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About The Albany register. (Albany, Or.) 1868-18?? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1874)
I THE frOUTSTKPM OK DECAY. The following is a translation from as ancieat Spanish poom. which, aays the Kdinburgh Bevim, Is surittmstd 1- nothing with which we are ac qnaiiiteil in t hp Spanish language, except the " Ode of L"uia do Lon. '1 Ch. let the soul lt Rlnmbers break Arouse its senses, and awake To see how eoon Life, in its glories, glides away, And the stern footMtepn of decaf Come stealing on . And while we view the rolling tide Down which onr flowing minutes glide Away so fast, It us the present hour employ. And deem each future dream a joy Already past. I: no vain hope deceive the mind, Ho happier let us hope to find To-morrow than to-day ; Our pelden dreams of yorejsfere bright, Uko them the present shall delight Like them decay. Onr lives like hastening streams most be That into the engulfing sea Are doomed to fall The sea of death, whose waves roB on O'er king and kingdom, crown and throne, And swallow aH. Alike the river's lordly tide, Alike the humble rivulet's glide To that sad wave I Death levels poverty and pride. The rich and poor sleep elQe by stde Within the grave. Onr birth is but a starting-place ; Lite is the running of the race. And death the goal ; There all our glittering toys are bromgttt That path alone, of all unsought, is found of aO. See, then, how poor and little worth Are all those glittering toys of earth That lure us here Dreams of a sleep that death must break ; A las ! before It bids us wake, We disappear. lVng ere the damp of death can blight, The t hek's pure glow of red and white Has passed away ; South smiled, and all was heavenly fair Ago came and laid bis finger there And where are they f Where is the strength that spurned decay. The steps that roved so light and gay, The heart's blithe tone T The strength is gone, the step is slow. And joy grows wearisome and woe When age somes on I THE ADVENTURES OP MARQBETTE. BY JOHN 8. O. ABBOTT. Nearly three hundred and fifty years ago, in April, 1541, De Soto, in his ad venturous march, discovered the majes tic Mississippi, not far from the south ern border of the State of Tennessee. No white man's eye had ever before be held that flood, whose banks are now inhabited by busy millions. The In dians informed him that all the region below consisted of dismal, endless, un inhabitable swamps. De Seto, world weary and woe-stricken, died upon tke banks of the river, and in its fathomless depths his body found burial. These cruel adventurers, insanely im peHecFiA search of mines of gold, found ed no settlements, and left behind them no traces of their passage, save tbat by their cruelties they had excited the im placable ire of the Indians against the white man. A hundred years of earth's many griefs lingered slowly away, while these vast solitudes were peopled only by wandering Indian tribes whose record must forever remain unknown. In the year 1641, some French envoys from Canada, seeking to open friendly trade with the Indians for the purchase of fnrs, penetrated the northwest of our country f ar as the Falls of St. Mary, near the outlet of Lake Superior. The most friendly relations existed between these Frenchmen and the Indians, wher ever the tribes were encountered. This visit led to no settlement. The adven turous traders purchased many furs, with which they loaded their birch canoes ; established friendly relations with these distant Indians, and greatly extended the region from which furs were brought to their trading posts in Canada. Twenty more years passed away, over the silent and gloomy wilderness, when, in 1659, a little band of these bold and hardy explorers, in their frail caaoes, with Indian guides, paddled along the lonely, forest-fringed shores of Lake Ontario, ascended the Niagara river to the Falls, carried their canoes on their shoulders around the rapids, launched them again on LakeBrie, traversed that inland sea over two hundred and fifty miles, entered the magnificent strait, passed through it to Lake St. Clair, crossed that lake, ascended the St. Clair river to Lake Huron, and travers ing its whole length, a distance of three hundred miles, reached the Falls of St. Mary. Here, at the distance of more than a thousand miles from the least vestiges of civilization, and surrounded by nu merous and powerful bands of savages, these hardy men passed an inclement winter. Amidst rooks and gloomy pines they reared their nut. Game was abun dant, fuel was at their door, the Indians were hospitable, and they wanted for nothing. One event only darkened these wintry months. The leader of the band became lost in the woods and per ished. In the spring the men returned re joicingly to Canada, with their canoes laden with the richest furs. They also brought such reports of the docility and amiability of the Indians as to inspire the Christians in Canada with the in tense desire to establish missionary sta tions among them. Five years passed away, when Father Claude AUouez, with a small band of Christian heroes, pene trated these wilds to proclaim the glad tidings of the gospel. Two years after, he was followed by Father James Mar quette, a noble man, whose name will never die. Marquette established a mission about forty miles below the Falls of St. Mary, at a point on the main land, which he named St. Ignatius, just north of the Islam' of Mackinaw. Here he gathered a lit bsnd of loving disciples. His gentle and devoted spirit won, not merely the .friendship of the Indians, but their ardent affections. He was just as safe among them as the most be loved father surrounded by his children. Three years this good man remained in these lonely wilds, peaoefnlly and suc cessfully teaching these benighted chil dren of the forest salvation through an atoning Savior. During all this time f his mind had been much exercised with the thought of exploring the limitless and unknown regions south and west. He had heard rumors of the Missis sippi, the Father of Waters, and his devout mind peopled the vast realms through which it flowed with the lost children of God, whom he perhaps might reclaim through the gospel of Jesiis, who had come from heaven for their redemption. The Governor of Canada was desirous, for more worldly reasons, of exploring these regions, where future empires might be reared. In the spring of 1673, the Governor of Canada sent M. Joliet, a gentleman of Quebec, with five boatmen, to Point St. Ignatius, to take Marquette and set out in search of the much-talked -of river. On the 13th of May this little band' of seven men, in two birch canoes, commenced their adventurous voyage. They took with them some Indian corn and jerked meat, but were to live main ly upon such food as they could obtain by they way. On the northwest of Lake Michigan there is a sheet of water runninfr south called Green Bav. It is one hundred miles long by twenty or thirty broad. The boatmen paddled their frail canoes along the western border of this lake until they reached its southern extrem ity, where they found a shallow river flowing into it from the south, which they called Fox river. They could pro pel their canoes about thirty miles a day. Each night they selected some propitious spot for their encampment. Upon some dry and grassy mound they could speedily with their axes construct a hut which would protect them from the weather. Carefully smoothinflt down the floor, they spread over it their am ple couch of furs. Fish could be taken in abundance. The forest was filled with same. An immense fire blazing before the open side of the hut gave warmth and illumined the sublime scene with almost the brilliance of noon-day. Here thev iovouslv cooked their sup pers, with appetites which rendered the feast more luxurious to them prooaDiy than any gourmand at Delmonico's ever enjoyed. Each night i ather Marquette held a religious service, which all reverently attended. Pravers were offered, and their hymns of Christian devotion float ed sweetly through those sublime soli tudes. The boatmen were men of a gentle race, who had been taught from infancy to revere the exercises of the church. They came upon several Indian vil lages. But the natives were friendly as brothers. Many of them had visited the station at St. Ignatius, and all of them had heard of Father Marquette and his labors of love. These children of the forest begged their reverend friend to desist from his enterprise. "There are," they said, "on the great river bad Indians who will cut off your heads without any cause. There are fierce warriors who will try to seize you and make yon slaves. There are enormous birds there whose wings dark en the air and who can swallow you all with vour canoes at a mouthful. And worst of all there is a malignant demon there who, if you escape all other dan gers, will cause the waters to boil and whirl around you and destroy you." To all this the good Marquette re plied, " I thank you dear friends, for your kind advice, but I cannot follow it. There are souls there to save for whom the Son of God came to earth and died. Their salvation is at stake. I would joyfully lay down my life if I con Id guide them to the Savior." They found the navigation of Fox river impeded with many rapids. To surmount these it was necesary often to alight from their canoes, and, wading over the rough and sharp stones, to drag them up against the swift current. They were within the limits of the pres ent State of Wisconsin, and found them selves in a region ef lakes, sluggish streams and marshes. But there were Indian trails, which had been trodden for uncounted generations, leading west. These they followed, often pain fully carrying their canoes and their burdens on their shoulders, for many miles, from water to water, over what the Indians called the Carrying Places, At length they entered a region of re markabie luxuriance, fertility and beau ty. There were crystal streams nnd charming lakes. Magnificent forests were interspersed with broad and green prairies. Uod seemed to nave formed in these remote realms an Eden of sur passing loveliness for the abode of his children. Three tribes, in perfect har mony, occupied the region the Miamis, Mascoutins, and Kickapoos. There was a large village with abundant corn-fields around. River and lake, forest and prairie were alike alive with game. To their surprise they found that a French missionary, Father Allouez, had reached this distant spot, preach ing the gospel, eight years before. The Indians had received him with fraternal kindness. He had left in the center of the village a cross, the emblem of the crucified Son of God. " I found," Marquette writes, "that these good people had swung skins and belts and bows and arrows on the cross, an offering to the Greaprf t, to thank him because he had tSpity on them during the winter and given them an abundant chase. No white man bad ever penetrated beyond this region. These simple, in offensive peopJe seemed greatly sur prised that seven unarmed men should venture to press on to meet the un known dangers of the wilderness beyond wilds which their imagina tions had peopled with all conceivable terrors. On the 10th of June these heroic men resumed their journey. The kind In dians furnished them with two guides to lead them through the intricacies of the forest to a river, about ten miles distant, which they called Wisconsin, and which they said flowed westward into the Father of Waters. They soon reached , this stream. The Indians helped them to carry their canoes and effects across the portage. " We were then left," writes Marquette, " alone in that unknown country in the hand of God." Our voyagers found the stream hard to navigate. It was full of sandbars and shallows. There were many islands covered with the richest verdure. At times they came upon landscapes of en chanting beauty, with lawns and parks and lakes, as if arranged by the most careful hands of art. Down this stream they floated, day after day, en camping upon its banks at night, until on the 19th of June, "with a joy that I cannot express," they entered the broad, deep, rapid current of the ma jestic Mississippi. Easily they could be swept down by the rapid current into the sublime un explored solitudes below. But to pad dle back against the swift rolling tide would try the muscles of the hardiest men. Still the voyagers pressed on. It was indeed a fairy scene which now opened before them. Here bold bluffs, hundreds of feet high, jutted into the river. Here were crags of stupendous size and of every variety of form, often reminding one of Europe's most pictur esque stream, where " The castled crags or Drachenfels, Frown o'er the wide and winding Rhine." Again the prairie would spread out its ocean-like expense, embellished with groves, garlanded with flowers of gor geous colors waving in the summer breeze, checkered with sunshine and the shade of passing clouds, with roving herds of the stately buffalo and the graceful antelope. And again the gloomy forest would appear, extend -intr rver countless leagues, where bears, wolves and panthers found a congenial home. Having descended the river nearly two hundred miles they came to an In dian trail, leading back into the ooun- trv It was so well trodden as to give .hot nowerful tribe was near, It speaks well for the Indians for the reputation wnicu wmj mcu cumvu that Marquette, with his French com M. Joliet. far away in the wil hundred miles from any spot which a white man's foot had ever before trod, should not have hesitated alone to enter this trail in search of the habitations of this unknown tribe. They left all their companions, witntne canoes, on the bank of the river. For six miles they lonoweu me ui- row track, when they came in sight oi a large Indian village. It was on an open plain, so that the Indians saw them approaching when at quite a dis tance. They knew, of course, that two straDgera, unarmed, could not De ad vancing with any hostile intent. Four of the patriarchs of the village imme diately came forward, bearing a pipe of peace, which was highly ornamented with brilliantly colored plumes. As these chiefs drew near they saw, to their surprise and delight, that the strangers were pale faces. Though vw-vno -f t.hm had ever before seen a uuu v vhite man, the knowledge of his arrival widelv tkroueh all the frihos. The French had pursued Hiirri n. course of iustice and friend liness with the Indians that, wher ever they went they were hospitably re ceived. One of these arentlemenol the bar Oar ian school, as he led the guests into his cabin, said " How beautiful is the sun, Frenchmen, when it shines upon you, as you come to visit us. Our whole village greets you with a welcome. You shall find a home in all our dwellings. The strangers were entertained with the utmost hospitality. As they were about to take their leave, a venerable chief approached Marquette and sus pending, by a cord, a richly decorated pipe about, his neck, said, "This is the sacred calumet. It signifies that, wherever you bear it y3U are the messengers of peace. All our tribes will respect it, and will protect yon from every harm. " We cannot record this inenaiy recep tion without emotion. How beautiful is peace! How different would the his tory of this world have been but for man's inhumanity to man. On reach ing their boats the little band of voy agers continued their journeying down the lonely and silent river. They floated beyond the mouths of the tur bid Missouri and the beautiful Ohio. Carefully they observed these impor tant points.but they made no attempt to explore either of these streams. The Ohio was then, and for some years af ter, call;! the Wabash. Still they floated on, several hundred miles further, until they reached the mouth of the Arkansas. Here again they found a large Indian village. They were received by the natives with the same hospitality which had marked their intercourse with the Indians dur ing the whole ef their route. They now turned back and laborious ly reascended the majestic Mississippi, slowly forcing their way against the swift current. Their upward voyage was commenced the 17th of July, 1673. Instead of continuiug their upward course to the Wisconsin river, they en tered the Illinois river, and again reached Green Bay by way of Lake Michigan. They had been about two months upon this voyage. During this time the devoted missionary had lost no opportunity of proclaiming to the In dians the Christian's God, and the way of salvation through faith in an atoning Savior. Even then Marquette had no conception of the true grandeur of that valley he had entered, extending from the Alle gheny ridges to the Rocky Mountains. Still, when the tidings of his wonderful discoveries reached Quebec, the excit ing intelligence was received with the ringing of bells, with salvos of artillery, and, most prominent and important of all, by nearly the whole population, led by the clergy and other dignitaries of the place, going in procession to the cathedral where the Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving to God. In Marquette's account of this voy age he writes, " Nowhere did we see snch grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wild cats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets and even beavers, as on the Illinois river." By the earnest request of the Illinois Indians Marquette returned to them and continued with them, revered and beloved, preaching the gospel for two years. On the 18th of May, 1675, as he was ascending JLiaae Michigan, with his boatmen, he proposed landing, at the mouth of a small stream, for the cele- Dration oi mass, ae lett ms men in the canoe while he went a short dis tance into the solitude of the forest to pray. As some time passed and he did not return, they called to mind that he had said, before he left them, that he felt that the hour of his deth was near at hand. They went to seek him. He was lying upon a green mound dead, with his hands folded as in prayer. The boatmen silently and sadly dug his grave, and left his mortal remains in the solitude of the forest on the banks of the stream which now bears the name of Marquette. ' Tis a glorious thing to die, As dies the Christian with his armor on.' That Flour Trick. iesterday morning, says the Detroit Free Press, an innocent-looking young man was ioanng around the Central De pot with one of those small lung-testers, which throws a handful of flour into a man's eyes just as he imagines he is going to Diow her up to a hundred and fifty pounds. There was an old man waiting around for the train to go, and he was at once attracted to the machine. He saw others blow, and when told that it wouldn't cost him a cent, he pitched in. He was allowed to blow two or three times, and then the vouner man told him to put in a regular old hurri cane and beat everybody by five pounds. The old fellow threw back his coat, got the pipe in his mouth, and then his eyes opened like trans as he sucked in all the air he could hold. After a second or two he let her go, and the flour struck him. He didn't say a word for a moment. He softly laid down the pipe, winked his eyes and spit UV.U1, auu bo urn lunr ui jHuguter in creased, he backed up against the wall, and said, " You kin laf, and laf, and laf, but I swan to gum I'll lick somebody for that, even if I do not never lead another class-meeting !" An Ex-Bishop in a St. Louis Laun dry. Working in one of the laundries of the city is a man who is said to be a deposed Bishop of the Church of En gland. He has a brother in the English Parliament, and other relatives in good circumstances, who would willingly give him assistance should be make himself known, but he prefers his pres ent mode of life, for the reason that he can occasionally indulge in tbat which caused his deposition, viz.: strong drink. He is said to be a very learned and intelligent man, but with an un conquerable desire for intoxicating liquor. Si. -Louts Dispatch. In a small party, the subject turning on matrimony, a lady said to her sister, a wonder, my dear, you have never made a match. I think you want the brimstone." To which she replied, "No, not the brinistonu, but the spark. Current Paragraphs. Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. Thbeb horses out of every four in Ice land are piebald. Milwaukee is errowine at the rate of 5,000 souls a year. Rents are thirty per cent lower in Chicago this year. England last year issued 2,600 pat ents, to our 12,864. i i i coeoanut trees are growing in one of the public parks of San Fran cisco. The sexton of Grace Church, New iotk, nas made Christianity profitable Ohio has 300 coal mines, from which 27,000 men annually produce over 5 -000,000 tons of coal. Men who travel barefooted around a newly carpeted bedroom often find themselves on the wrong tack. Pabton, in his lecture on "The Kings of Business," says Vanderbilt's wealth amounts to $400,000,000. In New York there are 30,000 indi viduals who manage to exist by preying upon the earnings of other people. The tea crop of Japan last season amounted to 19,854,000 pounds, all of which the United States imported. A Milford, N. H., man raised three hundred and sixty-nine pounds of po tatoes from a single pound of seed. It was a bright boy who told his teacher that there were three sects the male sex, the female sex, and the in sects. People who propose to explore Africa ought to know that it takes a whole month to dry a dead explorer so that he can be shipped home. Physicians are speculating upon probable paralysis occasioned by eating fruit put up in lead cans coated with impure or insufficient tin. It is proposed in England to provide separate cars for the accommodation of ladies on railroads, and for the protec tion of men from improper advances. The New York Bulletin tr inks that the tobacco statistics of the world, could they be seen in one mass, would astonish the economists as well as the moralists. The recent discovery of the fig tre' in the fossil deposits of the Seine valley indicates that the region about Paris formerly enjoyed a warmer climate than at present. A Chattanoogarist bought a strip of Lookout Mountain land one mile wide and thirty miles long last April, and has been offered yea, and has refused it also 31,000,000. Josh Billings says : "If yu are going to giv a man ennything, giv it to him cheerfully and quick ; don t make him git down on hiz kneeze in front ov yu, and listen to the 10 commandments, and then yu giv him 5 cents." It is an admitted fact in Japan and China that the older the tree the better the tea. The shrubs which supply the nobles of Japan with their favorite bev erage are said to be in many instances 500 years old. The sap of the pine tree seems not unlikely to become almost as valuable as that of the sugar maple. Two stu dents in the laboratory of Dr. A. W. Hofmann, of Paris, recently succeeded in extracting the aromatic principles of the vanilla bean, which is knewn as vanilline, from pine sap. We have no information as to the variety of pine from which it is obtained, but the dis coverers announce that it is their inten tion to manufacture the extract on a large scale. A tree of medium size and height is said to yield twenty dollars' worth of vanilline, and this without in jury to the wood. Congratulatory Letter from the Presi dent to the Czar. President Grant has sent the follow ing congratulatory letter to the Em peror of Russia : Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, to His Imperial Majesty. Alexander II., Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russians : Good and G heat Friend : I have received the letter which your Majesty addressed to me on the 17th day of August last, announcing the pleading intelligence of tbe marriage, on the 16th of last month, of bis Imperial High ness the Grand Duke Yladimar Alexandro witch to her Grand Ducal Highness the Princess Alexandrine Elizabeth Eleauore, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Feeling a lively interest in all that eoacerns your Majesty's august family, I participate in the satisfaction afforded by this happy event, and offer to your Majesty very sincere con gratulations upon the occasion, with the as surance that the newly married Grand Dnke and Princess have my best wishes for their prosperity and happiness. And so l cemmend your Majesty and your Majesty's royal family to the protection of the Almighty. Written at Washington, the 30th day of Oc tober, in the year of our Lord 1874. Your good friend, TJ. 8. Grant. By the President : Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State. Loaded Wood in Kentucky. The Bowling Green (Ky.) Democrat relates this: "John Miller's wood pile was alongside his yard fence, on the public street, in the eastern part oi this city. He suspected some one of stealing his wood, bo he found a stick with a wood-pecker hole in it, filled it ud with gunpowder, closed the hole with clay and waited developments. A colored friend, Jim Watson, in the gloaming, appropriated that and other sticks, and Miller followed to see what would happen. It did happen, blowing the end of Jim's shanty out, and with it a chunk of stone that struck Ed. Jones, who was passing along the street, and cut him severely, miner, who was near by, went to Jones' aid and explained the joke to the wounded man. and now Jones sues Miller for his injury, alleging mat ne nad no right to put a loaded chunk in the high way to De picaeu uy uu useu against unsuspecting travelers. (Jan he re cover?" English Journals. Mr. Bailev. of the Danbury News. has recently returned from a scrutiniz ing journey tnrougii tne worm-eaten monarchies of Europe, and wherever he went he ferreted out things about news papers. He thinks that " they are rather slow concerns, are the London dailies. They crowd their advertisers into repulsive limits ; they mix up their matter without regard to classification ; they publish but a beggarly handful of American news ; they report in full the most insignificant speeches ; they don't seem to realize that mere is such an at traction as condensed news paragraphs; they issue no Sunday paper, and but one or two have a weekly ; they ignore agriculture and science, personals and gossip ; they carefully exclude all hu mor and head-lines, and come to their readers every week day a somber and mournful spectacle that is most exasper ating to behold," The Last Rat Story. The Cincinnati Times speaks of a war of extermination made upon rats in a certain establishment in that city, and vouches for the truth of the fol lowing : It was about 10 o'clock this morning, while workmen were engaged in clean ing out the cellar aforesaid, they came across rats of all colors, sizes, ages, that numbered by actual count, 1,000 to a naught. The rodents, when they saw their enemies, who came upon them unawares, had pressing business in other parts of the building. All of them star! ed out at a rattling rate on an excursion, but about 500 or less! never reached the secure retreats of friendlv holes. They dropped by the wayside, and breathed their last. When the lively interest of the dis covery had ebbed to wandering talk over the affair, a fresh impetus was given to the astonishment of the work men, by the finding of one of them of a large bottle with capacious opening. In this bottle was a rat of uncommon size, living as snugly as if he desired no other happiness than to remain there always and look out on the frisky sports of his kind. A very good reason for this wish can be offered in his in ability to come from his glass casing without breaking it. He went in there when quite young, as reasonably sup posed, a very sick rat, and it devolved upon his companions to bring him such delicacies as a very sick rat would crave. His disease being prolovged, owing to the incompetency of his doc tors, nature used her own restoratives, and the afflicted rodent became well again. But he found that in the mean time he had reached maturity, and, through the unceasing attention of his nurses and the good things which were provided for him, he grew to be of large, vigorous frame and a supera bundance of muscle for an ordinary rat. So well did he fare and grow that when he was able to leave the protection of his glass palace, he could not squeeze through the only exit. He contested himself with . the situation, inasmuch as he would be able to live like a lord on the contributions of his friends for the rest of his days, .tint the destroy ing workmen, frightening away a part of his race and killing tke rest, came across his citadel, and, satisfying their curiosity for a time by inspecting it and him, demolished it with a club. At this display of deadly will, the rat, re leased, scampered to the nearest hole, but taking part of his curious house with him, stuck fast just as he got out of sight. His enemies punched with sticks until he gave up the battle, and was drawn out a bleeding corpse. If any one does not believe this the dead rat can be produced. The Circular Saw Tne Inrentor a Michigan Man. In a lonely, secluded position in the northwest corner of the cemetery near the ever beautiful little village of Rich mond, Kalamazoo county, "Michigan, the historian can find, on a pure white marble slab nearly concealed from view by a large cluster of lilac bushes, en graved tne simple name of Benjamin Cummins, born A. D, 1772, died A. D. 1848." And who was Benjamin Cum mins ? He was the inventor of circular saws, now in use in this country and in Europe. Nearly sixty years ago, at Burtonville, New York, near Amster dam, this man hammered out, at his own blacksmith's anvil, the first circular saw known to mankind. He was a noted pioneer in Michigan, a first cousin to one of the Presidents of the United States, a slave owner in New York State, a leading Mason in the days of Morgan, and at whose table the very elite of the then great State of New York feasted and drank of his liquors and wines ; a ves sel owner en the North river before the days of steamboats, a Captain in the war of 1812, where, after having three horses shot from under him, with one stroke of his sword he brought his superior officer to the ground for an in sult and because he was a traitor and a coward, and after having been court martialed, instead of having been shot, ho was appointed a Colonel in his place. AiL in this lowly grave are the ashes of the man who, nearly seventy years ago, at Albany, N. Y., took up and moved bodily a large block of brick buildings, and, to the wonder of the world, con structed a mile and a half of Erie canal through a bed of rock, and who also built, per contract, those first low bridges over the same. He also aided in the construction of the first ten miles of railroad built in the United States, and founded both the villages of Esper ence and Burtonville, on the old Scho harie, near Amsterdam. The study and aim of this man's life appeared to be to accomplish that which none others could accomplish, and when the object sought was secured, or overcome, he passed it as quietly by as he would the pebbles on the sea shore. Detroit Free Press. Be Sure Tour Sin Will Find Tou Out. The trial of ex-Treasurer Phelps, at Albany, and the sentence of fifteen years' incarceration which followed -conviction, tells a sad tale, from which, however, thoughtful men and women will do well to take a lesson. For a long time past the crime of pilfering has been painfully apparent among the higher classes in society and those placed in positions of State trust. It has been commonly supposed that pov erty and wretchedness almost exclu sively breed criminals ; but this, in the line of murderers and thieves, has proved a fallacy to wit : Stokes and Walworth, Tweed and Phelps. The physiology of crime demonstrates that in all cases where poverty is not the motive power, the law of meum et tuum is seldom broken in high or low life, when people have full knowledge that consequences are the. natural re sult of actions, and that in the conse quences are sure to be recognized the whole train of circumstances which lead te the result. The immutability of this law makes the detection of crime certain in the majority of cases. Crim inals overlook this, and hence conduct themselves with an easy indifference as to the quality of the action which pro duces the result. New York Express. Valuable Bands. The other day, after a meeting of a certain famous women's club in New York, the ladies amused themselves comprising their garters, to see which wore the handsom est ; for garters of extravagant expense have lately come into fashfon, and sev eral of these club members wear theirs clasped with gold and precious stones. The jewelers are all introducing new designs for garter clasps that promise shortly to cost as much as the bracelets that fashion has discarded. A charming woman and singer in society is said to wear a pair of garters that cost $500. At Lanesville, Ohio, the young gen tlemen wear a satin badge bearing the words, "Hire a hall," under the lapel of their coats, and when bored by in veterate talkers they just turn up the lapel and display the badge. The plan is said to work finely. The Mexican Maguey. A Mexican correspondent of the Louisville Courier-Journal says, in speaking of the maguey plantations : " The maguey is cultivated, you know, for the sap, which, when slightly fer mented, constitutes pulque, the uni versal drink of the country, and a dis agreeable dose it is, I assure you, judg ing from a single mouthful which I was persuaded to swallow. The quantity of this stuff brought into the city is suffi cient to demand a special daily railroad train, anown as the pulque train,' and when this by accident fails, there is a general disturbance among the people. The species of agave employed is not the common green one with dependent leaves, which we see bo frequently in the States, but a very much larger kind, with erect leaves, which matures in from five to seven years. I am sure that I have seen specimens the outlines of which would measure at least ten feet in diameter, and as much in height, and the leaves of which were six to eight feet in length, one foot in breadth at the widest part, and six inches m thickness ihe manner of obtaining the sap is very different from that represented by the wood-cuts in old school books, where the native stands leaning complacently against the thorny plant, waiting for his bucket to be filled with the fluid that flows from the cut end of a leaf. The plan pursued is to cut off the flower stem as soon as it is well started, close to the top of the plant stem, from which it springs, and then scoop out the latter in the form of a bowl four or five inches deep. In the course of time the sap that has been stored up in the leaves for the express purpose of inflorescence rises into the bowl, whence it is daily dipped or withdrawn by a peculiar method of suction. After being thus mutilated, the plant lives several months, and continues to yield until the leaves are completely exhausted and die. The plant stem is frequently fif teen or eighteen inches in diameter, and the amount of sap collected from a sin gle large specimen is said to be from fifty to seventy-five gallons." The Preservation of Timber. An Arkansas correspondent of the Scientific American says : I came here thirty years since, and began clearing land and building houses with hewn logs and boards split from the tree. After several years' residence, I noticed very often that pieces of the same kind of timber decay more quickly than others, and after much thought and observation I came to the conclusion that timber felled after the leaf had grown lasted the longest ; I noticed that timber felled when the leaves first commenced to grow rotted the sap off very quickly, but the heart remained sound ; that timber felled after the fall of the leaf rotted in the heart, even when appar ently sound on the outside. When wood cut in v. inter was put on the fire, the sap came out of the heart ; but when cut in the summer the sap came out of the sap wood and next the bark. I noticed also that all our lasting wood had but little sap at any time in the heart such as cedar, mulberry, sassa fras and cypress. A cypress post cut in the summer of 1838 it still sound, although exposed to all weathers, while one of the same kind of timber, cut in the winter of 1856, and painted, has rotted to the heart. I saw yesterday a gum plank which I sawed in tbe summer of 1859, that has lain ever since, and is perfectly sound ; while timber that was felled in the winter be fore is now entirely rotten. My conclusion then is : Cut timber after the full leaf, say in July and Au gust, to get the most last from it. The sap goes into the heart of the tree after leaf-fall, and causes decay. The Hog Crwp. " ' The receipts of live hogs at the Stock Yards for the month of October were 350,812 against 325,716 for the corre sponding month in 1873, showing an excess of receipts this year of 25,096 head, ine average weight this year was 197 pounds, against 252 pounds in October, 1873, a falling off of 55 pounds per hog. The aggregate weights this year were 69,108,964 pounds, against 81,980,532 pounds in 1873, showing an actual decrease in weight this year of 12,872,568 pounds. Contrary to the ordinary rule, the average weight of the hogs received during October were 12j lrss than for tbe month of September. The most reliable information received from the hog-growing States places the falling off in the number of marketable hogs at 1,250,000 head, and the indica tions are that the actual decrease in weight will be equally as large in pro portion as the falling off in numbers. Packers who have opened their houses say that the hogs they are cutting are generally deficient in the yield of lard as compared with former years. This was to be expected, as it is useless to suppose that the hogs cut this season will be otherwise than poorly fatted, as farmers are not inclined to feed corn freely bo long as it brings such prices as have ruled in this market since the beginning of the summer. Chicago Courier. Bad Beverages. A New York correspondent of the Boston Journal writes : " Our community is greatly stirred by the revelations made on the adultera tions of food. The practice runs into jellies, and especially teas and coffee. They buy the berry, burn it carefully. and have the aromatic beverage made under their own eye. After they have done all, they are only drinking white beans. There is a machine here for splitting beans and grooving them. They are then dried to the color of coffee and soaked in a solution which gives the coffee taste. Teas are sold here cheaper than the pure article can be bought in China. There is not tea enough in all China to answer the Am erican market, to say nothing of the million pounds consumed in England alone. Then there is a mile of houses with boilers and coloring matter in the open ports of China, run by English and Scotchmen, whose business it is to doctor the tea for the market for which it is intended. This impure article, made in huge kettles and dried in pans, is called by the Chinese cheat-tea. We have houses here that openly advertise that they can color and make over teas of any biand or style required, and of fer to repack it in the chests so as to de fy detection. The tea trade here re quires a capital of over thirty millions." Judgment op Musicians. Theodore Thomas, the distinguished founder and conductor of the famous " Thomas' Orchestra," New York, ought to know as well as any one the opinions entertained by musicians respecting musical in struments. He declares that they gen erally agree with him in regarding the Mason & Hamlin Cabinet Oegans as much the beet instruments of this class in the world. It is not, therefore, sur prising that they are now largely ex ported to Europe, commanding higher prices there than tbe instruments of their best makers. The Happiest Period. Ever since the world began this has been a disputed question, and ever since the world began the majority of the people have generally misjudged. Thor oughly dissati-fied with any present time, we cast about for a golden age. We cannot find it in the future, as the cloud of uncertainty hangs on the hori zon in that direction. We are compelled therefore to explore the past. The immediate past, with its facts ano disappointments, is too fresh m our memory to allow us to throw the re quired halo about it, and so we con tinue our journey until we get to tne point where memory grows dim and the imagination works actively, and we call that the hale, halcyon period of life. This distant future and distant past are both creations of the fancy. To say that childhood is the happiest period of life is to offer insult to Provi dence. The child is at best but a bun dle of possibilities. He is a creature of untrained impulses, of undeveloped affections. His mind is like a grate in a well ordered house. The coal is there, the kindling-wood is there, and the whole will break into a blaze when touched with a matcj. Now, before the match has touched it, it is a pleas anter and more profitable sight than half a dozen lumps of cannel coal en veloped in a royal blaze, and filling the room so full of light and heat that one forgets the wintry sleet without ; child hood, with its sugar plums and its toys, will be inferior to manhood, with its burning enthusiasm and its lofty ambi tion. A Smart Dog. The Richmond (Va.) Enqivirer re lates the following instance of a dog testifying in his own behalf in a police court in that city ; " Wednesday, it will be remembered, Mr. Spears was before the police court, charged with keeping a vicious dog, and the animal was ordered to be killed. Subsequently, however, the execution of the sentence was suspended, as the evidence upon which he was convicted was ex parte, and a new trial was grant ed. The case came up yesterday morn ing, and a large number of persons tes tified as to the good character of the dog, and the whole matter resolved it self into the fact that he had scared the gentleman who complained of his at tacking nim by rough play. Neverthe less, to make assurance doubly sure, at the request of his master, he was put upon the stand to testify in his own case. On being asked if he would bite any one, he uttered a peculiar noise ana shook his head. He was then asked if he would bite any one if his master set him on, and replied in the affirmative by nodding his head and barking. When asked if he would bite the court, he replied in the negative. Several other questions were asked him, and his answers and actions exhibited the greatest intelligence. It is needless to say he was honorably acquitted." Evert one knows that a cold or cough onght not to be neglected, and that if it is not attended to in season it may result fatally. Our advice is to take care of it before it is too late, and use Dr. Wiahart's Pine Tree Tar Cordial, which can be had of any druggist. Dr Wit-hart's Worm Sugar Drops are the beet remedy for worms ever discovered. Tac Atlantic Cable is a national benefit; so are SILVER-TIPPED Shoes for children. Never war through at the toe. Try them. For sale by all dealers. Gaineu Fifteen Pounds of Flesh. South Bxewick, Me., Jan. 17, 1873. H. R. STITES8, Esq. : Dear Sir 1 have nad Dyspepsia In 1U worst form for the last ten years, and have taken hundreds of dollars' worth of medicine without obtaining any relief. In September last I commenced taking the Verxtiki. since which time my health has stead ily improved. My food digests well, and I have gained fifteen pounds of flesh. There are several others In this place taking the VsoxTUta, and aU have obtained relief. Tours, truly, . THOMAS B. MOORE, Overseer of the Card Boom, Portsmouth Co.'l Mills. DYSPEPSIA- SYMPTOMS Want of appetite, rising of food and wind from the stomach, acidity of the stomach, heartburn, dryness and whiteness of the tongue In the morning, sense of distension in the stomach and bowels, sometimes rumbling and pain; cos tlveness, which is occasionally interrupted uy diarrncea; paleness of the urine. The mouth is clammy, or has a sour or bitter taste. Other fre quent symptoms are waterbrash, palpitation of the heart, neadache, and disorders of the senses, as seeing double, Ac. Tfaere is general debility, languor, and aversion to motion; dejection of the spirits, disturbed sleep, and frightful dreams. FEEL MYSELF A NEW MAN. Katick, Mass., June 1, UBX. Mr. H. R. Stxvxits: Dear Sir Through tbe advice and earnest per suasion of Rev. K. 8. Best, of this place, I have been taking Vkobtihb for Dyspepsia, of which I have suffered for years. I have ueed only two bot tles, and already feel myself a new man. Respect fully, DR. J. W. CARTER. A Source of Croat Anxiety. My daughter has received great benefit from the use of VjcQBTixf at. Her declining health was a source of great anxiety to all of her friends. A few bottles of the Vkqktiiib restored her health, strength, and appetite. N. H. TILDKN, Ins. and Real Estate Agt.,4 Bears' Building. Boston, Mass., June 6, 1.-72. What I Know About Vegetine. South Bostoit, May t, 1870 H. R. Stevbss : Dear Sir I have had considerable experience with the Vaoaram. For Dyspepsia, General De bility, and Impure Blood, the Vaosriaa is supe rior to anything which I have ever used. X com menced taking VxoBTiif a about the middle of laet winter, and after using a few bottles It entirely cured me of dyspepsia, and my blood never was in so good condition as at the present time. It will afford me pleasure to give any further par ticulars relative to what I know about this good medicine to any one who wlU call or address me at my residence, 366 Athens street. Very respect fully, MONK B PARKER, 386 Athens Street. Vegetine is Sold by all Druggists. Wisharfs Pine Tree Tar Cordial ! Nature's Great Remedy FOR ALL Throat Lung Diseases. For Sale by all Druggists and Storekeepers.