, who
had conceived the idea of
founding a vast Mussulman Empire in
Central Africa, and driving out all for
eign intruders. He compelled this
apostle of Islam to submit in 1860, and
left Senegal to command the sub-divis
ion of Sidi-bel-Abbes, having been
made Lieutenant-Colonel of Enefineers
in 1855, and Colonel in 1858. But his
absence was soon felt in the colony, his
policy was not maintained, his instruc
tions were neglected, and everything
retrograded. On the 20th of May,
1863, M. Faidherbe, raised to the rank
of Brigadier-General, resumed the *eins
of government in Senegal. Two years
after, his health requiring his return to
a less murderous climate, he took the
highest command in the sub-division of
Bone. M. Faidherbe has written much
on the manners, language, and history
of the African nations, as well as on the
topography, geology and archaeology of
the districts thev inhabit. He is a
member of the Geographical Societies
of Paris, London and Berlin.
A Nfw York correspondent writes:
The other dav the front door of the
New York Tribune office b ad been closed
for some porpose. So Horace Greeley
wrote on a piece of paper, “Entrance
Spruse street, ” and sent it down to the
man who does the painting of the bullet
ins to be copied. The men studied over
Horace’s tracks all the forenoon, and
finally in despair, wrote “Editors on a
Spree!” and posted it up. The passers-by
thought the circumstance was not unu
sual; but wonderd whv it should be pos
ted up so conspicuously.
Prttssivg’s White Wine Yinega
a most superb article for table use Ask
wayt pure. JJ
Alligators.
From Llpplncott’a Magazine.
Jmst imagine a black, slimv-looking
lizard, from ten to twenty feet long,
and yon have him exactly. A dirtier,
nastier-looking creature can be seen
nowhere. He is odoriferous too—the
wrong way. Where they are often
hunted and much shot at, alligators
become very timid and shy, and avoid
men instinctively. In wilder parts of
the country they are sometimes fierce
and troublesome.
As they crowd the banks of the rivers
travelers have fine sport shooting them,
and even boast of killing a good many;
indeed, to hear the accounts of the
cockneys when they come down the
St. Johns’ river, you would expect to
find the stream covered with floating
carcasses of dead ’iga’tors. But in
truth, the creature is very hard to kill ;
in three days’ journey on the St. Johns’
I saw some three hundred shots fired,
and only one alligator killed outright.
He was struck in the eye: his brain was
penetrated, and he lay like a log. An
other was made very sick by a ball in
the neck, and has had a stiff neck ever
since.
They are not sociable creatures; I
have seen hundreds, and never two of
them together. Each one of the big
fellows will have his own stretch of
river-shore or his own fide of a pond,
or the whole of it, if a small one, and
allow no intrusion by others of his
kind. I have often heard the negro
steersman call out, “Get your guns;
dar’s de place were de big ’gaitor lives;”
and there he would b< sure enough
monarch of all he surveyed. Alliga
tors are tenacious of their rights of
ownership. If another trespasses,
there is a big fight, generally ending
by the stronger eating the weaker.
The female piles up in the swamp a
mass of mud and leaves for a nest, that
the sun’s heat may hatch her eggs. She
is then peculiarly savage, and will at
tack anything. A friend of mine found
one of these nests, and standing on it,
employed himself in raking out the
eggs and throwing them against a tree,
much to the detriment of the young,
unhatched alligators, who had not been
consulted. There was another party,
however, who thought that she had a
right to an opinion in the matter, and
that was the female alligator. A rustle
in the bushes, a rush, and then a big
pair of jaws belonging to an eighteen
footer, were heard snapping between
his legs. She was so mad that she
missed her aim.
Mv friend is a slow man—T never
saw him even walk fast—but on this oc
casion he did not wait to apologize;
there was then exhibited some of the
tallest jumping, tumbling and running
ever seen in Florida, or anvwhere else.
The female will not allow the male to
approach her nest. He has a glutt 'li
ons habit of eating all the eggs, thus
necessitating her laying more, which
she does not like to do. So, whenever
she catches him in that neighborhood
she thrashes him on general principles
—he either has done mischief or intends
it; at any rate, he is meddling in do
mestic matters and deserves snubbing.
I am told that it is really amusing to
see the big bully stick his tail between
his legs and sneak off, the very image
of a hen-pecked pusband, after one of
these conjugal scoldings. He is not by
any means a model husband; and, al
though he takes his thrashing kindly,
he revenges himself by watching until
the eggs are really hatched, an.' then
eats up as many of the causes of the
family dispute as he can catch. Young
alligators don’t like to know their own
father.
I heard of but few instances where
these creatures have attacked grown
men. They are fond of children, and
show their attachment to the offspring
of other people as they do to their own.
In one instance, where a man on horse
back was crossing a ford, he was seized
by the leg, but when his dog plunged
in, the alligator left his leg to take the
more delicate morsel. In another in
stance, an alligator struck at a mule
pulling at a cart,and bit out two spokes
from one of the wheels, leaving
a tooth sticking in one as a
memento of the visit. He hurried
off with great speed, on the lookout, I
suppose, for a dentist.
’Gaitors like dogs, pigs, and young
darkies. The dog is a special favorite.
The whine of an alligator is easily mis
taken for that of a puppy, and may
mislead a young and inexperienced
dog. A wise Florida dog will not go
boldly down to the water to drink ; he
learns by experience after having been
eaten once or twice. If the shore is
open, he will draw all the aligators to
one place by a barking, and tlien
scamper off to some other place where
the coast is clear; or he will creep
down to a moist spot, tail down, body
crouched, eyes skinned and ears up,
pushing his paws before him slowly to
feel the water, lapping it without noise,
and then sneaking away again.
The alligator has his uses; near every
house you find more or less swamp,
and in every swamp more or less alliga
tor. I heard one lady complain very
much because some traveler had killed
her alligator. He lived near, and killed
snakes, frogs, young wildcats and other
varmints; thus he earned his board,
and was consequently protected; be
sides this, he was useful in preventing
young children from straying too far
from home.
“Order of Old Women.”
To parody Juvenal’s hackneyed lino,
being men, nothing concerning women
is alien to us. We read, therefore, with
lively interest, that anew society has
been formed in England, called “The
Reformed Order of Old Women,” a sort
of cross between a burial society and a i
convivial club. Some of the rules of j
this sisterhood are curious. Its primary i
object is declared to be the cultivation
of friendship, the pleasure of good
company, and the improvement of inor
als, and in these respects it is that
“every old woman shall cheerfully sub
scribe her wit to enliven the meeting,
as well as her money to defray the nec
essary expenses of the lodge,” which Id
like “theSorosis” again. But other
by-laws full of painful suggestions fol
low. Thus:
“ Any sister swearing, or singing any
improper song, or giving any improper
toast or sentiment, shall be fined three
pence.” Moreover, we fear that Betsy
Prig and Sairey Gamp must both be
among the Odd Sister; if not, why had
the society adopted the following rule :
“ Any sister entering the lodge-room
in a state of intoxication shall be Ikied
one shilling; and every visiting sister
shall pay two-pence for ale, to be drunk
with the lodge ale the same night, and
any sister refusing to do so shall be
fined one shilling to our own lodge
fund.
“If they draws the Brighton Tipper,
here,” said Mrs. Gamp, “ I takes that
ale at night, my love, it being consid
ered wakeful by the doctors.” As
there is an intimate connection between j
wakefulness and the “wit” which
every Odd Woman is expected cheer- i
fully to “subscribe,” it seems to be i
rather an oversight that the constitn- ;
tion of this lovely choir does not insist i
upon “the Brighton Tipper ”to the i
exclusion of every other brew.
Reminiscence of La Fayette’s Visit to |
This Country.
The Washington correspondence of
the N. Y. World contains the following:
General La Payette arrived in this
country in August, 1824, and was met
with ovations wherever he went. Con
gress gave him a warm welcome, and
Mr. Speaker Clay addressed him in his
accustomed felicitous style, awakening
unbounded enthusiasm. The General’s I
response was equally appropriate and 1
happy.
Gen. La Favette, after a year’s so- 1
jonm, came to Washington in Septem
ber, 1825, to pay his farewell respects
to President Adams. The scene at the
White House was impressive in the i
highest degree. Mr. Adams surpassed ;
himself, and brought gushing tears to
the eyes of the listeners. How touch
ing and truthful his allusion to “belle
France,” the home of the illustrious
visitor. The General was overwhelmed
with gratitude, yet played his part with
dignity and grace.
General Lafayette was escorted from
the Presklent’s house to the national
vessel in the Potomac, near the Arsenal,
by several volunteer companies—one of ,
which was commanded by the late Col.
W. W. Seaton, one of the editors of
the National Intelligencer—and embark
ed for France amidst the cheers of the
sympathizing multitude.
The Mayor of the city, Roger C
Weightman, who received General La
fayette on his arrival here and accom
panied him wherever he went on sight
seeing expeditions, is still living, and
tells of his accompanying the party on
the Brandywine some distance down
the Potomac. Another gentleman tells
of the General’s first reception in Alex
andria, and how he, as a small boy,
stood with a long line of his schoolmates,
attired in white trowsers and blue
i tickets, on one side of the way, while a
line of little girls in white dresses and
blue sashes stood on the opposite side
and repeated alternate lines of poetry.
The little girls strewed flowers, and the
boys spoke of “the fair strewing flow
era for the brave.” An arch was placed
on the line of march, as was the case
in every city, and on the arch a live
American eagle was placed to strike
attitudes as natural as was consistent
with the means taken to secure the
bird in its position. When the dis
tinguished visitor passed beneath the
arch a canon fired the salute and the
eagle took fright and yelled with terror.
But the writers of that day were as
ready as those of our own time to give
to untoward circumstances a fair ap
pearance, so the reporter of the period
told how, as the hero passed beneath
the arch, “the bird of freedom uttered i
a note of triumph.”
Summary of Congressional Proceedings.
Senate, Jan. 4th.—Among the hills intro
duced was one to enable honorably discharged
soldiers and sailors, their widows "and orphans
and children to acquire homesteads on the
public lands of the United States.—The bill
was passed amendatory of the funding act of
'he last session, authorizing an increase of
the issue of five per cent, bonis from S2OO,- j
'tOO.OOO to $500,000,000, and making the inter- I
eat on the same pavable quarterly.—Sumner’s !
resolution calling for information on San Do- i
naingo matters was adopted without objection.
—Some discussion was had on the bill for the 1
relief of Congressmen from importunity in
regard to official appointments, but it went
over without a vote.—After some further busi
ness of secondary importance the Senate ad
journed.
House —Among the hills offered was one to
extend the benefits of the homestead policy to
disabled soldiers and sailors, and to widows
and orphans and dependent relations of those
who died in the service of their countin’. —
Wood offered a resolution calling upon the
■ President for all correspondence, papers, Ac..
I relating to San Domingo. This created some
i discussion,pending which the House ad journed.
Senate, Jan. sth.-—Several hills were intro
duced and referred, among which was one for
j the appointment of inspectors in the Indian
j service. It directs the President to nominate
I to the Senate six inspectors of Indian affairs,
j who, under direction of the Interior Depart-
I ment, and at a salary of $4,000 per annum.
| are to visit the Indian tribes and inspect their
sanitary, industrial and educational condition
j —A bill was patted providing that hereafter nc
tax shall be imposed or collected upon anv un
-1 distributable sum added to the contingent fund
of any insurance company, nor on unearned
premiums received for risks assumed.—A reso
hit ion was adopted calling for the correspond
ence between the State Department and Min
ister Motlev, relating to his duties and also to
his removal.—The bill for the reimbursement
of J. M. Best, of Paducah, Ky., for the de
struction of his dwelling house during the war
by the Union forces was passed, aPer consid
erable discussion. It appropriates $25,000 for
the purpose. Adjourned.
House.— Gen. Schenck’s resignation of his
seat was presented.—Orth, of Indiana, was
appointed to fill the vacancy on the committee
of Ways and Means, caused by Schenck’s res
ignation.—Some time was spent in discussing
the resolutions relative to Paraguayan affairs
and Minister Washburn, but they went over
without a vote.- A bill was passed giving Mr.
Scheuck, United States Minister to England,
an additional allowance of $2,500 per year fur
private amanuenses, rendered necessary on
account of Mr. Schenck’s partial disability of
h risigbt hand from wounds received in battle
Adjourned.
House —Jan. 6. — Several unimportant bills
were introduced when the House resumed the
consideration of the resolutions reported by
the Committee on Foreign Affairs in reference
to the dispute between Minister Charles A.
Washbume and the late Government of Par
aguay. After some discussion they were
adopted. They declare Rear Admiral S. W.
Gordon, in neglecting to aid Mr. Washburne
in reaching the government to which he was
accredited, failed to discharge his duty as Com
mander of the South Atlantic Squadron; that
Messrs. Bliss and Masterman were members
of the personal suite of Mr. Washbume. a®d
, were, therefore, under the law of nations, en
titled to the protection of the United States :
that the forcible arrest and detention of
Messrs. Bliss and Masterman by the govern
ment of Paraguay was a violation of the law
of nations and a gross insult to the honor
and dignity of the United States. They
approve the action of the President in with
drawing the American Minister, Gen. McMahon,
from the government of Paraguay, and de
clining to have further diplomatic intercourse
with that government, and they declare it to
be clearly the duty of the United States naval
officers at foreign stations to render all reason
able assistance to diplomatic officers of the
United States, in the discharge of their duties,
and that a refusal or neglect to render such
assistance when required, or any discourtesy
of such naval officers toward diplomatic
officers, shall be a subject of inquiry and pun
isment by the Naval Department. Additional
resolutions were adopted directing a court of
inquiry for the trial of Admirals Gordon and
Davis; disapproving of the conduct of Rear
Admiral Chas. H. Davis in delaying for an un
reasonable time to proceed to the rescue of
Messrs. Bliss and Masterman, in accepting
their release in the manner and under the
circumstances detailed in the testimony, and
in receiving, holding and treating them as
prisoners; declaring that Admiral Gordon, in
negl Acting to aid Mr. Wasbum in reaching tire
Government to which he was accredited, failed
to discharge bis duties as commander of the
South Atlantic Squadron. Adjourned.
Senate, January 9th.— A bill was introduced
appropriating $25,000 for the completion of
the harbor of Duluth, Minn.—The Judiciary
Committee reported adversely upon the bill
for tire election of Presidential electors and
members of Congress by ballot.—The
House joint resolution appropriating $2,500 p
year for an amanuenis for Minister Schenck,
passed.—The correspondence between Minis
ter Motley and the state department was pre
sented and ordered printed.—The bill relative
to mints, the assay office and coinage was dis
cussed during the remainder of the session
without a vote. After an executive session
the Senate adjourned.
House.— After the introduction of a large
number of hills, Orth asked to suspend the
rules and take from the Speaker’s table and
pass the Senate joint resolution authorizing
the appointment of commissioners in relation
to the annexation of Dominica. After con
siderable discussion on the subject, and the
understanding that the resolutions should re
main open for debate until two o’clock to
morrow, the motion to suspend the rules was
carried, and the resolutions were ta ken up an
debated until 5 o’clock, whoa the House ad
journed.
Summary of Late News.
J. R. West was, on the 10th, elected
United States Senator by the Louisiana
Legislature.
Gov. Clayton, of Arkansas, was elected
United States Senator, Tuesday, by a
vote of 94 against 14.
James Kelly, ex-postmaster of New
York city, died at his residence at 6
o’clock Tuesday evening.
The Missouri River opened at Fort
Benton Monday, and is now entirely
free from ice at that place.
Stephen S. Ward well, for 15 years
cashier of the Eagle Ba kof Providence,
R. 1., died Tuesday morning, aged 70.
The cattle plague excitement has
caused some attention at Portsmouth,
New Hampshire. Cases are reported
at Seabrook.
Gov. Randolph, of New Jersey, in
his message shows that the receipts of
the State of New Jersey, for 1870,
have been $031,000; disbursements
$562,000. Two-thirds of the receipts
came from railroad sources.
The Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Life
Insurance Company of New York has
failed, and a receiver has been appoint
ed. It is charged with making false
entries of business in its books, in or
der to show a large amount of business
Arthur X. Breed has been arrested
on charge of committing the railroad
express robbery near Albany, N. Y.
The express agent, Halpine, is so low
from the effects of his wounds that it
is not deemed safe at present to bring
Breed before him for identification.
John Zook, belonging in Farmington,
111., committed suicide at the City Ho
tel, Chicago, Monday evening, by tak
ing poison. It appears by the evidence
before the coroner’s jury that Zook and
his brother wooed the same girl; the
brother won the girl, and John had
nothing left to live for.
The Roman Catholic Church of St.
John the Evangelist, located on Fif
teenth street, near Fourth avenue, New
York, was totally destroyed by fire
Tuesday evening. The church was a
wooden structure, very old, and the
value does not exceed $20,000; insured
for $5,000. The organ was worth $25,-
000.
On Monday night the through train
from New York, which left Baltimore
for Washington at 8:30 p. m., was en
tered by robbers, who broke into the
baggage car, and threw off’ five trunks
near the Four Mile House, and after
rifling more baggage in the ear, left the
train at the Relay House, and went
back to secure the trunks. Detectives
discovered that no clothing was taken,
the object seeming to be to secure valu
ables. One gentleman had $2,500
worth of diamonds in the car, which
the thieves did not succeed in getting.
No clue to the robbers has been dis
covered.
FOREIGN.
The Right Hon. Wm. Monsell, Mem
ber of the British Patliament, from
Limerick county, has offered the Pope
a residence on his estate in Ireland.
The second instalment of the German
loan has been taken up by contractors
at an advance.
A u Boston (iirl ” and the War in
France.
A curious but interesting story is
| told by the Washington Patriot, a jour
nal edited by Mr. Harvey, lately Min
ister to Portugal, a gentleman likely
to be well informed upon the intrigues
of Peninsular politics.
The Patriot says that for a longtime
j negotiations were going on for placing
I upon the throne of Spain Dom Fernan
do, the father of the King of Portugal,
i Dom Fernando was flic widower of
i Donna Maria 11., and had married af
terwards an American lady, Miss Heus
ler, at the time connected with the
Grand Opera at Lisbon. Alisa Hensler
was a native of Boston, who had stud
ied music in Italy, and achieved
some success on the operatic stage,
while the charms of her person and the
graces of her character were universally
admired. Before her marriage with
Don Fernando, the Duke of Saxe-Co
bnrg had created her Countess d’Edla,
and her position was one in every way
calculated to ensure her happiness.
I But Prim and the Spanish Cortes were
I unwilling to receive her as Queen Con-
I sort of Spain, and as the gallant old
Fernando made this a sine qua non, the
I negotiations fell through, and the
throne was offered to the Prince of
1 Hohenzollem. Then came the war
Such is the romantic story, from
I which the Patriot thinks it clear that
the war resulted from “the unsatisfied
ambition of a Boston girl.’ Post hoc
\ is not always propter hoc. There never
I yet was a war which was not traced up
j by some marvel-monger to a frivolous
: and remote cause. Sever, the cook,
; used always to declare that the war in
| the Crimea would never have occured
but for a headache of some great lady
residing in one of the embassies
in Constantinople. Scyer had cooked a
dinner for Lord Stratford dc Redcliffe,
which was designed to compose all the
troubles between Russia and the west
ern powers. The soups were soothing,
there were pates cl la pacification and
conciliatory croquettes, and the entente
cordinlc was to pervade and character
ize the whole menu down to the
Maraschino; but the fine lady had the
headache, the dinner was postponed,
and the end was Sabastopol.
History is every repeating itself, and
secret history most of ail.—.V. Y. Post.
“ Magna est beer et prrvalcbiV
should be the motto of the Bavarian
army. Made is a miserable stimulus
to these brave fellows compared to the
ncentive of “ along drink.” “Look
here, my lads,” said a major to his men,
“ it is now 9 ; at 12 we’ll tap anew bar
rel at Weisenbonrg. ” There was no re
sisting men with this in prospeet, and
the barrel was broached at the appoint
ed hour.
A happy youth in Connecticut has
three living grandfathers and six living
grandmothers, making nine grandpa
rents. His grandfather, grandmother,
great-grandmother, and great-great
grandmother are living in the same
family. Next door live his grandfather,
grandmother, and great-grandmother,
and within a mile live his great-grand
father, and a third great-grandmother.
Chapped hands, face, rough skin,
pimples, ringworm, salt-rheum, and
other cutaneous affections, cured, and
the skin made soft and smooth, by using
the Juniper Tar Soap, made by Cas
well, Hazard & Cos., New York. It is
more convenient and easily applied than
other remedies, avoiding the trouble of
the greasy compounds now in use.
The assets of the Mutual Life Insur
ance Company of Chicago, on security
invested in bonds and mortgages first
lien upon real estate, and in United
States bonds and securities, in accord
ance with the laws of Illinois.
Life Insurance has the great advan
tage of providing money for immediate
use, for the benefit of a family or to
pay debts.
Take a policy in the W ashington
Lite.