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.