J
J ' ''j
VOL. 1.
ALBANY OREGON, SATURDAY, FEBItUARY 13, I860.
SATURDAY, FEU11UARY 13, 1809.
Summer Afteinoon.
Far in hollow mountain canons
Broods, with purple-folUed pinions,
Flocks of drowsy distancc-col rs on thair nests,
And the bare, round slopes, for forest
Hare clond-shadow, floating forests,
On their breasts.
Winds are watching and dying.
Questions low with low replying, goes:
Through the oak a hushed and trembling whisper
Faint and rich the air with odors,
Hyacinth and spicy olors
Of the rose.
Even the flowcrlcss acacia
Is one flower, rnch slender stature,
With its latticed leaves a-tremV le in the sun :
They have shower-drops for blo'soms.
Quivering globes of diamond-blossoms.
Every one.
In the blue of h aven holy
Clouds go floating, floating slowly,
Pure in snowy robes aud sunny silver crown.
And they look Iiko gentle angels -Leisure-full
and loitering angels,
Looking down.
Half the birds are wild with singing.
And the rest with rythmic winging
Sing in melody of motion to the sight ;
Every little sparrow twitters,
Cheerily chirps, and cheeps, aud twitters
His delight.
Sad at heart amid the splendor,
Dull to all the radiance tender.
What can I for such a world give back egain?
Could I only hint the beauty
Some least shadow of the beauty,
Vnto men 1
THE SISTER'S SACRIFICE.
Florence ! Beautiful Florence ! While
ray pen traces thy magic name, my fancy
wanders back to thee as thou wert when
I was last a dweller within thy walls ; in
imagination I gaze upon thy fairy-like
scenery, or float upon thy calm sunny
waters !
It was at a festival given at this city
that I first beheld the heroine of the fol
lowing sketch.
Gabriella Vienzi was then very young;
but srirls ripen into womanhood much
earlier there than in oj colder climate
Her eyes were the most beautiful I ever
beheld large, black and very brilliant ;
her complexion was very gark, but clear
and richly colored ; the pearly whiteness
of her teeth became visible every time
she smiled, which was not seldom, for
she appeared very careless and happy.
She wore on that night a dress of snowy
crape, confined around the waist by a
.zone of pearls ; rows of the same were
braided with and hung down, glistening
amid her raven tresses. What struck me
jw something stransre was that all the
girls about her own age seemed to be
fond of her : this is seldom the case when
the individual is young and beautiful ;
feelings of envy and jealousy are too apt
to intrude. But it was not so now ;
loved and pitied her, although few who
looked on that bright young face would
have deemed her to be an object of pity
A little apart from the group that sur
rounded' Gabriella, stood an old man J
liia shrunken and feeble frame bent
eagerly forward, and the piercing glance
of his keen gray eyes fixed on her with
an expression of exultation and triumph
His features were pale and withered, and
there was something repelling in their
cold and passionless rigidity.. This was
the Senor Zarmondi. In his youth he
had been a spendthrift ; in his manhood
a hard, extortionate, griping miser, coin
ing, as it were, the very heart's blood of
his fellow creatures into gold ; and now,
in his eecond childhood, had again be
.come somewhat prodigal, as the costly
jewels which glittered on the neck and
arms of Gabriella bore ample testimony
Those who would know the connecting
link which united the destinies of the
joung and beautiful with the aged and
decrepit, hare only to peruse tne ioiiow
ine sketch.
Franco "Vienzi was one of those char
acters which are almost peculiarly for
eign. ' He wai extensively connected
with a gang of proscribed and desperate
rnn nd held aeerete communication
with all the pirate Vessels which occa-
fiionallv cruised near the ooast. He urea
as the saying is, on his wits, ind yet toolr
his place in society among the nobles ol
e latr.i. j. ins coma not last loiever.
lie crisis of his fate was last arproach-
n : difficulties aud dangers surrounded
7 -
him on every side, from which a large
um of money, to be expended in bribes,
could alone extricate bun. But how
was the money to be raised ! He had
recourse to Zariuonui, who was known. to
be immensely rich, and the miser refused
to accept-the frail security he offered.
Vienzi was at that time a widower, with
two daughters ; the eldest, Biatica, might
lave been reckoned by some extremely
beautiful ; her eyes were large and of
melting softness, her complexion a pure,
dazzling white ; and, except on occssions
when anger or some other emotion sent
the rich blood mantling to her pale cheek
she more resembled lLo pe-fect finish of
a statuary than a living and breathing
creature.
The 3"oung Gabriella, although then a
mere child, gave promise of what she af
terward became the loveliest female of
her time.
Zarmondi, it appears, had been struck
by-the pensive graces of the elder s-ister,
although the great disparity of their ages
rendered him silent. But an opportu
nity had now presented itself which
promised to gratify both his avarice and
his love. lie agreed to accent Vienzi's
bond, with heavy interest, on condition
that if the money was uot forthcoming
on a certaiu day, Bianca should be his
b.ide. Rendered desperate by circum
stances, Vienzi signed the agreement,
but without at that time entertaining the
slightest idea of sacrificing his child ;
and Biatica, in happy ignorance of the
fate which awaited her, yielded up her
youthful and ardent affections to the
companion of her childhood the lover
of her girlhood, Lindor Giubilei, uncon
scious that she was wrong: in so doinir.
They had been brought up together, aud
the separation which they endured when
Lindor quitted Vienzi's roof to begin life
on his own account, did not alter the
love of either. They continued to meet
and correspond almost caily. Time,
meanwhile, stole on with its rapid and
noiseless flight, and Vienzi scarcely en
deavored to raise the enormous sum ,
perhaps his daughter's peace of mind was
of little value to him, for he had never
been a kind parent.
The date of the bond expired ; Vienzi
could not redeem it, and the mizer came
that same evening to claim his bride.
The blow fell suddenly and fearfully on
Bianca when she heard that her father
had sold her to Zarmondi, but the dared
not complain. Her' father told her that
his life was in her hands that by one
word of refusal, one murmur, she would
destroy him forever ; and he alternately
threatened and entreated, terrified and
soothed her, until the bewildered girl
became a passive instrument in his hands.
She had no one iu whom she could con
fide, no one to advise and console her, for
her sister she considered as too much of
a child to be of any service in the pres
ent emergency. But Gabriella, with her
usual keenness and quickness of appre-
hensionunderstood perfectly how matters
were going on. She was necessarily the
companion of the timid Bianca, in her
stolen interviews with her lover and an
unnoticed spectator of their affliction ;
she heard all Giubilei's passionate and
earnest entreaties to her sister to quit
her cruel parent, and, forsaking country
and kindred, trust all .her future happi
ness to his love and honor. - But the un
happy girl knew too well the fatal conse
quence of such a step ; she feared that
the undying curse of the father she
should sacrifice would cling to her and
haunt her, even though the deep waters
ot tne ocean should divide tnem.
She was enthusiastically fond of her
sister, regarding her almost in the light
of a superior being. She remembered
with gratitude how often that slight form
had stood between her and her father's
wrath, even his blows, which her high
and reckless spirit often provoked. And
Bianca's slightest word met with more
attention than the sternest command of
the tyranical Vienzi, for Bianci alone
fathomed the depths of that wild and
uncurbed spirit which may be led by
kindness but by harshness never.
. The evening previous to that fixed on
for the solemnization of the u:arriage,
Zarmotidi spent at the house of his in
tended bride, aud perhaps a more gloomy
trio were never assembled on any occa
sion. Bianca, conscious that the basil
isk eyes of her parent followed every look
and motion of hers, was silent and em
barrassed ; Vienzi's assumed gayety soon
wore itself away. aud. his laugh became
hollow and mirthless ; while the stony
glance of the miser, marked, with keen
and silent vigilance, all that took place
around him. Just before his departure
he produced, from mi enve!oj of the soft
est cotton, a coronet of fine gold, iu the
centre of- which was set a large and
splendid opal, which burnel and glittered
as if it really possessed the fabled pwer
and influence ascribed to that precious
stone. It was his bridal gift, and the
trembling Bianca shrunk involuntarily
back as ho extended it toward her ; and
as her father impatiently snatched it r.nd
placed it on her head she sci earned with
sudden and undefined fear; and flinging
it on tue ground, she sank at the feet of
Zarmondi, and held up her clasped bauds
imploringly toward him.
'Take it !" she said. "Oh, take away
all your splendid gifts aud restore to me
my freedom !"
"You are free !" said the miser, rais
ing her from the ground and supporting
her to a seat. ''Vienzi, receive back thy
child, but take hood of thy own life, for
it is iu my bauds aud forfeited to my
justice.
lie turned to depart, but Biauca sprang
after him, and. clinging to the skirt of
his robe, implored him to hear her.
"Is theie no way," she frantically in
quired ; no way to save my (father but
by this dreadful self-immolation ?"
"None," replied the miser, calmly.
Bianca gazed with frenzied eagerness,
alternately at his iron countenance and
the passionate, demoniacal look of Vienza,
who stood behind her, pale with rage and
fear. There was, no hope in either, and
she averted her head and wept in an
agony that mocked control.
"This is trifling," said the miser, after
a long silence broken only by the sobs of
his victim. "Senor, I have bought and
paid for thy daughter with pure gold,
and if my bride is not forthcoming I will
have a deep and deadly vengeance
blood alone shall cancel that bond."
Vienzi shuddered, and the pale and
statue-like girl, who knelt at his feet,had
yet power to save him, and he resolved
that she should. He bent over her and
whispered in her ear, but the words he
pronounced were inaudible to all else ;
they were like the hissing of a snake.
Whatever might have been their import
they seemed to have the desired effect.
Bianca arose like one under the influence
of a charm, and dragged her feeble limbs
toward the spot where Zarmondi sat in
haughty and unmoved silence. The crisis
of her fate was come.
But at that moment the silken curtains
which divided the apartment from the
anteroom beyond it, were flung suddenly
back, and the countenance of Gabriella.
bright in youthful beauty, smiled in upon
them. She came forward with a proud.
firm step, her slight form set off to the
utmost advantage by the rich dress in
which she had attired herself, and her
dark, shining curls waving around her
like a cloud.
"Senor Zarmondi," she said, passing
before him, "suffer me to be your bride
instead of my sister."
Her low musical voice and exceeding
loveliness softened the heart of even that
obdurate old man. '
"What ! silent, Senor !" said the
maiden, a little haughtily ; "surely my
proposal requires no deliberation ! You
will have to wait another twelvemonth
before I shall be old enough to marry
you. But, meanwhile, I shall have
learned to love yon, which Bianca never
will. Besides, am I not much handsom
er than my sister ?"
The miser glanced from the glowing
countenance of the speaker to the color
less, rigid face of Bianca, aud his resolu
tion was taken.
embraced the pieserver of his fame, per
haps even of his life, and eagerly set to
work to draw up this- second agreement.
IJut when all the signatures but Gabri
ella's were affixed to it she hesitated, and
holdiug the pen in her hand, said :
'Father, before I trace cne single let
ter, I must have your solemn promise, of
which the Senor shall bo a witness, that
you will suffer the union of Bianca and
Giubilei to take place to-morrow instead
of the one intended to have been accom
plished, and that you will be present to
give your countenance and blessing to
them."
The present was not the moment to
refuse any request of the triumphant
i yiri. leuzi Having unwilhnirlv assent
ed, she affixed her name to the agreement
and delivered it witd a smile to Zarmondi,
who took his leave, facinated by her wit
and beauty, and uot in the least regret
ting the exchange he had made.
Fiom that time the destiny of the
young Florentine underwent an entire
change. She issued joyfully from the
dull seclusion and the irn rule of home,
anl reveled with wild and reckless gayety
iu all the pleasures of the world.
Zarmondi idolized his betrothed. He
was both proud aud jealous of her at
tractions. His eyes followed her every
movement and action, but could detect
nothing to raise a doubt in his mind.
The day at lengfh arrived, a day long
remembered iu Florence ; and the smiliug
bride yielded up her willing hand, and
returned in state to the splendid palazzo
of her husband.
The excitement and festivity of the
day proved too much for the enfeebled
frame of Zarmondi. Toward noon he
complained of being fatigued and retired
for a few hours to repose. In the fascin
ating society of Gabriella bis absence
was scarcely noticed ; until, waiting to
be led to the banquet, she sent a messen
ger in quest of her absent lord. It seems
that the messenger had found Zarmondi
lying on a couch in hi3 dressing-room,
quite dead. The costly robes of the
bridegroom contrasted fearfully with the
rigid limbs and withered, livid features
which they surrounded.
When Gabriella recovered from the
lonar illness which this sudden shock
threw her into, she found herself mis
tress of one of the largest estates in Flor-
8TATE ITEMS.
"Be it so," ho replied, "if the Senor
Vienzi has no objection. I will wait for
my bride yet another year."
The almost despairing father joyfully
ence ; and, after a year devoted to mourn
ing, she did what no one was surprised
at gave her hand to the Due d'Louvers,
a handsome and insinuating nobleman.
But Bianca alone sorrowed over the
object of her second choice ; for the Due,
although he had succeeded in concealing
it from Gabriella, bore but a very indif
ferent character. lie had sought and
obtained her young heart, not to return
the rich gift with his own, but because
he thirsted for the gold which she would
bring with her as a dowry ; and the
young wife, too keen sighted for her own
peace of mind, soon fathomed the char
acter of her ambitious and reckless hus
band.
With all the fervor of a passionate and
deceived woman she upbraided the Duo
with his crime, and her answer was his
careless and mocking laugh. She threat
ened ; and all the evil passions of a Vi
enza flashed from her glittering eyes
while she spoke. But the contemptuous
and ill-timed mirth of the Due quailed
not beneath her fierce menaces, and he
dared her do her worst. t
"Be it so," muttered the young Duch
ess between her ground teeth ; "I had
hoped, De Louvers, in the hour of youth
ful pride" and trust, that we might live
always together. It is enough now if we
perish thus."
The following day the Due was brought
beforo the tribunal, charged by his wife
with the willful murder of the Senor
Zarmondi, by administering poison to him
on his wedding-day j tn0 facts being
proved beyond a doubt, he paid the for
foifnro nf nrima and ambition ou the
scaffold.
Gabriella was reprieved. But, akho'
she escaped the arm of the law, death
was not to be deprived of his victim ; for,
as the mournful hell ceased to toll on the
moraine on which her husband was exe
cuted, she writhed suddenly as if in pain,
and expired on the bosom ot ner anec-
. YD 1
tionate and pitying xuauca.
Col. Win. G. T' Vault, an old resident
and editor of the first paper issued in
Oregon, died at Jacksonville, last week,
of small pox.
A revival of religion has been in pro
gress in Salem, mcetiners bavins been
held since the holidays continuously, in
the M. E. Church of tht city. Thirty
or forty accessions have been made to the
church in that time.
It is announced that Mr. Wm. Briggs,
of the Cow Creek Mining District, Doug
las county, has discovered tin ore in
quantities sufficient to warrant the ex
penditure ot money in its development.
If these anticipations should prove true,
this will be another vast source of wealth
to the citizens of Douglas couuty.
Persons who wish to inform themselves
thoroughly on the act of Congress im
posing taxes ou distilled spirits, tobacco,
etc., passed July 20, 1863, should en
close 25 cents in postal currency to D.
C. Ireland, Oregon City, and they will
receive the act, neatly printed, by return
mail.
..The new flouring mill at Oregon Citys
was to begin work on the 8th inst.
The editor of the Enterprise "prides"
himself on the fact that quite a number
of ladies had called in to take a peep at
the "office" during the week. Shucks !
that's nothing ! Look at us ! At the
east calculation we have had more than
0000000000 callers in the last thirteen
weeks, if we've had one.
The Enteijirise gives tho amount of
lands disposed of by the Land Office in
Oregon City, for the manth of January,
as follows : By final donation certificates,
11,550 acres; by homestead entries,
2,G89 acres ; by cash sales, 528 acres ;
by final homestead entries, 802 acres.
The Odd Fellows of O.egon City in
tend erecting a hall for their own use iu
that city during the coming season.
Says the Enterprise of last week :
About eighteen mouths ago the minds of
Oregonians who have any taste for a fane
invention, were atti acted to a rotary
steam engine, invented by Salmon &
Brother, of this city. Tho model was
made, and the engine worked well, but
before Messrs. Salmon obtained their
patent, the Scientific American of July
20th, 1868, informed the world that a
Printer- yes, a Printer named Turner,
of the Grand Rapids Eagle, had obtained
a patent, about then, for the same thing.
Without stopping to account for the
same tning. Witnout stopping to ac
count for the phenomena, Messrs. Salmon
applied themselves more vigorously to
the work, and now we are shown the re
sult of their labors in the Improved Ro
tary Engine, of double action reversible.
It is a very simple machine. So simple
that any one can be an engineer wherev
er it is used. It will be applicable to
locomotives, or steamboats, and wo pre
dict for it a leading place in that cata
logue. The model is finished, and will
NO. 23.
RETALIATION.
Some years ag6, in tho county of Pe
nobscot, there lived a man by tho name
of II., whose greatest pleasure was in
tormenting others. 1 , ,
One cold, blustering night, he retired
to bod at an early hour, his wife being
absent at a neighbor's.
Some time after, when returning, find
ing the door closed, she demanded ad
mittance. -
"Who are you ?" cried Mr. II." :
"You know who I am ; let me in; it's
very cold." V t- . '-
"Begone, you strolling vagabond I.
want nothing of 3-ou here."
, "But I must come in."
"What is your name ':"
"You knew my name it's Mrs. II"
"Begone ! Mrs. II. is a very likely
woman she never keeps such late hours
as this." '
Mrs. II . replied. :'if you do not let
me in I will drown myself in tho well." -
"Do, if you please," he replied.
She then took a big log and plunged
it into the well and returned to the side
of the door.
Mr. II . hearing the noise, rushed
from the house to save, as he supposed,
his drowning wife. She at the same
time slipped in, and closed the door after
her. Mr. II ., almost naked, in turn,
demanded admittance. ,
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"You know who I am- let me in or I
shall freeze."
"Begone, you thievish rogue; I want
nothing of you here."
"But I must come in."
"What is your name?" .-
'You know my namtr it is Mr. II"
"Mr. II . is a very likely man, and
don't keep such late hours."
Suffice to say, she, after keeping him
in the cold until be was satisfied, opened
the door and let him in.
go on to Washington City in a short
time. Wo should like to know how
Turner & Co. happened to get the very
same ideas concentrated in Salmon's
original engine.
A boy was sent by his mother to saw
some stove wood out of roilroad ties.
Going out doors shortly after, she found
the youth sitting on the saw-horse, with
head down. The mother asked her
hopeful son why he didn't keep at his
work. Theboy replied thus : "My
dear mother, 1 find it hard, very hard,
to sever old ties."
Fourries states that in' the progress of
the world the ocean is to lose its saltness,
and acquire the state of a peculiarly fla
vored lemonade. If it should prove to
be a "whisky flavor," wouldn't there be
"lots and gobs" of people goinfi "down to
sea in ships 1"
. The word DEBT is composed of the
initials of "Dun every body twibe." The
word CREDIT is formed of the initial
letters of '.'Call regolarly every day I'll
trust.
The greatest known velocity of the
largest ocean waves is nine hundred miles
per hour.
The Fastest Proof-Reader in
tub World. A writer in J'ackafd't
Monthly says that John Robinson, of the
New York Tribune-, is the fastest proof
reader in the world. Every twenty sec
onds he makes a quick gasp for breath,
and the full lungs and glib tonguo again .
sends out a string of clearly enunciated
syllables and polysyllables, like the qua
vers and demi. semi-quavers bubbling.
from the bosom and dancing from the
strings of Olc Bull's violin. lie makes
his corrections on the side of the proof
without ceasing to read. A quick-eyed
copy-holder is required to follow Robin
son's tongue, even on reprint copy. Rob
inson has an eye like a hawk, and in
reading a proof-sheet his eyes are gener
ally at least five lines beyond his tongue.1
I have known him distinctly to enunciate
a column of agate type, Tribune measure,
in nine minutes. In October, 1863, ho
was timed by Benjamin L. Glasby and -
S. F. feelleck, two of the best composit
ors ever employed on the Tribune, when ,
he read and marked the . proof-sheet cor
rections of 14 columns of solid nonpareil
in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
done on a wager 7.
afterwards read by an experienced proof
reader, and but two typographical blun
ders (both turned s's) discovered. Rob
inson came to the office, a boy, in 1854,
and has remained there ever since. t ..'
"While there never was a doctrinal or
practical error which had not some text
to stand upon, there never was one which 1
dared to encounter openly and honestly
the entire word of God. In other words,
there has seldom been an error wbioh
did not include some important truth ;
but just as surely as it included eomo
truth, so it excludes others.; And just
as oxygen alone will never make the at- 1
mosphere, or hydrogen alone will never
make the ocean, or rod beams alone will
never make the sun, so one fact, or one
set of ideas, will never make the truth.
A truth, by abiding alone, becomes to all
inlantuon .mvo"
'l his, was
The . sheets were
Iowa is an Indian word pronounced
by the Indians E-O-Wah, with , the ao-.
cent on the last syllable. It means
"Always Home."
A bullet was fired through the window 1
of a store on the Bowery yesterday (Feb.,
2d, afternoon. It is stated that the
sale of revolvers to merchants and other
L citizens here is large , now for personal
protection: v ' ' " .