L P Fisher
NO. 2ft.
VOLUME VI.
ALBANY, OREGON, DECEMBER 17, 1873.
Waiting tar Pupil.
There's a sweet and home- like picture,
In the little 'parlor bright.
With tlie sparkling. Hashing firelight
Shooting gleams of crimson light.
O'er the window, framed in ivy.
And the paintings on the wall,
Lighting up three childish faces
Sweetest pictures of them all.
Without, the night is dark and cloud-,
And the dreary autumn rain.
Like the touch of ghastly fingers,
Beats upon the window pane.
But the wild and solemn voices
Of the outward raging storm,
Seem to make the contrast greater,
In the parlor bright and warm.
Watching from the vine-wrcathed
window.
In the fading light of day,
Till papa chall turn the corner.
Coming up the garden way.
Three sweet, dimpled, childish faces
Kilty in tier drop of blue,
Rosy cheeks and sunny ringlets,
And her eyes of heaven's own hue.
Cuiet Mead, with hair smooth-braided,
And Her tender, gentle way,
Watching o'er the restless motions
Of the pet, and baby. May.
Hark! they hear a well-known foot
step. See a figure straight and tall ;
Forth tliey rush with eager faces,
To meet father in the hall.
Oh, we read of white-robed angels
Watching o'er this world of sin,
Can they be much purer, sweeter,
Than the childish forms within?
Watching through the storm and dark
ness Til tlie well beloved shall come.
Where they wait to greet and bless
him
When day's weary toil is done!
TELEGRAPHIC.
At Havana, on the 11th, Captain
General Jouvellar issued an address
to the inhabitants of Cuba, saying :
"The moment a treaty i issued be
tween the Governments of Spain and
the United States my duty, however
painful it may be, is to comply faith
fully with its terms. Fortius I have
received final orders, and a failure to
comply with the same would produce
war. ami war with a great Power
without aid. Meanwhile, in obedience
to the law of necessity and the orders
of the Government oi' the Spanish Re
public, lqt us deliver up the Virginia
and tlie survivors of her passengers
and crew. I have faith in the nobleness
of your proceedings in compliance with
in V word.
' JOAQUIN JOUVELLAR."
At Washington, December lltb, the
Senate confirmed the nominations of
John A. Bingham as Minister to
Japan, James 11. Howe as Judge of
tbeU. S. District Court of Wisconsin.
Colleclors of internal Revenue : Edgar
P. Snow for Wyoming Territory, and
Thomas P. Fuller tor Montana ; Fred.
Latorbet and (Consul?! General to
Paris. The same dispatch says that
at tlie next session the Senate Com
mittee on Judiciary will make a fa
vorable repwt on the nomination of
George H. Williams for Chief Justic.
This from New York. December
12th: Spanish merchants hare bought
gold largely yesterday, on the strength
of private telegrams 'suiting that the
Viraintnt was in the hands of the
Volunteers, who have sworn to sink
her rather than permit her surrender.
Tlie continued activity in all our
naval depots In pushing forward war
vessels and supplies towards Key
West and Cuba, indicates that our
Government is still apprehensive of
trouble in the premises. There is no
tomrer reason to doubt that the Castelar
Government will ciuletl? aeouiesce, if
it does not actively co-operate in for
cible measures by the Lulled States to
exact tlie terms of I he recent protocol,
if it is resisted in Cuba. All Havana
correspondence tends to show the
situation critical. Iiecause the popu
lation there is divided, and ignorant
Irresponsible, who favor resistance at
all hazards, are greatly in the majority,
hiit.lt i hoped, nevertheless, than an
energetic display of authority will
overcome tlie mob.
A telegram from Halifax, N. S.,
December 12th. says: A steamer from
Sable Island states that the schooner
Xeptrnr, of St . i Pierre, touted with fish,
had- drifted -ashore thnre, and four
bodies in a state of decomposition,
were found on board. Her masts and
tigging were gone, and her hull was
covered with sea weed. From tlie
dateofpapersfn the cabin, the schooner
MltfKlthav been dismasted hist
July, and hM been drifting since.
This from Havana, December 12th :
Tlie steamship Virginia was towed
out of the harbor of Ilavana at half
past i o'clock this morning by a tng
boat. She wag escorted by the Spanish
man-of-war AriMki La Cutolim. The
tugboat returned to the city at 7
o'clock. The destination of tlie Vir
ginia is supposed to be Key West.
Gen. W. AV. Belknap, Secretary of
War, was married at Harrisburg, on
the 12th, to Mrs. II. T. Bowers,
daughter of John A. Tomblinson.
The ceremony, owing to a recent af
fliction in the family of tlie bride's
relatives, was wholly private.
The removal of Wm. Governeur
Morris, as U. S. Marshal of California,
was made at the special instigation of
the Department of Justice, on account
of matters growing out of acts of the
late incumbent during tlie Into trial of
Captain Clarke for cruelty practiced on
the ship Sunrise.
IngenioiM Mechanical Operation.
Coaxing iron tubes to accommodate
themselves to circumstances is some
thing new in engineering. The St.
Louis IteptiHican describes the modo
of operation :
The weight of the St. Louis bridge
is at present supported by cables, and
while this is the case the expansion
and contraction of the tubes by heat
are of no consequence. It will be dif
ferent when the last tubes have to be
fitted. From the slackening of the
cables the arch in the center will
"settle" about three inches. Provis
ion has been made for this by Increas
ed length of tulies, all the calculations
being based on a temperature of O'O
degrees. At the temierature of GO de
grees it is known to the sixtieth of an
inch what would lie the intervening
space between the approaching tubes.
and the dimensions of the last joints
were adjusted accordingly- Only
once, however, has the weather been
favorable for the operation, and, after
wasting some time, it was determined
to reduce the lieat artificially. Early
one morninc 42 tons of ice were appli
ed to the tubes, and bound on by gun
ny bagging. At 3 r. M. the expan
sion Tiad been reduced about two
inches. Finally tlie application proved
successful. On the following dav the
connecting tulies were put in, and the
first arch completed.
IIow they Uiinl Flour In Texns
A correspondent of a New York
paper writes :
In Sherman we saw for the first
time an ox-mill for grinding Wheat
into flour. It was a great novelty, and
reminded us of the dog-churn days of
boyhood, when faithtul'-Watch." the
time honored house dog, and the
writer hereof used t) tramp together
on the tread, to make the wheel go
around, that the churn-d:isher might
lie sent up and down till the butter
was made. That was years ago, but
the memory of those days lingers like
an eventful dream. Here we found
an old brown building. In it was the
machinery of a grist mill, complete.
Just outside the main portion, but
undercover, was the motive powci
seven long-homed, subdued steers,
chewing tlieir cuds as they lazily
cliuiheua great wheel fifty feet across,
and ground out three thousand pound
ot superfine flour every day of the
year.
We crawled through a hole to see
how the old tiling worked, and looked
down upon tlie plodding cattle. One
of them rolled an eye around to see
who it was, and gazed at us with an
expression that seemed to say: "Don't
laugh at us for you know how it is
yourself,"
Indeed we did. Those ox-mills
were quite numerous Jo tlie South,
and are profitable Institutions, by tlie
way. About half a dozen oxen will
keep the great wheel In motion, and
turn out as fine an article ot flour as
can be produced by water or steam
power. It is barely possible that the
two women who were grinding at tlie
mill, as mentioned by our Savior,
made better Hour, but it is not on the
record, although it is proof that the
boys of to-day make the oxen do
what the fathers of old compelled the
women to do. Verily, verily, the
world moves!
Just outside tlie mill, in an luclos
ure, were several cattle waiting, but
In no hurry, for tlie hour when they
were to go marching on, and their
fellows should rest. We saw the en
gineer of this establishment as he was
wooding up with a fork full of new
mown nay; and when asked if his en
gines ever blew up. he gazed on in
with a look of admiration a less ob
servant man might have taken for
disgust.
A Strapping Joke.
A French musician has been creat
ing considerable social and public dis
turbances by his inveterate disposition
to play practical jokes. His chief ob
ject in life seems to be to worry cus
tom house officials. Arriving at
place on the frontier, provided with a
quantitv of luggage, he would pretend
to conceal a huge trunk and a smaller
one from the eyes of the officials, only
the more to excite their curiosity. At
last the larger trunk would be opened.
It would be found to contain thousands
of second-hand shoulder straps an
appendix of trousers now perfectly ob
soletewhich had evidently been
packed by hydraulic pressure, for the
most frantic efforts on the part of the
employes coukl not put them back
again into the trunk. In tlie mean
time hundreds of passengers storm at
the detention, while the practical
joker calmly looks on at the bother he
is causing. But the second anu small
er trunk has now to be examined, and
the custom house people hope there to
find him in default. They ask for the
keys. The practical joker draws
bunches of ponderous keys from every
one of his pockets: none will tit, until,
at last, their patience exhausted, the
custom house officers threaten to burst
the trunk open. Then the possessor
of the trunk calmly asks the angry
officer if he is married.
"What business is that of yours?'"
is the surly reply.
" Only this . that before you open
that trunk r would advise you to go
, i-
inline, snake nanus wiui your wiie,
kiss your little children, write your
will, and call at an undertakers as you
come back. There are rattlesnakes in
that trunk. I never travel without
them."
Of course the man leaves the trunk
instantly, and a messenger has to be
sent to' the head director, who is
shrew enough to be aware that he has
to deal with a practical joker. Pres
ently the official returns and asks pom
pously. "How many snakes have yon, sir?"
"Only six," is the reply "look for
yourself."
"Oh, only six! The head of the
department says that six snakes can
pass,but that seven would have to pay
duty. 1 am also directed to say to you
that, if you do not leave this office
trouser straps, snakes and all in five
minutes, you will be forcibly eject
ed." " And who is to repack my precious
straps, a collection unequalled in the
history of the world ? The law enti
tles me to all my goods. You took
them out ; put them back again. The
best period ot my life is being devoted
to finding pairs of these straps."
A Lake in Florida.
We take the following from an
Eastern paper:
While jieople are crossing the ocean
every year to see marvelous , things,
wonders are all the time being iUs
covered in our own country. Quite
recently a rival to tlie Yosemite and
Yellowstone Park lias been discovered
in Southern Florida. With the ex
ception of what we learn from the
maps, we have known very little
about the inland sea of Florida, known
as Okeechobee Lake. This lake lies
north of the Everglades, is nearly sur
rounded by vast swamps and cypress
forests, and is only accessible at a few
points on the north side. '1 hese points
can only be reached by weary marches
through thickets of reeds and sedge.
Some daring adventurers, however.
have succeeded not only in reaching
the lake, but in partially exploring it.
1 he take was round to lie dotted with
islands, all of great Iicauty, and one of
them containing some twentv-nve
square miles of land. The accounts of
this island represent it as of exceeding
beauty, containing high hills covered
with forests of mahogany, palmetto,
magnolia and other semi-tropical
trees. A short distance from the
island the water was found to be
nearly two hundred feet. deep. On
one Island the remains of the handi
work of civilized men were found.
some ot which were ot peculiar char
acter. The exhibition of animal life
found here would evidently delight
naturalists more than pleasure seekers.
Huge alligators swarmed round tlie
tourists, showing through Ignorance,
no signs of ferocity. On land wild
animals approached them without tear,
while spiders of every color, and lar
ger hi size than have been described,
hung suspended from the trees or run
along the ground. If the wonders of
una region are at represented it is not
strange that tlie Indians hated to leave
tlie spot
Tlie best advise to farmers take
care of what yon have.
ltuflklo Herds.
The Greeley (Colorado) Trihrne re
ports buffalo as never so plenty. The
meat, it says, sells quite readily at
three cents a pound ; a little has "been
sold for two cents. Recently thirty
teams were met in one day going after
the "game." and the whole valley is
alive with hunters and teams. Even
the Indians are tak'ng advantage of
the situation. The frihuw tells us
that both Utes and Sioux "mix in,"
and get boiling mad if they find a
hunter killing for sport. One hiintr
had fifty robes packed for transporta
tion, and while oft hunting for more
thcSioux came up and burnt most of
tlie lot. The Utes visit camps when
hunters arfi away, and help themselves
to sugar, coffee and floor, and also
Are the prairies. Our Greeley eoteni
porary claims that the town is becom
ing quite a jioint for the sale of buffalo
rones, as it is the chief town near the
buffalo region, and adds: "On Sat
urday last three teams were in town,
one drawn by four horses, loaded
down with robes, almost as high as
loads of hay. They were bought by
Mr. Koogle. whose tannery is in full
oM?ratinn. and he hopes to cure 2,000
during the season."
I want to be an Injun,
A Modoc or a Ute ;
I'm tired being a white man
An unprotected brute.
I want to be an Injun,
With "a tall, commanding form,"
And a greasy U. S. bltmket
To protect me from the storm.
I want to lie an Injun,
And learn the scalping art,
For then the darling clergymen
Will come and take my part.
I want to be an Injun,
To beg, and lie, and steal.
With that placid sense ot safety
That a white man cannot feel.
NmurivK Phockhties of Arm:?.
It is stated that by a careful analysis
it has been found that apples contain
a larger amount ot phosphorus, or
brain food, than any other fruit or
vegetable, and on this account they
are very important to sedentary man
who work their brains rather than
their muscles. They also contain the
acids which are needed every day,
esjieeially for sedentary men, the
action of whose liver is sluggish, to
eliminate effete matters, which, if re
tained in the system, produce inaction
ot tlie brain, and indeed, of the whole
system, causing jaundice, sleepiness,
scurvy and troublesome diseases of the
skin.
We know of no method ot amuse
ment so original as to fill a little boy's
mouth with snow and tie a handker
chief around his jaws to keep the
mouth shut. This was actually done
at St. Cloud. Minnesota ; but the faet
that the boy died and some parties are
in a fair way to be punished, has put
a stop to the amusement for tlie pres
ent. It is reported that the President has
decided to appoint Robert W. Hughes,
late Republican candidate for Governor
of Virginia, as United States Judge
for the Virginia District, vice Judge
Underwood, deceased.
Western women are grumbling ter
ribly because the managers of the ag
ricultural fairs don't give at least a
year's notice when they offer prizes
for the finest babies.
Prof. E. A. Sophocles of Havard
College, is going to Europe for a few
months' visit. Probably going to see
old Damocles, Pericles, Ripides, Can
tharides and other Suchasthese.
President MacMahon has commuted
the sentence of Marshal Bazalne to
twenty years seclusion, and to bear
the effects of degradation from rank.
A Gypsey woman promised to
show two young ladies their hus
band's faces in a pale of water.
They looked and exclaimed, "Why,
we only see our own faces."
" Well' said the Gypsey, " won't
they be your husbands' faces when
you are married?"
Hie Grangers of Fon da Lac
county ,Wisoonsin,organized a Town
Insurance Company during the past
Summer, and its success is already
assured.
The Queen of Tnitredjr,
It is said that before the dawn of
her splendid career, Mile. Rachel,
the French tragedienne, recited
passages from Racine and Corneille
in open air, collecting money from
the passers-by as her reward ; she
was accompanied on those expedi
tions by an oldish woman, who tor
tured a fiddle as her share' of the
performance. Afterward when she
took Paris by storm, no one recog
nized in the tiejy-cyed queen ot
tragedy the pale-faced girl who
used to recite under the stars in
the Champs Klysces. When half
her brief, splendid, extravagant and
not blameless, reign was over, Mile.
Hachel gave a " house-warming "
on the occasion of opening her new
and gorgeously-furnished mansion
in the Hue Troncin. 1 luring the
evening the hostess disappeared,
and the maitre (Photel requested
the crowded company in the great
saloon so to arrange themselves as
to leave space enough for Mile.
Rachel to appear at the upjiereiid of
the room, for she wasaliout to favor
them with a recital of passages from
I'acine and Corneille. Presently
entered an old woman with a strip
of carpet, fiddle, and tin pot, fol
lowed by the queen ot trgedy, m
the shabbiest ot frocks, pale,
thoughtful, inspired, and with a sad
smile that was not altogether out
of tune with her pale meditations ;
and then, the carpet being spioad,
the fiddle scraped, and the cup de
posited, Rachel trod the carjiet as
it it were the stage, and recited two
or three passages from the master
pieces of the French masters in dra
matic poetry, and moved her audi
enee according to her will in sym
pathy and delight. When the hur
ricane of applause had passed, and
while a murmur ot enjoyment seem
ed as its softer echo, Rachel stoop-
! ed, picked up the old tin cup, and
going round to collect gratuities
from the company, acknowledged
that she had given them a true pic
ture of her past life.
A Compart Dwelling.
The nursery of the harvest mouse
is a curious a Hair. It is made of
narrow grasses woven into a shell,
which is hung to the stem of two
or three stout grasses. This ball is
filled with young mice, and though
the mother mouse does not go in
herself, she manages to take good
care of her young. H ow she does it
is one of those things that " no fel
low can find ont;'' for she is very
shy, and will not be watched.
These curious creatures are not
the common brown mice. Their
coat is reddish brown on the back,
and white on the under side. When
full grown they are not half so
large as a common mouse ; so you
can imagine how small the mice in
the ball must be. In reaching tlieir
nest they run easily up the grass
stem, for besides the long, finger
like toes which they have on their
four feet, they have a very useful
tail, which is as good as a hand to
hold on with. When they want to
go down, they curl this little tail
lOuud a straw, and slide quickly to
the ground again.
At a school in Newcastle the
master asked a class ot boys the
meaning ot the word, " appetite."
After a short pause, one little boy
replied, " I know ; when I am eat
in' I'm appy, and when I'm done
I'm tight."
A Little Wakm. " I thought
you were born on the 1st of April, '
said a husband to his loving wife,
who had mentioned the 21st as her
birthday "Most people would
think so, from the choice I made of
a husband," she replied.